In this heartfelt and candid interview, Bear Rinehart of Need To Breathe opens up about the band’s connection with their fans, the surprising ways they have shown their love, and the impact their music has had on people’s lives. From signing unusual items to receiving heartfelt stories from fans, Bear shares the incredible journey of Need To Breathe and how their songs have become meaningful anthems for listeners.
Join Justin and Kim as they dive deep into the band’s latest album, Caves, and explore the powerful message behind their new single, “Fall on Me.” Discover the personal growth and lessons learned by Bear throughout his career, as well as the importance of grace, therapy, and embracing authenticity. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation with one of Christian music’s most beloved artists.
View this video with NEEDTOBREATHE and other interviews with JOY FM artists videos on the JOY FM YouTube Channel.
NEEDTOBREATHE Interview Transcript:
Kim:
Hey, we’re Justin and Kim today. We have the awesome privilege of hanging out with Bear from Need To Breathe Bear, thank you so much for being with us today.
Justin:
Welcome to the show.
Bear Rinehart:
Of course. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Kim:
We’re so excited about your new record Caves. Just came out, it’s so good.
Justin:
I love it.
Kim:
We’ve both been listening to it on repeat. And your new single is called Fall on Me. Talk about that a little bit.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah, it really is, it’s a song about, I think it got started anyway about a daughter leaving for college. So I was writing with this guy, Jason Ingram, and his actual daughter was leaving for college. He was dealing with it, and I related to it really strongly because I’ve got kids that I’ve dropped off at school for the first day. And I think the thing I’ve learned about being a parent that I didn’t think would happen I guess, is I didn’t think, “Oh, they’re going to do great.” I thought, “Oh no, they’re going to fail.”
Kim:
Oh. Yeah.
Bear Rinehart:
You know what I mean? And so what is your message then to them is just like, “Man, I’ll be here for you regardless of what happens. You’re going to make some mistakes. I’d like to be the place you fall.” And that makes me think. My favorite sort of Bible story, if you will, is the Prodigal. Tim Keller wrote a book not that long ago, a few years ago about that. And it just blows me away about that father… I’d like to love people in that way, and not just my kids, but everybody around me. And that’s what the song’s about. And so I literally, I cry. We made a video about this song and I’ve wept. I’ve seen it four times. I have to stop watching it because it does, it really feels close to me.
Justin:
Yeah. What does that mean to you as a father, and as someone, obviously… I mean, I think about this song, Brother, how it kind of has a similar theme,-
Bear Rinehart:
Sure.
Justin:
… that you need people in your life that you can lean on in tough seasons.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah. And it’s also inevitable, we’re all a mess. I think that’s something that I’ve learned to be okay with as I’ve gotten older. And you obviously know that about your kids. It’s simple to see it in them. It’s like they can make plenty of mistakes, you still love them. But you don’t think of yourself that way. And I think for me, that’s been… Shown a little bit of grace to myself in that way has really opened things up, at least made that shame cycle a little shorter. To me, that’s what this song is about, is a real love song is not, “Hey, I’ll love you if you do all the right things and you do what I’m asking you to do.” But it’s like, “I’m loving all the mess of this. I’ll be here. This is going to be rough at times, and we’ll grow and learn from it.”
Kim:
And maybe you have found this too, but I know that as I’ve gotten older, I have found myself, it is a little bit easier to give myself grace than it was 20 years ago.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah. And we grew up, we’re probably similar ages, probably. I don’t know. But I mean, I grew up in the eighties. I mean, that was a rough time for everything, but Christianity especially was very hard line. And that grew some really bad habits I think, and not very biblical ones. My thing I take away from the gospels in general is that every time somebody thinks they know and they’re exactly right, they never are. That’s the big takeaway for me when I read them. And so that’s comforting to me, I don’t have to have it figured out. And even as an artist that people listen to our songs, it’s like, we’re not trying to teach anything. That’s not what we’re… We didn’t learn this thing and hey, you got to… We’re going through it, and that’s what we’re all relating to. And I think, yeah, I’m really proud of that growth I think in the whole band and my family and yeah.
