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A 'Blessid Union Of Souls' Reverberates With Success
Repository - Canton, OH

June 27, 1997



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hile it comes from an utterance made by Maj. Frank Burns on a M*A*S*H episode, Blessid Union Of Souls has proven to be a prophetic name for the band that wears it.

"Everything has been a blessing, one thing after another," says Eliot Sloan, vocalist for the band, which will perform a free concert Saturday night at the Star-Spangled Celebration at Jackson Community Park.

Consider this:

-Blessid Union Of Souls was offered a contract with EMI Records roughly 15 minutes after the label's scouts heard the band play an acoustic set in 1992.

-The band's very first single, the optimistic anthem "I Believe," spent 10 weeks in Billboard's Top 10.

-The band's debut album, "Home," released in 1995, spawned two more hits, "Oh Virginia" and "Let Me Be The One," and has sold more than 800,000 copies.

-In a time of increasingly tight radio formatting, Blessid Union Of Souls has received airplay on top-40, album-rock, adult-contemporary, country and Christian radio.

-The band's music videos air on MTV, VH1, BET and CMT's "Country Jammin'" segment. Not bad for five guys from Cincinnati who, as Sloan puts it, "always wanted to just play in a band and make an album.

"That's the one basic thing we wanted when it started, and through all the ups and downs we always keep that in the back of our minds."
An undeniable key to the band's popularity is its positiveness. The band has dubbed its music "rural soul," but its songs range from gospel-tinged rock to lush ballads, with country and folk flavorings and strong vocal harmonies. It is definitely anti-grunge. Hootie comparisons are apt.

"I'd say the largest trait in our personalities is that we're optimistic," Sloan says. "We try to keep things on a positive note. We do have sad songs, but even those have hope in them."

While Blessid Union Of Souls has toured extensively, has been played heavily on the radio and has received substantial television exposure, the band has not been overwhelmed by the downside of fame. "I went to King's Island the other day, there were thousands of people there, and I was pretty much unnoticed," Sloan says. "A few people stopped me because we did a big concert down here, and that was nice."

The band's lack of a strong look or image "is a great thing," Sloan says. "it means things go a lot longer and a lot deeper. We're definitely more of a song band than a trend band."

Blessid Union Of Souls spent 18 months touring here and abroad in support of its first album and has just begun more touring for the self-titled new album. The five guys all get along well, Sloan says. "One of the guys in our road crew said, 'This isn't a band, it's summer camp.'" Given the wide appeal of the band's music, it's no surprise that its concerts attract mixed crowds. "we try to do all-ages shows because that's who comes to see us: all ages," Sloan says. Did the band members feel much pressure in preparing a followup to their hit-filled first album? (The new album's first single "I Wanna Be There" is receiving heavy play on WRQK-FM.)

"We didn't have time for that. We came off the road and went right into the studio and started writing and recording, which was a blessing," Sloan says. "You can definitely overthink things if you have too much time."


-- Dan Kane, Repository entertainment writer