Wilder Woods (w/ Abraham Alexander)

Under the name Wilder Woods, Needtobreathe frontman Bear Rinehart crafts soulful pop with an introspective folk tone and some R&B flair. The South Carolina-based singer/songwriter debuted his solo project in the front half of 2019 with a three-song EP, followed that August by his eponymous full-length debut.

Along with his brother Bo, Bear helped Needtobreathe‘s soaring faith-influenced pop/rock sound find widespread success with albums like 2014’s Rivers in the Wasteland and 2016’s Hard Love, each of which reached number two on Billboard’s Top 200. In 2018, with a group of songs that reflected his journey as a father and husband, Rinehart began working with producer Gabe Simon (Kopecky) to record his first solo project. Combining the names of his two sons, Wilder and Woods, he issued two singles in April 2019. Credited simply to Wilder Woods and offering no obvious indication of the singer’s identity, “Someday Soon” and “Sure Ain’t” drew plenty of attention and speculation. By the time those songs and a third single, “Supply & Demand,” were collated into a brief EP, fans knew that Rinehart was their man. Released later that August, the singer thoughtfully described his self-titled debut full-length as an “open letter to his children.”