ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - NEEDTOBREATHE (6)

The Christian rock band from Seneca, South Carolina, is easily one of my favourite bands of all time.

The four members of the band are Bear Rinehart (middle left: lead singer, guitar, piano), Bo Rinehart (middle right: guitar), Seth Bolt (far left: bass guitar); and Josh Lovelace (far right: keys).

They have released six full-length studio albums thus far, titled 'Daylight' (2006), 'The Heat' (2007), 'The Outsiders' (2009), 'The Reckoning' (2011), 'Rivers in the Wasteland' (2014), and 'Hard Love' (2016). Last year they also released an EP titled 'Hard Cuts,' which is also great. One of the things that amazes me with this group is how consistently incredible their music is.

Not only this, but with most bands, any given album has a few good/great songs, and the rest are not great at all, or simply forgettable. Not the case with these guys. At least for me, they're one of the only bands that I can listen through essentially every album for start to finish, and thoroughly enjoy every minute.

Some of the opportunities they've been able to take advantage of are pretty crazy as well. Namely, they have toured with some huge names throughout their career. Most significant has been opening for Taylor Swift on her 2011 'Speak Now World Tour, and for select dates of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's 'Soul2Soul: The World Tour' last year.

Honestly, one of the most disappointing times in my 'career' as a music lover was last summer. NEEDTOBREATHE added a Canada leg to their tour, which doesn't happen often, and I wasn't able to get to their show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. So that sucked. (They also had Colony House opening up for them, which would've been ridiculously amazing as well).

So, what I'm getting at is this: these guys are the real deal. They have an abundance of incredible music, and back these tunes up with next-level musicianship.

Top 5 Songs:

1. Brother (feat. Gavin DeGraw)
2. Cages
3. Something Beautiful
4. Hard Love
5. Happiness (Acoustic Version)