TVGEN: Welcome to the TVGEN/Yahoo! Chat Auditorium. Our special guests tonight are Atlantic Records recording artists Hootie & the Blowfish. Dean, Soni, Mark and Darius will be here live to answer your questions and talk about the new album coming to record stores soon. Don't forget to check out the band's web site -- www.hootie.com. Thanks for joining us tonight.

Rose_Mushroom: What is the weirdest experience that you have ever had while on the road?

Darius: Haven't seen any UFO's! Probably like something along the lines of being out of the country and meet friends from years past in places like Kuala Lumpur and Germany, it's pretty weird, and it seems to happen at almost every show.

BluestRose: Like you, Nanci Griffith was my childhood hero. What was it like to get to work with her?

Darius: It was great. Nanci's got such an amazing voice. To sing with her was always a dream of mine. And we're blessed to have been able to have worked with her in the past, and hopefully in the future.

Let_it_Breathe: Do you have a name picked out for the new album yet?

Darius: Yes. It's Musical Chairs. We're not sure why.

Jayfk63: Can you tell what special guests are going to be on the CD? I heard Dave Matthews is on it.

Darius: No, that's actually not true. Boyd and Leroy from Dave Matthews Band are both on the album, but Dave is not actually on the album. Dave Innuergluk, who plays with John Wyatt. Susan Colsill. And her husband Peter Holsapple. And the ever-present John Now. And Jena Rankin, a friend of ours from L.A. I think that's the whole list. John Nau played keyboards on all three albums.

KaczMan: What's everyone's golf handicap?

Darius: LOL! I don't know, we're all between probably 12 and 18.

Katierr: I really admire you guys. How much fan mail do you actually get?

Dean: It's slowed down kind of lately, but when we're going full bore, we get a lot. I can't even put a number on it. It's not like in the old Monkees or Partridge Family things with the sacks of mail and all. But it's a full-time job keeping up with it.

EzraAlert: I like "Don't Go Down to the Station." Is that going to be on the new album?

Darius: Yeah, it's called "Las Vegas Nights," and it'll be on the record.

ImDuhBlonde: What song do you enjoy performing the most?

Dean: It changes nightly. For me, right now, it would be probably "Bluesy Revolution" off the new album, so no one knows what I'm talking about, but you'll find out soon.

Skaspenders: What bands do you guys get your influences from?

Darius: REM, Dump Truck - there's so many - Smithereens. As a band, most of those mid-'80s college bands that were considered new wave.

Dean: We all grew up with different influences, and once we got together in college we started sharing people.

Mankiller777: When are you guys coming back to NY?

Darius: Sept. 16 we'll be at Roseland. And we're not really leaving until Saturday, when we do the Goodwill Games.

EzraAlert: What sports events are you going to catch while you're in town for the Goodwill Games?

Dean: None. I hate the Yankees. I'm an Orioles fan. We're a little busy right now, we usually try to catch something, but now they got us too busy to go.

Bildy98: What is your favorite city to perform live???

Dean: Charleston. It's always nice to drive home after a show.

Darius: There's so many. Charleston, Boston, Dublin.

Dean: Dublin might be just the best single show, just the way they sing to you, they know the same chants or something. If you stop a song, they all sing in pitch!

Luis1972: On the next CD, is it more of the same, or is there "experimentation'?

Dean: I guess more experiments. We let some songs get more bluegrass than we would have before. We let songs go in more directions. More country, more R&B. Instead of centering them, like we did in the past, we let them go in the direction that they started in.

Mossman_99: Do you guys get tired when you are on tour?

Soni: Daily. Oh, yeah. It goes in stages. I don't know, like every week or so, you have one or two days when you totally burn out. So you sleep 16 hours on a day off, and then start all over again.

Cuttervt: Is there a plan to release the MTV Unplugged session on CD?

Darius: Not yet. Maybe someday. We haven't really discussed it yet.

Dean: If we do, we might add to it and then release it.

Dwoodwoo: What was the coolest video you ever did?

Dean: Was there one? "Only Want To Be With You" was the first original idea we had that came from us. And the reason is that we wanted to meet our heroes. So we met with Walt Williams, Alonzo Mourning, Mugsy Bogues, Couples, etc. It was cool, it was the first time that we hung out with people we had been watching on TV.

