All The Way Up

NextUp: Needtobreathe

What you’re about to (hopefully) read is what we’re calling NextUp. NextUp is a series of articles that take a look at new or relatively new artists coming onto the scene and are on the verge of making it in the big time. Our first story is about a little rock band from Seneca, South Carolina, called Needtobreathe. The foursome, composed of brothers Bo (backup vocals, guitar) and Bear (lead vocals, guitar, piano) Rinehart, Seth Bolt (backup vocals, bass), and Joe Stillwell (drums and percussion) who came together in 2000 at Furman University playing Christian music. The band released a couple EPs independently in 2001 (The Feature) and 2004 (Fire and The Turnaround) before releasing their first album, Daylight, on Atlantic Records/Lava Records/Sparrow Records. Now they’re touring with Gavin DeGraw and Third Day. Obviously someone had faith in them, considering Atlantic is one of the biggest names in the record industry (and Sparrow one of the biggest in the Christian music industry if you’re unfamiliar). And rightly so- Their first single from the album, “You Are Here,” landed at #2 on the charts in 2006. The next single seemed to have garnered the band more attention than the first, but really wasn’t played much on the radio- but it could be heard everywhere else: at the movie theater (the song was featured on the comedy Employee of the Month), MTV (reality TV series “Newport Harbor”), and even on Oprah (“Oprah’s Big Give”). Although it was never a single, “Don’t Wait For Daylight” also saw TV time as well on Fox Sports’ ads for the 2006 World Series.

Keep reading to see how they did with their latest album:

Needtobreathe’s sophomore album, The Heat, was released in August 2007 and delivered no indication that Rineharts & Co. were ready to back down. The band received several Dove Award nominations at the 2008 GMA Dove Awards, including Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year. The Heat covers all the bases, including amazing rock anthems such as “Restless,” a worshipful “Signature of Divine (Yahweh),” and a very old-school gospel style that still somehow strikes a chord with young listeners with “Washed by the Water,” and even a breakup song of sorts in “Again.” And what’s more is that each of the aforementioned titles, along with each and every other song on the album, are penned with equally witty and provoking lyrics. Along with lyrics far superior to that of many current rock acts and a wide variation in musical style, the band’s musical and vocal ability are vastly unique and make it hard to label Needtobreathe as Alternative, Southern Rock, or Gospel. The only thing that’s for sure is no matter what type of music you listen to, it’d be hard not to like what you hear- and as was the case with Daylight, what we’ve seen so far from The Heat certainly backs that claim with the Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year nomination, as well as a Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year nomination for “Signature of Divine (Yahweh),” which went all the way up to the #1 spot on CHR and was 2007’s Top 20 most played list for Christian Hit Radio. In addition, other singles released from the album include “More Time,” which peaked at #9 on Billboard, the soulful “Washed by the Water,” which got the band their second #1 single, and their current single, “Streets of Gold,” which has been featured in ABC/ESPN’s coverage of NASCAR racing. Other songs getting TV airtime from The Heat include “Nothing Left to Lose,” which was featured in commercials by Fox promoting its show “Prison Break,” as well as “We Could Run Away” on MTV’s “The Hills.” The band also found their way onto the soundtrack of yet another movie, P.S. I Love You, with “More Time.”

Needtobreathe is also known among its fans for its somewhat obscure music videos for songs such as “Signature of Divine (Yahweh)” and “Shine On,” but they stuck with a somewhat “normal” approach for the video for “Washed by the Water.” While their videos haven’t gotten much major play on MTV or VH1, that’s a step that probably isn’t too far away with as much success as Needtobreathe has had in such a short period of time. And hopefully, they’ll keep having that success so that we can keep hearing new music from them, because they’ve got me ready for more!

Oh, and by the way, they haven’t forgotten that Christmas is just around the corner and are sure to do well with their most current single, “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” which is available for download on Amazon (and is recommended, as is the purchase of both CD’s) and is being launched as “Streets of Gold” still continues to get played on the radio.