Red Wanting Blue to perform at Music Fest encore Aug. 30

August 28, 2014 | Events, UToday
By Aimee Portala



Columbus-based band Red Wanting Blue has appeared on the “Late Show With David Letterman,” VH1’s “Big Morning Buzz Live” and NPR’s “Mountain Stage,” yet members remain humble.

Red Wanting Blue

Red Wanting Blue

“We’ve all had our moments of like, maybe we’ll never get anywhere with this, but we still love it and we’re going to do it anyway because it’s what we love to do,” said Scott Terry, lead singer. “If the money never comes, who cares? We love to play music and we love to travel; we like being an American rock ‘n’ roll band.”

Red Wanting Blue will perform Saturday, Aug. 30, at 4 p.m. in the Rocket Hall parking lot as part of a special encore of UT’s Music Fest.

Formed in 1996 at Ohio University in Athens, Red Wanting Blue has been touring the United States for more than a decade.

After 14 years being independent, the band — Terry, bassist Mark McCullough, guitarist and keyboardist Greg Rahm, guitarist Eric Hall and drummer Dean Anshutz — signed with Fanatic Records in 2010. To date, they have released 10 full-length albums, including 2011’s From The Vanishing Point, which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and led to national exposure.

The band’s most recent offering, Little America, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and No. 31 on the Mainstream Rock Chart.

“I’m a stubborn man; I thought I could do it myself for such a long time. I think that’s a great mindset for a musician and a band to have… there’s so much you can do yourself,” Terry said. “You probably have to consider the opportunities that are out there when people are asking you to join their label. That’s what happened with us. Fanatic Records came to us and said, ‘We want to represent you because we believe in what you’ve done on your own already.’ That’s been so huge for us, just to be able to find people that are as passionate about our band as we are.”

Terry is known for his prominent stage presence, which adds a great deal of energy to the band’s live performances.

“I make a lot of faces when I sing… I use my whole body to get the song out of me. I get very emotional,” he said. “That’s what I love about performing. Getting to reach new people and being able to give them something that’s real and honest, and hoping they walk away and go, ‘Wow, that was really something. That guy gave himself more than he had to.’”

Ultimately, Terry strives to offer an authentic, organic experience to fans.

“I think, at the end of the day, a song lasts if you can make something really meaningful with the words. I try my best to perform songs as honestly as I can, and I try to write them as honestly as I can,” he said.

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