“These songs should make you want to fall in love with someone, or miss someone, or want to do something outrageous with your life,” said Justin Furstenfeld, singer and songwriter for alternative rock group Blue. October, who will bring his “This is what I live for the 2021 tour to the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg for a concert on October 16th.

So what’s it like to have a Top 10 single with “Oh My My,” your first Top 10 single since 2009?

“Honestly, I am blown away. We started releasing our albums independently several years ago. It’s good to see that it doesn’t matter what label you’re on, ”said Furstenfeld. “As long as you write good songs, you are lucky to be heard.”

The San Marcos, Texas-based band (vocalist Justin Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahousaye, guitarist Will Knaak, bassist Matt Noveskey and drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld) have earned a reputation for being remarkably dynamic, consistently delivering hits. anthemic songs filled with catchy melodies and precision playing.

With this latest release, the band members are more in sync than ever before as they wrote much of the material while they were on the road to support their latest album, “I Hope You’re Happy” from 2018 (debuted no. # 1 on the Billboard Alternative Album Chart and # 1 Billboard Independent Album Chart.), Often honing songs in front of a live audience.

In this way, the song “I Will Follow You” became a favorite even before being recorded for the new album.

“This album is going to catch some people off guard,” Noveskey said. “A lot of it is about interpersonal relationships – years and years of marriage, aging and some of the issues you can have with that. I know other albums are about this, but we’re stepping into corners of life we’ve never explored before.

The willingness to always tell the truth, no matter how hard it is, has been the way Blue October has worked from the start, ever since Justin, Jeremy and Ryan formed the band in 1995 when they were still in high school. When Matt joined three years later, Blue October merged as the members found inspiration in bands like A Perfect Circle, Jimmy Eat World, Radiohead and The Cure – then reworked those disparate influences into an epic yet introspective sound. which is entirely their own.

Their struggles over the years with drug addiction, as well as their subsequent treatment and recovery, have been well documented in their songs. It is ultimately a redemptive story, with all of the members now sober and mending their relationships, but not without first traversing heartbreaking ground.

The concert at the Sherman Theater begins at 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m., and upon request by the group, all ticket holders will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test performed within 72 hours of entering the Sherman Theater or at the show. proof of vaccination.