Kim:
That’s awesome.
Justin:
Well, you’ve been public about that growth and how therapy and counseling played a role in it. I saw a video where you got a tattoo of a pair of denim shorts on your bicep and you attribute it to a therapy session. Joy FM promotes therapy and counseling every day, so this is right up our alley. What was that about and how has that helped you in your life?
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah, man, I’ve been going for a long time, and my wife and I are huge proponents of it. There’s an awesome organization in Nashville called Porter’s Call that is free for artists and their spouses, so we use it. But I was in a counseling session. They were going through some memories and things like you close your eyes and kind of deal with these things. And one of them though was the happiest you’ve ever been. And I was like, I was eight years old, I can see it right now. As the guy goes, “What are you wearing?” I was like, “Jean shorts and no shirt.” As soon as I said it, I knew. I was like, I have to put this on my body somewhere to remind me. So I love it. It’s actually on my guitar hand side, you know what I mean? So every time I look down the guitar, I see it, which it’s a good reminder.
Justin:
Yeah.
Every time this bell rings, that’s someone else liking this video. Waiting on you. You make the bell ring. Go ahead.
What are some of those things now as you’ve gotten older that you look back on and you go, “Man, I have learned so much through this season of life.”
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah, I think it has been a lot, but if I were to just look at the early five to 10 years of our band’s career, ambition was such a big part of it, and how that bled into other things, was that we compared ourselves to other things. And I thought, “Oh, I need to be like this or like that in order to…” And none of those things worked. When I look back, it incredibly hard to do to be somebody else, and it never connected. And so I think when I look back at so many of the songs that worked were easy or things we didn’t think would work, because they came too naturally.
And so I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me. And just understand that mistakes are going to happen. You’re going to blow it. And the people around you are going to blow it. And I think just having less of the world is ending kind of feeling when that happens and we’re going like, “Hey, we’re going to get through this. We don’t want this to happen again. Let’s come up with a plan. It’s not the end of the world.”
Kim:
Yeah. And I think it shows that too, it’s never for nothing. God always takes it, and he always uses it in ways that you’ve never seen. At least that’s been true I think, well, all of us could probably agree with that.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah. I’m not good with timelines anyway, but I like that idea of we just don’t really know when this is going to pay off or when you’re actually going to win it. And that’s the reason to believe in God in the first place, in my opinion. If we had it all figured out, why we need this thing? I think even our sense of justice is so jacked, and I think that’s something I learned. It’s a lot of the times my relational struggles will be in that. It’s like, I really want justice in this moment, but it’s not mine to have. And I think a little bit of patience and age teaches you that like, “Man, this… Whoa, I was so off at that time.” So yeah, I mean, it lets everything come a little easier right now, I feel like. And we’re thankful for that.
Kim:
Yeah.
Justin:
I think the response to Caves, the album, has just shown you once again, that Need To Breathe has the best fans. Wouldn’t you agree?
Kim:
Oh yeah.
Bear Rinehart:
Dude, there’s no question. And they’re so weird and awesome, and it’s my favorite thing. It’s like, it’s so broad and crazy. It’s really fun.
Justin:
On that note, what’s the most shocked thing you’ve ever seen a fan do to show love to the band, to you?
Bear Rinehart:
Somebody asked me to sign their gallbladder scar.
Kim:
No.
Justin:
Okay. All right.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah. We’ve had a, “Sign my dog’s ashes.”
Kim:
Oh.
Justin:
Wow.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah, we’ve had some. On the other side, those are kind of sweet, but a little crazy. We’ve had the people move to the town, or we had someone give us hotels on fake credit cards one time.
Justin:
Whoa.
