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Praise and Worship Beat
Archives
March - April 2006
I Just Kept Thinking, "No, There's No Way"
David Crowder talks about the
tragic death of his friend and pastor.
April 26th, 2006
Angels are Having a Party in Heaven
This is great, from - of all places -
The
Village Voice:
Third Day frontman Mac Powell's "family story" later on was more of a
gut-punch than it should've been: finding his six-year-old daughter crying
in bed, asking why, and hearing her respond, "Papa, I just asked Jesus to
come into my heart." He wondered if she knew what her gesture meant; she
replied, "Angels are having a party in heaven."
April 24th, 2006
Coming Up To Breathe
The Associated Press only partly likes
Mercy Me's new release:
Mercy Me is a Christian rock band known for their worship ballads and
power anthems. On their latest, "Coming Up To Breathe," they've apparently
opted for an edgier sound.
The stadium rock-effect, with its heavy guitars, loud sound and more
aggressive tone, draws attention away from the vocals, and there's no real
intimacy at all. It's a bit overwhelming if you're listening for a moment
with the Divine in your living room.
There is no gentle ballad that rises to the stature of their huge hit "I Can
Only Imagine." "No More No Less" would be a standout if it didn't dissolve
into a country quartet-style chorus at the end of the song, making it
contrived.
The strongest songs are "One Trick Pony," which shows that the band is not
one by breaking from the heavy, rock arrangements to create a more intimate,
Delta blues-feel; and "Where I Belong" and "3:42 AM (Writer's Block)," which
ring with the kind of lyrical and musical sincerity fans have come to
cherish from this group.
April 24th, 2006
A Beautiful Journey of God's Faithfulness
Lovely story on
Point of Grace in the Appleton Post-Crescent:
"It's just a beautiful journey of God's faithfulness and how all of us
would never give ourselves this musical accolade of being so musically
talented that we are just drenching in it," said Leigh Cappillino,
one-fourth of the quartet of friends and the newest member of the group. "He
allowed the gifts he gave us to be multiplied by four, and we're just
honored to be a part of it. We make fun of ourselves all the time and thank
goodness we're not having to audition for 'American Idol' because we so
wouldn't make it."
April 20th, 2006
Sales are Glorious for "Passion: Everything
Glorious"
Sixstepsrecords' ninth Passion project, "Passion: Everything Glorious,"
released only on April 4th, has become "an
immediate best seller," according to a company press release:
Recording the highest street week sales ever for a Passion recording, the
album claimed the No. 1 position on the SoundScan Christian Retail sales
chart. The album also landed at No. 69 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and
became the second highest full album debut in the history of EMI CMG digital
releases. Only Sixstepsrecords' David Crowder Band's 'A Collision' sold more
units in its first week at digital retail.
April 18th, 2006
Praise and Worship Music Sure is What's
Happening
Excellent feature on praise and worship in
The Tennessean. An excerpt:
If you figure awards shows as a barometer of industry trends, then this
year's GMA Music Awards nominations sent a message: Praise and worship music
sure is what's happening.
Singer and worship leader Chris Tomlin leads the honoree group with nine
nominations, friend and fellow worship guy David Crowder and his Band
following right behind with six.
In contemporary Christian circles, folks have talked enough about the praise
and worship movement in recent years that this probably didn't come as a
surprise to most.
Except, apparently, breakout success Tomlin.
"That floored me," he said, groggy and gearing up for a day stocked with
interviews. "I mean, I would never expect that honestly — I don't know what
I would expect, but I definitely didn't expect that ... How God is using
these songs around the church, it's just an exciting thing."
And the church, really, is where you'll find the most noticeable impact
of praise and worship songs, which pair modern melodic constructs with the
vertical lyrics of hymns.
April 4th, 2006
We're Confused
Honesty from bassist Jon Thatcher of the Delirous? group:
"We don't quite know who we are and where we are. One night we can be
playing on stage with Bon Jovi and the next Bryan Adams," he said. "People
connect with it on many different levels. Some people come to expect a rock
concert, some people come to expect a praise-and-worship event. ... We like
to say we're confused."
