On Saturday, Dec. 3, Faith Promotions director, Jamie Stanley, brought three bands to Robert A. Clay Auditorium. Goodbye Charlie, a local church group, and Elijah Ride opened for Overflow, a band based in Anderson, South Carolina. The concert lasted for almost four hours with breaks between the bands.

   Overflow is made up of five male members: Tom Pellerin, lead vocals and guitar; Will Carter, drums and background vocals; Josh Cromer, bass and background vocals; Mark Breazeale, lead guitar and background vocals; and Matt Hayes, keyboards, organ, and tambourine. This pop-rock Christian band is influenced musically by greats like Aerosmith, Meatloaf, U2, and Switchfoot (whose newest CD is in Tom’s CD player).

   Before the doors opened and the crowd poured in, I had an interview with the band backstage. I was surprised to find out that they had grown up together since the mere age of two, but that they had also defeated a 60 member youth group three times to make them the reigning dodge ball champions.

   Their start as a band began with the magical season of Christmas where each member asked for a different instrument so they could form this ensemble. Their first official gig was played at their home church, Pendleton First Baptist, in South Carolina where they recalled playing some “cheesy praise song.” Pellerin told me that he still has the check framed and hanging in his room.

   Their album, “A Better Place,” consists of ten songs with the closing song “Just For Me” being Josh Cromer’s favorite. “It shows that God is so big,” he commented on his favorite song. Mark Breazeale writes all the lyrics and says that his and the band’s faith and beliefs “overflow into the lyrics.” He never has writer’s block because “usually the best songs we have are the ones that don’t take too much work. I can’t just make myself sit down and write a song,” he told me.

   During the concert, numerous audience members were belting out the lyrics to each and every song they performed and this is what the band felt made them feel like they had hit it big. “When the audience knows the lyrics, it shows us that we are known. Our first sold-out concert was in Texas,” Tom recalled. This concert brought forth many fans who knew the meaning of the lyrics as they sang along. Their fan base generally depends on the area of the country they are in, but is considered great.

   Music comes naturally to each of the five band members and they chose to spread the gospel through their music because “We are passionate about it and this is our way to show emotion. Some people are gifted at talking, some are gifted athletes and that is their platform. For us, it was an outlet for us to say something.” Their advice to inspiring musicians is to “play as much as you can and play because that is what you love to do. Don’t ever get discouraged and just appreciate where you are at.” This advice shouldn’t be taken lightly because they are sagacious of what it takes to succeed.

   Their name comes from Psalm 29:5 and Mark said that this verse stuck out to him when he was reading it. Essential Records took on Overflow in June of 2003 and when they first heard their song on the radio, they had just finished playing a concert at North Greenville College about three years ago. “We had just finished playing when someone ran in and said our song was on the radio. We caught the tail end of the song and were pretty much jumping up and down.”

   Their parents have been supportive as the success of the band has risen and would be supportive if they weren’t in the music business. Tom’s parents loved it the whole time, “They gave us money to record our first CD.” With jobs that they had aspired to be, like a sports doctor, engineering major and male model, their careers would still be impressive if they weren’t involved in the music ministry.

   On their trip here from their previous concert in Irmo, South Carolina, the band mostly slept, except for the time when they threw pennies at Matt while he slept. “We watched DVDs on our laptops,” Tom said. “Right now I think Anchorman is in my computer.” At one gas station between Irmo and Leesburg, Overflow’s van was backed into almost two times by a mail truck. After the first hit, the guys made sure to tell the driver she had hit them. “You could say she had gone postal,” drummer Will Carter joked.

   While onstage, nothing embarrassing happened Saturday night, but the band recalls the time when keyboardist, Matt Hayes, nearly broke down in tears when his keyboard malfunctioned and wouldn’t play the right notes in front of a crowd of almost 10,000 people. “Why are ya’ll picking on me?” Matt retorted. “Don’t you remember the time when Tom threw oranges and hit the lights?”

   It was visible to me that this band was a family more than five friends. They could finish each others sentences and poke at each other with a huge smile on their faces. This unity shone on the stage when they played. From their opening song of “A Better Place” to their closing performance of “Forever,” the crowd was taking away by their vocals, lyrics, and instrumentals.

   There was no flaw in their performance and they even threw in a little southern heritage and played “Sweet Home Alabama,” which was a huge crowd pleaser. They interacted with the audience by allowing them to have a few seconds of fame by singing into the microphone. I believe that this is one of the best groups to have come to our area and I think that they are a breath of fresh air to all.