Collective Soul members Ed Roland, Dean Roland, Will Turpin and Joel Kosche will headline at the famed Chastain Park Amphitheatre in on June 23rd, 2010. This show will mark the first time in two years that Collective Soul have played in their hometown of Atlanta, GA.
Opening for Collective Soul on June 23rd are The Less, a new band hailing from Atlanta and mentored by Collective Soul’s own Ed Roland. Uncle Kracker will also perform some of his hit songs including”Follow Me” from his 2001 double-platinum debut Double Wide.
Commenting on the upcoming show, Collective Soul frontman Ed Roland states: It’s been a little while since we’ve played a big show in Atlanta, and Chastain Park is the perfect place to do it. It’ll be exciting to see all of our friends and fans come out – playing to your hometown is a uniquely rewarding experience for any band. The addition of Uncle Kracker to the bill should make it a fun night.”
Collective Soul gained a special place in the hearts of music lovers when they burst onto the scene in 1993 with the rock anthem “Shine.” It’s hard to imagine that the band has been making music for nearly 2 decades since then.
The band released their 8th studio album in 2009 and the current hit single on the radio is “You,” the first song Collective Soul have written together as a unit. Other hot tracks include the driving “Dig,” the sobering, yet funky riffed “My Days,” “Staring Down” which convinces us that the world doesn’t have to be a dark place a bad relationship, and “Fuzzy,” with the hole band harmonizing together as good as any Beach Boys single.
The record ends with a quiet, spiritual reflection in “Hymn For My Father:” “It’s fitting,” says Ed, “I grew up singing hymns and with my father’s passing 4 years ago it’s truly a tribute to him. He taught me the music I grew up listening too which he loved and I really wanted to write a fitting tribute.”
Collective Soul shot to international fame with their 1993 release Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, and their mega #1 hit “Shine.” The album was a collection of Ed Roland’s demos that spread quickly through the college underground circuit and caught fire, going on to achieve Double-Platinum status. After having been invited to the 25th Anniversary Woodstock concert, Collective Soul went into the studio to record their sophomore follow up. The self-titled Collective Soul, released in March of 1995, would be the album that would help define their sound of catchy melodies and guitar driven songs. Containing four outstanding singles (three of which reached #1), “December,” “The World I Know,” “Where The River Flows,” and “Gel,” it became Collective Soul’s highest selling album to date. The album went Triple-Platinum and spent 76 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 charts.
Collective Soul went back into the studio and vented their spleen on 1997’s Platinum Disciplined Breakdown, which produced two more #1 hits, “Precious Declaration” and “Listen.” 1999 brought the album Dosage, a critically acclaimed set of songs that fans count as the band’s best. The album took a meticulous six months to record, and provided another strong showing for the band, producing the #1 hit song “Heavy,” which would take the top Billboard spot for a (then) record of 15 weeks. Of the band’s 5th studio album, Rolling Stone cheered, “Blender simply shreds with unapologetic classic-rock energy.” Once again, the band teamed with Resta, and created three more radio heavy smash hits with “Why, Part 2,” “Vent” and “Perfect Day,” a duet with Sir Elton John.
After releasing a Greatest Hits set entitled 7even Year Itch: Greatest Hits 1994-2001, Collective Soul ended their contract with Atlantic Records and created their own label El Music Group. The first release on the label was Youth (2004). The lyrics, in particular “Better Now,” declared the band’s newfound confidence and independence. Two other records and a concert DVD were released under the El Music Group imprint: 2005’s EP From the Ground Up and 2006’s Home – their lush, live, concert event with the Atlanta City Youth Orchestra.
In 2007 the band made an exclusive deal with all Target stores to be the sole seller of their 7th Studio album, Afterwords. The fans dug it, opening at #25 on the Billboard Comprehensive Albums Chart and #5 on the Billboard Top Internet Albums Chart, proving Collective Soul was now conquering the digital world.
“Tremble For My Beloved” found Collective Soul on the soundtrack to one of the hottest movies of 2008 – Twilight. “We heard through the grapevine that Stephanie Meyer was a fan of Collective Soul’s music and lyrics,” says Ed. Expanding to tweens opened up a whole new audience for the band.
Tickets for Collective Soul at Chastain Park will go on sale, Monday April 26th. http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E0044718F7E4762?artistid=765321&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=60
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