SouthernBabe33: What kind of golf clubs do y'all use????

Dean: We all play Calloway woods and Titliest irons. Darius is the only one who doesn't use Odyssey putters.

Darius: I putt with a Cleveland.

Dean: 'Cause he doesn't know any better.

Darius: I'll kick your ass whenever you're ready.

Dean: I'm always ready. I just don't have a day off!

Sunkist75: Where do your ideas come from?

Darius: LOL! Different experiences in life, and different things you see happen to people you know, or sometimes things you see on TV or in magazines.

Hdmooney: Darius, how have you been spending your summer?

Darius: Playing golf, hanging out with my little one, and just enjoying Charleston.

TVGEN: So what song are you guys doing on the Today show on Friday morning?

Dean: We're doing the Today show on Friday. A couple of new songs and "Time." Darius is going to sing the melody and the harmony, because it's too early in the morning!

Tammer13: In your professional careers, what are you most proud of?

Darius: The fact that we're still professionals and have a career! That we're still doing this. Our goal was always to have a career in music. And the fact that we're still doing it and doing well at it I think is just fabulous.

Jason_79_: Ever play in any celeb tourneys? How did you fare?

Mark: We had our own! Darius played particularly well. He eagled the 18th hole and got a hug from Tiger Woods. Soni won the long-drive contest, and Mark played the round of his life the day before, with a 79.

Cyndiana: What have you guys been up to, besides working on the new album, since Fairweather Johnson.

Soni: We've been spending quality time in Columbia, SC, with dogs, wives and babies, not necessarily in that order. And, more important, the World Cup. I can say it in five languages, if you'd like to hear them all.

Limefizz16: Is it difficult to get along when you're on tour?

Mark: It used to be more difficult than it is now. Now we have the luxury to have a tour bus.

Soni: Now it's easier to find a place to be alone, if you choose to do so.

Mark: But it's always been fun, then and now.

TravisRW: So guys, is the new album all finished?

Mark: Yes.

Soni: In Spanish, si. In French, oui. For the bonus language, Icelandic, yow!!!

Bes141: Are you planning a big tour after the release of the new album?

Soni: Correct. A small tour, actually.

Mark: We're doing an album-release tour of major markets in the U.S. for the first five weeks. It will be smaller venues. Then we go to Europe. And then the tour will continue to fall of 1999, at the earliest.

Einsteinschuchert: What's your favorite golf course that you have played?

Mark: Pebble Beach.

Soni: Mine's the 24-hour Putt-Putt in Myrtle Beach. I can't remember the address. Low score to date there.

TravisRW: Did you guys write all the songs on the new album?

Mark: Yes, all together, actually. It's probably the most collaborative effort of the three, although they were all collaborative. It's just so evenly distributed on this record.

Telly02: What is the most important thing you've learned since being famous?

Soni: That famous people have nothing on not-famous people. That deep down, you're not different. Except that your bank account's a little bigger. Hopefully.

Funky_P98: Hey guys...what was the most exotic place you've been?

Mark: I would say the Pacific Rim.

Soni: He said rim! Yeah the Pacific Rim. Where is that?

Mark: Singapore and Malaysia are pretty exotic, compared to the American lifestyle, but there is American influence culturally.

Au_jophus: Where are your favorite places to be in SC?

Soni: The Rim!

Mark: Isle of Palms, SC.

Soni: Yeah, that's true. The graveyard, aka the University of South Carolina's soccer field. (With my wife Debbie!!)

Telly02: Are y'all tired of being labeled as golf fanatics?

Mark: No, 'cause it's true. But I hope with the new record the focus will go back to the music a little bit, you know?

Soni: Yes.

Sapphire2226: Boxers or briefs?

Mark: Nil.

Soni: If you wear briefs in this band, people look at you like you're a foreigner.

Mark:: Soni's trying to say that he wears boxers.

Eeyore212121: The question was: do you plan to come back to San Diego, CA, and play at the Belly Up Tavern, where you started? Thanks.

Mark: The Belly Up.

Soni: I don't think we'll play there, but I think we're going to play a small venue, hopefully.

Mmmbop_14_98: What kind of music do you guys still listen to?

Mark: Lots.

