Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Christian music news: How to Share Your Faith Using Relient K's Be My Escape
Latest christian music: Did you catch the buzz? This past week, Relient K was one of the bands featured live on MTV's TRL, performing Be My Escape. Their hit song is also currently on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. While it's awesome to find an openly Christian band featured on MTV and appearing on the Billboard Hot 100, it's also way cool to know that the lyrics to their song can provide a great opportunity to share about God with your friends!
Check out these words to the chorus of Be My Escape.
But God is also our escape on a whole other level. He's our place of safety we can run to for refuge when our world gets crazy, painful or just plain ugly. In the Bible King David put it this way,
Say this:
And finally, another level that Be My Escape directly speaks to is that God is our escape when we're stuck in a rut of our own making. When we're locked up by doubt and insecurity and not living the life God's called us to, when we call out to Him - when we beg Him, He is our escape. John 15:5-13 says it this way:
Next time you hear this song with your friends, ask them what they think it means and then share with them how God's ready and willing to be their escape by
Source
Check out these words to the chorus of Be My Escape.
Cause I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity andIf you've ever felt like you want or need to escape (and who hasn't?!), this song overflows with the reality that God is the only REAL escape. He is our escape on several different levels. First, He's our escape from certain spiritual death. As we come to grips with the truth that we are not perfect and that our sins separate us from a perfect God, we realize Jesus is our escape from being separated from God for all eternity.
I've been locked inside that house all the while You hold the key
And I've been dying to get out and that might be the death of me
And even though, there's no way in knowing where to go, promise I'm going because
I gotta get outta here
Cause I'm afraid that this complacency is something I can't shake
I gotta get outta here
And I'm begging You, I'm begging You, I'm begging You to be my escape.
But God is also our escape on a whole other level. He's our place of safety we can run to for refuge when our world gets crazy, painful or just plain ugly. In the Bible King David put it this way,
Say this:
"GOD, you're my refuge.Not that God promises us a totally happy, trouble-free life, but he is our escape in the midst of the troubles that come, because He promises to be with us and carry us through.
I trust in you and I'm safe!"
That's right--he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you--
under them you're perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Psalms. 91:2-4
And finally, another level that Be My Escape directly speaks to is that God is our escape when we're stuck in a rut of our own making. When we're locked up by doubt and insecurity and not living the life God's called us to, when we call out to Him - when we beg Him, He is our escape. John 15:5-13 says it this way:
I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is--when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.God's telling us that if we're not clinging to Him and living in His power, we can do nothing of lasting value for Him. He's there to be our escape from an empty, meaningless life and to give us a vibrant, awesome life in Him!!
I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done--kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. (The Message)
Next time you hear this song with your friends, ask them what they think it means and then share with them how God's ready and willing to be their escape by
- Saving them from eternal separation from God
- Being their escape and refuge in time of trouble
- Pulling them from the rut they're in and giving them a vibrant, God-filled, abundant life.
Source
Monday, July 27, 2009
Christian music news: A band less ordinary
Latest christian music:
Man, I know that I can’t hold on to April drops of rain
And then come-what-may, but it’s hard to look away
Life is rich, life is rich
Only if we live through its experience
No thought for a while
Just a quick fix on a smile
Spring is sprung, forever young
It’s just its job — gets in and out and then its job is done ...
The metaphorical cycling-seasons song touches on a recurring theme of the album, a moving forward while also looking back.
“A big theme in the album is embracing change but knowing your roots and when to call upon them,” said Barry Privett, the band’s lead singer. “There’s this kind of struggle between staying rooted and moving forward. As you grow and mature, it becomes harder for continuing the ambitious goals you had as a child, and to keep them in proportion.” How we deal with our dreams as life goes on is a main theme: Sometimes its “recognizing when its OK to alter them — recognize that you might have new dreams in the place of the old one.” And sometimes it’s “keeping yourself in check and not allowing yourself to deviate from your dreams.”
