By Tricia Despres
The talented men of Collective Soul have taken many a stage and sang many a thought-provoking song. But in 2021, as the band with the mystical ways came out from under their pandemic slumber, they found that things didn’t feel quite the same.
“The first show back, I remember being backstage and I looked at my brother [frontman and chief songwriter E Roland] and I was like, ‘What is this funny feeling I’m feeling?’ ” Collective Soul guitarist Dean Roland remembers in a recent call with Ravinia Magazine. “And then, I realized it. For the first time in a long time, I was nervous. I hadn’t played in front of people in quite some time, and it was just a very, sort of interesting feeling.”
Granted, for a rock band who has been doing it for as long as Collective Soul has been doing it, they have come to expect live performances to shower them with a plethora of feelings, most notably a certain level of excitement and a surging readiness to get out there and play in front of their loyal fans.
But nervousness? Nah.
Roland and his band of talented brothers hadn’t felt that in a while.
“There are moments on stage where I’m like, ‘Wow, there’s these five dudes up here making all this racket,’ and that’s pretty cool,” laughs Roland, who is currently joined in the band by not only his brother, but Georgia-bred rockers Johnny Rabb (drums), Jesse Triplett (lead guitar), and Will Turpin (bass). “There is this energy that isn’t easy to explain that comes from all of us up there leaning on each other and holding each other accountable to make that one moment in time.”
But yes, the pandemic shutdown and the nervousness that followed it was one of those never-saw-it-coming curveballs for Collective Soul, as they had been going full tilt in every aspect of their career, from their recorded music to their live show. Including the days of their biggest hits and orchestral masterpieces such as “The World I Know” and “December,” Collective Soul has found a comfortable pocket within the ever-complex music industry for over 27 years. But as 2020 arrived and tour schedules were canceled and the afterglow from the band’s silver anniversary in 2019 was cruelly extinguished, the members of Collective Soul were determined to see the bright side of it all.
“I mean, in a selfish way, it probably benefited me because I have a two-year-old daughter that I was able to spend time with,” explains Roland with an audible smile. “Normally I would have been on the road and away from my family.”
The shutdown also gave the band the solitude to not only take in all that they have accomplished, but to consider all that they still wanted to create. Because, while they missed the fans and the camaraderie of the band and the excitement that comes with being one of music’s greatest success stories, the ability to stop for a moment and look back on it all was something the band ended up appreciating more than they thought they would.
“We feel like it’s our job to not only be the best, but also to be able to capture that moment in time within each piece of music.”
Indeed, the trajectory of Collective Soul is a story of a band that never seemed to fit perfectly in the constrictions of genres, where four guys from the neighborhoods of Atlanta found a way to come together back in 1993 to create a brand of music that would not only forever stand out from all the others, but also a brand of music that continues to play a part in the ever-evolving lives of their fans.
“I was 21 years old when all of this got started, and as much as you think you are appreciating everything there is going on, you are still very young, and it can be difficult to take it all in,” explains Roland of a career that has had Collective Soul notching an impressive 17 top-20 singles, including seven number-one Mainstream Rock hits including “Shine,” “Listen,” and 1999’s grunge-leaning “Heavy.” “I mean, you’re on the radio and you are feeling all the excitement of that, and then you get on the stage and you are just powering through it to get to the next show.”
He pauses.
“I do appreciate it now,” Roland continues. “It’s these times that show you that the little things really matter, like getting onstage and connecting with the audience and having chemistry with the band. It’s all things that we really concentrate on. We always have.”
And it’s this connection between musician and fan that will certainly be on display come September 1, when Collective Soul takes the magical stage of Ravinia.
Collective Soul, featuring brothers Dean and E Roland, has been “making all this racket” together for over 25 years, including at Ravinia in 2015.
“I think it’s why we have stayed together for so long,” Roland says of the continued closeness of the band. “Besides all of us being friends and getting along with each other, there is this common theme between all of us—that we all have a true passion for the music and taking pride in it. All of this has always been a very serious thing for us.”
And it’s this devotion to their product that their fans appreciate.
“We feel like it’s our job to not only be the best, but also to be able to capture that moment in time within each piece of music,” Roland says of the band, who also released their milestone 10th studio album, Blood, back in 2019. “And hopefully people connect with that. It’s especially fun for us to see how our music is touching a younger generation. Parents are bringing their kids to the shows. It’s like, if you stick around long enough, everything cycles back around.”
And make no mistake, vying for the attention of that younger demo doesn’t require the ol’ AM/FM radio anymore.
“The radio and that exposure that so many once got from it was its own animal,” Roland stresses. “Now, music is fragmented into so many different areas, whether it’s in streaming or through social media avenues. But really, it’s all anchored within the live shows now, which I find fascinating.”
And for Roland, there will always be a certain amount of fascination in looking back.
“I really appreciate the perspective that we have as a band now,” he says. “We have gone through so many ups and downs and all kinds of stuff. But now, we’ve got this badge of honor, you know? We’ve never been one to follow the trends, for better or for worse. We just kind of stuck with what we felt and let the chips fall where they may.” ■
Tricia Despres is a Chicago-area entertainment writer whose work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, Taste of Country, and a number of local, regional, and national publications. Twitter: @CHIWriter