Hawk Nelson Premieres New Music Video For 'Shaken'
(8/19/2010)Hawk Nelson has launched its newest music video, "Shaken," produced by Ransom.tv, an online ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
For one week, "Shaken" will premiere exclusively to Hawk Nelson fans before going public. The video will be available on Hawk Nelson's Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/hawknelson) – only fans who "like" the page will be able to unlock the video. Fans will also have the opportunity to join the band and Samaritan's Purse in helping to feed 1,000 kids through its "Get Shaken" campaign.
"We love partnering with organizations and individuals that share our heart to impact the lives of others to Live Life Loud," share the members from Hawk Nelson. "Working with Ransom.tv and the folks at Samaritan's Purse is an absolute honor. 'Shaken' is a personal song - we had a blast making this video with Ransom.tv and love the end result."
In 2008, Hawk Nelson went to Haiti to visit the Hands & Feet Orphanage, where the band was moved by the people they met, especially children. "Shaken" was written following this visit, and the band says the song has even greater meaning after the country's devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake earlier this year. Frontman Jason Dunn was able to visit Haiti in February with international relief organization Samaritan's Purse, where he says he saw how Haiti had been truly "shaken."
Open my eyes and help me see there's a world outside of me.
I've been shaken from my head, on down to my toes.
Lord use me, take me where you want me to go.
(Lyrics from "Shaken")
Along with the subject matter of "Shaken," Hawk Nelson has devoted this year to the motto from its most recent album, "Live Life Loud." Providing various avenues to get involved, the band is now working with Samaritian's Purse to feed 1,000 kids with the "Get Shaken" campaign. Anyone wanting to make a difference in a child's life can join the cause page on Facebook.
A "Ransom Note," or video testimony, from Hawk Nelson also debuted this week on Ransom.tv. Through this platform, band members had the opportunity to share their faith in Christ. To view the "Ransom Note," an interview about the meaning behind "Shaken," behind-the-scenes footage and photos, visit www.Ransom.tv and www.facebook.com/WeAreRansom.
Fans can also watch Hawk Nelson perform live this Saturday, Aug. 21, at BGEA's Rock The River Tour in Calgary, Alberta, as well as on Saturday, Aug. 28 in Edmonton, Alberta. Those not able to attend in person can see the performance streaming live on www.Ransom.tv. For more information on these festivals, visit www.rocktherivertour.com.
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The Almost Is Taking Out Monster Monster On Fall Headline Tour
(8/17/2010)Tooth & Nail/Virgin Records (EMI) rock band, The Almost, is gearing up for the Monster Monster tour beginning September 14th in Montgomery, AL through September 26th in Indianapolis, IN. With the tour namesake from the band's highly successful sophomore album, The Almost will bring along special guests: Chasen, House of Heroes and Between the Trees for the Compassion International sponsored tour.
"We are so excited and happy to go out and be a part of local communities," shared Aaron Gillespie. "I believe that the heart of our community as Christians lies in the local church, and we as The Almost are excited to get out and meet everyone in their home town/homechurch setting. Let's get excited!!"
In addition to their headline tour this fall, The Almost will be appearing in October on Switchfoot's tour (dates and locations TBA). The Almost will also be performing at two high-profile festivals over the Labor Day weekend: Revelation Generation Festival (Sept. 4th) and Lifelight Festival (Sept. 5th). For the complete Monster Monster tour schedule along with additional dates in your local area, check out their MySpace for updates.
About The Almost:
Last fall, The Almost released Monster Monster, which represented the culmination of two years of touring, with the resulting disc a melding of the group's individual talents into a truly collaborative effort. This was the rock group's sophomore album, following their label debut, Southern Weather, which scored a #7 Modern Rock single in "Say This Sooner," a slot on MTV's prestigious Discover & Download program and a quarter-million in sales after debuting in the Top 40 on the Billboard Top 200 with 29k+ in sales. The Almost was founded by former Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie along with guitarists Jay Vilardi and Dusty Redmon and newest member, drummer Joe Musten.