That sentiment could be applied to the overall life of Carbon Leaf, which plays May 21 at Water Street Music Hall, 204 N. Water St. The band’s members have invested some 17 years — from young adulthood into the dawning of middle age, having come together as college students in 1992. It hasn’t always been easy, smooth sailing, as evidenced by the string of bass players who’ve left the band along the way.
The band — which recorded on its own Constant Ivy Music label for nearly a decade before signing on with Vanguard for its past three albums — is a five-piece combo with a style based in rootsy rock and infused with elements of bluegrass, jam/groove stylings and, most notably, Celtic touches. Privett occasionally plays pennywhistle or bagpipes, for instance, while guitarist Carter Gravatt also numbers mandolin, bodhran and bouzouki among his instruments. Rounding out the band are guitarist Terry Clark and recent additions, bassist Jon Markel and drummer Jason Neal.
Rochester is the third stop on the band’s summer U.S. tour, which kicked off Tuesday — official release day for “Nothing Rhymes With Woman” —with a concert in Boston. Tomorrow, they do an appearance on Laura Ingraham’s radio show and play a show in Washington, D.C.
Carbon Leaf’s original members — Privett, Clark, Gravatt and bassist Palmer Stearns — got together as students at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., near Richmond, in 1992. They hadn’t all been friends prior to gelling musically; they were all different years, Privett recalls: “I knew Terry, and Terry knew Carter, and Carter knew the bassist — it was just kind of piecemeal over the course of a couple weeks.” They started playing shows at their college — frat mixers and the like — and after graduation started playing the college circuit in Virginia, then elsewhere on the East Coast as their reputation built. By 1995, they had released their first album, “Meander.”
The band built its reputation on a live show that’s powerful yet intimate in its connection with listeners. Or, as a band bio on the Water Street Web site puts it: “Some bands insist on dragging listeners into their world, but Carbon Leaf works towards a more admirable and considerably more difficult goal — that of letting perfect strangers feel that the band understands their world.”
Privett figures one secret to their appeal is their willingness to try different things, to add the folk influences, Celtic instrumentation and the like.
“We’ve been fortunate; we’ve been able to get by with trying different things and arrangements,” he said. “Part of it is us asking ourselves, ‘What would we like to see out of a show?’”
It’s been a slow-building, long-haul career for Carbon Leaf. While no longer indie youngsters, they’re no household name yet, though they’ve got a loyal and growing fan base. Winning an American Music Award in 2002 for best unsigned act boosted their energy level and got them some radio play, and the first Vanguard release, “Indian Summer” in 2004, yielded a couple hits on the AAA (Adult Album Alternative) charts in “What About Everything” and the yearning love song “Life Less Ordinary”:
“Live a life less ordinary,
live a life extraordinary with me;
live a life less sedentary,
live a life evolutionary with me ...”
“For us, there’s always kind of small moments and incremental steps, and not the career-altering moments,” Privett said. “It’s things that kind of gestate and take a little time to bear fruit. ... The band really wants to continue touring and building our fan base. As a foundation, if you have that, everything else will take care of itself.
“It would be great to have radio songs or have our songs played in a cool movie — but those things are fleeting,” he added. They give you a nice push and something to feed on, but it’s really about the music and the show for us. If it’s something that people value, then our job’s kind of done.”
Source
Rochester, N.Y. —
Nine tracks into the Virginia-based band Carbon Leaf’s newest album, “Nothing Rhymes With Woman,” come these reflections, in the song “Drops of Rain”:Man, I know that I can’t hold on to April drops of rain
And then come-what-may, but it’s hard to look away
Life is rich, life is rich
Only if we live through its experience
No thought for a while
Just a quick fix on a smile
Spring is sprung, forever young
It’s just its job — gets in and out and then its job is done ...
The metaphorical cycling-seasons song touches on a recurring theme of the album, a moving forward while also looking back.
“A big theme in the album is embracing change but knowing your roots and when to call upon them,” said Barry Privett, the band’s lead singer. “There’s this kind of struggle between staying rooted and moving forward. As you grow and mature, it becomes harder for continuing the ambitious goals you had as a child, and to keep them in proportion.” How we deal with our dreams as life goes on is a main theme: Sometimes its “recognizing when its OK to alter them — recognize that you might have new dreams in the place of the old one.” And sometimes it’s “keeping yourself in check and not allowing yourself to deviate from your dreams.”
