Editor’s Note: When one thinks of 1990’s rock, the band Collective Soul immediately comes to mind. They wrote songs that captured the imagination and hearts of millions of fans around the world. I remember that it seemed like every time that I turned on the radio either “Shine”, “December”, or “The World I Know” would be ingrained into my ears. The melodies were soulful, the guitars packed enough punch to be able to cross over into hard rock platforms, and the lyrics were meaningful. This was Collective Soul in a nutshell. Fast forward 24 years later and guitarist Will Turpin released his solo album entitled “Serengeti Drivers” and Collective Soul will be embarking on the The Rock & Roll Express tour with 3 Doors Down and Soul Asylum. In the meantime, fans can check out Will Turpin at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/WillTurpinMusic
Fans can also check out Collective Soul at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/collectivesoul
Madness To Creation: How has your week been going so far?
Will: It’s been going good, just enjoying time with the kids, and we’re doing some camping and enjoying time outdoors. Thanks for taking the time.
Madness To Creation: What do you enjoy doing when it’s time off from making music and touring, and doing interviews? *laughs*
Will: I love biking! I really commit myself to a healthy lifestyle, so I bike about 25 to 30 miles per day. As I’m getting older, I see that time with my family as more valuable all the time. Quality time is so important for me.
Madness To Creation: Speaking of quality time, do you enjoy meeting the fans and stuff like that?
Will: Absolutely, it’s great to hear how the Collective Soul songs have impacted their lives, we make music to try to let people know that everything is going to be all right, and for fans to sing along and have a good time at our shows. It’s just what it’s all about, using our songs to connect to our fans, and that’s why they have stuck with us for so long.
Madness To Creation: Speaking of those songs, I really want to talk about the song “The World I Know”, what are some memories that you have when Collective Soul wrote and recorded that song?
Will: I remember when the guitar part was laid down, and as I soon as I heard the guitar riff in the writing and recording process, I immediately knew that this song was going to be really special, it just had that vibe in the song.
Madness To Creation: You recently released your “Serengeti Drivers” solo album, how has the response been to the record so far?
Will: The response has been really positive and really good. It was great for me to step out of my comfort zone for this project. I recently had a couple of shows in Atlanta where I live, and the turnout was great and the crowd responded very well, seen some good reviews of “Serengeti Drivers” as well.
Madness To Creation: Do you plan on doing any touring or what are your plans for the solo album?
Will: Well, I have a couple of shows in Atlanta coming up, but in the meantime, I will be focused on having a great summer run in Collective Soul with 3 Doors Down and Soul Asylum.
Madness To Creation: Do you plan on releasing any singles from “Serengeti Drivers”?
Will: It’s kind of under wraps right now, we’ll be sure to let everyone know.
Madness To Creation: Your solo career has been described as Americana flavored, who are some of your favorite Americana artists?
Will: Definitely Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen immediately come to mind.
Madness To Creation: What is a song that you want to push off of “Serengeti Drivers”?
Will: I definitely want to talk about “Demons”. The song is my favorite off of this record because it describes what we go through in our daily life. It’s like that cartoon that you see where the angel is on one shoulder and the devil is on the other shoulder and you are faced with making that decision in regards to temptations. It’s all about trying to find that balance in your life to keep you grounded and centered.
Madness To Creation: What do you do in order to try to find that balance in your life?
Will: I do a lot of biking, I spend time with the kids because they keep me grounded, where are you based out of?
Madness To Creation: Iowa!
Will: This is something that I do when I’m touring. Instead of just sitting and waiting in the tour bus, I like to bike and explore the city because when you’re touring there is little opportunity to explore the city because it can be very mundane just being on the tour bus and going to the venue and that’s it. I biked 25 to 30 miles on a trail that was next to a river and I toured Botanical Gardens when I was in Des Moines. It was a lot of fun and it was peaceful. It’s about making memories while you can.
