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Last news: February 26, 2010 12:32:06

Grammy ® Award winning artist, TobyMac is ready to release his first single off of his upcoming album slated to release in 2010. “City On Our Knees” will go for radio adds Aug. 14 and will gave fans a taste of what to expect off of his new record. Check out this new news with TobyMac’s [...] - [Read more]

INO Records’ critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Phil Wickham’s latest record Heaven and Earth (November 17) is already receiving much praise with ChristianMusicToday.com among others naming it one of the top albums of 2009: “Wickham is moving in a fascinating direction with his sound, and with this album he seems to be testing the waters a bit. It [...] - [Read more]

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April 16, 2009 – Sparrow Records singer/songwriter Matthew West garners a No. 1 single this week with “The Motions,” according to the Radio & Records Christian AC Monitored chart. The event marks West’s second No. 1 song from his current release, Something to Say, following “You Are Everything,” which was the most played song of 2008.

In addition to topping the Christian AC Monitored chart, “The Motions” currently holds at No. 2 on the Radio & Records Christian CHR chart and No. 5 on its Christian AC Indicator chart.

“I want to thank Christian radio stations around the country for once again allowing me to connect with their listeners through my music,” says West. “The song was inspired by my desire to break free from simply going through the motions in my life and faith. It’s so easy to live a luke warm kind of life. I’m so glad the song seems to have struck a chord, and I hope it can continue be a reminder that life is too short to simply go through the motions”

“The power of ‘The Motions’ has delivered a tremendously successful single for Matthew West,” says Grant Hubbard, vice president of national promotions for EMI CMG. “The testing scores have been very solid, No. 1 in all demographics at many of our top stations, and Matthew has again reached the top of the charts by speaking into the lives of Christian radio listeners with emotion and depth. We’re honored to partner with Matthew on his second No. 1 single from Something to Say.”

In response to the song’s popularity, West created a music video for “The Motions,” which can currently be viewed online at www.tangle.com/matthewwest. He has also developed a devoted web page, www.matthewwest.com/themotions, for fans to voice their commitment to “avoid the trap of simply going through the motions.”

West catapulted onto the Christian music scene in 2003 with his debut single, “More,” which was the most played Christian AC song of 2003. The multi-Dove Award nominee and sought-after songwriter released two critically-acclaimed recordings, Happy (2003) and History (2005); has been a mainstay at Christian radio with memorable hits like “Only Grace,” “History” and “Next Thing You Know”; and has toured with such artists as tobyMac and Jeremy Camp on the wildly popular 2008 “Boomin’ Beyond Measure” tour. In addition, West has penned songs for Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, Natalie Grant and Mandisa, among others.

West’s third studio recording, Something to Say, released January 15, 2008 and debuted on Nielsen SoundScan’s Christian Retail Chart at #10, while West was the best-selling Christian artist on iTunes the week of its release. The album’s debut single “You Are Everything” additionally peaked at No. 1 on Christian AC radio and was the most played Christian song of 2008, while “Something to Say” climbed to No. 7 at AC radio. Most recently, West wrapped the 27-city “Something to Say” fall tour featuring label mate Josh Wilson and a WAY-FM/Word Vision tour with Sanctus Real in February. For more information on Matthew West, visit www.matthewwest.com or www.myspace.com/matthewwest.

*photo: Steven Curtis Chapman accepts awards for Artist of the Year
and Songwriter of the Year

Gospel Music Association’s most honored artist, Steven Curtis Chapman accepted two awards, for artist of the year and songwriter of the year, on an emotional and moving night at the 40th Annual Dove Awards. Chapman was honored less than a year after the tragic loss of his daughter Maria. The ceremony was broadcast LIVE on Gospel Music Channel at 7pm (CST) from the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.

Sparrow Records’ 10-million selling, award winning artist received multiple nominations with wins in the coveted Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year categories. For the first time in the history of the Dove Awards, Artist of the Year nominees were voted on by Gospel music fans in the days leading up to the ceremony and throughout the telecast. Chapman was also nominated in three other categories, including two for “Song of the Year” with both “Cinderella” and “You Reign,” a song he co-wrote with MercyMe. Chapman’s total Dove wins now total 56 over the course of his music career–more than any other artist in the history of Gospel Music. Last night’s honors now make seven “Artist of the Year” awards and ten “Songwriter of the Year” awards for Chapman’s Dove legacy.