That sentiment could be applied to the overall life of Carbon Leaf, which plays May 21 at Water Street Music Hall, 204 N. Water St. The band’s members have invested some 17 years — from young adulthood into the dawning of middle age, having come together as college students in 1992. It hasn’t always been easy, smooth sailing, as evidenced by the string of bass players who’ve left the band along the way.
The band — which recorded on its own Constant Ivy Music label for nearly a decade before signing on with Vanguard for its past three albums — is a five-piece combo with a style based in rootsy rock and infused with elements of bluegrass, jam/groove stylings and, most notably, Celtic touches. Privett occasionally plays pennywhistle or bagpipes, for instance, while guitarist Carter Gravatt also numbers mandolin, bodhran and bouzouki among his instruments. Rounding out the band are guitarist Terry Clark and recent additions, bassist Jon Markel and drummer Jason Neal.
Rochester is the third stop on the band’s summer U.S. tour, which kicked off Tuesday — official release day for “Nothing Rhymes With Woman” —with a concert in Boston. Tomorrow, they do an appearance on Laura Ingraham’s radio show and play a show in Washington, D.C.
Carbon Leaf’s original members — Privett, Clark, Gravatt and bassist Palmer Stearns — got together as students at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., near Richmond, in 1992. They hadn’t all been friends prior to gelling musically; they were all different years, Privett recalls: “I knew Terry, and Terry knew Carter, and Carter knew the bassist — it was just kind of piecemeal over the course of a couple weeks.” They started playing shows at their college — frat mixers and the like — and after graduation started playing the college circuit in Virginia, then elsewhere on the East Coast as their reputation built. By 1995, they had released their first album, “Meander.”
The band built its reputation on a live show that’s powerful yet intimate in its connection with listeners. Or, as a band bio on the Water Street Web site puts it: “Some bands insist on dragging listeners into their world, but Carbon Leaf works towards a more admirable and considerably more difficult goal — that of letting perfect strangers feel that the band understands their world.”
Privett figures one secret to their appeal is their willingness to try different things, to add the folk influences, Celtic instrumentation and the like.
“We’ve been fortunate; we’ve been able to get by with trying different things and arrangements,” he said. “Part of it is us asking ourselves, ‘What would we like to see out of a show?’”
It’s been a slow-building, long-haul career for Carbon Leaf. While no longer indie youngsters, they’re no household name yet, though they’ve got a loyal and growing fan base. Winning an American Music Award in 2002 for best unsigned act boosted their energy level and got them some radio play, and the first Vanguard release, “Indian Summer” in 2004, yielded a couple hits on the AAA (Adult Album Alternative) charts in “What About Everything” and the yearning love song “Life Less Ordinary”:
“Live a life less ordinary,
live a life extraordinary with me;
live a life less sedentary,
live a life evolutionary with me ...”
“For us, there’s always kind of small moments and incremental steps, and not the career-altering moments,” Privett said. “It’s things that kind of gestate and take a little time to bear fruit. ... The band really wants to continue touring and building our fan base. As a foundation, if you have that, everything else will take care of itself.
“It would be great to have radio songs or have our songs played in a cool movie — but those things are fleeting,” he added. They give you a nice push and something to feed on, but it’s really about the music and the show for us. If it’s something that people value, then our job’s kind of done.”
Source
Monday, July 20, 2009
Christian music news: Relient K Announce Tour As They Finish Up New Album
Latest christian music: (Big Hassle) Relient K are heading out on a string of spring/early summer tour dates so they can start playing some of their new songs live.
The band is in the final stages of recording their next (and sixth!) studio album, tentatively titled, Forget and Not Slow Down. This new one will be released on Mono Vs. Stereo - a label that they started which will run thru Gotee.
They've been giving fans a peek into the world of recording their new record via some studio updates that can be seen here: http://vimeo.com/relientk.
