assembled Restless Heart in 1984.|alt=A headshot of record executive Tim DuBois.
Formation and early years Tim DuBois, a
Nashville, Tennessee-based
record producer, songwriter, and industry executive, assembled the band in 1984 to record
demos of songs he had written. The members he chose were drummer John Dittrich, bass guitarist Paul Gregg, keyboardist Dave Innis, guitarist and
mandolinist Greg Jennings, and lead singer
Verlon Thompson. All five members had experience as country music
session musicians or touring musicians. In particular, Innis had played on various demos for DuBois prior to his decision to create a band, and Dittrich had been a backing musician for
Gail Davies. Jennings and DuBois had known each other from attending
Oklahoma State University in the 1970s; the two were also classmates of
Scott Hendricks, who would serve as the band's
sound engineer in addition to co-producing with DuBois. Thompson left before the band had officially been named or released a single because he did not feel comfortable with the
country pop style that DuBois wanted the band to pursue. Replacing him on lead vocals was
Larry Stewart, a college friend of Innis's. One of the demos they recorded was for "
Love in the First Degree", later a hit for
Alabama. Due to the success of the demos, the members chose to become an official band, and they were signed to
RCA Records Nashville in 1984.
1984–1986: Restless Heart After assuming the name Restless Heart, the band released its
self-titled debut album on RCA Nashville in 1985. It charted four singles on
Billboard Hot Country Songs: "
Let the Heartache Ride", "
I Want Everyone to Cry", "
(Back to the) Heartbreak Kid" (previously recorded by
Kathy Mattea on her
self-titled debut album), and "
Til I Loved You." After "I Want Everyone to Cry" became the band's first top-ten hit, DuBois and RCA promoted the band through radio showcases and
music video rotation. This included a video for "(Back to the) Heartbreak Kid", which aired on
VH-1. The follow-up single "
I'll Still Be Loving You" was a song that had been originally offered to
Kenny Rogers, who turned it down. Additionally, "I'll Still Be Loving You" reached number three on the
Adult Contemporary charts. The fourth and final country single from
Wheels was
the title track, which topped the country charts in 1987. The B-side, "New York (Hold Her Tight)", accounted for Restless Heart's third chart entry on
Billboards Adult Contemporary chart. Tom Roland of
AllMusic later wrote that "[t]he guys found their niche with this project. Big, overpowering sound, heavy backbeats, and very tight harmonies are here." In the
Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music,
Colin Larkin noted that "I'll Still Be Loving You" became a popular song for fans to play at their weddings. This nomination led to the band performing the song on the awards telecast. Also during this timespan, the band contributed the song "Don't Ask the Reason Why" to the soundtrack of the 1987 movie
The Secret of My Success.
1988–1990: Big Dreams in a Small Town and ''Fast Movin' Train'' The band's third album,
Big Dreams in a Small Town, came in 1988. From it came two more number one singles: "
The Bluest Eyes in Texas" and "
A Tender Lie", as well as top-five hits in its
title track and "
Say What's in Your Heart". DuBois co-wrote "The Bluest Eyes in Texas" with Van Stephenson and Dave Robbins, who would later become members of the country band
Blackhawk in the early 1990s. The band members agreed to record the song because they had not previously recorded a song about the state of
Texas and thought doing so would be appealing to fans from that state.
People gave the album a positive review, noting the band's musicianship and prominent vocal harmony, as well as the "considerable amount of passion" in their music relative to their contemporaries. Writing for
The Miami News, Mario Tarradell praised Stewart's "conviction" on the title track and "gentle delivery" on "The Bluest Eyes in Texas", as well as the variety in tempo and arrangement between individual tracks. The band supported this album by touring with Alabama and
the Judds, both of whom were also on RCA at the time. David J. Remondini, writing for
The Indianapolis Star, thought the album's title track had an "attractive melody and gripping lyrics", also considering the album to have "the right balance of tempos" and influences of
bluegrass music in tracks such as "Dancy's Dream". Tim Darragh of the
Allentown, Pennsylvania,
Morning Call was less favorable, criticizing the album for "prefab harmonies" and formulaic lyrics. ''Fast Movin' Train'' became the band's third gold album in 1991, A greatest hits package,
The Best of Restless Heart, followed in 1991. It included two new recordings, both of which were released as singles: "
You Can Depend on Me" was a top-five hit, while "Familiar Pain" was less successful. The release of this compilation also led to "Til I Loved You" being re-issued for adult contemporary, peaking at number 33 on the
Billboard chart for that format.