Chapman and his band, which includes sons Caleb and Will Franklin, gave a powerful performance this evening of the Dove nominated song “Cinderella.” Chapman wrote the song about his daughters Stevey Joy and Maria Sue. Since the death of his youngest daughter Maria Sue Chapman who passed away in an accident on May 21, 2008, the moving ballad that compels us to treasure each moment, has an even deeper urgency. Following their loss of Maria, Steven changed this song’s poignant last line in live performance to “’Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight/But the truth is… The dance goes on.”

Chapman is currently wrapping up the incredibly successful United Tour alongside close friend Michael W. Smith, concluding on April 30 in Paducah, KY. The tour highlights the chance for concert goers to become involved with Show Hope, a foundation caring for orphans around the world, and will finish just in time to celebrate Chapman’s eldest son, Caleb’s marriage.

About Steven Curtis Chapman:
With his release of THIS MOMENT, Chapman has sold over ten million records including two RIAA certified platinum albums and eight RIAA certified gold albums. Along with his 56 Dove and five GRAMMY © awards, Chapman has won an American Music Award, has recorded 45 No. 1 US radio hits and been awarded 56 Dove Awards, more than any other artist to date. Since his recording career began in 1987, Chapman has recorded sixteen projects with Sparrow Records. He has performed at the White House and has appeared on multiple national programs via CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, CMT, FOX News, the Hallmark Channel and E!, including Good Morning America, Larry King Live, CBS Sunday Morning, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and more. More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife Mary Beth created The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world.

An unlikely story stands behind the man known by many as “Lecrae”. From the southside of Houston to a leader in the movement of urban reform, a rocky road provides a window into the grace he experienced through out his life, with every situation molding him into the artist and leader that he is today. Born [...] - [Read more]

Vineyard Music announces the August 4 release of Turn Off the Lesser Lights, 1000 Generations’ highly anticipated worship album from the company’s Varietal Records imprint.  The band is scheduled to attend GMA Music week in Nashville, TN April 20-22 and will participate in a variety of interviews to offer insight into their upcoming album.

Turn Off the Lesser Lights has already received major accolades with the social justice anthem “How Big Small Can Be,” named the GMA Academy’s “Song of the Year” in 2007. In addition, the hook-driven rock gem “Fascinated” broke into the top three in the esteemed John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

Turn Off the Lesser Lights reveals a classic approach to songwriting reminiscent of The Beatles, Billy Joel and Elton John. While their first two independent albums were defined by world-music-influenced piano pop, 1000 Generations sought to reflect the immediacy of their concert performances with the new album for a national audience. Word Entertainment will handle Christian retail distribution with parent company WEA managing the album’s digital release.

The result is a pop-rock album that leans heavily on both electric guitar and piano and features song arrangements that translate naturally to the live setting. The self-produced album showcases lead singers Steven and Amanda Potaczek on lead vocals and multiple instruments.  With Lorin Lemme on the drums and Alain Picard on bass, the group strikes the perfect balance between creative edge and a profound worship experience.

“We’re ecstatic to be partnering with 1000 Generations.  They bring a fresh piano-driven sound and powerful heart for ministry. We couldn’t be happier to have them on the Varietal roster,” says Casey Corum, Varietal Records VP and Executive Producer.”

The album’s hope-inspiring lead single, “Fail Us Not,” which is now available on iTunes and Amazon.com as a digital download, has already received rave reviews from radio stations across the country including Family Life Network.

“Every once in a while a song comes along that has that certain ’something,’ says Family Life Network producer, Cecil Van Houten.  My gut told me the song would minister to our listeners in a powerful way.  I know so many in our audience are struggling with fear over the economy, job loss, sickness, and other things.  1000 Generations is reminding us that God is ‘bigger than the battle has ever been.’  We added it a week early!”

“I started to think about all the things I’m afraid will happen or that have happened,” Amanda says of the song’s lyrical theme. “And I was really moved by the fact that those things don’t put a damper on God’s power or keep Him from working in our lives, and to really just accept the knowledge that we have Christ’s Spirit in us. Because of that, we aren’t subject to the defeat that all those things like worry, loss and doubt can bring.”

The vision that God birthed inside of 1000 Generations involves listeners experiencing worship on a whole new level, in ways that lead them deeper into a relationship with Him.

“We’re really passionate about people having an experience they can walk away with,” concludes Steven. “We believe that if someone has a real experience with God, that it will change their lives, and their kids’ lives, and on down the line. Even as we write songs, we’re thinking about impact that they will have on the generations to come.”

Belfast, Ireland-based modern worship band Bluetree attended GMA Music Week in Nashville for the first time and completed more than 40 interviews and hundreds of planned and chance meetings at the annual event that culminates today with the Dove Awards.

