Like a football powerhouse, Bear Rinehart and NEEDTOBREATHE have been riding a high-octane offense at every tour stop for nearly a quarter century. The jump from South Carolina bar band to platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated showstoppers has come from the same tried-and-true game plan: Leave every ounce of energy onstage each night, leave fans wanting more, then leave town and repeat at the next stop.<\/p>\n
Although an artist\u2019s work has no offseason\u2014there\u2019s always new music to craft and songs to release, such as the recently dropped video for \u201cTake Me Dancing\u201d<\/a>\u2014the new season begins Aug. 26, when the alt-rock-Americana artists kick off The Long Surrender Tour<\/a> in Maryland Heights, MO. At age 45, Rinehart is nowhere conceding an ounce of energy to Father Time, not for this tour, nor hopefully for any in the near future.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe I\u2019m one of those guys who still thinks he\u2019s 20, but in terms of the live show, I feel like we\u2019re better than we\u2019ve ever been,\u201d Rinehart says.<\/p>\n When he was 20\u2014at a time when platinum records like 2014\u2019s \u201cBrother\u201d<\/a> were still lofty but perhaps out-of-reach dreams\u2014Rinehart was setting receiving records at Division I-AA Furman. The two-time All\u2013Southern Conference wide receiver helped lead the Paladins to four playoff appearances, including a trip to the 2001 championship game.<\/p>\n Rinehart treated football just like a concert, meaning he left it all on the field for four quarters. In his final game, Rinehart set a team record for receptions in his final game, a playoff loss to Villanova\u2014then walked away, even with the remote possibility of landing with an NFL team.<\/p>\n \u201cMy body was beaten up pretty bad,\u201d he says. \u201cI was like, \u2018Man, I don\u2019t think I could\u2019ve seen myself doing this for three years and being better than I was right then.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n At 45, Rinehart is in his music prime. Remnants of the passion and energy from his wide receiver days show up onstage. But music has its own version of wear and tear. While Rinehart\u2019s voice remains as sharp and powerful today, his body he says is starting to show signs of fatigue, especially during the tail end of a four-night run.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Rinehart, music offers no load-management days. Fans who pay top dollar to see the 18-time GMA Dove Award winners (honors given to the best in Christian and Gospel music) on Night 4 of a four-show stretch don\u2019t care how well he performed three nights earlier or how his body feels at showtime. They expect, and deserve, the same intensity they\u2019d get from a fresh band on Night 1. And Rinehart is doing what takes to deliver each night.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big challenge for us is to try to let them feel like that night is special,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s like we\u2019re all in this together. I know that they weren\u2019t there the night before, and for the band, sometimes it\u2019s easy to forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, Rinehart is approaching the lead-up to the band\u2019s 25-city tour like a training camp<\/a>\u2014an approach he began implementing during last year\u2019s Barely Elegant Acoustic tour. He\u2019s started by eliminating the easy distractions, beginning with late nights and the drinks that come with them. For him, an early-to-bed mentality has been the catalyst for more mindful mornings.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve become such an old man,\u201d he says of his routine. \u201c[After the show] I\u2019ll have a meal when I get offstage. Then it\u2019s like, I want to read a book, call my wife, and then I\u2019m in bed.\u201d<\/p>\n For the \u201cTestify\u201d<\/a> singer, clarity on the road begins with an early breakfast, before the rest of the band wakes.<\/p>\n By stacking an early win at the breakfast table, the rest of his itinerary falls into place, starting with more consistent workouts\u2014something he\u2019s struggled with in years past. Now there are really no excuses. He hits the gym whenever possible and has even adjusted the simple pleasures of tour life to put on the best performance. An innocent round of golf may be preempted\u2014especially in the summer heat\u2014which can leave him spent by showtime.<\/p>\n All this preparation points to one simple takeaway: Fans can expect a stronger, more energetic performance night after night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a commitment of mine over the last year,\u201d he says. \u201cI have to keep this going. I feel tons better when I keep it rolling. On that fourth day when you\u2019re tired, it\u2019s like, \u2018Man, let\u2019s go get a sweat in\u2019\u2014you\u2019re going to feel good about your day.\u201d<\/p>\n Reading Bear Rinehart\u2019s media guide profile painted him as an all-around player who ran \u201cefficient routes,\u201d with the ability to make the \u201cspectacular reception and big play after the catch,\u201d a \u201cproven threat off the reverse,\u201d and a \u201cquality blocker.\u201d<\/p>\n One of those plays\u2014a one-handed grab against Tennessee State\u2014remains embedded in his memory.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a slant route, I remember, right over the linebacker,\u201d he says. \u201cHe was kind of covering the flat, so it was right off his back shoulder. The ball just sailed, and I really just threw a hand up. It wasn\u2019t like I planned it. And somehow I came down with it.\u201d<\/p>\n His full name is William Stanley Rinehart III, and he earned the nickname \u201cBear\u201d from his parents, so football became<\/a> an obvious part of life growing up in South Carolina. But even after earning all-state honors his senior season, at around 6\u2032 and 185 pounds, Rinehart wasn\u2019t the prototype-size athlete that excited big-time college scouts. He had to build himself into becoming legitimate big-play college receiver. On the field and in the film room.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a fast kid coming out of high school,\u201d he says. \u201cBut back then, if you weren\u2019t 6\u20195\u2033, it wasn\u2019t D1. All the slot receivers that exist now did not exist then.\u201d<\/p>\n What Rinehart had in his favor was the support of a football legend: South Carolina native and 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Sterling Sharpe, who was one of the coaches at a summer football camp. Rinehart says the former Green Bay Packers wideout took a liking to his attention to detail and route-running ability. \u201cI became his favorite,\u201d he says. \u201cSo he was sending letters out for me to colleges. I just loved every little detail of route running. I just wanted every edge I could get.\u201d<\/p>\n He stayed in-state, accepting an offer from Furman, then a Division I-AA program (now the Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS), where he immediately made an impact.<\/p>\n Rinehart finished his career as the Paladins\u2019 all-time leading receiver with 126 receptions. In his four seasons, Furman made four playoff appearances, won two Southern Conference championships, and reached the national championship game his junior year in 2001, before losing to Montana.<\/p>\n He entered his senior season knowing there was a chance the NFL could come calling. But he made his decision before the 2002 first-round playoff loss to Villanova\u2014then went out and set a school record with 12 catches for 139 yards. Despite the performance, he had already chosen to pursue music full time. With his body already breaking down, and the grind it would take to train for the combine, there was still only a slim shot he\u2019d land on an NFL team.<\/p>\n Music was already blooming. No matter how hard the choice, he stuck with it.<\/p>\n \u201cPhysically, I just didn\u2019t feel [great], and music had started to happen,\u201d he says. \u201cThere were agents calling at the time, and I would\u2019ve been invited to camp as a free agent and see if you can find a fit somewhere. So I had decided that I wasn\u2019t going to go to all the pro days. I was just like, I think I\u2019ve moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the finality of his last game lingers.<\/p>\n \u201cI think about that all the time\u2014walking in that locker room the last time with guys I\u2019m still on a text thread with now. It was really the end. It was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n NEEDTOBREATHE won\u2019t be touring alone. The husband-and-wife duo of Drew and Ellie Holcomb<\/a> will be supporting the band for its entire run. Three months before showtime, Rinehart says he\u2019s already given Drew an unofficial but equally important role: golf tour manager. \u201cDrew is a big golfer, so I told him he has to be, like, the tour manager for golf,\u201d Rinehart says.<\/p>\nHow to Build a Big-Play Receiver at a Small School<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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