1991: Departure of Larry Stewart Larry Stewart left the band in December 1991 because he wanted to perform as a solo artist with a more
neotraditional country style, as opposed to the band's country pop influence. He recorded two albums for
Columbia Records in 1994 and 1996, and while these albums accounted for five more charted singles, none entered top 40 on the country charts. The remaining four members decided to rotate lead vocal duties amongst themselves instead of hiring a new lead vocalist, as they thought Stewart was the "most conservative" member of the group and that alternating the lead vocal would allow the band to become "more adventurous". To accommodate for Stewart's departure, the other band members assumed the vocal duties when singing their existing singles in concert. Innis sang "The Bluest Eyes in Texas" and "Fast Movin' Train", Dittrich sang "Dancy's Dream" and "Big Dreams in a Small Town", Jennings sang "A Tender Lie", and Gregg sang everything else. The only song omitted from their set lists was "Why Does It Have to Be (Wrong or Right)", due to it having a more complex vocal arrangement which they felt could not be achieved with only four voices. According to the band, Leo encouraged them to write more songs by themselves than on previous efforts, as he thought both this and the absence of Stewart would allow the other members to have more fully realized musical personalities than before. In particular, Jennings thought that Dittrich, being a drummer who also sang, was favorably comparable to Eagles vocalist and drummer
Don Henley. One of the tracks with Dittrich on lead vocals, "
When She Cries", was the album's first single. It went to number nine on the country charts, number eleven on the Hot 100 (their highest entry on that chart), and number two on the adult contemporary charts. Three months later, the band reached the top of the
Billboard adult contemporary charts as guest vocalists on Canadian
smooth jazz saxophonist
Warren Hill's single "
Tell Me What You Dream".
1994–1998: Disbanding and first reunion The next album, 1994's
Matters of the Heart, included only Gregg, Jennings and Dittrich, along with a number of studio musicians. Among these were keyboardists Bill Cuomo, Carl Marsh, and
Hawk Wolinski, as well as
upright bass player
Roy Huskey Jr. and
fiddle player
Stuart Duncan. The band intentionally sought to make the album more traditionally country than its predecessors due to increasing competition they had faced following the arrival of several new country bands in the early 1990s. Its only single, "Baby Needs New Shoes", fell short of the top 40. Restless Heart was one of several country music artists to make a cameo in the 1994
Mel Gibson film
Maverick. Due to the commercial failure of
Matters of the Heart, Restless Heart was dropped by RCA Nashville at the end of 1994. In response to this, the three remaining band members announced they would go on hiatus in January 1995. Stewart, Jennings, Dittrich, and Gregg reunited for one performance in June 1996 which included acoustic renditions of "Big Dreams in a Small Town", "The Bluest Eyes in Texas", "Fast Movin' Train", and "Amazing Grace". This was not considered a formal reunion, as the band members had done so to honor the wishes of a terminally ill member of their fan club. At the time, Stewart was continuing to record as a solo artist, Jennings had joined
Vince Gill's road band, and Gregg was managing a chain of
car washes owned by his family. In late 1996, Dittrich founded another band called
the Buffalo Club with guitarist Charlie Kelley and lead vocalist Ron Hemby, a former member of
the Imperials. The Buffalo Club recorded one album for
Rising Tide Records and charted three singles, including the top ten "
If She Don't Love You" in early 1997. This song had previously been offered to Restless Heart by its co-writer
Marc Beeson (who also co-wrote "When She Cries"), but they had declined to record it. Dittrich resigned from the Buffalo Club in August 1997, and the other two members separated by year's end. According to a former Rising Tide executive, Dittrich's departure and the Buffalo Club's disbanding were due to Dittrich expressing interest in a Restless Heart reunion tour, which created conflict among him, the other two band members, and label executives. Stewart, Jennings, Dittrich, and Gregg reunited to record three new tracks for their second greatest-hits compilation in 1998,
Greatest Hits. According to Stewart, this reunion and album were done at the request of RCA executives. In addition to their previous hit singles, the album included the new songs "No End to This Road", "For Lack of Better Words", and "Somebody's Gonna Get That Girl", the former two of which were issued as singles.