Bluetree entered GMA Week as the best selling new artist of the year, having held the No. 1 slot for sales at Christian Retail stores nationally for four consecutive weeks with its widely acclaimed album, God Of This City, which released March 3 on the Lucid Artist label.  While at GMA, the band’s radio single and title track to its top selling album became a top 20 hit at multiple radio formats, moving up at R&R to No. 18 on both the AC Monitored and Indicator, No. 20 on the CHR and No. 19 on the Soft AC / Inspirational charts and continuing to climb.

Phillip Brooks with KBMQ radio (Monroe, LA) underscores the band’s success:  “Bluetree is a band of merry gentlemen with hearts of passion for God, encouraging the convinced and challenging the unconvinced…plainly spoken…their music moves people towards God!”

“When I met and interviewed Bluetree, I was so impressed and inspired by their hearts for God and His people,” says Jamie Wilson, Director of Content, hearitfirst.com, a leading Christian music website with over 198,000 members delivering 1.2 million page views a month. “‘God Of This City’ has had such a huge impact and I am pleased to know that the men behind that song are so humble and passionate for the Gospel.  Their sense of humor was a great surprise and their energy was contagious!  Bluetree stands out as my favorite interview of GMA 2009.”

As the successes mount at radio and retail, the band continues to give away for a limited time its compelling, congregation-ready song “Each Day” from its acclaimed God Of This City debut album.  The free song can be found at http://www.givmusic.com/bluetree. There is also a compelling acoustic video performance and explanation of the song, “God Of This City,” by Bluetree lead vocalist/guitarist Aaron Boyd on the site.

Written by Bluetree during a mission trip and while the band was on stage performing worship songs in the Climax Bar, a club which doubles as a brothel in the Red Light district of Pattaya, Thailand, “God Of This City” became a message of hope for the people of Pattaya and beyond.  The song is also being sung in churches across the world, with the Willow Creek Association recently concluding its worship pastor seminar with the song.  It was further recorded by Chris Tomlin and Passion and became the name and theme for the latest Passion project and world tour.

With an unabashed attitude of worship running through all of the songs on God Of This City, the album also reflects the highs and lows that inevitably come with the journey of faith.  And that’s exactly what Boyd hopes that listeners will experience when listening to Bluetree—hope not necessarily dictated by circumstance—the moment when God does some of His best work and shaping.

Critics from the Lexington Herald-Leader, Belfast Telegraph and StereoTruth.net to Worship Leader, ChristianMusicToday.com, CBN.com and CBA Retailer + Resources and more are heralding Bluetree’s God Of This City, describing it as “stunning debut album,” “inspired and inspiring,” “an experience,” and calling the band the “next big leader” and “freshest sounding” with “compelling musicality.”

Learn more about Bluetree at http://www.lucidcreativeservices.com/bluetree, www.givmusic.com/bluetree.

Idol favorite Chris Daughtry and his band will release their sophomore album in July, but you’ll get to hear the first single, “No Surprise,” from the project when he performs May 6 on American Idol.

Daughtry is currently in the studio finishing the yet-to-be-titled album, which follows the band’s Grammy-nominated, quadruple-platinum self-titled debut, which scored three #1 songs and was the biggest-selling artist release for two years running. The accolades garnered by Daughtry include multiple wins at the American Music Awards, the World Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards.

Belfast, Ireland-based modern worship band Bluetree, whose acclaimed album, God Of This City, has become one the best selling Christian recordings this year, receives a boost this week from American Idol winner Kris Allen. Allen has been performing the title track to Bluetree’s album, “God Of This City,” a song birthed by the band in a brothel in Thailand. See video of Allen performing the song at http://blog.givmusic.com/.

An anthem being sung worldwide, “God Of This City” was written by Bluetree during a mission trip and while the band was on stage performing worship songs in the Climax Bar, a club which doubles as a brothel in the Red Light district of Pattaya, Thailand. The song became a message of hope for the people of Pattaya and is now being sung in churches across the world, with the Willow Creek Association recently concluding its worship pastor seminar with the song. It was further recorded by Chris Tomlin and became the name and theme for the latest Passion project and world tour.

Bluetree will be playing “God Of The City” and its brand of worship-rock on its first ever tour of the U.S. that begins July 17 and follows concerts for an estimated 35,000 people on a six-city tour of Canada that began May 17 in Montreal, QB and ends June 7 in Toronto, ON.