Soni: Rock. My new favorite album is by Alexi Lalas (soccer dude).

Mark: Lately, Jump Little Children, Old 97's, Jayhawks, Whiskey Down...

Soni: Marylou Lords, Boston. And Barry Manilow's Greatest Hits.

Mark: Continental Drifters.

Soni: This new band called Rim.

Hdmooney: When will the first video be played?

Mark: August, hopefully.

SIRBUGZY: What is the best advice you could give to wannabes?

Soni: Don't ever let anyone tell you who you want to be, because only you know what you want to be.

GCHS_Angel: Are you guys coming back to SC anytime soon?

Soni: No current plans. Since we've done a bunch of shows there, when we don't even plan ahead.

TVG_Michael: What's the album release date?

Darius: Sept. 15. That’s a Tuesday. In Spanish, martes.

ItsJustin: Will the third album resemble the first or second more?

Mark: I think it's a very concise mixture of the two.

Soni: That sounds like we tried to make it that way.

Mark: It's not intentional, but that's the way it came out.

Bosslady106: What other sport do you guys like, other than golf???

Mark: Soccer, basketball, football, baseball.

Soni: Aussie Rules Football. Hockey.

Mark: Dean and I love hockey.

Soni: Tennis. The European table-tennis championships were last week. And we don't get cricket. In regards to cricket, we mock what we don't understand.

BullsRaidersReds: Has your music gone through many changes since college?

Soni: I hope so.

Mark: Yes, ummm. The natural progression has occurred in the last 8 or 10 years. It couldn't have been predicted, but looking back, I like where we have gone.

SunsetViking: What are some of your favorite movies?

Mark: I just saw Lethal Weapon 4 and I loved it.

Soni: I just saw Caddyshack for the fourth time.

Mark: The Outsiders. I love that movie. It's a sausage flick. It's got like every dude who has ever been famous in it.

EzraAlert: Where are you playing the Goodwill Games - Battery Park on Sunday 6 p.m.?? — Therese:)

Mark: Battery Park on Saturday.

Soni: But on Sunday, Mark is in the 200-meter dash.

Crows_Return: Now finished with your third album, which one was the funnest to make?

Mark: Fairweather Johnson, just because we lived where we recorded. We were out in the wilderness. The others were more nine-to-five-ish, but they were also a lot of fun.

Dothedew_2000: Do you have any idea what the cover art will look like on the new album?

Mark: It's a black-and-white picture of a teenage girl in tattered clothes frolicking in the grass. From her neck down.

Soni: That's the front, anyway, the cover.

Mark: Please don't rate it by description - wait till you see it. It's a great photo.

Pryncessre: How many songs are on the new album?

Mark: Twelve.

Beck-the-crow-: Hey, do you guys have any songs planned for any soundtracks?

Soni: Yes, but if we told you we'd have to kill you. On a serious note, the song from the new album called "Only Lonely" was written for a soundtrack, but it has yet to be determined if it will appear on it.

Rossyboy504: Is there going to be a single out?

Mark: It's called "I Will Wait," and it will be out in August.

Jonboy2050: What are the names of the songs on the album?

Soni: "Desert Mountain Showdown," "What Do You Want From Me Now?" "One By One," "Michelle Post."

Camby98: Any live stuff planned to be released to the public?

Mark: No. Maybe Unplugged from MTV someday.

AndreaMarie: Are you guys computer literate?

Soni: Yes. Yes. In cyberspeak, yes.

Mark: We add entries to our web site frequently. So please check in. Also, you can get merchandise. You can also get band bios and lyrics, and it's at www.hootie.com.

Daniel_Russell: You said the new album was more like bluegrass. Do you have any favorite bluegrass artists?

Mark: Doc Watson.

Soni: New Grass Revival.

Mark: Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Bill Monroe.

Soni: The Rim Brothers. Look at the Champs Élysées! All those French people, Le Coup du Monde!

TVGEN: Thanks for being here this evening, guys!!!

Mark: Thanks for everybody's support that's gotten us to this point where we could release a third album, and we'll see you this year!

Soni: Vive la France and support Major League Soccer!

TVGEN: Don't forget that we'll be LIVE at the Goodwill Games this Saturday!!!! Goodnight everyone!!!