Kim:
Whoa. Okay.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah. So we’ve been through the gamut in the last 20 years of just-
Kim:
Yeah, you have.
Bear Rinehart:
… all of that. Mostly sweet though. I mean, it’s 99.9% has just been… It blows us away every time we meet somebody and they have a story about how the music’s mattered to them. That’s incredible.
Justin:
Well, there’s a couple in St. Louis who actually walked down the aisle to your song, I Want to Remember, and named their daughter Banks after your song Banks.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah.
Justin:
Yeah.
Bear Rinehart:
So that’s a huge honor for me because the song title and what it means. But we are getting more. Literally, I’ve met several Bears in the last couple months.
Justin:
That couple in St. Louis is me, it’s my wife and I.
Bear Rinehart:
Yes. I love that dude.
Justin:
Banks was our first dance song at our wedding, and as we knew we were pregnant and having a baby girl, my wife was like, “What if we named her Banks? That song? It’s like our song.” So yeah, our daughter’s literally named after a Need to Breathe song.
Kim:
She’s a [inaudible 00:08:23].
Bear Rinehart:
That’s incredible. I love that.
Justin:
I know as a songwriter that you want to write songs that mean stuff to people, not just songs that sound good, which they do, but how does that make you feel to know that you are writing songs that are so meaningful?
Bear Rinehart:
Man, I think we’re more aware of it now, and we have that conversation a lot. We’re like, “Man, it’s these monumental…” And it’s sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, because all the time we’re getting the funeral. It’s like, we played this at the funeral, we played this at the graduation, we played this. And I feel like we’ve kind of become a band that is aware of that. But what’s really sweet about it is we never know when it’s going to happen. Surprise. You know what I mean? I think we have the reverence for the songs in that way, and we’re trying to write things that mean something to us that would be like that. But there’s always a surprise on a record and Banks is like that. It wasn’t a single, I don’t think there was a music video for or anything. It was like, this [inaudible 00:09:12].
Kim:
It’s just beautiful.
Justin:
Oh, we love that song.
Bear Rinehart:
And yeah, I’m really proud of that.
Kim:
And Bear, before we let you go, last time we spoke, it’s been a few years, and you shared with me that you played college football.
Bear Rinehart:
Yes.
Kim:
And I remember you saying, “Oh, I had a huge neck and it was so crazy.” So being football season, what is it like to watch football with you?
Bear Rinehart:
Oh yeah, we should do it. I mean, it’s crazy.
Justin:
Let’s go.
Kim:
I’m in. I’m doing great in Fantasy Football.
Bear Rinehart:
Yeah, it’s really fun. I’m cheering for different things these days. I grew up an Alabama fan because was named after Bear Bryant. But my college roommate, best friend in college and quarterback when I played football, is the coach of the Florida Gators.
Justin:
Yeah.
Kim:
Oh, wow.
Bear Rinehart:
So they had this big win against Tennessee last week. We were playing the [inaudible 00:10:01], and so I’m backstage literally screaming every touchdown they score, right before… I mean, until the minute before we walked on the [inaudible 00:10:08] stage. I was watching that again. So it’s a little chaotic. I’m pretty into it, pretty intense. But yeah, I mean, it’s really fun to see people that you know have that sort of connection with some people. Yeah. It just makes it a whole new level.
Kim:
I don’t know if I should tell you this, but I’m actually an Illinois fan. I know it’s bad. It’s bad, but I grew up with Fighting Illini.
Justin:
I think he’s cool with that. I don’t want to…
Bear Rinehart:
You got to be a fan. I tell my kids all the time, I was like, “You pick him now, you’re staying with them.”
Justin:
I don’t want to tell him I’m a Georgia Bulldogs fan.
Kim:
Oh, yeah. He’s a Bulldog over here.
Bear Rinehart:
Alabama and Florida, we hate those guys.
Justin:
Yeah, I get it. I get it.
Kim:
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Justin:
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