Needtobreathe at the House of Blues

• By MICHAEL FARRAR
• Special to 2thadvocate.com
• Published: Oct 13, 2009

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For some bands, making music is just a job, but with Needtobreathe, you get the impression that music is as vital to them as, well, their next breath.

"The music that we sing, we want there to be a purpose in it. Not just about random things. The best bands to us have something to say," Bo Rinehart, the guitarist of Needtobreathe, said.

Needtobreathe includes Seth Bolt (bass), Joe Stillwell (drums), and brothers Bo Rinehart (guitar) and Bear Rinehart (lead singer).

Bo and his brother Bear are the songwriters for Needtobreathe's three full-length CDs and three indie EPs.

"Between me and Bear, we write a lot of material and it almost becomes a competition, you know? He brings a great song in, and I feel like I have to match him and out-do him," Rinehart said.

The Rinehart brothers' songwriting ability was strong enough for a Gospel Music Association Dove Award for "Washed by the Water," which nabbed the prize for Rock/Contemporary Song of the Year.

As kids growing up in a small South Carolina town, their father's job as a church pastor showed Bear and Bo the power of the spoken word and music with a message.

"We both came from a musical background," Bo Rinehart said. "My dad actually played trumpet and traveled with Roy Clark and Glen Campbell."

Even after their dad stopped touring with the country music stars, the Rinehart boys were still exposed to music through their mother, who taught piano.

Needtobreathe started in1999 and by 2006, the group signed with Atlantic Records to record their “Daylight” CD in the United Kingdom. However, it was “The Heat,” their follow-up CD that really took off.

The single “More Time” and several other songs that appeared in the film “P.S. I Love You" and MTV's hit show “The Hills” came from this CD. While the exposure their music garnered in the film and on television was welcome, it was rather strange when the band saw the end result.

"They just use it for whatever makes sense to them and sometimes it makes sense for the song and sometimes it doesn't," Rinehart said. "But the response has been amazing. We actually met a lot of our fans because of that."

When it was time to record 2009’s "The Outsiders" CD, the band collaborated on songs with a trio of producers including John Alagia, who guided acts like John Mayer and the Dave Matthews Band.