Blessid Union of Souls

Blessid Union of Souls formed in 1990 with guitarist Jeff Pence (Morrow, Ohio), vocalist/pianist Eliot Sloan (Cincinnati, Ohio), keyboardist C.P. Roth (who had been in Ozzy Osbourne's touring band), and drummer Eddie Hedges. Sloan and Hedges had previously played together in a band in the 1980s called The Movies (not to be confused with the British pub rock band of the same name). The band's name originated from an episode of the TV series M*A*S*H.[5]

The band spent several years in the early- to mid-1990s honing their craft in Newport News, Virginia and their song "Oh Virginia" is a tribute to their "second home."

In 1992, the band sent a demo to EMI Records who immediately offered them a contract and spread the word about them.

They began writing more songs in about 1993 for their debut album, Home. It took over two years to complete, but before it was released, DJs in the Cincinnati area began playing "I Believe", which would become the album's most popular single.

They finally released Home in March 1995. Later that year, it was certified gold by the RIAA. It is now certified platinum. The album's most popular song was the aforementioned "I Believe", with reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the magazine's Mainstream Top 40 chart, and #1 on the CHR/Pop survey from Radio & Records. It also spawned the Top 40 hits "Oh Virginia" and "Let Me Be the One", which was featured in the soap opera All My Children.

After EMI Records collapsed in 1996, the band signed with Capitol Records and added bassist Tony Clark in the process.

They released their second album, Blessid Union of Souls in 1997. This album was not as popular as Home, but still released two Top 40 hits, "I Wanna Be There" and "Light in Your Eyes".

They released their third album, Walking Off the Buzz, in 1999. This album was moderately popular due to "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me)", a single from the album that reached the Top 40 but stalled at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single did, however, reach the top ten on both the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart, where it peaked at number eight and gave the band its second top ten hit there, and the CHR/Pop chart published by Radio & Records, peaking at number seven and giving Blessid Union of Souls its third (and, to date, last) top ten on that particular chart.

Between 2001 and 2005, Blessid Union of Souls stayed away from the studio, but they released a greatest hits album that also featured a few previously unreleased songs that were recorded around 2000. During this time, they still toured. One of their shows was at Great Valley High School in Pennsylvania. Roth and Hedges left the band in 2002 and were replaced by Kyle Robinson, and then by Shaun Schaefer on drums and Bryan Billhimer on guitar.[6]

At the end of this period, the band's fourth studio album Perception was released.

In the beginning of 2008, Blessid Union of Souls began touring with members Eliot Sloan, Tony Clark, Bryan Billhimer, and Shaun Schaefer, as Jeff Pence had amicably left the band in order to focus on his multimedia production career.

Blessid Union of Souls's fifth studio album, Close to the Edge, was released on September 16, 2008, on Torque Records. Eight of its twelve tracks were taken from their previous album, Perception. There was only one single released for the album, "Could've Been with You".

The band's debut Contemporary Christian album, The Mission Field, was released on Salvation Road Records through Sony/Provident in March 2011. The first single, "The Only Song", reached number 32 on the Nielsen BDS Christian AC chart. The video for "The Only Song" was also added to the Gospel Music Channel & JCTV. The second single, "Pray for You", was released on July 15, 2011.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album, the band released Home 25, a limited-edition vinyl album that included vintage live versions of Home classics and Home-era demo recordings.[7]

They also performed a track in Pokémon: The First Movie titled "Brother My Brother" and the main theme for Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls titled "It's Alright".