Blessid Union Of Souls

In the mid-1990s Blessid Union of Souls emerged as one of adult alternative radio’s leading acts in the wake of Hootie & the Blowfish, thanks to an upbeat, spiritually tinged approach and a melodic fusion of pop, R&B, and folk that the group itself termed “rural soul.” Their first long-player, the 1995 set Home, achieved rapid commercial traction and yielded the Top Ten single “I Believe.”

The Cincinnati-based outfit was assembled in 1990 by vocalist and songwriter Eliot Sloan together with guitarist and songwriter Jeff Pence. Keyboardist C.P. Roth, formerly a member of Ozzy Osbourne’s touring ensemble, and drummer Eddie Hedges, who had backed various R&B performers on the road, soon rounded out the initial roster. Sloan and Hedges had previously collaborated in the mid-1980s R&B group the Movies, which secured a short-lived deal with CBS. The band took its name from a line spoken in an episode of M*A*S*H, altering the spelling of the opening word to guarantee proper pronunciation. A 1992 demo reached EMI Records, which promptly signed the act. Crafting the debut album Home required more than two years; the project finally appeared in March 1995 and benefited from early airplay of the still-unreleased track “I Believe” by local Cincinnati DJs. That single climbed to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and ranked among the year’s most frequently broadcast recordings. Many of Sloan’s compositions carried understated Christian themes without becoming didactic. The follow-up single “Let Me Be the One” also entered the Top 40 and received prominent exposure on the daytime drama All My Children.

Once EMI ceased operations, the band moved to Capitol and, in 1996, added bassist Tony Clark as a permanent member. The self-titled sophomore album arrived in 1997, led by the single “I Wanna Be There.” Although it featured contributions from established songwriters, among them 1996 Grammy winner Tommy Sims, the record proved less commercially potent than its predecessor. Walking Off the Buzz surfaced in spring 1999, followed by the compilation Singles in early 2001. Although the group refrained from entering the studio for the next four years, it maintained an active touring schedule. In 2002 C.P. Roth and Eddie Hedges departed and were succeeded by Bryan Billhimer and Shaun Schaefer, longtime associates of the band. The revised lineup issued Perception on the Ultrax label in 2005. September 2008 brought the studio album Close to the Edge, whose twelve songs included eight previously featured on Perception.