Tour dates are as follows:
May 26 Pomona, CA The Glass House
May 27 Bakersfield, CA The Dome
May 28 Orangevale, CA The Boardwalk
May 29 Eugene, OR Indigo Distric
May 30 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
May 31 Seattle, WA Neumo's
June 2 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
June 3 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
June 4 Salt Lake City, UT Murray Theatre
June 22 Ashville, NC Orange Peel
June 23 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
June 26 Rochester, NY Water Street
June 29 Green Bay, WI Riverside Ballroom
June 30 Duluth, MN Grandmas Sports Garden
July 2 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
July 3 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Source
The band is in the final stages of recording their next (and sixth!) studio album, tentatively titled, Forget and Not Slow Down. This new one will be released on Mono Vs. Stereo - a label that they started which will run thru Gotee.
They've been giving fans a peek into the world of recording their new record via some studio updates that can be seen here: http://vimeo.com/relientk.
Tour dates are as follows:
May 26 Pomona, CA The Glass House
May 27 Bakersfield, CA The Dome
May 28 Orangevale, CA The Boardwalk
May 29 Eugene, OR Indigo Distric
May 30 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
May 31 Seattle, WA Neumo's
June 2 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
June 3 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
June 4 Salt Lake City, UT Murray Theatre
June 22 Ashville, NC Orange Peel
June 23 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
June 26 Rochester, NY Water Street
June 29 Green Bay, WI Riverside Ballroom
June 30 Duluth, MN Grandmas Sports Garden
July 2 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
July 3 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Source
Monday, July 13, 2009
Christian music news: Relient K returns to the road
Latest christian music: Relient K will share the stage for most of the run with fellow indie rockers Owl City, The Classic Crime and Runner Runner.
Released last summer, the double-disc"The Birds and the Bee Sides" took the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top Christian & Gospel Albums chart. Vocalist/guitarist Matthew Thiessen doesn't shy away from the "Christian pop" label that the band has been stamped with since their 1998 debut.
"Whatever people want to call us, they can call us," Thiessen told LiveDaily in an interview last summer. "I'm Christian. I write a lot about that stuff. I think it's important for me in my life and we obviously want to write songs about things that are important. At the same time, if you don't share the same beliefs as us, you're probably not going to get rubbed the wrong way with our music."
The band, which broke into the Top 15 on The Billboard 200 with two albums--2004's "Mmhmm" and 2007's "Five Score and Seven Years Ago"--are working on a new studio album for release later this year. The group's MySpace page currently features webisodes of recent studio sessions.
Source
Released last summer, the double-disc"The Birds and the Bee Sides" took the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top Christian & Gospel Albums chart. Vocalist/guitarist Matthew Thiessen doesn't shy away from the "Christian pop" label that the band has been stamped with since their 1998 debut.
"Whatever people want to call us, they can call us," Thiessen told LiveDaily in an interview last summer. "I'm Christian. I write a lot about that stuff. I think it's important for me in my life and we obviously want to write songs about things that are important. At the same time, if you don't share the same beliefs as us, you're probably not going to get rubbed the wrong way with our music."
The band, which broke into the Top 15 on The Billboard 200 with two albums--2004's "Mmhmm" and 2007's "Five Score and Seven Years Ago"--are working on a new studio album for release later this year. The group's MySpace page currently features webisodes of recent studio sessions.
Source
Monday, July 6, 2009
Christian music news: Relient K Revisits Fans with a New Tour
Latest christian music: Relient K started their new tour this month. The 28 city tour started on May 9 at the Tampa, Florida Busch Gardens. The tour ends on August 3 in Columbus, Ohio at the Ohio Expo Center. Relient K will be joined by fellow Christian-indie rockers Owl City, the Classic Crime, and Runner Runner.
The tour is in support of Relient K’s newest album, The Birds and the Bee Sides, which was released last summer. The double disc hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Christian and Gospel Albums chart.
