If you’ve ever heard a Shinedown song (and if you haven’t check out the video below), you know the one thing the band is known for – lead singer Brent Smith’s voice. All power, all rock. So you can imagine my surprise when I spoke to him via phone and he sounded, well, normal. Excited, hyper, full of energy mind you, but normal. And when the band brings their act to Charlotte tonight, you’ll see what I mean.

“We’re doing our first ever acoustic show” Smith describes, “but it’s a different acoustic show than anyone’s done before.” And he’s right. The band will perform some of their biggest hits from their first three albums and tell the stories behind the songs. “For the first time, our fans get to hear what we were thinking when we wrote ".45," "Second Chance," all our best stuff. We really wanted to tear down the walls and have a Storytellers type feel.”

And Smith fully understands who’s in charge with this style of show. “The audience is the boss," he says. "They tell us if we’re great, or not. We couldn’t come out and put on some watered down show for our fans. We couldn’t look at the man in the mirror every morning and be happy with that.” Some fans will even get the chance to ask the band questions during the show, contributing to the Storyteller feel.

This will be the last tour in support of the band’s latest album, The Sound of Madness. As for what’s next Smith says the band is already working on album number four. “We’re in LA before the tour starts to start recording, writing, and working on the next album. We hope to get it out next year, but it’s gotta be perfect, so we might be into 2012. We’re excited because it’s always a journey. Climb one mountain, go find another. Just keep going.”

As for tonight’s show at The Fillmore, Smith says don’t expect anything less intense than a full electric show. “You should expect to be losing your mind just like you would at any Shinedown show. Having the absolute time of your life. Come and raise hell. That’s what we’re gonna do.”

Shinedown performs tonight at The Fillmore – 8:30pm.

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