For those unaware, Grammy-nominated southern rock band NEEDTOBREATHE have announced two live album reissues in Live From The Woods and Acoustic Live Vol. 1, which will both be released on November 22nd, 2024 via Omnivore Recordings.

Since 1999, the Grammy-nominated southern rock band NEEDTOBREATHE have quietly emerged as a dynamic force in music, from releasing their debut album with Atlantic Records in 2006 to finding themselves playing arenas and receiving nominations for multiple Grammy and Billboard Music Awards.

When their Rivers In The Wasteland album was released in 2014, it debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, and topped the Rock Albums chart. Always an incredible and dynamic live act, the band recorded their September 13th, 2014 performance at The Woods Amphitheatre at Fontanel in Nashville, Tennessee on that tour. Those recordings appeared the following year as Live From The Woods.

With 15 tracks spread across two LPs, and a double CD with two bonus tracks, Live From The Woods features material from across their young yet meteoric career. From the Grammy nominated “Multiplied” to “Wanted Man” (interpolating Modest Mouse’s “Float On” on the live version) to “Brother” which cracked the Billboard Hot 100, Live From The Woods satisfies on every level.

AllMusic recognizes, “Overall, while the track selection doesn’t quite substitute for a greatest-hits collection, the album captures a strong live band delivering a clean, energetic performance (including revealing stage banter) that is certain to please fans and is an absolute must for anyone interested in a souvenir of the tour.” The release was another hit, landing on the Billboard 200, Top Alternative Albums, Rock Albums, and Digital Albums charts.

In 2017, NEEDTOBREATHE embarked on an acoustic tour, taking their catalog into a new dimension and their shows to a new level. Acoustic Live Vol. 1 was recorded on that run during 16 shows at 14 of the band’s favorite theaters across the country, including Charleston Music Hall in Charleston, SC, Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC, and the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.

The 12-song collection was produced by NEEDTOBREATHE and mixed and mastered by the band’s Seth Bolt (backing vocals, bass) at his Plantation Studios in Charleston. It represents over a decade of music from the band, with songs spanning across five of their six studio albums––from tracks like RIAA Gold-certified “Brother” and “Testify” to “Washed By The Water,” “White Fences,” and “Stones Under Rushing Water” (featuring Drew and Ellie Holcomb), and “No Excuses” including portions of “House Of The Rising Sun” while “Oh, Carolina” mixes in The Who’s “Squeeze Box.”

Live From The Woods [2CD]
Disc 1:
1. State I’m In 2. Wanted Man 3. Drive All Night 4. Difference Maker 5. Multiplied 6. Oh, Carolina 7. Wasteland

Disc 2:
8. Keep Your Eyes Open 9. Washed By The Water 10. Something Beautiful 11. Girl Named Tennessee 12. Brother 13. The Heart 14. The Outsiders 15. More Heart Less Attack 16. Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now [CD-Only Bonus Track] 17. Devil’s Been Talking [CD-Only Bonus Track]

This quite stunning live double CD set opens disc one on the magnificent crowd pleaser State I’m In, the impassioned Wanted Man and the free wheeling Americana-rock of Drive All Night, and then we are brought forth the low slung ballad Difference Maker, the Gospel-hued Multiplied, the fervent rocker Oh, Carolina, the first disc closing on the dutiful balladry within the delicate Wasteland.

Along next, disc two opens on the heartfelt Keep Your Eyes Open, the impulsively strident rock of Washed By The Water, the mid-temple AOR of Something Beautiful and the soft grit, foot tapping rocker Girl Named Tennessee, and they are in turn followed by the low key balladry of Brother, the propellant The Heart, and both the rhythmically-charged The Outsiders and the languishing More Heart Less Attack; with the two CD-Only bonus tracks being the joyfully-charged, bounteously-effective Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now and the harmoniously forthright Devil’s Been Talking.

Acoustic Live Vol. 1
1. Let’s Stay Home Tonight
2. Drive All Night
3. No Excuses
4. State I’m In
5. Washed By The Water
6. Testify
7. Oh, Carolina
8. Stand By Me
9. Stones Under Rushing Water
10. White Fences
11. Cages
12. Brother

This simply magnificent acoustic collection of a dozen songs, opens on the pleasing sounds of Let’s Stay Home Tonight and the flourishing Drive All Night, and they are backed by the impassioned No Excuses, the upbeat and joyfully-imbibed State I’m In, and after a spoken introduction, then both the heartfelt reach of Washed By The Water and the melodic, Gospel-hued Testify are brought forth.

Along next is the fervently-charged Oh, Carolina and their rendition of Sam Cooke’s all-embracing Stand By Me, and they are in turn followed seamlessly by the beautiful ballad Stones Under Rushing Water, the soul-rock cut White Fences, the set rounding out on the passional ballad Cages, closing on an emotional Brother.

Available on CD and double-LP (featuring laser-etched Side 4 with album’s cover art), Acoustic Live Vol. 1 is far more than some of NEEDTOBREATHE’s greatest hits performed live, it’s a new way to experience them.

Official Live From The Woods CD Purchase Link

Official Acoustic Live Vol. 1 CD Purchase Link