Longevity is a skill that few can master, especially in a business as cutthroat as the music industry. For alternative/southern rock band NEEDTOBREATHE though, it has simply been a way of life.
The band was first formed in Seneca, South Carolina, in 1998 with their first album “The Feature” being released independently in 2001. They signed with Atlantic Records in 2005 and would quickly become known for their rootsy but modern feel, strong and gravely vocals by lead singer Bear Rineheart, and Christian themes that would also win them a Dove Award early on.
The band would spend the late 2000s and early 2010s continuing to establish themselves and tour heavily. In 2011, keyboardist, harmonica player, and backing vocalist Josh Lovelace would become a touring member of the group.
Lovelace had spent years on the road touring with other bands. He got the call from NEEDTOBREATHE and never looked back.
“It became clear to me and to them that I was going to be around for a little while and they generously opened the door to let me be a part of the band as a full member,” Lovelace said. “It’s crazy to think I’ve been doing it that long.”
His first tour with NEEDTOBREATHE was when they were opening for Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” tour, in which the band and Lovelace were playing their biggest venues yet.
“We were playing these massive arenas and the only reason we were even on that tour is because she was a big fan of our band and asked us to do it,” Lovelace said. “It didn’t make a lot of sense for her to bring us out on the road other than the fact that she wanted to.”
The tour with music gargantuan Swift was only the beginning of an enormous decade for NEEDTOBREATHE. They released three albums over the 2010s, each performing greater than the last. “The Reckoning” went to No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2011, 2014’s “Rivers in the Wasteland” would debut at No. 3 while also going No.1 on the Christian and Rock charts as well. “Hard Love” was released in 2016 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 as well as No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart with 50,000 units sold.
Now, in the 2020s, the band is continuing to see success with their most recent album “Caves” and the subsequent “Caves World Tour,” the very same that will bring them to the Northern Quest Resort and Casino on Sunday.
To Lovelace, the process of creating an album hasn’t changed very much over the course of NEEDTOBREATHE’s rise and decades as a band despite all of the changes seen throughout his time with the group – from lineup swaps to bigger tours to the industry differences all longtime artists have seen post-COVID.
“I feel like we’ve always been a very transparent band,” Lovelace said. “If we’re going through something in our own lives, it is probably going to find its way into a NEEDTOBREATHE song or record. We don’t really know how to not wear our heart on our sleeve.”
Perhaps one shift that has come in the past few years is the understanding that playing larger venues – from arenas to amphitheaters – does create a potential need for a “bigger sound.” The band has spent years putting down layers upon layers on their records (such as some songs having “nine guitar parts”) and “Caves” continues with a more grandiose sound than their humble beginnings, but in a different fashion than usual.
“This record is more intentional,” Lovelace said. “There are layers on there for sure, but there isn’t much we can’t actually replicate live.”
Another change Lovelace can’t help but notice is how far the band has come and where music has taken them – especially as somebody whose career began by driving himself to shows and maybe making $50 in a night. And not to mention the crowds of fans that come to each show wanting to take the time to watch them perform, something that remains not only difficult for Lovelace to understand, but humbling as well.
“To get to see so many people that actually care that you’re playing music and respond to it is so unique and it’s the biggest honor that people actually still care,” Lovelace said. “We could be a rock band in a garage and nobody would care and we’d still enjoy it, but the fact that we get to do what we do in front of people and they enjoy it, that is still unbelievable to us after all this time.”
At the end of the day, Lovelace and NEEDTOBREATHE aren’t here to win countless accolades or sell out arena after arena.
“If we’re not doing something that matters to people and writing songs that people can live their lives to, then I think we’re missing the point,” Lovelace said.
