The concert will consist of a set including past and present hits and tracks from their new album "walking off the buzz."

During a phone interview with Blessid Union of Souls, the band members explained how the group formed and talked about their new album.

The group formed in 1992 when lead singer Eliot Sloan and guitarist Jeff Pence set up a small demo studio across the street from a larger studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. This larger studio is where the other three members were from.

After formation, group members had to decide on a name.

"Before we'd even completed our first demo for Blessid Union, I was watching a rerun of 'M*A*S*H,'" said Eliot Sloan, "and you know how Frank was always hitting on Hot Lips Hoolihan? Well, he was doing everything he could to get her into his bunk, saying stuff like 'I need you Margaret, I can't stand for us to be apart. Then he blurted out something like, 'Be with me tonight, Margaret. I need to feel the blessed union of our souls or I'm going to break out in hives."

"I was laughing. But I was also thinking 'what a cool name for a band.' And that's where we got the name."

An "i" was used instead of an "e" to stress the pronunciation of the word.

Once the name was chosen, the group immediately recorded their debut album, "Home," which was released 3 years later in 1995. "Home" included hits such as the band's first single, "I Believe," which went to No. 1 and was the fourth most played song in 1995.

"We actually got 'I Believe' on the radio in Cincinnati and Portland, Ore. pretty much by ourselves. Nobody did us a favor, but the guys at the station in Cincinnati heard the song and knew it was a hit record. At the time EMI had absolutely no intention of releasing that single," said CP Roth, the band's keyboard player.

The single "Let Me Be the One" followed and pushed record sales to Platinum status.

Even with the success of "Home", Blessid Union of Souls' record label, EMI, was faltering fast. The group released a sophomore effort soon after "Home", but within five weeks of release, EMI shut its door and was out of business.

"EMI hastily pasted together a collection of songs [to make our album 'Home']. They basically took anything that nobody had said no to from the 35 songs we had recorded and pasted together the first album." said Roth.

With no label to support and promote the band, Blessid Union of Souls was shuffled to Capitol Records and finally to Push/V2 records where they released their most recent album, "walking off the buzz." Now affiliated with these independent labels, Blessid Union of Souls has a new sense of independence and creativity.

"A lot of people think that this ['walking off the buzz'] is a big change in direction for us. For us, it's just that we finally were allowed to get the spirit and energy of what we've always done live down on a record." said Roth.

"As we have played more, the band has solidified," said bassist Tony Clark. "At this point in time, the music isn't just influenced by one or two members, it's influenced by all of us. Some people will think "walking off the buzz" is a new sound for Blessid Union. But those are the people who have never seen the band live. We're still the same band as we've always been, it's just that if you hadn't seen our show, you might not be aware of it."

Clark said, "In the past, people who had just heard our records were always surprised by our energy on stage. They'd come up to us after a show and say, 'I didn't know you guys could rock like that." With this album, I expect the public to be saying, 'Hey, you guys rock just as hard as your CD.'"

The release of Blessid Union of Souls' first single from "walking off the buzz" was imperative to "reshaping" the public's opinion of the band.

"Once we proved to EMI we were a viable act and could make hit records, based on this one song 'I Believe' they turned around and said, "You know you guys do this ballad thing pretty good so that's what we want out of y'all.

"And we were like 'We're kinda a rock band with hip-hop influences that can do ballads'... and they really kept their thumb on us for the second album as well to make it very heavy with the ballads. I think it hurt the band immeasurably as far as the way we were perceived, and we're still living down that reputation even now." said Roth.

Even though the band would like to show its audiences their "rockin'" side, they are still producing ballads. The group's newest single, "Standing At the Edge of the Earth" is a prime example. This song was originally written for the "Armageddon" soundtrack, but it was beat out by Aerosmiths "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing."

"It was disappointing," admits Sloan, "especially when our song fit the movie so well, and Armageddon turned out to be such an awesome movie. But the situation pushed us to write a song that we would never have written, so it worked out anyway."

So far, the band's third record has sold over 400,000 copies and is well on its way to Gold.

The band will be on campus Friday, Oct. 29 for a coffee house sponsored by the Tower Agency. This is an opportunity for the entire community to meet and chat with the band in a casual setting. They will also be available after Saturday's show for autographs and photos with fans. The band Framing Amy will be opening for Blessid Union of Souls on Saturday night.

After visiting Wartburg, Blessid Union of Souls is headed to Tucson, Ariz. and then to Indianapolis, Ind.

The event is sponsored by Entertainment ToKnight and Student Senate. Tickets are $13 for Wartburg students and $20 for outside sales and can be purchased in the Jousting Post in the lower level of the Student Union. For more information on the band, log on to www.blessidunion.com.