Two-time Grammy award-winning Hootie & the Blowfish will return for their annual Homegrown Concert event at Family Circle Magazine Stadium on Friday, Aug. 15. The concert series encourages fans to bring school supplies to the show as a donation, and all supplies are donated to local schools in need. The campaign has been so successful that Hootie & the Blowfish have decided to base their entire tour on giving back to economically disadvantaged schools in each community they visit and will conclude their 24-city Homegrown Tour in the city where it all began. Gates will open at 6 p.m., and the concert will start at 8 p.m. with Josh Kelley opening.  

This show has set concert attendance records and sold-out in each of the previous three years. Tickets will become available at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 21.  Reserved seating will be available on the Floor and in the First Tier for $38, in the Second Tier for $30, and general admission seating will be available in the Third Tier for $25 via www.Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone (843) 554-6060, and local Publix outlets.

You can also purchase tickets at the Family Circle Tennis Center ticket office weekdays from Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. - noon.

Hootie & the Blowfish--made up of Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld- have sold over 25 million albums since their debut in 1994. The band believes that with success comes responsibility, and they have used their celebrity status to help improve the lives of those in need, and they even established the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation. The foundation benefits children of South Carolina through education and supporting school music programs, and has since spread to a nationwide campaign.

Rucker, lead singer of the band stated, “Children are our best resource and our most hopeful investment. With proper tools, our children can receive a well-rounded and meaningful education.”

In 2003, when the band learned about budget cuts taking place in education, they became inspired to do something. They established the annual concert in their hometown, Charleston, SC, as a way to help raise awareness to the needs of local school children in the community. The night of the concert, ticket holders were asked to bring school supplies to the concert held at Family Circle Magazine Stadium. The response was so overwhelming that a 55-seat school bus was filled from top to bottom with school supplies that were distributed to the schools and teachers in the Charleston County School District.

Since its conception, the band and their loyal fans have gathered enough school supplies to pack over 30 buses, (six buses in Charleston alone) a total of $150,000 worth of school supplies. Their goal this year is to double their contributions to the communities in a matter of months. Fans will be able to keep track of the giving in each city on their Web site, www.hootie.com, and celebrate when efforts from the fans reach their goal of a total of 60 school buses filled when the tour ends in Charleston.

“The Homegrown Concert is proof positive that the community can make a real impact on the lives of our youth, and what better place than right here at home, ” Rucker said.

 For more information on the Family Circle Tennis Center, or for a complete schedule of events,call (843) 849-5300 or visit www.familycirclecup.com.