Madness To Creation: Speaking of making memories, this summer, Collective Soul will be touring with 3 Doors Down and Soul Asylum on “The Rock & Roll Express Tour”, what can fans expect from that tour?
Will: Fans can expect a high energy show with a lot of hits between the three bands. I’m looking forward to seeing my friends in 3 Doors Down, they are a great bunch of guys, very down to earth, and looking forward to seeing them perform every night.
Madness To Creation: In an oversaturated music industry, what advice would you have for aspiring bands in order to stand out?
Will: I wouldn’t say that it’s oversaturated per say, but I always tell people to stay true to yourself and to find your identity, whether as a band or as a solo artist, people can see right through you if you’re not authentic to your music, write songs that are meaningful. Play as many shows as you can and write good songs, songs that you would be proud of performing years later.
Madness To Creation: What does the rest of the year look like for your solo career or with Collective Soul?
Will: I can say this much. Next year will be the 25th anniversary of Collective Soul as a band and we are working on big plans for next year. We will announce it on our social media towards the end of the year.
Madness To Creation: Anything else you would like to add?
Will: For the Collective Soul fans, pick up a copy of “Serengeti Drivers” if you would like, it’s different from a Collective Soul record and go get your tickets for The Rock & Roll Express Tour, we want to hear you all sing!
And there you have it! Fans can go pick up a copy of “Serengeti Drivers” by Will Turpin here! Check out the tour dates below. Dates with an asterisk are dates that are not with 3 Doors Down and Soul Asylum.
* Monday, June 25th- Southern Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary, Canada
* Tuesday, June 26th- Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Canada(w/The Static Shift)
* Thursday, June 28th- Friday, June 29th- Commodore Ballroom in North Vancouver, Canada
* Saturday, June 30th- Laketown Rock in Cowichan Valley, Canada
Friday, July 6th- State Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park in Atlanta, Georgia
Saturday, July 7th- Daily’s Place Amphitheater in Jacksonville, Florida
Sunday, July 8th- House Of Blues in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Tuesday, July 10th- Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton, Florida
Wednesday, July 11th- Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida
Friday, July 13th- Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Pelham, Alabama
Saturday, July 14th- Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi
Sunday, July 15th- The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas
Tuesday, July 17th- The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Houston, Texas
Wednesday, July 18th- H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas
Friday, July 20th- Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Saturday, July 21st- Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri
Tuesday, July 24th- Huntington Bank Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois
Thursday, July 26th- The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Friday, July 27th- Washington County Fair in West Bend, Wisconsin
Saturday, July 28th- Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Riverside, Iowa
Friday, August 3rd- Clearfield County Fair in Clearfield, Pennsylvania
Saturday, August 4th- Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Tuesday, August 7th- Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, Michigan
Wednesday, August 8th- Rose Music Center at The Heights in Huber Heights, Ohio
Friday, August 10th- Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire
Saturday, August 11th- PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey
Tuesday, August 14th- BMHMC Amphitheater at Bald Hill in Farmingville, New York
Thursday, August 16th- Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut
Saturday, August 18th- Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, New York
Sunday, August 19th- Borgata Event Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Tuesday, August 21st- Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore, Maryland
Wednesday, August 22nd- White Oak Amphitheatre at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina
Friday, August 24th- Ascend Amphitheater part of the Journeys Concert Series in Nashville, Tennessee
Saturday, August 25th- Heritage Park Amphitheatre in Simpsonville, South Carolina
Thursday, September 6th- Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California
Friday, September 7th- Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday, September 8th- Harrah’s Resort SoCal- The Events Center in Valley Center, California
Tuesday, September 11th- Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado
Wednesday, September 12th- Utah State Fair in Salt Lake City, Utah
Friday, September 14th- The Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico
Sunday, September 16th- Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona
Tuesday, September 18th- Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona
* Saturday, October 27th- Farrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, North Carolina
For tickets and further information on any of the shows listed above, click here.