Having spent four consecutive weeks on top of SoundScan’s Christian retail sales chart, a remarkable feat considering the band has never toured in the U.S. or Canada, Bluetree brings its energetic concerts this summer to major Canadian cities and U.S. festivals that include Alive Festival (Akron, OH), Creation Northeast (Mount Union, PA), Cornerstone (Bushnell, IL), Kings Fest (Doswell, VA), Spirit Song (Cincinnati, OH), Lifest (Oshkosh, WI), SoulFest (Gilford, NH), Rock the Desert (Midland, TX) and more.

Following the summer concerts, Bluetree will join NewSong this fall on a tour to major markets throughout the U.S. beginning in September and running through November. Tour cities to be announced soon.

Ahead of the tour, Billboard’s correspondent Deborah Evans Price predicted the band’s success: “Look for this talented outfit to become one of the Christian market’s most enthusiastically embraced new worship bands.”

After seeing the band perform during Gospel Music Week in Nashville, Beth Bacall, Star 99.1 FM midday air personality in New York City, echoes that a Bluetree tour is one not to miss: “What an amazing explosion of sound. Bluetree cuts straight to the core after the first chord. Musically, spiritually they pull you and you can’t let go until they finish, and even then you’re left with lyrics floating all about. There is an obvious connection between all the band members that really permeates through the crowd and within their music. Add in some serious rock and Bluetree has a sound that definitely deserves airplay plus a show that needs to be seen.”

One of the reasons Bluetree has found such quick success in North America stems from the song that has preceded the band’s arrival. In addition to Kris Allen, Chris Tomlin and other artists and church worship leaders singing the song, the title track to the acclaimed debut album, God Of This City, has become an R&R multi-format radio hit, landing this week at No. 14 on the AC Indicator, No. 13 on the CHR and No. 6 on the Soft AC / Inspirational charts and continuing to climb.

With an unabashed attitude of worship running through all of the songs on God Of This City, which released March 3 on the Lucid Artist label, the album also reflects the highs and lows that inevitably come with the journey of faith. Critics from Billboard, Lexington Herald-Leader and Belfast Telegraph to Worship Leader, ChristianMusicToday.com, CBN.com and CBA Retailer + Resources and more are heralding Bluetree’s God Of This City, describing it as “stunning debut album,” “inspired and inspiring,” “an experience,” and calling the band the “next big leader” and “freshest sounding” with “compelling musicality.”

For more information on the band, including a compelling acoustic video performance and explanation of the song “God Of This City” by Bluetree lead vocalist/guitarist Aaron Boyd, as well as a free download of the congregation-ready song “Each Day” from its acclaimed God Of This City debut album, go to http://www.givmusic.com/bluetree.

FRENCHTOWN, N.J. –  Revelation Generation (www.revgen.org), the ever-popular music festival held annually in Hunterdon County, has announced yet another all-star line up and general ticket availability at http://revgen.org/tickets/information.php. Now in its fifth year, the massive two-day festival will take place over Labor Day Weekend 2009 on Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5. This year’s Revelation Generation will feature [...] - [Read more]

In support of Food For the Hungry, we are excited to announce the “Follow You” Tour with Leeland, Brandon Heath, and special guest Francesca Battistelli. Check out the list below for your city and visit LeelandOnline.com for more details (all dates subject to change). Sep 23 Norfolk, NE Sep 24 Moorhead, MN Sep 25 St. Paul, MN Sep 26 [...] - [Read more]

We’re pleased to announce the release of Solace our first single of 2009 exclusively to our fans on Facebook, ReverbNation and iLike.Solace is an instrumental piece that has been simmering on the back... - [Read more]

To All Our Friends & Fans,We wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas and Blessed 2009.Thank you for all your support, kind messages and encouragement this past year, and we look forward to creating ... - [Read more]

We would like to acknowledge the following radio stations that have expressed interest in our music and that have continued to keep positive music on the airwaves:Thank you for your support in 2008!!M... - [Read more]

Curtis Harnanan has been recently featured on Just One More Book! a thrice-weekly podcast which promotes and celebrates literacy and great childrens books.Andrea Ross and Mark Blevis, the founders an... - [Read more]

This Christmas, Canadian Christian recording artists, Lori-Ann McGrath & Curtis Harnanan, are treating music lovers everywhere to two new original holiday songs - Ring the Bells! and Forest of Hop... - [Read more]

We would like to acknowledge and extend a very special thank you to Megan & Stéphan Gélinas who have generously offered their time and talent to us.Megan and Stéphan made their recording début ... - [Read more]

Lori-Ann & Curtis, a Christian Pop/Rock group from Kanata, Ontario, CANADA recently  released their new single One More Chance.   This song is prayerful conversation between a penitent... - [Read more]