Lead singer/guitarist Matthew Thiessen said to LiveDaily.com, “Whatever people want to call us, they can call us. I’m Christian. I write a lot about that stuff. I think it’s important for me in my life and we obviously want to write songs about things that are important. At the same time, if you don’t share the same beliefs as us, you’re probably not going to get rubbed the wrong way with our music.”
The dates and venues are listed below:
May 2009
9 - Tampa, Fla. - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
16 - Rapid City, S.D. - Rushmore Theatre
22 - Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place
24 - Del Mar, Calif. - Del Mar Fairgrounds
26 - Pomona, Calif. - Glass House
27 - Bakersfield, Calif. - The Dome
28 - Orangevale, Calif. - The Boardwalk
29 - Eugene, Ore. - Indigo District
30 - Portland, Ore. - Wonder Ballroom
31 - Seattle, Wash. - Neumos
June 2009
2 - Spokane, Wash. - Knitting Factory Concert House
3 - Boise, Idaho - Knitting Factory Concert House
4 - Murray, Utah - Murray Theatre
6 - Denver, Colo. - Elitch Gardens Theme Park
20 - Hot Springs, Ark. - Timberwood Amphitheater
22 - Asheville, N.C. - The Orange Peel
23 - Raleigh, N.C. - Lincoln Theatre
25 - Shirleysburg, Pa. - Agape Farm Campground
26 - Rochester, N.Y. - Water Street Music Hall
27 - Vaughan, Ontario - Paramount Canada's Wonderland
29 - Green Bay, Wis. - Riverside Ballroom
30 - Duluth, Minn. - Grandma's Sports Garden
July 2009
1 - Marietta, Ill. - Cornerstone
2 - Lawrence, Kans. - Granada Theatre
3 - Omaha, Nebr. - Slowdown
9 - Doswell, Va. - Kings Dominion
25 - Quincy, Wash. - Gorge Amphitheatre
August 2009
3 - Columbus, Ohio - Ohio Expo Center
Source
The tour is in support of Relient K’s newest album, The Birds and the Bee Sides, which was released last summer. The double disc hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Christian and Gospel Albums chart.
Lead singer/guitarist Matthew Thiessen said to LiveDaily.com, “Whatever people want to call us, they can call us. I’m Christian. I write a lot about that stuff. I think it’s important for me in my life and we obviously want to write songs about things that are important. At the same time, if you don’t share the same beliefs as us, you’re probably not going to get rubbed the wrong way with our music.”
The dates and venues are listed below:
May 2009
9 - Tampa, Fla. - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
16 - Rapid City, S.D. - Rushmore Theatre
22 - Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place
24 - Del Mar, Calif. - Del Mar Fairgrounds
26 - Pomona, Calif. - Glass House
27 - Bakersfield, Calif. - The Dome
28 - Orangevale, Calif. - The Boardwalk
29 - Eugene, Ore. - Indigo District
30 - Portland, Ore. - Wonder Ballroom
31 - Seattle, Wash. - Neumos
June 2009
2 - Spokane, Wash. - Knitting Factory Concert House
3 - Boise, Idaho - Knitting Factory Concert House
4 - Murray, Utah - Murray Theatre
6 - Denver, Colo. - Elitch Gardens Theme Park
20 - Hot Springs, Ark. - Timberwood Amphitheater
22 - Asheville, N.C. - The Orange Peel
23 - Raleigh, N.C. - Lincoln Theatre
25 - Shirleysburg, Pa. - Agape Farm Campground
26 - Rochester, N.Y. - Water Street Music Hall
27 - Vaughan, Ontario - Paramount Canada's Wonderland
29 - Green Bay, Wis. - Riverside Ballroom
30 - Duluth, Minn. - Grandma's Sports Garden
July 2009
1 - Marietta, Ill. - Cornerstone
2 - Lawrence, Kans. - Granada Theatre
3 - Omaha, Nebr. - Slowdown
9 - Doswell, Va. - Kings Dominion
25 - Quincy, Wash. - Gorge Amphitheatre
August 2009
3 - Columbus, Ohio - Ohio Expo Center
Source
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