Connect with The Almost:
http://www.thealmost.com/ | http://www.facebook.com/thealmost
http://www.myspace.com/thealmost | http://twitter.com/thealmost | http://www.youtube.com/thealmost
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Winter Wonder Slam Presents the Awake Tonight Tour
(8/17/2010)Performing in front of over 90,000 screaming fans last spring, two of the industry's biggest performers SKILLET and TOBYMAC team up together once again for the second leg of the Awake Tonight Tour presented by TobyMac's Winter Wonder Slam. To kick off the night will be Diverse City's SHONLOCK, who will be opening for the two headlining acts, bringing audiences to their feet, and prepping them for the jam packed entertaining night ahead. The highly anticipated 16-city tour will launch November 11 in Springfield, IL and carry through until December 12.
Earlier this year, the Awake Tonight Tour was listed as one of the most popular tours landing in the Top 30 concerts, according to Pollstar's Concert Pulse. This year, the show is visiting major markets such as Chicago, Minneapolis, and Pittsburg exposing the show to an even greater number of concertgoers.
Keeping the focus on the true meaning of the holiday season, in its sixth year, Winter Wonder Slam will continue the gift of giving as the tour joins forces with the U.S. Marine Corps to help with their Toys for Tots campaign. Toys for Tots aims to provide tangible signs of hope to economically disadvantaged children at Christmas. Attendees are invited to bring an unwrapped gift to the event as Marines will be on site to collect toys at every venue. Each year, Winter Wonder Slam produces multiple sell-outs and sets records for the amount of gifts collected for Toys For Tots.
For further details on Winter Wonder Slam's Awake Tonight Tour, please visit www.winterwonderslam.com.
Winter Wonder Slam Presents Awake Tonight Tour (dates subject to change)
11/11 Springfield, IL Prairie Capital Convention Center
11/12 Chicago, IL Sears Centre
11/13 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
11/14 Sioux Falls, SD Sioux Falls Arena
11/18 College Station, TX Reed Arena
11/19 Cypress, TX Berry Center
11/20 Cypress, TX Berry Center
11/21 Biloxi, MS Mississippi Coast Coliseum
12/2 WORKING TBA
12/3 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
12/4 Louisville, KY Broadbent Arena
12/5 Greenville, SC Bi-Lo Center
12/9 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
12/10 Pittsburgh, PA Peterson Events Center
12/11 E Rutherford, NJ IZOD Center
12/12 Salem, VA TBA
About Skillet:
Skillet's latest, AWAKE, continues to propel the incredible momentum the rock outfit has going for them with a blockbuster debut at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200, selling over 67,000 units and peaking at No. 1 on iTune's "Top Albums" chart and "Top Rock" chart. Already over 530k in scans in just 50 weeks (more than double that of the GOLD selling COMATOSE), AWAKE was Amazon.com's best selling Christian CD of 2009, and boasts the No. 4 mainstream Active Rock single in the country with "Monster," which was also AOL Music's No. 4 mainstream rock song of last year, and the No. 1 Christian CHR & Rock single, "Hero," which has been used all season long by the NFL in their, Sunday Night Football and NFL Weekend Kickoff promos.
Skillet has toured with the likes of mainstream megastars Creed, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Seether and Flyleaf, and headlined a slew of major Christian festivals, all followed by solo tours that ranked within Pollstar's Concert Pulse Top 50 Tours. Along the way, the two-time Grammy®-nominated alternative rockers also scored seven consecutive number one Christian radio singles, a 2008 GMA Dove Award for "Rock Song of the Year," and a 2009 nomination for Artist of the Year. Along with a trio of singles on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts, a pair of BMI Songwriting Awards, and being chosen as Reader's Poll favorites on several top ccm websites, they also released their first ever concert CD/DVD combo pack "Comatose Comes Alive." For more information on Skillet, go to: www.skillet.com
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Newboys' Announce Release Of First-ever Christmas Project
(8/13/2010)With the continuous momentum of Newsboys' current CD release Born Again, a No. 1 radio hit and an extensive touring schedule, they continue their whirlwind year with the announcement of their first-ever Christmas project. Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday will release October 12th, courtesy of Inpop Records.
The new CD was produced by Dustin Burnett, Michael Tait, and Juan Otero of The Write Bros, half of the production team of Born Again. Comprised of six holiday classics, Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday includes "Winter Wonderland," "Jingle Bell Rock," "All I Want for Christmas is You," "O Holy Night," "The Christmas Song," and "Mary Did You Know."
