Singer/songwriter/guitar-slinger Gooding and his musical family, Erin O Neill (Vox/Bass/Guitar) and Kelsey Cook (drums), are back on the road for the better part of 2019. One hundred shows in 25 states, playing clubs, theaters, festivals, and several high schools with the charity fundingthefuturelive.org, which Gooding founded and which aims to make financial literacy a requirement in every high school in America.

Gooding has music on CSI, Criminal Minds, Stephen Colbert, Johnny Cash Walk the Line DVD, and hundreds more. Through relentless touring and honest interaction with fans online and chatting after shows in parking lots throughout the US, UK, and Canada, Gooding and his band of gypsies are building the kind of brick-by-brick long-standing career that has always been their dream—to make music for the rest of their lives.

Swinging for the fences, much like their hard-touring and timeless heroes growing up (Zeppelin, Prince, U2, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Springsteen), Gooding gives audiences what is almost a secular church revival: thundering drums, soaring harmonies, blazing guitars, dark-night-of-the-soul lyrics, all delivered with enough fire and honesty to make the most jaded critic remember why every kid at one point has thought about grabbing a guitar, mic, or set of drumsticks.

“Our live show is a result of a lot of years out on the Midwest highways lining up shows and knocking them down. We are lucky for those years to really get confident at our instruments and learn to take adversity as something that is inevitable and builds bands. Whether a broken string or a broken leg, we don’t cancel tour dates,” says Gooding.

The latest record, Building The Sun, is a testament to this band constantly becoming a better version of itself. After hunkering down at the Sound City complex for a month last year with producer Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, Faith No More) at the controls, the new songs are sweeping, melodic, rhythmic, over-the-top rock ’n’ roll, effortlessly touching on blues, Latin, and soul traditions. The record is distributed by BFE/Sony, and the band is working with their friends at Jensen Ent. to make sure their fans are along for the ride every step of the way.

Whether on a back porch or a wide-open field at a festival, real musicians with dirt on their clothes and miles on their tires have an undeniable and infectious energy. Gooding will be testing their mettle over and over again, and when they roll by your town, come say hello. They wear their hearts on their sleeves and they love what they do. When you talk to them after a show, you will know that you, too, are a part of this road family.

In recent years, GOODING have made a habit of giving back to the communities that they encounter on tour. They donated 17 shows to Military Bases and Walter Reed Hospital, and in turn were honored with a private tour of the White House. Inspired by their work with John Hope Bryant as part of Operation HOPE, they recently helped create Funding the Future LIVE (FTFL), a non-profit charitable organization that teaches kids the importance of financial literacy and discusses predatory lending and leveling the playing field for all students. They have reached over 140,000 kids so far and they hope to visit over 100 schools this year alone.