The Alternate Routes / Red Wanting Blue

The music industry is a destructive animal where even the fittest isn’t guaranteed unscathed survival. That means indie rock band Red Wanting Blue is rare indeed. A quarter-century of steady artistic growth is virtually unheard of in the volatile world of rock music, whether it’s an underground band struggling to find the key to success or a multi-million-selling supergroup buckling from the excesses of fame. Red Wanting Blue, formed in 1996 in Athens, Ohio, is comprised of Scott Terry on lead vocals, tenor guitar, and ukulele; Mark McCullough on bass, chapman stick, and vocals; Greg Rahm on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; Eric Hall on guitar, lap steel, and vocals; and Dean Anshutz on drums and percussion. Together the five musicians have forged a creative path that grows and expands with each successive recording. By gradually morphing from self-sufficient, independent outfit to skirting the mainstream without losing underground cred, Red Wanting Blue earned the right to enjoy the benefits of longevity. The band’s music followed suit. Take melodic heartland rock ‘n’ roll sprinkled with dashes of down-home Americana and dip it in the modern, metropolitan rock world. Then add muscle, from a robust rhythm section to the full-throttle vocals of frontman Scott Terry. The results are truly a music industry story worth telling.

The Alternate Routes are the band that helped us to remember “we are how we treat each other, and nothing more.” “Nothing More” propelled the band into new ears and new heights, having been featured prominently in the 2014 Winter Olympics, on NCIS, and with numerous other organizations. It was followed up with “Somewhere in America,” a poignant and personal conversation about gun violence that earned the band a 2016 Independent Music Award and a visit to the White House. The Alternate Routes first burst onto the scene in 2005 with their breakthrough album Good and Reckless and True. They released several albums on Vanguard Records and on their own, toured extensively, and relentlessly refined their craft. They have collaborated with such seemingly disparate artists as singer-songwriter Patti Griffin, director Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right), and guitarist Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket. They’ve performed on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and have been repeat guests on NPR’s “Mountain Stage.”