Running for Collective Soul

I am a huge fan of Collective Soul – and yet this is a very recent development. Somehow I missed all the hoopla during the 90’s, and even though I knew their name, and knew quite a few of their songs, I never put them together. I once spent days off and on going thru all the 90’s bands on MySpace that I could think of just so I could figure out who played that awesome song, Shine, which I didn’t know the name of. Finally out of desperation I plugged a few of the words I knew into Google with the word ‘lyrics’ after them – and there was my answer. Collective Soul. Of course!

So one gorgeous day last summer, I’m driving thru town and I hear the words “Oh summer, it never leaves your face” and I think to myself – Oh, The Cars have a new song. Only as I listened to it I realized it wasn’t The Cars but I liked the song very much. So when I got home, I went to my trusty Google and entered the words “kiss me kiss me good”. Wow – Collective Soul again! I checked out their MySpace page, www.myspace.com/collectivesoul , added them as friends and was soon grooving to all the other songs they had listed. And, as luck would have it, I happened to see in our local newspaper they were performing at Musikfest – a 10 day festival of music in Bethlehem, PA. Having only lived in the area for a couple of years and never actually gone to see a headliner perform, I decided if I was ever going to pay for a show at this festival, this was who I wanted to see. My husband and I got our tickets and then the day of the show – I just assumed they were going on second. Yikes! We got there just as they were walking on stage. Only I still really didn’t have any clue as I said to my husband, wow – that lead singer of Live has really let his hair grow out – he used to be bald. Thankfully, after a couple of songs, Ed introduced themselves as Collective Soul and I was grateful we had gotten there when we did. Even though our seats were horrible (pretty much sucked) we both loved all the songs and realized how many we actually did know. Again, don’t ask me what I was doing in the 90’s, I have no answer.

So after the show was over I had to get their latest CD, “Afterwards”. It was excellent. I couldn’t listen to anything else. Then I happened to see where they were playing again the following weekend in Philadelphia. I grabbed a couple of friends and we showed up early – not realizing exactly how early we were. We ended up being 4 rows from the stage and what a difference! To see the band up so close was just amazing. We congratulated each other on our good fortune (screaming OWWWWWW into each other’s faces and ‘dude – this totally rocks) and rocked the night away.

By this time I am thoroughly hooked. I order two more CD’s, “Greatest Hits: 7 Year Itch” and “Youth”, from Amazon strictly on the reviews. They did not disappoint. OMG, I was in song heaven. I put them on my MP3 player and it occurred to me, being a runner, that I could actually listen to them while I was running. Now I know this sounds like a no brainer but I was one of those purist runners, those who just like to lace up their shoes and head out the door. However, being so thoroughly addicted to Collective Soul’s songs by now I decided to go ahead and take the player out with me on a run. Five miles later, I had just clocked my easiest and fastest run yet. I thought to myself, hmmmm – with music like that I might just be able to run a half marathon. Something I had always wanted to do but really didn’t think I could. I jumped on the computer and sure enough, there was a half marathon scheduled in Philadelphia just four short weeks away.

I started running longer distances, pushing my times, running 5 or 6 days a week in preparation of the half marathon. When the day arrived it was a spectacular September day and I was ready to go. The only songs I would be listening to were Collective Soul. I did, however, have to skip over “Run” – darn, just couldn’t bear to hear “I’ve got a long way to run” – physically or mentally. But I did finish the race, better than the realistic time I had set for myself. I was ecstatic.

Since then I have gotten 4 more CD’s, 2 DVD’s, seen Ed in a solo show and Collective Soul a total of three times. I’ve run another half marathon with one more scheduled in August. I figure if I run a half marathon every time I see one of their shows, I will be in good shape. Who knows – maybe one of these days I will splurge and run a full marathon!

The best part of being a fan of Collective Soul is the active stance the band has taken to interact with their fans. They can be found on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/collective_soul and have taken it to the next level. They actually follow their fans back. AND reply to as many as they possibly can. They post pictures, videos and snippets of new songs that can’t be found anywhere else. The boys really make you feel like they care about their fans.

Find out more about them and check out www.collectivesoul.com/news . They’ve got a new tour starting soon, to see if they are coming to a venue near you, go to www.collectivesoul.com/live . Look for their new CD to hit stores later this summer. I know I, for one, cannot wait to get new tunes – running WITH Collective Soul!