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It should come as no surprise that one of rock's most democratic bands would come up with a most democratic album. For Release (Aug. 18, Rock Ridge Music), their seventh disc of original material, Sister Hazel (vocalist/guitarist Ken Block, guitarist/vocalist Drew Copeland, lead guitarist Ryan Newell, bassist Jett Beres and drummer Mark Trojanowski) decided to have each band member contribute a couple of his own songs for which he would then guide his vision through the recording process.

The Gainesville-bred group also used this approach on their 2007 Christmas offering, Santa's Playlist. "The concept worked so well for us," says Trojanowski. "We thought we'd use it on our studio album." Adds Newell, "We felt it was time for a different type of record, and we figured the best way to make a different kind of record is to change the record making process." Last fall, the band members brought in their songs to their favorite Gainesville rehearsal space where they played through the material. They traveled to Nashville to demo the tunes, and then Newell worked on the tracks at his home studios with his band mates dropping in. Block and Copeland recorded their vocals at a Gainesville Best Western that Block humorously suggests may change the room's name to the Sister Hazel Presidential Suite.

Release proves to be a wonderful showcase for the group's five talented songwriters. Wanting to, in Beres' words, "stretch the boundaries of what Sister Hazel is," the disc is their most diverse effort. It features the familiar Sister Hazel Southern-style rock sound but comes at it with a decidedly fresh, invigorating style.

Each member ended up with at least two of his own tunes among the disc's twelve tracks, with Copeland and Newell both nabbing three cuts. Long-time fans might be surprised to learn Block, who has been the band's primary songwriter, wound up with only two tunes. He actually dropped one of his songs to focus on a Copeland cut, "I Believe In You." Copeland, in the band's all-for-one spirit, let Block captain this track. As Block notes, "Everyone got their own fingerprints all over the record. The ownership that we always felt on other records went to a different level on this one."

Block also points out how everyone brings something a little different to the songwriting table. "Mark's songs [like the orchestral "Better Way"] tend to come in at one end of the spectrum where they're a little heavy and layered a lot more, and Drew, on the other end, really likes to use a lot of space and a lot of intimacy with the vocals," which you can hear in his uplifting, Eagles-ish piano ballad "One Life" (one of the two songs where Copeland handled lead vocals).

Offering a vibrant variety of Sister Hazel's songs, Release kicks off with Newell's title track, a country-flavored rocker that not only features his banjo playing but also his cello debut. This song along with his "Take A Bow" resulted from a songwriters' retreat where he wound up collaborating with folks like Pat McGee, Emerson Hart and Michael Daly. Block's two tracks ("Walls & Cannonballs" and "See Me Beautiful") hold down the disc's center and exemplify the disc's diversity, with the former being a rousing rocker about a troubled relationship and the latter a quieter, inspiring song. Beres' "Ghost In The Crowd" closes the album with an exclamation point. This anthemic arena rocker, which features some of Newell's nimblest guitar work, was a consensus pick to conclude the disc. Beres states the dramatic music feeds upon the lyric's powerful content. "We had a lot personal stuff going on," he adds. "'Ghost In The Crowd' was my interpretation of life that was happening within the band."

Over the last few years, the band has experienced birth, death and divorce, and this disc represents, as Trojanowski notes, "a total snapshot of where we are." Copeland reveals, "Everybody has had personal tragedies. We have had inner turmoil [but] we always had similar goals." Block believes, "It all made us closer. We've all been able to lean on each other and our friendship has gotten deeper and deeper."

Block started playing with Copeland around Gainesville in the early '90s. They added Beres on bass and then guitarist Newell and drummer Trojanowski. The band struck gold with their chart-topping hit, "All For You." Over the years, the band has sold over 2 million albums and had six top 30 singles; they earned a platinum disc with 1997's Somewhere More Familiar and a gold with 2000's Fortress. "We're getting to live a dream," Copeland proclaims. "As kids, we grew up thinking, 'Man, one day I am going to be a rock star!' and man, we are getting to do that. And we don't take that for granted."

One way Sister Hazel has continued going strong over the years is their unique relationship with their fans, the most ardent of whom are called Hazelnuts. Since 2001, the group has hosted Rock Boat, the world's largest floating music festival. Earlier this year, they held their 4th annual Hazelnut Hang, a 3-day weekend of music, meals and mingling. In August, Sister Hazel will again do their Operation Swan Dive benefit outside of Boston, where they'll perform while people skydive to raise money for the band's pediatric cancer charity Lyrics for Life. The band also is organizing, in September, the first ever Lyrics for Life Day, where they are encouraging people to create their own fundraisers for the charity.

Release signifies a special achievement for the band, something that they couldn't have done earlier in their career. "All five of us have really grown as writers," asserts Copeland, while Newell observes, "We allowed each other to bring our strengths to the table." "The album," according to Beres, "was the opportunity to say, 'I have a vision for these songs and I'm going to see it through,' [and] the other four saying, 'I trust that you are able to do that and will facilitate you in any way I can.'" Trojanowski believes that this premise worked because Sister Hazel has "a true sense of a band, not just one person fronting the band and everyone else being treated differently." "Right now, we're on a tear," proclaims Block, "and we hope to keep things really rolling."