Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 13

DePizzo licks a solo during O.A.R.’s 2018 date at Ravinia. “The tour in itself is quite therapeutic, even for us,” chuckles DePizzo. “We like to say it’s like a summer camp on wheels.” That is, a summer camp that has quite the philanthropic angle to it, as the band dedicates themselves to a day of service in as many cities as they possibly can. Back in June, the five bandmates spent time before their show at the Capitol Theatre in Flint, MI, working with United Way to get clean water to the residents of that struggling town. “That water crisis is not over,” explains DePizzo, who has also joined his fellow O.A.R. musicians in volunteering their time for such causes as Habitat for Humanity and their own charitable organization, Heard the World. “We had 570 cars come through in a four-hour time period. [ He pauses .] The charity thing is about a bigger moral obligation that we just feel like we have at this point of our career. There is always downtime during a day, so we thought we might as well put it to good use. We also work with Gold Star Families. It’s about helping at the micro level so we can give back to a larger audience.” SINCE THEIR EMERGENCE IN 1996, the musicians of O.A.R. (which is short for Of a Revolution) have tirelessly de- livered their own signature mixture of rock and pop that grew from a quite peaceful Midwestern upbringing. “Pretty much the band has been a band since eighth grade,” DePizzo recalls. “We walked up on the stage at that talent show way back when, and we are still here. At our core, that’s still who we are. It’s the same relationship.” By far, one of O.A.R.’s biggest standout years was 2008, when their album All Sides yielded the platinum single “Shattered (Turn the Car Around)” and bowed in the top 15 of Billboard ’s Top 200 chart. “The coolest part of all of this is that we truly run our own race,” DePizzo says. “We never had that ‘peak’ moment where we had all of this continued radio success or anything. We have been remarkably consistent throughout the years because of the people in our audience. They were the ones who created a life for us.” Indeed, that audience has grown up on the lyrics of thought-provoking songs such as “Peace,” “Miss You All the Time,” and their current single, “Knocking at Your Door.” And despite the changes in their own individual lives, it’s still those lyrics that they cling to. “Our audience has definitely grown up some,” says DePizzo of the band’s evergreen fan base. “In the last couple of years, if you take a look at analytics, you can see all the growth we have had in terms of our audience, and we really try to absorb all of that. A few years back, there was a slight dip in our live audience size, and I really think it was because it was the time our fans were having kids and stuff. For the new parents to go out, they would have to get a babysitter and everything, but now a few years have gone by, and they can breathe again.” He then stops to take a deep breath himself. “It’s always been about connection, but it’s also been about evolving,” he concludes. “The act of evolving is just a necessity of this business and this life. We never, ever want to rest on our laurels.” Tricia Despres is a Chicago-area freelance entertainment writer whose work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times , Taste of Country , and a number of local, regional, and national publications. Follow her on Twitter at @CHIWriter. JULIA REYES/RAVINIA (2018) 14 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 26, 2019 – MAY 9, 2020