To help promote Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday, Newsboys will join Newsong the weekend after Thanksgiving to kick off the "Very Merry Christmas Tour 2010." This 20+city nationwide tour kicks off in North Carolina and will finish up in Georgia on December 20th. Check out the tour dates listed below to see if can help ring in the Christmas season with Newsboys at a city near you.
There is no question the momentum keeps continuing to escalate for Newsboys and their July 13th release of Born Again. The current single and No. 1 hit "Born Again" continues to stay high up on the charts, having a total of 7.1 million impressions to date. Following the largest street week of their careers by selling an astounding 45,311 units and hitting #4 on Billboard's overall chart, Born Again continues to keep its place on the Billboard Top 200 chart and is No. 3 on the Christian Soundscan chart, scanning more than 72,000 units in the first month of release.
Newsong's Very Merry Christmas Tour 2010*:
11/27 Whiteville, NC
11/28 Charleston, NC
11/30 High Point, NC
12/2 Norfolk, VA
12/3 Schofield, WI
12/4 St. Cloud, MN
12/5 Brookings, SD
12/7 Portage, MI
12/8 Valparaiso, IN
12/9 Marion, IL
12/10 Marion, IL
12/11 Franklin, NC
12/12 Destin, FL
12/15 Saint Peters, MO
12/16 Athens, AL
12/17 Pascagoula, MS
12/18 Albany, GA
*Dates subject to change
www.Newsboys.com
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Caedmon's Call's Raising Up The Dead Ascends On Sept. 14th
(8/10/2010)Raising Up the Dead, the newest and highly anticipated release from Caedmon's Call, will release directly to fans on www.caedmonscall.com on Sept. 14.
"This is our most collaborative project ever", says member Derek Webb. "Everyone was involved in the writing process because we wanted to make a record that reflected the idea of community very strongly. It's a big theme on this project."
Each of the 12 songs found on Raising Up the Dead were written by the Texas-based band. The album was additionally produced by Webb. Todd Bragg (drums) enters the songwriting fray on "I Need a Builder," while Jeff Miller (bass) joins in on the acoustic driven "Sometimes a Beggar" and "Streets of Gold." Webb continues to add to his impressive writing career with "Family" and the title track while Cliff Young joins the writing mix with "God's Hometown." Webb's wife, acclaimed singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken also lends her talents to several songs, keeping it all in the family. Danielle Young single handedly contributed lyrics to six of the 12 songs and is highlighted on lead vocals in half of the tunes, including the powerful "Free."
"Writing for this record has been a life changing experience," shares Danielle Young. "I discovered I love to write. I discovered that the cathartic nature of revealing what is in my heart is worth the challenge it poses. I am thankful for this experience and for Derek and Sandra who held my hand and helped me through this process."
Caedmonscall.com received over 11,000 downloads of a free advanced preview of the record, including "Sometimes A Beggar" and "She," in the first week alone. Twitter was also lighting up with fans both promoting and sharing the link to the free music.
The album is currently available for pre-order on www.caedmonscall.com where fans can choose from pre-order tiers with immediate downloads or even a limited number of signed physical copies of the record.
"The band's focus here was to make the best record possible, wanting to primarily impress the fans who have supported them for these almost two decades," further explains Webb. "This is a band reborn, with a new creative energy and sense of camaraderie that I haven't seen since the days of 40 acres, but without the trappings of the arrogance and short-sightedness of youth. It's a rare and special thing for a band to come back around to such a moment after making music together for so long, and Raising Up the Dead is the documentation of this moment."
With career sales exceeding 1 million albums and going on 16 years in the industry, Texas-based band Caedmon's Call has made the leap from independent act to Christian music mainstay. Caedmon's Call has launched sixteen national releases. Among its accolades is; an Album of the Year Dove Award, a Billboard Music Video Award nomination and seven No. 1 radio singles.
www.caedmonscall.com
http://www.facebook.com/caedmonscall
http://twitter.com/caedmonscall
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Tooth & Nail Records Sign Independently Established I Am Empire
(8/10/2010)Knowing a good thing when they hear it, Tooth & Nail Records has recently signed the San Jose, California based band, I Am Empire. Already establishing their fan-base by opening for bands like Flyleaf, Sublime, Silversun Pickups and touring with The Wedding, I Am Empire self-released their debut album as well as their charted singles "You're A Fake" and "The Elevator."
