NeedtoBreathe

Nature or Nurture? Is a great rock band born or bred? In the case of NeedtoBreathe the answer is both. Three of the central band members are PK’s – pastors kids – to very successful fathers who have learned how to produce a great show every Sunday morning. In addition, their families are musical. Bear and Bo borrowed a few of dad’s trumpet licks from the days on tour with the Gaithers (never heard of them? Look in the gospel section – they’re still bestsellers after several decades). Joe inherited his mother’s classical training and combined it with his father’s razor-sharp intellect and deep smooth voice. If a band was ever born with a head start, it is this one.

But if NeedtoBreathe are students of their fathers, they are also students of rock. Joe knows every word to every rock song written within the last 30 years (plus every drum lick). Bear studies image and marketing in an attempt to create a band with a huge look, a huge sound, and a huge draw. Seth first captured NTB's sound as a high-school student and now holds a degree in recording engineering. They have studied and mastered performance, sound, and showmanship and consequently earned a remarkably faithful and fired up audience of "Breathers."

On stage nature and nurture converge. Bear is up front, big as a mountain, singing breathy John Mayerish vocals with fifty extra pounds of testosterone and muscle. Joe is in the back adding smooth bass harmonies and a thunder of rhythm. Nick to the left banging the keys off his monster Triton. Seth to the right with a bass, retro glasses, and a "this is too cool for words" grin.

The two brothers are the center of the show. Bo is an electron orbiting the stage in a crazed frenzy, eyes wide and wild. If Bear is a rock, swaying with his low strung guitar; Bo is his otherworldly antithesis tethered to earth only by a microphone, where he will pant a few background vocals before launching back into orbit. Bear is the brains. Bo is the art.

After a midnight show in an empty bar I once overheard the frustrated question posed to the young guitarist who simultaneously feeds and feeds off of a crowd, "Bo, what happened tonight? You didn't go nuts!"

These days, Bo is always nuts. A huge rock show in an empty room is long gone. So are the all-day garage rehearsals on Sunday afternoons in Seneca. No more lunch shifts at Macaroni grill, road-trips in a dingy brown van, or pre-game meals at Kyoto express. The time has come for sharing the stage with the likes Switchfoot and Collective Soul. The long awaited contract with Atlantic/Lava records arrived, and a summer of recording in England awaits. Dreams are becoming reality.

Between you and me, though, I will miss the days of sneaking in through a side door to avoid a $3 cover charge. I will miss watching with a wide-open mouth, knowing full-well where this band is headed and smugly sharing this knowledge only with the doorman and sound board operator at an empty club.

The next time I watch NeedtoBreathe, it may be through binoculars at the back of a crowd of thousands. But I'm certain that even from that distance, their music and perfomance will still be, as it always has been, larger than life.

Catch a sneak preview of NTB's music on purevolume or myspace.com

Chip Houston: Daybreak

Chasing the Dark and Daybreak. The titles express the maturing of both music and life of Chip Houston, an Atlanta-based singer/songwriter gearing up for the release of his sophomore album, Daybreak, recorded with Grammy-winning producer Mitch Dane. Much has changed for Chip between the two records; marriage, a new job, a new home, and solidifying of dreams and purpose. He has a big-league voice that carries both albums. But the hint of timidity and uncertainty that restrained Chasing the Dark is nowhere to be found on Daybreak. “We’re aimless, but we’re going somewhere,” Chip sang on the first record, as if conscious that it was a stop on the way to something bigger.

Bigger, this time, means musical stripping, dedicated songwriting, and a good deal of soul bearing via acoustic duets with guitarist Willi Boos. The result is vocals and guitar front and center and a cohesive, catchy hour of great music.

Bigger also means greater spiritual emphasis and personal transparency. The two radio-friendly songs, I Belong to Love and Audience of One could be considered creedal statements. Daybreak narrates the Genesis tale of Jacob wrestling an angel in order to receive divine blessing. October Brings Me Down tells of divorce and suicide. Waiting on You speaks of longing for heaven.

Though spiritual, this is not a kumbayah record. Houston’s faith is a manly one of conviction and determination. He is Jacob wrestling for the blessing on Daybreak. He is refusing to give into regret, shortcomings, and popular opinion on Audience of One. With Daybreak, Chip puts his “hand to the plow” as if to say “this is who I am and what I’m about, take it or leave it.”

