Collective Soul to wind down tour in Atlanta

One of the area's steadiest national touring rock bands will find its way home this Sunday as Collective Soul finishes up their six week summer tour at Chastain Amphitheatre. A triple bill with fellow 90s heavyweights Live and Blues Traveler, Collective Soul will get the chance to be the closer that night as they play for their hometown fans.

This time, the boys from Stockbridge are here to promote their latest effort, "Afterwords," which features the band continuing on their mellow, more pop rock oriented trail they've been on over much of this decade. Lead singer Ed Roland, the band's chief songwriter has said that the theme of the record is love, which while a very general concept, is also one of the most complex emotions humans go through.

"The title of the album is definitely a play on words," said bassist Will Turpin, a childhood friend of several other members in the band. "It stems from the fact that when we write music the lyrics are the final piece."

Released in 2007, it is only available at Target stores or on iTunes. This is a unique move, but not entirely unprecedented. Recently artists like Bryan Adams, The Eagles and Garth Brooks have looked to Wal-Mart as being the exclusive retailer for their latest albums.

This may or may not be the future of music, Turpin said he isn't sure, but he said it's something they could consider in the future, although it likely wouldn't be with Target.

"This gives us the chance to make a little more money by doing it this way, but then it's a big gamble to not have your record at places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart," he said. "And not everyone has a Target in their town or access to iTunes and an iPod."

The new album bares the hit "Hollywood," which is the perfect tune for the summer: laid back and makes you want to enjoy being outside. But the band hasn't forgotten that what got them to where they are today is a hard rock sound, and Turpin said that's why the opening track, "New Vibration," is probably his favorite on the disc.

And the band is still itching to go back to the studio and cut a rock record. Turpin mentioned that the band is never looking backwards, but they recognize at the same time that after a few slower albums, it's time to pick up the speed and sound a bit.

"I don't think we'll use some of the loops and other production elements like we did on the last few albums – this will be more of a raw rock sound," he said.

Indeed, fans probably recognize the band best from their slew of hits during the 90s including "December," "Heavy," "Run" and their breakthrough single "Shine," which was featured on their debut, 1994's "Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid." Back then the rock world was in the midst of the downswing of the grunge movement and the entry into post-grunge where bands like Bush, Stone Temple Pilots and the Smashing Pumpkins thrived.

Collective Soul was there at the right place and the right time.

Growing up south of Atlanta, Turpin knew Roland because he was an engineer at his father's studio. Roland would go on to become the lead singer and brought his younger brother, Dean along to serve as one of the guitarists. Along with former members Shane Evans (drums) and Ed Childress (guitar), the five formed the band, which took its name from an Ayn Rand book.

"We really liked the name, because above all else the chemistry is the most important thing in the band," Turpin said. "It was much better than some of the other names we were throwing around, like Brothers and Brides and some geometric term I can't even remember right now."

When it came to needing a bassist, they turned to Turpin, even though he had never played it before. He has always had a musical background, first as a piano player then with percussion as a music major in college, dealing mainly with percussion.

"I have a rhythm background, so it wasn't hard to pick up," he said. "I went to some of my favorite bands and looked at their bassists. Guys like Adam Clayton from U2, Paul McCartney and Sting – I really love the way he plays.

"It's very melodic which is what I am, too."

This tour has been special for the band because it gives them the chance to play with two of the bands they've played with a lot over the years. He said they all first met during Woodstock 94 when they all played on the same night together. Now, it's a rotating tour with each band taking turns in the three slots on the bill. The opener gets about 65 minutes while the other two get 75.

Although Collective Soul has a large catalogue, Turpin views a shorter set as a time to play things that the fans know and came to here. He said there are a lot of deeper cuts they want to play, but feel it would be a disservice to deprive them of the hits and newer material.

"We couldn't even fit all of our hits into the set if that's all we played," he said.

After the show is over, the band will disperse to take a little vacation – some well-needed time off from the road before hitting the studio again. Turpin himself will spend some time at his McDonough home.

Where they go to record, however, is still up in the air. The bassist said it depends on what's convenient for the band – Ed Roland has a studio near Clemson, S.C., while Turpin has one at home.

Until then, though the band still has a handful of gigs to play before hitting the Chastain stage where they will play the last notes of their tour to a crowd that is always good to its hometown heroes.

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Collective Soul, Live, Blues Traveler
Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Friday Aug. 15 6:30 p.m.
Tickets $38-$68
www.ticketmaster.com
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- www.northfulton.com

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