The Resolute
Fast-Rising Band Talks Vice, Hope, and God
It’s always fun to discover an amazing new band.
And when I recently learned that the female fronted Christian rock band Icon for Hire was returning to Nashville with their own headlining date, one of the bands on the bill caught my attention: middle Tennessee’s very own rock group The Resolute.
As I checked out their pages on Facebook, Twitter, and their website, it became quite clear: this group is a force to be reckoned with.
They’re gaining a popular following on social media outlets, and they’re opening for big groups: P.O.D., Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Apocalyptica, Sasosin, and many others. The quintet’s guitarist Nathan Merrick adds this about the band’s artistic process: “The band writes not only about vices, frustrations, and shortcomings, but also about hope in overcoming them. The emotions that we want people to feel are intense emotions — to the most raw sense possible.”
And as their website explains: “Delivered through song, The Resolute makes complexity simple to understand and easily relatable. A focus on melody, the most honest of lyrics, and a willingness to buck genre lines in their development have made the songs feel uniquely immediate.”
Here is what they had to say to Rocking God’s House through my recent email interview with the band members:
That’s a complicated question as I’m sure you know. We don’t label ourselves as a Christian-esque marketed product. No. We are free to sing about bad relationships or themes that could be confusingly interpreted if the listener presupposed it should be with a Christian Lens. That doesn’t mean that some songs are created from the lens of our Christian perspective. I’m sure that’s a common answer. I don’t have a problem interviewing for Christian sources, but we’re not the proverbial heroes of the genre. And I don’t mean that as a cop-out and hiding behind that answer to not label ourselves Christians. Rather, I believe more opportunities and removed prejudices are better opportunities to exercise sharing the gospel. We can play a church, we can play a bar, we can play a state university. And we don’t have to apologize for any of it.
How would you describe your music to a first-time listener?
As a group we all love rock music. A couple of the members are really into pop as well. We add pop elements into our rock sound.
How did you come up with your band name?
We actually created a private group on Facebook for all the members to post all the names that we randomly thought of throughout the day. Some were horrible, some were decent, and some we posted just to get a laugh. It was a longer process than we anticipated but we chose this name because Resolute means admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering. We believe we have a purpose, and we are a determined group of individuals that share the same passion, music.
How did opening for Icon For Hire come about for your band ?
Through one of Alaina’s friends. They graduated from the music business program together at MTSU and she had connections to the show.
Are all of you originally from Tennessee?
Yes, Johnson City and relocated to Nashville.
How can more people learn and listen to your band? What are your media outlets?
They can find us one Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. @TheResoluteBand and our website theresoluteband.com
And tell us about your new music video?
We are all fans of Maroon 5, especially Alaina. She suggested covering the song when they first released the single, and we just ran with it and made it our own. When we heard the finished product we were really excited about it and wanted to take it a step further and do a video.
So, Nathan, you have worked with Percy Sledge? What was that experience like?
I laughed a little bit because it was interesting that you locked on to that. It was really just a live recording. Percy was friendly, but rather aged. That came across in his performance, which even still, given his age, was outstanding. Unfortunately, there just isn’t much to comment in regards to that job. Live recordings aren’t a produced thing like studio recordings. There doesn’t have to be any direct collaboration.
