NEEDTOBREATHE Slays the Charts and Announces Tour Dates
South Carolina’s popular southern rock band NEEDTOBREATHE has been making quite a splash with their most recent album Rivers in the Wasteland, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and #1 on the Rock Albums Chart. With appearances at festivals such as the Sonshine Festival (MN), the Downpour Festival (MT) and Music Midtown in Atlanta, as well as major appearances with David Letterman and a spot with Ellen Degeneres (check it out at http://www.ellentv.com/videos/0-rjytdfgl/), it is safe to say the band is continuing to reach even newer and wider audiences.
The group began its rise on the Christian charts in 2006 with their single “Shine On.” Since then it has consistently played to the Christian music audience, playing such major festivals as Creation Festival. However, the band has been careful not to let their faith pigeonhole them, saying “we’re a band of Christians, not a Christian band” (Relevant Magazine). They simply didn’t want it to stereotype them or limit their opportunities, while playing to a larger audience.
Started around 2002, the band has released five studio albums, Daylight (2006), The Heat (2007), The Outsiders (2009), The Reckoning (2011), and, the most recent, Rivers in the Wasteland (2014). The original band is comprised of brothers William Stanley “Bear” Rinehart III (lead vocals, guitar, piano, organ, harmonica) and Nathaniel Bryant “Bo” 
Rinehart ( lead guitar, banjo,mandolin, backing vocals), Seth Bolt (bass, mandolin, backing vocals) and Joe Stillwell (drums). They are joined on tour by by Josh Lovelace (keyboards, backing vocals) and Randall Harris (drums) (Joe Stillwell left the band in 2012).
MTV raves Rivers In The Wasteland is “thunderous folk-rock … the South Carolina natives have managed to infuse the contemporary, chest-thumping rock styling’s of Imagine Dragons with the old-school, down-home goodness of a group like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young … wrapped up in an ethereal, woodsy, Bon Iver haze.” The Maverick UK goes on to say “This is a high-quality album from a band that deserves more recognition and appreciation.”
However, despite all the recent recognition, the band says, “Our faith has become much more a part of our decision making now,” he says. “Success has clouded that at times, but for us, it has to be at the top now. Our faith is the most important thing in our lives, and it’s definitely the most important thing in our career” (Relevant Magazine). After internal problems between the brothers a few years ago and the launching of this newest endeavor, it seems that they has happily come to a balance that many artists in their position seem to miss.
August 20th Tennessee Theatre Knoxville, TN
August 21st Tennessee Theatre Knoxville, TN
August 22nd The Uptown Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC
August 24th Durham Performing Arts Center Durham, NC
September 4th Austin Music Hall Austin, TX
September 5th Bayou Music Center Houston, TX
September 6th South Side Ballroom Dallas, TX
September 8th River Center Baton Rouge Baton Rouge, LA
September 9th Orpheum Theatre Memphis, TN
September 11th Alabama Theatre Birmingham, AL
September 13th The Woods at Fontanel Nashville, TN
September 14th Singletary Center for the Arts Lexington, KY
September 16th The Norva Norfolk, VA
September 18th North Charleston PAC Charleston, SC
September 19th Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC
September 22nd The Fillmore Silver Spring, MD
September 24th Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
September 25th Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
September 26th House of Blues Boston, MA
September 27th Best Buy Theater New York, NY
