Ed Roland
| Ed Roland | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edgar Eugene Roland Jr. |
| Born |
August 3, 1963 , US |
| Genres | Alternative rock, hard rock, post-grunge |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, producer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards |
| Years active | 1980s-present |
| Associated acts | Collective Soul, Ed Roland and the Sweet Tea Project |
Edgar Eugene "Ed" Roland, Jr. (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Collective Soul. He is also active with a new project, Ed Roland and the Sweet Tea Project.
After finishing high school, Roland studied songwriting and guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston for one year. He was the lead engineer and producer at Real 2 Reel Studios in for eight years. In 1985, he was in a band called The Eddie Band and another during the late 1980s and early 1990s called Marching Two-Step, which also included future producer and music executive Matt Serletic, future executive Michelle Rhea Caplinger and longtime Collective Soul drummer Shane Evans. Roland released an indie album called Ed-E Roland in 1991. The album was meant to showcase his abilities to compose, record, and produce his own original music.
Roland changed the name of his band to Collective Soul with hopes of finding success in the music business. Not finding success, however, Roland became frustrated and almost gave up on the music industry. He had been active in the local Georgia music scene since the early 1980s. Despite the initial rejections, Collective Soul independently released Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid in 1993 on a label called Rising Storm. It was a compilation of some of Roland's songwriting demos created when he worked at Real 2 Reel Studios.
This collection eventually caught the attention of a college radio station in Orlando, Florida. Several other college radio stations began to play "Shine" and it became an underground hit. The popularity of the song and band was convincing enough that Atlantic Records signed Collective Soul in 1993 to a long term major label contract. "Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid" was re-released worldwide in early 1994. The band experienced a sudden rise from obscurity to fame.
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