Darius Rucker, 'Charleston, SC 1966' -- 2010 New Album Preview

Two years after , Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker struck gold with his certified platinum country album 'Learn to Live,' the renaissance man is back, with a brand new album titled 'Charleston, SC 1966.'

In July, Rucker announced that his new album would hit stores on Oct. 12, replete with 12 new country songs he put together with producer Frank Rogers -- the same man with whom Rucker collaborated to create 'Learn to Live.'

The title of his new album is reportedly a tribute to three very important things in Rucker's life: his hometown of Charleston, the year of his birth, and Radney Foster's debut solo album, 'Del Rio, TX 1959' -- an album that indelibly influenced Rucker's artistic career. "It was his voice," Rucker told the AP. "It was really the first time where I had heard country music where I thought, 'Man, I could sing that.' I always liked it, but it was always, I never really knew I could play it. But then I heard Radney and it was like, 'Wow, that guy's amazing.'"

As he did while putting together his first country solo album, Rucker apparently went a bit overboard in writing new material for his new record. According to The AP, the artist wrote a staggering 77 new tracks for his new album, most of which were penned while he was on tour, in his Nashville recording studio, or at home.

Writing absurd amounts of songs, however, is familiar territory for Rucker, who reportedly wrote 52 new songs for his previous country album. Eventually Rucker was forced to whittle down his selection to just 12 -- a process he claims was surprisingly natural. "We just listened to them and saw what was rising to the top," Rucker says. "When I say that, people say to me, 'Man, that must be a hard decision.' No, not really. The best songs really rise to the top."

As for the sound of his new album, Rucker says fans shouldn't expect to hear anything drastically different from 'Learn to Live.' "I don't think it's going to be light-years different," Rucker said. "I don't think we set out to reinvent the wheel or do a new sound. I think this record is more of an expansion of the last record than anything else. It's like picking up where the last record left off."

According to The Boot, the first single off of 'Charleston' will be a track titled 'Come Back Song,' which tells the story of a man who's done some pretty nasty things to his significant other. Rucker, however, insists that the track isn't reflective of his own experience. "It was just a little idea that turned out to be a cool tune," he explains. "But I've been married for a long time, and I've messed up a lot. [laughs] My wife is a saint; she's a wonderful woman."