Since their formation in 2001 and their major label debut in 2006, NeedToBreathe established themselves as one of the premier faith-based rock bands of the 21st century. To follow their career, though, despite their steady, growing prominence, it would seem it took a long time for the band to come to terms with that distinction.

The band of brothers from South Carolina turned down numerous contract offers from Christian record label companies at the start. Signing with Atlantic Records, they made sure their music was marketed to the mainstream. 

To hear frontman and bandleader Bear Rinehart tell the story in interviews over the years, they have always wanted to make music that appealed to every sort of rock music fan and never chose to write songs for a particular audience. However, as people of faith who write their own songs, their music has been an expression of the lives they live out in that faith, and it has always been Christian radio, not mainstream rock radio, that has played their music.

Regardless of genre, they have a huge following, showcased by their nearly sold-out show at Sweetwater Performance Pavilion on Sunday, Aug. 13.

Creating a big sound

Their press kit bio stresses that they’ve sold millions across eight studio albums, streamed more than 1 billion times, and topped several Billboard mainstream radio, album and sales charts. It doesn’t mention the 15 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards that they have been given from 2009-21, on the basis of hits like “Signature of Divine (Yahweh)” and “Washed by the Water.”

There’s no question that it’s legions of fans who love inspirational rock that flock to their concerts and enable NeedToBreathe to sell out venues across the U.S. and Canada. 

Here in Fort Wayne, we’ve been fortunate to see them in the relatively intimate setting of Sweetwater Pavilion in May 2022 on an atypical, unplugged acoustic tour. 

The band is led by Rinehart on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, Seth Bolt on bass, Josh Lovelace on keyboards, Randal Harris on drums, and newest member Tyler Burkum on lead guitar. 

As a straight-ahead rock band with no hint of metal in their arrangements, they’ve got the biggest, arena-filling, richly produced sound around. In the studio and live on stage, their anthems are augmented by skillfully mixed atmospheric sonic textures and vocals layered up like a choir. 

The unique element in this sound, though, is that through all those layers of sonic wizardry you still hear the vulnerable, plaintive strains of the acoustic instruments they used a lot more in their early days. Bolt and Lovelace will double on mandolin, Burkum will switch from guitar to banjo, and they work violin into many of their songs.

That expansive sound was captured well on their 2022 concert album Live from Bridgestone Arena. Fans are eagerly anticipating their next studio album, Caves, announced for Sept. 15. Two singles, “Everknown” and “The Cave” are out on the streaming platforms.

You too may hear similarities

It’s no secret that a great number of modern rock bands trace their influences back to a certain minimalist quartet from Ireland that conquered the world in the 1980s when they brought in electronic music producers to undergird their guitar-based rock with elaborate sequenced and sampled soundscapes in huge, reverberant spaces. 

This band was also known for the heartfelt inspirational sentiments they wove into their lyrics as well. 

When I listened to NeedToBreathe’s greatest hits, the influence was obvious. They are the latest in a long line of bands with this sound and approach. 

Then I found a recent interview with Rinehart in American Songwriter that confirmed it. The interviewer writes: “Rinehart says a friend always used to call them the Southern equivalent of U2. With Caves, the frontman is beginning to see it, too.”

“I think this record feels like that,” Rinehart said. “It feels like a Joshua Tree for us,” referring to the 1987 album that U2 recorded with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

NeedToBreathe’s music is powerful in an organic fashion, and Rinehart’s coarse, rough voice expresses their own experiences in a way that fans across the country respond to in every anthemic chorus. 

If you’ve already got your tickets, you’ll get to see a band continuing to create fresh music for the 21st century.