Just a month before The Commonheart releases its sophomore album "Pressure," the band will be in town to open the 2019 season of Riverfront Nights on Saturday, July 20, at Ross's Landing.
The eight-piece Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, powerhouse led by fiery, Joe Cocker-like frontman Clinton Clegg has a sound "so explosive it [could] summon a biblical thunderstorm," according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"This band is therapy for me to bring myself back to being a better person, and I hope people come along with me," says Clegg.
Clegg didn't grow up in a Baptist church, and his soul machine of a band doesn't push religion. But the collective offers feel-good positivity, Golden Rule messaging and performances that ease through blues, vintage soul and rock.
Previously, Clegg was in an eclectic indie band searching for some semblance of artistic focus. He grew up loving B.B. King and soul music, and recognized the strength of his raspy emotive voice.
After some soul-searching, he and that band's drummer decided to do a back-to-basics band centered around Clinton's singing and a vintage R&B aesthetic. The band's name was a spinoff of The Commonwealth, as in The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but the name evolved as the band began to explore the emotion inherent in its gospel-tinged tunes.
The Commonheart will preview "Pressure" at Riverfront Nights. Clegg describes it as an album by a band on a mission.
"We are willing to take risks and to go at any lengths for this band," he describes. "We are ready to spread positivity and make a stretch of this thing."