When Jim Sonefeld looks back on his days as drummer for Hootie & the Blowfish, it's very much a cracked rear view. The 1994 album of that title sold 25 million copies worldwide, making them incredibly rich young men who could have almost anything they wanted. And Sonefeld, a lapsed Catholic, wanted it all—girls, booze, drugs, just about anything you'd expect on a rock star's wish list.

Jim Sonfeld

Jim Sonfeld

Sonefeld struggled with alcoholism for about a decade, a time in which he fathered two children and, eventually, lost his first wife to divorce. But ultimately, at the urging of family and friends, he started attending 12-step meetings, gave up booze, remarried, and recommitted himself to God and family.

He recently decided to give Christian music a try; his debut project, an EP called Found, released earlier this year. We talked to Sonefeld about the new music, his wild ride with Hootie, his faith—and how his 4-year-old daughter helped him quit drinking.

You grew up in a Catholic home and went to Catholic school. Was your faith important in those years?

It was more of a cultural thing. I learned about Jesus and the church, but I was more interested in sports and other things. I wish I had been stronger, but when I went to college [at the University of South Carolina] one of the first things I left behind was my need to have a relationship with Jesus. I wanted to do good things and be a good citizen, but that was as far as it went.

While at South Carolina, you guys formed a band. Things were slow at first, but when Cracked Rear View released in 1994, you guys blew up. What was that like?

It messed with my head. My dream was to be a successful musician, so that was fine. But I didn't have a spiritual foundation, and it was only a matter of time before I got knocked off that pedestal because I was afflicted with something else—an addiction.

Were you a party animal in college?

Actually, it started in high school. I was 14 when I first started messing around with drugs and alcohol, and I had consequences pretty early.

Like what?

Like getting in a wreck with one of your classmate's parents' car before you even get a driver's license—and it's involving alcohol. So I didn't need a driver's license to get my first run-in with the police and drinking and driving. But the contradiction is that I was a successful soccer player who got decent grades and went to church on Sunday.

At what point did occasional partying turn into an addiction?

Not till I got out of college, till I had something regular called a paycheck, if you can call it that. We were living in squalor before Cracked Rear View took off. It was a pretty meager lifestyle, and I couldn't afford to drink as much as I probably would have liked.

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Then Cracked Rear View changed everything.

It was like winning the music lottery. Now everybody wants to buy me a drink, and frankly, and I can also afford to buy the entire bar a drink. Not a good scene for someone prone to addiction and has zero spiritual foundation.

Did you ever get out of control to the point where the band confronted you?

I was amazingly functional, even as I pushed the envelope of partying. We never had to cancel a gig. I was sometimes ill from partying the night before, but always pulled it off. I never had any consequences that amounted to a real gut check. And in the rock 'n' roll world, let's face it, there are barely any boundaries. There's nothing that's too crazy. Death is about the only thing that might make someone say, "Oh, he went too far."

Sonefeld (second from right) and the band were huge in 1995

Sonefeld (second from right) and the band were huge in 1995

It wasn't until after our fame started going downhill a bit that it started getting a little dark and creepy. That's when my band and others started doing the soft interventions, stuff like, "We're concerned about you. We love you, but why are you hanging out in weird places with weird people all the time?" And "When's the last time you slept?"

And in the meantime you had a wife and kids?

Yeah. I got married in 1996, and we started having kids in 2000.

You were already an alcoholic by '96.

Yes. I was drinking almost every day by then, because I liked the way it made me feel. And when you go weeks or months without consequence, then you're functional. You're golden. You've just passed with a flying C.

Were you pursuing the other typical, um, pleasures of a rock star?

Well, I'll say this. Alcoholism is a progressive disease. What one day was drinking and staying up late talking to fans, a year later was going to bars to meet fans. And the next thing you know you're in a position where something bad could happen if I make a wrong choice, and that could involve sex. We let our guard down a little bit, and then a little more, and the next thing you know you're doing something you shouldn't be doing. It didn't happen all of a sudden, but I made decisions that led me into these darker places. And those were my own decisions; it wasn't even the alcohol. It was Jim Sonefeld.

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A spouse might tolerate alcoholism, but unfaithfulness is another story. Is that what led to your first marriage falling apart?

I don't want to hurt anyone, and we've been able to achieve a divorce that didn't have a lot of collateral damage. So let's just leave it at, "Jim found himself in very dark places," and people can figure that out. But here's another thing: The alcoholic is often smart. You find yourself in bad places and you tell yourself, "I'm not going there again." And time goes by and then you find yourself there again—only worse. So I kept finding myself back in these places, and I couldn't figure a way out of them. That's the slow fade. And it's a difficult thing to all of a sudden realize, "How did I get here?"

