NEEDTOBREATHE’s Bear Rinehart joins Hillary Scott on Country Faith Radio to talk about writing differently during the pandemic, new album Into The Mystery, collaborating with Ellie Holcomb and Carrie Underwood, and more. Tune in and listen to the full episode this Sunday (July 18) at 8 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. CT / 11 a.m. ET or anytime on demand at apple.co/_CountryFaith
Bear Rinehart on growing up without secular music My parents, dad was a preacher, but before that he was a horn player in the ’70s, like Roy Clark and Glen Campbell. And my mom was a piano teacher growing up. So of course I didn’t want to play any instrument because all I heard was little kids playing bad songs around the house all the time. So I started playing when I was maybe 16, and I wish I had listened to my mom earlier. And then for me, it was like we were really strict growing up. It’s crazy because my dad was a musician, but there was no secular music in the house. It was very you know… In a lot of ways, I didn’t like it. I was always like, “Man, I want to listen to the music that my friends listen to.” At the time, there just wasn’t this big Christian music as far as I was concerned, so we were really into heavy Christian music and whatever we could do outside of that. Bear Rinehart on unintentionally writing NEEDTOBREATHE’s new album This is the first time I’ve been forced to do my own demos. It’s kind of a blessing this time around… we’ve always had someone in our band who was really good at it. And I was like, “I’m never going to do that.” But I was writing these songs and I just started, honestly, partly to keep some distance between me and my kids for a few hours a day, I would go in and try to write a song. I think I wrote 75 or 80 songs during the pandemic, all by myself, which I haven’t done in so long. And really, it allowed me to get back to that childlike thing that music really is, just being in the moment with it. I’m a pretty serious person, but it was like, “Hey, you can go ahead and light a candle and just let your mind run wild and play some crazy stuff.” And so honestly, it was just really, really rewarding. And I’m really grateful that the record came out of this idea of starting to play the guys’ songs. I didn’t think of it as the next NEEDTOBREATHE record, or anyone’s record for that matter. I was just like, “Hey, is this terrible or cool? Or what do you think?” Hillary Scott and Bear Rinehart on Spending More Time With Their Kids During the Pandemic Hillary: These months, we’re probably at home a lot more than usual, it’s changed the trajectory of [our kids’] lives, potentially like what they’re doing, how connected they feel to us and how safe they feel. And I can’t wait to see how they continue to grow into the person that God created each of them to be with that undivided time with them. It really was. And I’m with you, like finding those moments. I would hide in my closet or just go for a walk because it was a lot, but I think it was really important. I know for me, and it sounds like it is for you too. Bear: Yeah, I’m glad to be back [on the road] also… I think my six-year-old is just old enough to maybe stay up late enough to watch us play, which has never happened. So I just think about that kind of thing. It was like where are we going next and how he’s going to be involved in this. But also how simple the time was. I think our kids are going to take that with them. Bear Rinehart on Collaborating with Ellie Holcomb for “Sweet Ever After” I think Ellie is amazing. I know that, you know that too. Growing up playing with them, with Drew [Holcomb] and Ellie, and I’ve been touring them a bunch, I felt like she had a stronger voice than she’s ever had and that’s who she’s finding as an artist, and it’s really cool to be a part of that. And that song is a good example. It’s something that I wrote during the pandemic for the most part. And sent it out. As you know, you never get a record, the pitch record that works or anything, especially something that I write myself like that. So it was really cool that she saw something in it and made it her own and rewrote some of the parts that weren’t good, obviously. Bear Rinehart on Being Afraid to Work With Carrie Underwood That I Got the Chance to Sing On [Carrie’s] record first, and we did an anthem together. And I didn’t know her and she didn’t send me the track or anything. And then she’s like, “Just come to the studio and we want you to sing harmonies.” I’ve just always been a lead singer, harmonies scare the hell out of me. And so I was like, “Okay.” And then of course, you get there and it’s just her in the room, her producer and I. I told my wife, I was like, “This is the scariest feeling I’ve ever had in anything.” I was like, “This was scarier than getting married.” So I feel like we got over the hump pretty quickly. I was like, “Listen, this is going to take time and just be patient.” So I think we became a little bit more friends that day, which was great. Bear Rinehart on Collaborating With Carrie Underwood for “I Wanna Remember” She’s just super sweet, to be honest. Like we’ve been there with some of them before. And some of these collaborations work out, and sometimes they don’t. And Carrie was kind of like, “I want to do this because I love the song and I’m not going to take your money.” Which I think is kind of… you know what I mean? It’s crazy. So, she’s really, really sweet. And then the fact that she got to do the video. I’ve done enough of other people’s records to know that’s a lot. And she was just super cool about the whole thing. It’s like, “Yeah, we’re going to CMT and we’re going to let you play your song.” So, that was really cool.
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Author: Herb Longs
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