Three-time GRAMMY Award-winning superstar Darius Rucker unveiled the official music video for his current single, “Fires Don’t Start Themselves,” with an exclusive CMT world premiere this morning across all platforms, including CMT, CMT Music, the CMT Equal Play channel on Pluto TV, CMT.com and Paramount billboards in Times Square. The cinematic video casts Rucker as a detective hot on the trail of a young couple whose passionate love is setting their town ablaze, both literally and figuratively.
The song, praised by Billboard for Rucker’s “effective use of the impressive vocal control and power in his lower register,” is featured on his highly anticipated new album, Carolyn’s Boy, set for Oct. 6 release and named for his late mother as an “homage to the greatest woman I’ve ever known.”
“It’s been six years… We had so much to write about, so I took my time, got with some great guys, got some great songs and I’m really excited for people to hear it,” Rucker shared from the “TODAY” Citi Concert Series stage on Friday, Sept. 1 as he offered a preview of the project with rousing performances of “Fires Don’t Start Themselves,” No. 1 hit “Beers And Sunshine” and recent release “Have A Good Time,” in addition to treating viewers to his Diamond-certified fan-favorite “Wagon Wheel,” one of the top five best-selling Country songs of all time.
From there, Rucker also made a stop in Charlotte over the weekend to cheer on his beloved USC Gamecocks as the guest picker on ESPN’s College GameDay, debuting his starring role on the show’s new theme song for the season, before performing the National Anthem and serving as an honorary captain for the USC vs. UNC coin toss. Fans across the country can celebrate the start of football season with year three of his Darius Rucker Collection by Fanatics line, with an expansion to select NCAA teams for the first time, in addition to new NFL offerings and the debut of a full line of MLB apparel.
Next, Rucker returns to the road on his Starting Fires Tour ahead of the album’s release next month, which will also be celebrated during the second year of his personally curated Riverfront Revival Music Festival set for Oct. 7-8 in his hometown of Charleston, S.C. In addition to Rucker himself, fans will be treated to performances by Turnpike Troubadours, Lainey Wilson, Band of Horses and more.