R.E.M.’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ covered by Darius Rucker in honor of his new band with Mike Mills

It was just announced that R.E.M.’s Mike Mills is teaming with former The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker to form the new band Howl Owl Howl, and to mark the news, Rucker has shared his take on a classic R.E.M. track.

In a post on Instagram, Rucker performs the Automatic for the People track “Everybody Huts,” dubbing the performance “episode 1 of Songs I Wish I’d Written.”

And it looks like the folks at R.E.M. are impressed with his rendition, sharing Darius’ cover on Instagram with the caption,  “Such a beautiful version… looking forward to @howlowlhowl.”

Howl Owl Howl is set to release their debut track, “My Cologne,” on Oct. 31, and will hit the road for a nine-date tour starting Nov. 3 in Indianapolis. A complete list of dates can be found at howlowlhowl.com.