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Follow the lighthouse: A spontaneous interview with Collective Soul bassist Will Turpin
“When I play the bass, I translate it in my mind as a keyboard, which means it’s more melodic rather than technical.” Uncovering the well-spring of his seemingly spontaneous musical prowess proves rather easy for multi-hyphenate artist Will Turpin, best known as a founding member of gritty ’90s alternative rockers Collective Soul.
Following the 2009 release of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductees’ self-titled, return to form record [aka Rabbit], the group unanimously decided to abstain from any unified songwriting or recording and focus primarily on solo projects.
In Turpin’s case, that edict gave birth to fan favorite The Lighthouse [2011], a five-song, radio-ready pop EP clearly reflecting his extraordinary growth as an artist, ear for melody, lyricist, lead vocalist, producer, and musical dexterity on keyboards for the first time.
But this maturation should come as no surprise. Turpin always seemed predestined for a career in music, having spent innumerable childhood hours absorbing the good vibes in his late father Bill Turpin’s Real 2 Reel recording studio.
The EP’s anchors are undoubtedly “Sailor,” a cautionary message to Evans, then seriously battling substance abuse — he has conquered his addiction and now speaks to youth groups — and “My Star,” a bouncy, guitar-driven ode recalling his near lethal courtship with future wife Donna Dillard Turpin.
Inadvertently encapsulating his songwriting and recording motto, Turpin admits, “Good art is where you are at a certain moment in time in your life and that’s what you try and depict when you lay down the track.”
To promote the independent release, the intrinsically melodic singer formed Will Turpin and The Way with several childhood friends and performed concerts around their Atlanta home base. The Lighthouse [Live from Real 2 Reel Studios] EP offers a maximum dose of the rockers’ primeval power.
The reserved, approachable, contented father of three logged over 160 shows in eight countries supporting Collective Soul’s follow-up to Rabbit, 2015’s See What You Started by Continuing. The quintet unleashed 11th long player Vibrating in August 2022.
