Remedy Drive is bringing its message of hope to Rapid City this weekend. And the band wants to know if you are ready to hear it.

"We are four guys that are searching for truth," said David Zach. "What we have arrived at is an album with a message of hope.

"People need to just enjoy themselves for an hour, to get away from the broken economy, natural disaster, mortgages - to leave with a massive momentum in their lives that no matter what is happening in their lives, there is hope."

Remedy Drive is four brothers from Lincoln, Neb. - David, Paul, Philip and Daniel Zach - who have hit the big time this year with a record deal. But they've been at this for a while, making music rather than watching TV as they were growing up, and turning that energy into a band that has been touring for 200 shows a year for the past five years. They have been playing at churches, youth rallies, college campuses and festivals. Now, they are touring and promoting their fourth album, "Daylight Is Coming."

What's different now that they have a record deal?

"There's a real celebratory sprit from our fans who have been there for the long haul," David Zach said. "They are celebrating for us, and we feel that energy about what is to come."

Their music is unmistakably rock, with heavy piano, harmonies created from brothers' voices and lyrics taking direct aim at what's real and lasting, where real hope is found: "Darkness must precede the dawn; wait with me here till the sunrise; wait, your night will soon fade out; daylight is coming."

"I want people to leave any preconceived notion about what a band that plays at a church is about," Zach said. "We don't have it all together."

Remedy Drive contacted Todd Lynch, youth pastor at Fountain Springs Community Church, about appearing in Rapid City.

"When I first heard of them, I didn't know them," Lynch said. "I thought I'd check them out, and then thought, 'Wow! They're pretty good!'"

The release of "Daylight is Coming" set the bar for all future artists in Christian music this year, as it was the highest-selling album during a first week by a debut Christian artist.

Lynch said the pastoral staff at Fountain Springs is looking at this concert as a way for the church to reach out more to the community.

"This is a community event, and any money we make off the concert we are giving to a local United Way agency," he said.

The venue - Fountain Springs is a round church, as in circular - will accommodate 300 people. "When the tickets are gone, they're gone," Lynch said.

"I'm most excited about how this gets us a chance as a church to host an event where people come to see a good band and have fun," Lynch said.

Zach said one of the things that's different for them now that they have a record deal and an agency working on their behalf, is that they have people doing things that they could not do on their own.

"We have people getting our CD in Wal-Mart, in Best Buy, and these cool ads on iTunes that we could not do on our own. We have people to help us fine-tune our craft," he said.

But he expects that he and his brothers will continue as they have. "We've still got to keep fueling the fire, so to speak. We are real blue-collar about our band," he said.

They will continue to play concerts in small towns, and even with a booking agency, "We work really hard alongside them, building relationships with people wherever we are going. No one is going to work as hard on your band as you are," he said.

And they aren't looking to leave their Cornhusker roots anytime soon.

"I like Lincoln, because it's eight hours from Denver, 10 hours from Fort Worth," and so on, as he ticked through the list of road time he and his brothers spend on the tour bus.

"There's nothing about Remedy Drive that has to be industry-standard," Zach said, referring to how many acts make the move to Nashville, Los Angeles or New York. "We want to keep on giving love to an area that loves us. We just want to keep being the band that keeps taking care of the small town."

Zach, who plays keyboard and guitar as well as singing lead vocals, says the band is known for putting on an energetic show, and is challenged to keep the concert fresh and exciting.

"Some people have come to 50 shows," he said. "We try to keep it new for everybody. If you love music and you love putting on a concert, it is fun putting new things together."

And the name Remedy Drive?

"We liked the idea of 'I need hope,' I need a 'remedy,' and 'drive' is both musical and the sense you are on the road, he said. "We are to live for something more than rock music."

For more information about the band, go to www.remedydrive.com.

If you go

What: Remedy Drive concert

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18

Where: Fountain Springs Community Church, 2100 N. Plaza Drive, off Deadwood Avenue

Tickets: $5 at Alternative Fuel Coffee House, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Fountain Springs Community Church. At 1 p.m. Saturday, the band will make a short appearance at Canyon Lake United Methodist Church, 3500 Canyon Lake Drive.

Contact Marinell Scott Thornburg at marinell.thornburg@rapidcityjournal.com or 394-8280.