How Hootie & the Blowfish’s Classic ‘Hold My Hand’ Came to Be on Scotty McCreery’s ‘Bottle Rockets’: ‘It Fit Like a Glove’

Sometimes, a serendipitous moment happens while writing a song that in hindsight seems like it was just meant to be.

Such is the case was with Scotty McCreery’s new single “Bottle Rockets,” which features Hootie & the Blowfish revisiting their breakthrough hit, 1994’s “Hold My Hand.”

McCreery was with songwriting buddies and producer Frank Rogers at his cabin in the North Carolina mountains for a writing retreat. There were six inches of snow on the ground when thoughts turned to warmer times and the soundtracks to their memories of summers past.

“I had mentioned how much I loved Hootie & the Blowfish, and Frank being from South Carolina and a frequent collaborator with Darius [Rucker] knew exactly what to do with that,” McCreery says. “We started strumming the tune that would eventually become ‘Bottle Rockets,’ and at the end of the makeshift chorus we had at that point, Frank went into ‘Hold My Hand.’ It fit like a glove. Everyone was laughing and high-fiving because we knew we were on to something. The song really just spilled out from there.”

“Bottle Rockets,” which came out last Friday (May 16) and was added to more than 100 country radio stations’ playlists, is a mid-tempo, nostalgic slice of summers past — with McCreery fondly recalling a time with a young love at the beach, feet in the sand, beer in hand and playing “Hold My Hand” on the guitar. And, as if by magic in the song, Rucker and his bandmates’ voices appear, rising up like a swelling wave. It feels like the perfect summer jam.

McCreery reached out to Rucker — and then Rogers also reached out to Rucker and the rest of the band about being on the record. “To be honest, I was nervous to ask them about this song, because ‘Hold My Hand’ has to be one of their babies,” McCreery says. “I knew I loved how the song came out, but I obviously couldn’t be sure what they would think until they heard it. I was very glad to hear each one of the guys loved ‘Bottle Rockets’ and were very open to the idea of getting back in the studio and being on this song with me. You should have seen the smile on my face when I got that text back.”

Hootie drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld tells Billboard he was surprised at how well the songs fit together. “I was certainly intrigued to see how ‘Hold My Hand’ would be woven into a contemporary song,” he says. “It’s not an easy task to do it tastefully. But geez! It truly sounds like all the parts were meant to be together when you hear the single.”

Any idea of sampling the original song was never really considered. “Frank Rogers knows Hootie & the Blowfish come from the old school, and we were gonna want to get in there and sing our own parts the old-fashioned way,” Sonefeld says.

“I’m not sure much thought was ever even given to just sampling the song,” McCreery says. “The thought in my head was always how cool it would be if the whole gang got back in the studio and sang ‘Hold My Hand’ for the song.”

Once the band agreed, it came together quickly. Almost too quickly, McCreery says. “Mark [Bryan], Dean [Felber] and Soni actually called us while we were in the studio tracking for the new EP and said, ‘We’re all together right now at the studio. Can we just record right now?’ We hadn’t even recorded the song yet,” McCreery says. “So, we got our band together real quick to find a tempo and a key, gave that to them, and they recorded their parts for ‘Bottle Rockets’ before ‘Bottle Rockets’ was ever even recorded.”

Sonefeld, Bryan and Felber recorded their parts at Bryan’s studio on the South Carolina coast. “Luckily, we were still nice and warmed up from our 2024 Hootie tour,” Sonefeld says. “Heck, we’ve all sang those parts so many times I think we could do it in our sleep.”

Rucker was in Nashville from London, where he now lives, and recorded his part in Rogers’ home studio, where McCreery does his vocal recordings as well. “Frank sent me a clip of D singing in the booth and I could tell it was just going to be killer,” McCreery says.

Sonefeld brought “Hold My Hand” to Hootie & the Blowfish when he joined the band in the early ‘90s, and it’s been the delight of his life to see it travel the world. “If you would have told me in 1989 when I wrote ‘Hold My Hand’ that the song would later be sung by our fans at concerts from South Carolina to South Africa to Australia to Ireland, and all around the globe, I’d have told you that you’re a big liar,” he says. “Heck, if you told me I’d be in a band named Hootie & the Blowfish I would have told you the same thing!”

McCreery was less than a year old when “Hold My Hand” was a hit — but growing up in North Carolina, Hootie & the Blowfish (who are from neighboring South Carolina) were practically in McCreery’s DNA.

“Being born and raised in the Carolinas, Hootie & the Blowfish is really just a part of the culture here,” he says. “Their music was always around when I was growing up. It was on the radio, in the background at restaurants, you would hear their songs at sporting events or the DJ would play their songs when everyone was on the dance floor at weddings. You couldn’t and still can’t really go anywhere without hearing them somewhere. In college was probably when I started jamming to them the most. I never performed their songs live, but I’m sure I’ve held a beer can up like a microphone and gave my friends a rousing performance of “Only Wanna Be With You” a time or two.”

Though McCreery is friendly with the band, his main connection is Rucker, with whom he shares a warm friendship. “Darius and I have golfed a bunch together — he normally wins, but I’ve gotten him a time or two — and football also is something we bond over,” McCreery says. “We’re in the same fantasy football league, and then we love to talk smack about college sports as well. He is a big [University of South Carolina] Gamecock fan, and I’m a [North Carolina State University] Wolfpack guy. D is full of stories and has shared lots of knowledge and wisdom with me over the years. Whether it be in a golf cart or on a ferry ride through the night from Dublin to London, I’m all ears anytime I’m around him trying to soak up some of that knowledge.” 

McCreery’s biggest challenge has been trying to figure out how to replicate the song live, which he did for the first time this past weekend. “At the moment, I’m having my band singing the ‘Hold My Hand” hook lines and I’m singing most of Darius’ lines myself,” he says. “It’s working, and the crowds have given us a great response to it live. We may change how we do it as the summer goes on, potentially utilizing the video wall we have on the road, but for the moment, that’s what we are doing.”

Or maybe he can just reach out to his friends. “Give us a call if you need some background vocalists,” Sonefeld jokes, but seriously adds he is thrilled with the result and that a new generation may hear “Hold My Hand.” “It’s a timeless message about lifting each other up during difficult times,” he says. “And I think a younger audience will really vibe on that.”

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