AND HERALDS EXPANDED NEW EDITION
OF SONEFELD’S 2008 SOLO DEBUT ALBUM, SNOWMAN MELTING
ADDITIONAL BONUS TRACKS INCLUDE JUST RELEASED
“NO REASON (FEAT. EDWIN MCCAIN)”
See Video Here
ALONGSIDE “SITTING IN THE GREEN GRASS” DUET WITH DARIUS RUCKER—
DEEPLY FELT NEW TRACK SEES TWO MEMBERS OF HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH
RECORDING TOGETHER FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2019
See Video HERE.
“The stripped-down song is a lovely testament to escaping from the city and taking time out to breathe in nature
as the two band members trade verses.” –Melinda Newman, Billboard
Nashville: Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, solo artist, author, speaker, drummer and one of the principal songwriters in the 2x GRAMMY® Award-winning Hootie & the Blowfish, is set to release Snowman Melting—15th Anniversary Deluxe Edition on Friday, September 29th, 2023 via Vere Music. The expanded new edition of Sonefeld’s 2008 solo debut album, Snowman Melting, follows on the heels of the well-received double bonus tracks, led by Sitting in the Green Grass, the heartfelt duet with Darius Rucker, a Billboard song premiere exclusive, and the just released song and video “No Reason (featuring Edwin McCain),” another longtime friend, musical compatriot and former Atlantic labelmate. Both releases were featured on CMT.com.
“When I thought of how to give a couple of these songs new life,” Sonefeld says, “I thought ‘Sitting in the Green Grass’ was a nice message that represented a little bit of what Darius has gone through, his double career in rock music and country music, having to balance the busyness of the machine that is the music business with trying to find peace in your life as well.” Adding, “Edwin was like a little brother to our Hootie family in the early 90s,” I just knew the energy Edwin could bring to a track like ‘No Reason.’ He’s got a fire still and I wanted ‘No Reason’ to be alive. It’s a desperate call, a plea to the universe to say there should be plenty for everybody. There should be love, attainable and reachable for everybody.”
Vere Music founder Rusty Harmon said, “What an honor to work with Jim again.” The former longtime/original Hootie and the Blowfish manager, Harmon added, “His heartfelt lyrics come shining through on this collection of songs.”
The original versions of “Sitting in the Green Grass” and “No Reason” are among the highlights of SNOWMAN MELTING, showcasing Jim Sonefeld’s gift for clear-eyed and emotionally charged songcraft. Produced and co-written by veteran musician Francis Dunnery (Robert Plant, Lauryn Hill) in New York City, Stroudsburg, PA, and the mountains of North Carolina, the album represents a period of great transition in Sonefeld’s life, a time where both his personal life and his band life were at a crossroads. Songs like “No Reason” and “Keep All The World Outside” boast an expansive sonic approach ideally suited to Sonefeld’s introspective and open-armed songcraft, illuminating his heart and mind with remarkable warmth, honesty, and musical creativity.
“SNOWMAN MELTING comes out of a time in my life when I was trying to figure out who I was,” Sonefeld says. “A period where a guy who was old enough to know better was still learning life lessons. My life was changing so rapidly – separation, divorce, the band’s last tour and indefinite dormancy for Hootie and the Blowfish. And then a remarriage and a quickly enlarged family. The songs paint a clear picture of what my life looked like in 2006-2008. I can always look back and clearly see the pain, the joy, the transition.
“I continued to love the record through the years, even though it had slipped into dormancy, and possibly eternity. I recently realized, Oh, my goodness, this is actually the 15th anniversary for the creation of SNOWMAN MELTING. The idea is to celebrate something that had gone missing and never really saw proper daylight to begin with.”
SNOWMAN MELTING – 15TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE arrives on the heels of Sonefeld’s recently published memoir, Swimming With The Blowfish: Hootie, Healing, and One Hell Of A Ride (Diversion Books), an unpretentious and sincere chronicle of his remarkable career with Hootie & the Blowfish – earning sales of over 26 million in the US alone, two GRAMMY® Awards, and fans around the world with such record-setting releases as 1994’s 2x RIAA diamond-certified blockbuster, Cracked Rear View, and classic top 10 hit singles like “Hold My Hand,” “Let Her Cry,” and the #1 pop smash, “Only Wanna Be With You,” all co-written by Sonefeld – through his breathtaking path from addiction to recovery and spiritual transformation towards a more fruitful life. Begun in 2017, the project consumed nearly four years of effort, continuing through Hootie and the Blowfish’s 2019 return from 10-year hiatus for a new album and tour, and then summed up during the solace of the pandemic era.
2022 saw the release of Sonefeld’s latest solo EP, REMEMBER TOMORROW, a moving and personal collection which saw him making an immense leap forward in craft, performance, and emotional impact. Hailed by American Songwriter as “a powerful testament to Sonefeld’s journey in faith,” the EP effortlessly weaves rock, country, gospel, and more into faith-driven folk pop with a profoundly inspiring power. Sonefeld is currently hard at work writing and crafting his next solo collection, as always driven by the simple mission of offering hope and inspiration through the universal power of song.
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