Restless Road’s Tour Diary With Demi Lovato And Christina Perri (10 Photos): Idolator Premiere

Robbie Daw | October 20, 2014 9:46 am

Last year Restless Road formed on the US version of The X Factor, under the guidance of Simon Cowell. The country-pop trio wound up in fourth place by the end of the series’ third season, and earlier this month, they found themselves reuniting with onetime X Factor judge Demi Lovato by opening for her and Christina Perri in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Moline, Illinois.

“Being able to perform on the same stage as Demi and Christina in itself was an amazing experience,” the guys tell Idolator. “We’re huge fans of both of their work. But going into the tour, we weren’t sure how a pop audience would receive our music with us being a country-rooted act. But as soon as we started performing, the crowd immediately started getting into it and having a good time.”

Today we’re premiering a gallery of exclusive backstage photos from their shows with Demi and Christina that the guys provided us, which you can flip through above. (You might notice that a new member, Jared Keim, has replaced Colton Lane Pack since the band were on The X Factor.) And below, is a short Q&A with did with the three of them — Jared, Andrew Scholz and Zachary Beeken — where they discuss their upcoming album and some of their biggest music influences.

What did you learn from the experience of opening for Demi and Christina this month, and the type of audiences they draw? More than really any other specific instance, we learned from the tour that music is truly universal. When you step onto a stage, give it your all and believe in the words that are coming out of your mouth, the audience will get it and they will appreciate it.

Who are some of your biggest influences, both on the country and pop sides of music? Rascal Flatts and Florida Georgia Line have both been huge influences in the country sound that we’re trying to develop. Rascal Flatts vocally is very similar to what we want to be as a group. They can sing anything from a ballad, to an uptempo pop song, to a rock song and still have the tight harmonies and vocal arrangement but keep the country vibe that they have become known for. We also like the cool things that Florida Georgia Line is bringing to country music and the way they think outside of the box. On the pop side of things, we love the kind of attention to detail that is given to all of Justin Timberlake’s tours and his records. He never copies things. When you see his show, or buy a new JT album, you know you are going to experience something new and fresh. And that’s something that we always want to keep in mind. 20 years down the road, when people think of Restless Road, we want them to be able to say the same thing.

How has working with Johnny Wright, who began managing you this year, changed the way you guys operate? It has been such a reassuring feeling to have someone who has been a huge part in some of the biggest acts of the last three decades to have faith in us. From day one, Johnny has been such a huge supporter of what we’ve been trying to do and the sound that we have been trying to create. It gives us the confidence that we can achieve the level of success that his acts have achieved and keeps us reaching for the next level. We have been pushed to give our best effort in the studio and during every performance because we know that he is putting in his best effort to open doors and opportunities for us.

What’s next for you, as far as music releases? We have been in the studio working on our album for the last couple months and we’re really excited about the songs we are cutting. We think there is something really special with this album. As a group, we think the songs and the sound we have been developing for this first album is really going to define us as a group and make us stand out. As we said before about Justin Timberlake, he has never been a copy of something else, and that is what we want to accomplish. Once we got in the studio and started recording, we really began to realize that we have something new and something fresh and we’re excited to get the final product and let that show.

Flip through Restless Road’s exclusive tour diary above.