Saturday evening Eliot Sloan and Blessid Union of Souls will be back where they started from, only now with a certified platinum CD, the No. 1 song from 1995, an ASCAP award, five CDs and 18 appearances on national television.

Sloan, a Cincinnati native, is more than happy to be back playing in Ohio promoting his band’s latest CD Perception.

The band’s notorious single, “I Believe” was not only an enormous success for the band, but also had an emotional impact on Sloan as a songwriter and performer.

“It’s a trip – all the fan mail we got from that song, so many people could relate to it.” Sloan said. “It’s almost like I put to music what they wanted to say for so long.”

Perception features a song titled “I Still Believe in Love” – a song Sloan said was never truly intended to be a sequel to “I Believe.” However, that’s something that Blessid’s fanbase will decide for themselves.

Since the group’s debut in 1995, Blessid Union of Souls has been through several changes in management and band members.

“You have to be in this business for the love of music, you absolutely have to believe in what you are doing,” Sloan said. “If you are in it for the money, you are going to lose yourself along the way. Integrity is the first thing they will try to strip you of.”

With three children between the ages of 8 months and 19 years old, Sloan keeps busy between his family life, concert tours and writing music.

“I get inspired on the road; when I’m on the road I feel more free and am constantly hearing melodies in my head,” Sloan said. Artists Sloan currently cites as inspiration include Switchfoot and Coldplay.

When asked if Sloan ever had a backup plan he answered without skipping a beat.

“I knew this was what I was going to die trying to do, he said.” “We did a live version of ‘Hey, Leonardo’ in Omaha, Neb. At one point in the concert we stopped playing the music and let the audience sing. It was amazing hearing 25,000 fans singing back a song I wrote in my bedroom.”

With a current concert tour, new album and a bright perception of not only his own life, but also of the world around him, Sloan just wants to enjoy what he has been given.

“We are in no hurry to get back into the studios just yet, the band and I just want to tour and promote the songs that mean so much to us on this album.”

Contact photo editor Melissa Gaug at [email protected].