Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are no strangers to tugging on heartstrings. The band's breakout hit, "Home," mixed a penchant for old-timey twang and an undeniable hook, establishing Sharpe and his troupe as one of the premier folklove acts of the decade. But the pseudonym Edward Sharpe holds even more potency for its creator. The story goes lead singer Alex Ebert created the character of Edward Sharpe as a protagonist who wishes to spread a message of peace to world, but keeps falling in love instead. And Ebert's messianic character has taken him far-- through the trials of addiction, to recovery, to the formation of his band. Their new album Here finds a more collaborative environment, with the band struggling with the balance between success and maintaining the spark that prompted them to make music in the first place.

In the first video of our series profiling the band with pieces of a "Live at Noon", WXPN performance in Philadelphia, Ebert discusses the shaping of the band's music and their collaborative spirit, and the band performs "I Don't Want To Pray" off the new album.