April 1st, 2006
Soundtrack for Worship
The Trades
website reviews "The Ultimate Collection" from Phillips, Craig & Dean:
Covering thirteen years of musical ministry, this two-disc
collection...is a virtual soundtrack for vertical worship. The trio are
members of the United Pentecostal Church, International and are staff
pastors at their local churches....These leadership roles have accounted for
the unpretentious lyrical content of their songs, which seek to strengthen
the church with hope and encouragement. History has proven their knack for
developing church-ready music to assist the Christian in communicating with
the Creator. Together they create crisp harmonies, with music that plays to
pop sensibilities intermingled with Gospel influences.
March 30th, 2006
Tension and Release, Sturm and Drang, Quiet
and Soft
The Kansas City Star interviews
David Crowder about their newest release, "A Collision."
The bluegrass influence gives “Collision” refreshing variety, while
other tracks are characteristically rock and pop. So, what is the David
Crowder sound? How much does Texas carry over into the band’s music?
Our sound is big and diverse, but then isn’t everything in Texas? We love
tension and release, sturm and drang, quiet and soft living right next to
each other. The fact is we have six very different individuals composing the
band, and each of us brings a different vantage point and approach to music.
We’ve tried to make room for it all, which I think allows a lot of
exploration without it feeling forced or contrived.
How would you describe the experience of recording with Marty Stuart?
Spiritual. The man is touched by the hand of the father. All that business
during ‘Hope Rising’ that no mortal should be able to play … that’s him.
March 20th, 2006
Updates
Why
Jeremy Camp doesn't talk about his church any more. And why
Darlene Zschech has mobilised a team of heart surgeons.
March 13th, 2006
Showing Mellowness
Jeremy Camp wants to show the world that he can be mellow.
At least, that's what the Toledo Blade claims, in its
profile of Jeremy. An excerpt:
Anyone who wants to know Camp's heart, mind, and soul needs only to
listen to his music: He pours himself into every song. For those who haven't
followed the 28-year-old artist's career, he lost his first wife, Melissa,
to cancer in 2001, and though the struggles tested his faith, he never gave
up on God.
"I had those questions of 'why' and 'I don't understand,' and certain
details of my faith, but I knew that God loved me and I knew that his arms
were always wrapped around me," Camp said. "In that difficult time, that's
what kept me going, kept me writing those songs. I might have some difficult
questions, but I know God is still good and he has been merciful and
gracious."
March 10th, 2006
I Started Sobbing, There in the Street
Natalie Grant
tells
Christianity Today about
The HOME Foundation,
her non-profit mission organization dedicated to fighting child slavery and
to assisting in the rescue and restoration of sex-trafficking victims:
There was an Indian man named Deveraj who runs a rescue ministry walking
with us. He said, "That's where they hold the new girls. They only let them
out to service clients." It was all I could do not to throw up. I started
sobbing, there in the street.
From there, we were able to travel out from the city to a place they call
the Village of Hope. When they are able to rescue girls from the brothels in
the cities, they take them to this wonderful place—the first real home many
of them have ever had. And they feed them, clothe them, give them an
education, and teach them about God.
March 6th, 2006
Great Worship Songs
A new website,
Greatworshipsongs.com, is due soon, offering downloadable lead sheets, chord
charts lyrics and songs from top artists including Michael W. Smith, Casting
Crowns, Third Day, Selah and others. According to
BREATHEcast:
Visitors to the site will be also able to group songs into “worship
sets,” and other users can rate, comment and purchase those collections.
Christian music industry veteran Steve Rice will serve as the site’s
executive director.
March 4th, 2006
New Collision
The top40-charts.com
website has information on David Crowder's new recording, B Collision, due
for release on May 2nd:
Although many details are yet to be revealed, B Collision looks as though
it will nod to the acoustic flavor of select covers on A Collision such as
Hank Williams Sr.'s 'I Saw The Light' and Loretta Lynn's 'Everybody Wants To
Go To Heaven.' Look for developing news at
DavidCrowderBand.com.
Speaking of collisions, David Crowder Band ran into some added media
coverage recently when U.S. snowboarder Kelly Clark chose the group's 'O
Praise Him' as background music for her Olympic performance in Turin, Italy.
March 2nd, 2006
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![CD37726: I Can Only Imagine: Ultimate Power Anthems of the Christian Faith, Compact Disc [CD]](../cd37726.gif)
![CD29702: Worship Together Volume 1: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, Compact Disc [CD]](../cd29702.gif)