Collective Soul has collected many an honor and sold many an album since forming in the Atlanta suburb of Stockbridge, Ga., in 1992.
The band has been somewhat quiet since 2009, the year it was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
“We have a light schedule this year,” says Ed Roland, the band’s lead singer and remaining original member. “We’ll be celebrating our 20 years next year, which is when Atlantic came calling and rereleased our actual debut, and when we got invited to play at the 25th anniversary of Woodstock, in ’94.So we’re working on our new record to come out next year.”
He adds, “Like any relationship, we’ve had our ups and downs. It helps make it easier, having a brother in the band,” referring to his younger brother, by 10 years, Dean Roland, who has played rhythm guitar since 1993. “We grew up together, but we still wrestle and push one another.
“Before I got my brother involved, my other band had reached fourth down, so to speak, and I needed to punt. That’s when I got my brother and some others from a younger generation involved.”
Collective Soul will open the 2013 Magic Springs Concert Series, which will run most Saturdays through Aug. 31.
Ed Roland grew up surrounded by gospel music, plus the songs of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. The first rock ’n’ roll record he bought was Elton John’s Greatest Hits, and he soon began immersing himself in the sounds of The Beatles and The Clash and new wave music in general.
Roland did not venture onto the rock ’n’ roll scene without knowing a bit about what he was getting into. He had studied music composition and guitar at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston before returning to the Atlanta area, where he worked in the late 1980s and early ’90s in a band he called Marching Two-Step.
“When I got into my teens my influences were naturally [the] most famous of all Georgia rock groups, The Allman Brothers Band, and I always wished I could play slide guitar like Duane Allman could,” Roland recalls. “I wanted to go to Berklee when I learned that The Cars had gone, since I figured it must be a cool place to go to school if they went there. But I didn’t stay long.”
Nor did it take long for Roland’s songwriting talent to be noticed after he recorded some demos, including a song, “Shine,” which became a hit after an Orlando, Fla., radio station began playing it and listeners began demanding it, which led to more gigs and more recordings.
“‘Shine’ gave me the life where I was able to write other songs,” Roland says. “As time went on, it was really fun to hear the song take on a life of its own and get used at sporting events; the first time was at a hockey game that we had gone to, since we’re all sports nuts - and then it was in a Pennzoil commercial.”
Other Collective Soul hits include “December,” “The World I Know,” “Where the River Flows,” “Gel,” “Precious Declaration,” “Listen,” “Heavy” and “Perfect Day,” a duet with Elton John.
“I considered that a real reward for being in music,” Roland says with a laugh, “getting Elton John to sing on one of our songs. How perfect of a story line was that?”
The band had released its debut album, Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, in 1993 on an independent label before Atlantic re-released it in 1994. The band followed that two years later with a self-titled release and Disciplined Breakdown came out in 1997, followed by Dosage in 1999, Blender in 2000, Seven Year Itch: Greatest Hits 1994-2001 in 2001, Youth in 2004, Afterwords in 2007 and a second album with only the band’s name (which they refer to as Rabbit) in 2009.
“Our first slot as an opening act going out on tour was for Aerosmith,” Roland says. “That was an eye-opener, needless to say. To go from rehearsing in your parents’ basement to touring with Aerosmith? After that, we went to headlining pretty quick. And now this year, we’re going out, playing the hits.”
Collective Soul
Opening act: The Fable & The Fury
7 p.m. Saturday, Timberwood Amphitheater, Magic Springs & Crystal Falls, 1701 E. Grand Ave. (U.S. 70), Hot Springs
Admission: $54.99 general admission, $74.99 for a season pass; $69.99 for a season pass during May, available at Walgreens; $10 or $5 for reserved seating; lawn seating is free
(501) 624-0100
magicsprings.com
Weekend, Pages 36 on 05/23/2013