I am sure that by now the men of NeedToBreathe are getting a little tired of the cliches that naturally surround their name. But after a week of non stop GMA it was a breath of fresh air to meet up in the parking lot of Chick-Fil-a in Houston, TX to catch a KSBJ’s Brown Bag special concert and watch a true southern gritty rock and roll band perform. Did I mention that it was Christian rock? The NeedToBreathe message is not as in-your-face Christian as some acts, but it is a much welcome change on the music scene. Its nice to rock out to music that is as good, if not better than the secular scene yet still able to raise your hands in worship(or shake it like you know you want to do ). NeedToBreathe is one of the rare bands that you can see in a club or a church and the music, the message, and the meaning still translate, all glorifying the God of the Universe. Reminding us that we can be in the world and not of it, constant in any season. If you have friends that are not Christian, love to rock and your trying to “reach” them, I’d recommend that you buy them a copy of NeedToBreathe’s CD “The Heat” AND take them to see these guys play. You won’t be disappointed by either.

The band took the stage with an unrecorded intro to Shine that had the crowd on their feet and shaking it. They rounded out the evening with More Time, Streets of Gold, Sweet Talking, Daylight, Haley, Washed by the Water, You can’t always get What You Want (Rolling Stones Cover) and Signature of Devine.

The bands sophomore CD, The Heat, 2007 Atlantic Records, is a cross over CD that holds it own in the secular arena as well as the Christian scene. The band was nominated for Dove awards for the Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year and Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year. While the CD didn’t win with the voters it is a winner with the fans. The CD starts off with a simple question, can you Spare the Time? The drum intro to Restless kicks the CD off with a rocking start. There are very few CD’s that I can pop in and listen to the entire CD without skipping at least one of the tracks, but this CD is one of them. The latest radio single Washed By the Water is a moving story written by the bands lead singer Bear Reinhart about his fathers struggles as a pastor.

While much of this bands history is hard to uncover their future is wide open. Wide open is how I ended up playing much of this CD. Streets of Gold reminds us of what were struggling for, “it’s easy to say that there’s a reason for this, Much harder to know, That what we say is true” while Looks Like Love reminds us to enjoy the trip there, “Our hearts can only shake, When there’s risk that they could break”. I’d rate this CD a 10 out of 10. I’ve bought 3 copies to give away so far. I’d recommend that you buy at least one for yourself.

Janet Mattox
Resident Rocker JanetRN