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Buy it on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/where-sinners-saints-collide/id697428496

Directed by: Brian Stansfield
Written by: MELODIME

www.melodime.com
@MELODIME
facebook.com/melodime

Most upcoming bands have dreams of fame and fortune, scoring No. 1 hits and platinum records, and becoming a household name. And, there's nothing wrong with that. But, MELODIME, a Virginia rock band that blends haunting bittersweet melodies with emotionally rich vocals atop a bed of Southern-flavored alt rock, is not like most bands. The mission of Bradley Rhodes (vocals, guitar) and brothers Sammy Duis (piano, bass) and Tyler Duis (drums) goes beyond the above.

Instead, MELODIME has something bigger in mind. Rhodes explains, "There are so many bands trying to do the same thing. Getting fans to pay money to see shows and buy the CD so they can get bigger and bigger. But we want to do something with our lives beyond the music to show people that you don't have to be famous to make an impact in this world."

The project that's going to help MELODIME accomplish that goal is their new album, "Where the Sinners & the Saints Collide," which was funded by their loyal and ever-growing fan base during a 30-day campaign titled, "Make an Album, Change a Life." With the album fully funded, the band is donating 100% of the profits from album sales to a non-profit foundation they started called Now I Play Along Too, which provides musical instruments and education for orphans, victims of disasters, and underprivileged kids locally and around the world. Photos of those who donated to the cause will be incorporated into the album cover to illustrate the idea of people coming together to do something that matters.

Like their music and lyrics, the idea for Now I Play Along Too is truly inspired. "Sammy and Tyler's great-grandfather grew up in a poor family with four brothers, with little money for food, let alone anything extra for entertainment. Then one day, an anonymous person came to door and left five instruments on the front porch. Each of the brothers picked an instrument and learned how to play, eventually improving to make quite a name for themselves as town musicians and were able to provide for their family," explains Rhodes.

Now, the legacy is carried on through the band, whose name is a made-up word mashing "melody" with "time" to signify memories in the form of sound, which is quite fitting for the band often described as "modern, yet nostalgic." They are continuing that story and putting instruments into the hands of people who would've never been able to afford them. The band is living the idea of looking outside yourself described best in, "Where the Sinners & the Saints Collide," their thematic record about coming together, regardless of our differences, to do some good. "The album carries strong themes of redemption and has songs about picking yourself up from your boot straps, using those past mistakes and failures to make yourself a better person to help people who may be 'lost and broken' so to speak. Although we may strive to be saints, we all fall short and are collectively sinners. The 'collide' part comes from the point at which we all come together for a common purpose," says Rhodes, who adds that the theme picks up where the 2011 album "3 Reasons For Fighting" left off.

"Where the Sinners & the Saints Collide," recorded at Black Dog Sound Recording Studios outside in Atlanta, GA with producer Rick Beato (Shinedown, NEEDTOBREATHE, Charlie Mars), opens with the emotional rocker "Halo," which Rhodes describes as carrying the thesis of the album as it tells the story of someone that no one would give a second chance to, yet they are capable of doing so much good if they can just get to that next phase of their life. The inspired lyrics, partly influenced by the demise of Sam Duis' marriage, pack a powerful emotional punch as Rhodes soulfully sings, "I'm building kingdoms now from this abandoned town" - a metaphor for rising up after personal adversity.

"'Halo' is one of the songs we wrote together on a four-day camping trip in the woods in northern Pennsylvania," recalls Rhodes, who had 50 songs written for the record before whittling it down to 12. "It was such an inspirational place. This is where we figured out the theme of the album. Once we had a handle on that, the rest naturally fell into place. We also came together as a band and found ourselves collaborating on this effort more than ever before. I'm used to writing about my life and my experiences, but this time we wrote from everyone's perspective. I think it gives this record more emotional depth."