Daybreak is set to release on April 29. Gifted with a sound business sense and solid work ethic in addition to the stellar voice, Chip wants to hit the ground running with Daybreak. He has a flurry of shows through Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas over the coming months. Get out, enjoy a show, pick up the new record, and give it a well-deserved listen. You will be glad you did.

for more see: http://www.chiphouston.com

listen or purchase Daybreak on CdBaby

Shane Barnard

Every once in a while you come across a disc that raises the bar of music to a higher level, one where everything you listened to before it becomes drab and everyone else no longer measures up. Rocks Won't Cry was one of those discs. I was a fan for life by the end of the first track - the superhuman strumming rhythm, perfect runs, soaring harmonies with sidekick Shane Everett, Hammond organ, thundering drums, and incredible "kinda live" feel. Psalms, the sequel, was even better, if that is possible. The prayerful songwriting became deeper, the dynamics more intense, the music tighter, and the voices still perfect.

Needless to say, when they made a rare stop to a nearby college, I was there (early enough to chat with a few crew members before sound check:).

Somehow, as much as I loved his music, I had never seen a picture of Shane. So when the two musicians walked out on stage, I automatically assumed the goofy-looking one with short curly hair and cargo pants (with a slight resemblance to Lieutenant Dan from Forest Gump) was Shane E. and the big, handsome one was Shane Barnard. Oops. As the concert progressed, I was puzzled both by his appearance and mannerisms. He didn't look like the greatest musician I've ever heard. He didn't talk as if he was great. Or act great. I would close my eyes and listen to the incredible sound, then open them to, if I can be honest, disappointment.

Lest I sound unkind, I insert that Shane was the first to laugh at his ordinary appearance. And to assert his insignificance. "I'm not the guy who sat around playing guitar in his room," Shane said. "The only reason I'm here is I did a CD as a favor for my mom and it got in the wrong hands. God gave me a girl's voice and the ability to play, and for all I know it may be gone tomorrow."

I came to meet a hero, but instead I encountered an ordinary man blessed in extraordinary ways, who was the first to claim so.

"How do you stay humble?" I asked him after the show.

"This is not me and not my doing," he answered.

He was not the only amazingly humble one out of the band. Shane Everett clearly never sought to steal the spotlight. He stood by quietly, some songs only inserting 6 or 8 bars of strumming and a harmony line. Drummer Will Hunt, with a spectacular kit of an African "snare" and toms and traditional kick and cymbals produced mabye the strongest live sound I've ever heard (being in Waite Chapel at Wake Forest may have helped a bit). During a broken string moment of silence, someone shouted "Drum Solo!"

"Amen," I thought to myself.

But he shook his head and then bowed it. The show was not about the music. Nor the musicians. Nor the phenomenal sound. It was about God's greatness and nothing else.
I came looking for a new hero and left dissapointed with the realization that I sought another false idol. There is one hero, and Shane and Shane's music is all about Him.

For more, see the Christianitytoday.com interview

Independant Bands

Here's a pair of reviews that independentbands.com published on Jars of Clay and Derek Webb a while back:

Who We Are Instead
Since their self-titled first release, Jars of Clay has been searching for their musical identity, and they have finally found it. Who we are instead is a delightful mix of vintage gospel feel. It blends acoustic rock with a touch of country, adds some driving programmed drums for a borderline pop feel, and the 1930's piano to balance the modern with ancient. The songs are simple on the surface, but gain depth each time the CD spins - and it will - this is the sort of record that you leave on repeat for days on end.

I See Things Upside Down
Derek has a lot on his heart and uses his songs as the vehicle for his message. With "I See Things Upside Down,” however, the vehicle looks a little bit different from Derek's past discs. It is a somewhat schitzophrenic journey from anthem to classic rockish ballad. Lot's of droning organs, electric guitars, old-timey piano, about quadruple the number and variety of instruments. Think the sound of U2, Beatles, Rolling Stones, with the message of a modern day John the Baptist. It's a welcome experiment in a new style that quite possibly may rub pure acoustic singer/songwriter fans the wrong way. But it's still worth the purchase just to study the lyric sheet.