2001-2005: Second reunion and Still Restless Other than Stewart, the individual members of Restless Heart remained largely inactive until August 2001, when Stewart, Gregg, Jennings, Dittrich, and Innis all officially reunited and began rehearsing together. Stewart told
CMT journalist Edward Morris that the impetus for their reunion was a telephone call from Hendricks, who was having lunch with Innis at the time. At this point, Stewart and Innis had not talked to each other for a number of years, owing to the disputes that had led to Innis departing the band several years prior. Stewart then chose to call Innis, at which point the two resolved and suggested re-forming Restless Heart. co-produced and wrote three songs on the band's 2004 reunion album
Still Restless.|alt=Musician Mac McAnally playing an electric guitar. After they had all reunited, the five members decided to record a new album. As both Hendricks and DuBois were involved in other projects at the time, the band selected a different set of producers. One of the producers was
Kyle Lehning, best known for his work with
Randy Travis. Lehning shared duties with
Mac McAnally, a singer-songwriter and producer who is also a member of
Jimmy Buffett's
Coral Reefer Band. a custom-made guitar created by
Tacoma Guitars. He also wrote three of the album's songs including "
Down the Road", which was previously a single for him in 1990, Dittrich sang another one of McAnally's compositions, "Looking Back", as well as a cover of the Beatles's "
The Night Before", while Gregg sang "Yesterday's News".
2006-2021: Final years and disbanding The band released a live album,
25 and Live, in 2007 through their website. This was later reissued in early 2009 as part of a 25th anniversary package which also included
Still Restless and a compilation of
music videos. Restless Heart continued touring throughout the first decade of the 21st century, including a number of shows for members of the
United States Air Force as well as the Blue Suede Dinner and Auction, a charity event held by the
Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse. By 2011, the band was doing over 100 concerts a year. Restless Heart was still primarily a touring band throughout the 2010s and had not released a new album in several years, although they thought their existing hit singles were "strong" enough to be accepted by younger generations of fans as well. In 2015, both they and
Becky Hobbs were inducted into the
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. One of their few releases in the 2010s was a cover of
Glen Campbell's "
Wichita Lineman". According to the band members, they had been encouraged by Campbell to record the song after meeting him thirty years ago, but had not previously found the time to do so. In 2018, Stewart began recording with
the Frontmen, a group which also includes
Richie McDonald and
Tim Rushlow, respectively former lead singers of
Lonestar and
Little Texas. Despite the foundation of this group, Stewart continued to tour with Restless Heart at the time. A year later, Restless Heart joined the Triple Threat Tour, which included
Blackhawk and
Shenandoah. One of this tour's first stops was at MontanaFair in
Billings, Montana. Restless Heart officially retired in 2021, although little announcement was made of this. Stewart said that factors in their retirement included disagreements over a proposed album to honor the band's 35th anniversary, as well as his own commitments to the Frontmen and the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Following their retirement, Innis moved to
Waco, Texas, and began various music projects there. Stewart continued to record with the Frontmen, who signed a recording contract with
BBR Music Group in mid-2023. ==Musical stylings==