When did you and your first wife divorce?

January 2008. We had two children, ages 8 and 5.

You'd already been sober a few years by then. How did that come about? Did you have a "rock bottom" moment or an epiphany?

The moment came in 2004, when God spoke to me through my 4-year-old daughter, Cameron. I was lying hung over in the music studio I had built behind our house; I had not made it into the house the night before. It was a Sunday morning and up pops Cameron onto my chest. She just looked down and said, "Dad, what are you doing out here?" I couldn't even answer the question; I had been stumped by my four-year-old daughter, and it hurt more than any hangover. You can't tell a 4-year-old, I don't have control of my life. Your daddy's half in the bag and he can't control his intake. That was my epiphany right there, man. I went to my first 12-step meeting that day.

Sonefeld (left) with Hootie & the Blowfish at a recent show

Sonefeld (left) with Hootie & the Blowfish at a recent show

What was that like for you?

Gosh. It's mainly realizing that you've come to the point where you have to surrender and say, "I can't do it." I'm a 40-year-old man at that point. I'm college educated. I've got a family. I've got money. So going to a 12-step program is not a fun place to be, because you've got to admit, "I have no control over my life." I knew I was an alcoholic. I'd been intervened. The wheels were coming off. So I wanted answers. Hell, I would have taken a doctor telling me, "You're a sick man and you're not allowed to drink anymore because you have some weird disease."

But a 4-year-old daughter will do in a pinch.

Yes, a 4-year-old daughter will be perfect. [Sonefeld laughs.] God, you're funny. Why don't you make me feel even smaller by sending a 4-year-old to fix me up? I was scared, but I knew I was in the right place. And I had a lot of idols to get rid of.

Like what?

Materialism, money, the addiction to approval. I was used to people loving me by the thousands at a concert. I had to pull all these idols down—alcohol, sex, attention. I was trying to fill myself with sports cars, groovy new clothes. You try and …

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Wait. Did you just say "groovy"?

Hey, I'm old enough. I started high school in 1979. Come on!

OK, fair enough. You were saying?

So I tried to fill myself up with all these idols. But once I started downsizing, I had to start peeling these things off. And as I did, who was standing there but God, not saying I told you so, not making me feel like I was a failure, but saying, All right, now let's start over. Now that you surrendered to all these things, let's begin.

You remarried in 2008, and I've heard that your second wife, Laura, played a role in your growing faith.

Yes. She had been on sort of a parallel path in her life, where she was coming to realize that she hadn't been living the way she wanted to. She had already had a great head start in the Bible as an adult, and so that was very helpful for both of us as we grew together.

So now you have five kids—two from your first marriage, and three from Laura's?

Yes. A 14-year-old, two 12-year-olds, and two 8-year-olds.

Now that you've made a Christian record, do the other Hootie members think you've gone all Jesus freak on them?

[Laughs.] Yeah. I think it was a relief to them when I sobered up. But the more difficult change is when you start carrying their faith more boldly. I don't know why that was so much more scary for me to share with them. That was a big thing for me to overcome—I could dig being a Christian, but I when I started writing and singing, I realized, Oh wait, I have to sing in front of people. Are you sure you want me to do this, God?

There are several biblical stories where the guy getting the tap on the shoulder looks around and says, "Who, me?" I felt that way. When I realized I have to sing these songs and tell people "I love Jesus," that intimidates me.

Because people know you as this guy in this rock band?

Yeah—and there's your idol of approval again, rearing its ugly head as I worry about what people will think of me now that I'm a Christian and very outward about it. Are they going to laugh at me? Are they going to claim, I got really messed up with this guy in 2004?

Sonefeld's new album

Sonefeld's new album

When you made the record, did you think about inviting any of the Hootie guys in for guest vocals or anything?

No. I felt like it was a proper time to make a break and ask God to pave me a new path. This is a special new life for me, special new music. I had no connections in the Christian music field, but now we're trying to get this thing out there. As God has worked on me to build my confidence and to give me the ability to shout louder and prouder, I assume he's got some sort of plan with getting people to hear the music.

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What about touring?

Only to the extent that there's a need. I spent five years in a van in the early '90s going out to see if anyone wanted to listen. But now I've got a family, and that's the most important thing. I would only tour if it fits around that schedule. I have a new purpose, and I feel like God is paving the way for me. I just don't know what it looks like yet.

Have we seen the last of Hootie & the Blowfish?

I don't think so. We have a foundation we support down here in the Carolinas, and we do some charity events. And we're coming up on the 20-year anniversary of Cracked Rear View in 2014. Maybe that would be the time to revisit some sort of reunion tour.

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