How Was Collective Soul formed?
In 1989, Ed Roland and Shave Evans were part of a Georgia-based band called Marching Two-Step, which also included a female vocalist. They added lead guitarist Ross Childress in 1991, after a band he was in opened for Marching Two-Step in Atlanta. In 1992, with the departure of the female vocalist, they decided to harden Marching Two-Step’s sound and thus changed the name to Collective Soul in the process. Will Turpin, who had often lent his percussion skills and backing vocals to both Marching Two-Step and Collective Soul, became the official bassist in 1994 after noting “a major deficiency in the bass department” and watching the “revolving door of bassists come in and out.” Where Did The Name ‘Collective Soul’ Come From? Ed Roland was reading Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, and came across the phrase, “collective soul”…and he thought it sounded really cool! And, it was the only name that everyone could agree upon! Author Ayn Rand actually uses the phrase in a negative connotation, us
