On the heels of the biggest and best-selling tour of their career, southern rock band NEEDTOBREATHE will take their music to the fans once again, this time in support of their first-ever acoustic live album, Acoustic Live Vol. 1, playing their most intimate theater shows to date. “On our first acoustic tour, we only got to play about 12 or 13 shows in less than 10 cities. We had an absolute blast while on the road for that run and for the recording of Acoustic Live Vol. 1. We decided that when we do it again, we wanted to take the acoustic show to as many places across the country as possible. So although this isn’t our first acoustic tour, we will be playing our acoustic show in most of these cities for the first time ever… and we could not be more excited to show those fans this side of our band,” said Bear Rinehart of NEEDTOBREATHE.

Described as “a multi-crossover band” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and “incredible instrumentalists” by the Dallas Observer, Metro Weekly raves that the “four-piece rock band, fronted by the Rinehart brothers, puts on an impressive and stirring live show, courtesy of strong group cohesion, uplifting music, and especially Bear Rinehart’s powerhouse pipes.” Those “powerhouse pipes” from Rinehart will function as a key ingredient to the band’s newest endeavor—their first-ever acoustic live album, Acoustic Live Vol. 1, due out Friday, November 16 via Atlantic Records.

Acoustic Live Vol. 1 was produced solely by NEEDTOBREATHE and mixed/mastered by the band’s own Seth Bolt at his Plantations Studios in Charleston. S.C. Plantation Studios has functioned as the home studio to the band for all of their previously recorded studio albums with the exception of their most recent offering, Forever On Your Side (Niles City Sound Sessions), which was recorded at Niles City Sound in Fort Worth, Texas. Acoustic Live Vol. 1 represents over a decade of music from five of the band’s six studio albums and is a true compilation of some of NEEDTOBREATHE’s greatest hits prior to entering the studio to record their seventh studio effort.

Opening for NEEDTOBREATHE is Sean McConnell. seanmcconnell.com

“I think embracing the blurry lines is a sign of getting older and just having more life experience,” Sean McConnell says. “It can be healthy to break your own boxes.” Sean is home in Nashville, reflecting on the path he’s taken to recording Secondhand Smoke, his 13th album. A cohesive collection of modern folk music, Secondhand Smoke asks provocative questions about how we become who we are, what and whom we love, and the growth, pain, and freedom that come with accepting that some answers might elude us forever.

A following now hundreds of thousands deep has turned to Sean for that kind of musical exploration for almost 20 years. Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Meat Loaf, David Nail, Brothers Osborne, Buddy Miller, and more have all recorded his songs. Sean earned his first no. 1 single on country charts in early 2018 with breakout artist Brett Young’s delivery of “Mercy,” which the two co-wrote. As a performer, he packs listening rooms and quiets unruly bar crowds. His sound––a warm tenor painting vivid stories over acoustic guitar often cushioned by keys or other strings––has prompted a diverse range of music scenes from the storied Boston folk community to Texas’s defiantly self-sovereign camp to warmly claim Sean as one of their own. “My payoff is just making the music,” Sean says, then smiles. “Everything else is bonus.”