"Tooth & Nail Records is a strong iconic label that gives us the vehicle and freedom to be the kind of band we aspire to be," shares I Am Empire about signing to the label.
I Am Empire formed in the summer of 2008 with members Austin Lyons (vocals), Andrew Stanton (lead guitar), Dan Otis (Guitar), Joshua Case (bass/vocals) and Eric Martin (drums). The band has recently finished tracking their Tooth & Nail debut in Nashville, TN with producer Rob Hawkins (Disciple, Fireflight). The debut release will be titled "Kings," and includes 12 tracks as well as a co-write with Anberlin. More information on this release as well as a street date will be coming soon. I Am Empire's sound is described by frontman Austin Lyons as a "mix of rock, alternative, and the DIY attitude."
Media have also been atrracted to I Am Empire as they were named by Alternative Press as one of the best-unsigned bands in America. They have also been featured on AOL's Spinner, Substream Magazine as well as named "New Band To Watch" by LIVE105 radio station in San Fransisco.
For more information on I Am Empire, visit: http://www.myspace.com/iamempire and follow the band on Twitter @ iamempire
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Cover Art For Jars Of Clay's 11th Studio Project
(8/6/2010)Ancient words, carried through a friend, can deliver impact and inspiration which you dare not dream. In the case of the men that make up Jars of Clay, it was an old Irish proverb, translated as "It is in the shelter of each other that the people live," that served as the genesis point for its newest project, titled Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter.
Recorded and produced by the band, Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter dwells on the idea of community, both physical and spiritual, and features a litany of both songwriting and vocal guests – including Mac Powell, Matt Maher, Brandon Heath, Laura Story, Thad Cockrell, Phillip LaRue and others – making contributions to this unique set of Jars of Clay songs.
"Jars of Clay, historically, has been this kind of compact creative environment; we're known for doing everything from the songwriting to the producing to the artwork," says guitarist Matt Odmark. "This was a push in a totally different direction. We brought people in on the songwriting side of things, and we knew in the beginning that we wanted as many voices as possible in the record.
"We wanted to make a record about community, and we wanted the recording process to be community. We wanted it to be an expression of what it was trying to articulate from a concept standpoint," Odmark continues. "It wasn't going to work any other way, and it didn't make sense to us to write a record about community that was just us talking to one another."
Alongside the project's music reside very personal essays about the idea of community, gathered and curated by the members of Jars of Clay themselves. The writers – such as author David Dark, Blood:Water Mission executive director Jena Lee Nardella, Sara Groves, Nate Larkin, Anne Jackson, Jim Hancock, Padriag OTuama – have all contributed to Jars' personal views on community, giving the listener and reader another avenue through which to explore that concept.
What emerges on Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter is more of Jars of Clay's signature sonics, informed by the season of its last project The Long Fall Back To Earth but echoing all the way back to its much-heralded self-titled debut, meshed with an heretofore underexplored inclusiveness of lyric that encourages the listener to join in on the song. In short, these songs are designed to be sung aloud, with others, within the parameters of that listener's own shelter.
For some, including the members of Jars of Clay, that will entail bringing them into the church
environment proper, something that hadn't really been a purposeful part of the band's work before.
"One of the things we're excited about with this record is to offer, with humility, what we're excited about within the church," guitarist Stephen Mason says. "We're all big fans of the church, we attend church, so part of the passion we want to get to the people is that, hopefully, this is the language we can use to rejuvenate the way we speak about God in terms of each other.
"What has been, graciously, changing us is this idea that when we look around we see God in other people and in what they're doing. We are the hands and feet," Mason continues. "We're trying to find new language to describe stuff that we're all probably in some regards cynical or bored about, because we want to believe there is life in those places."
That idea of being "hands and feet," actively working for the various communities it impacts, has long been a priority for Jars of Clay. It's a notion that extends into the charitable realm through its foundation Blood:Water Mission, which was the beneficiary of a day-long Jars-hosted radio-thon via K-LOVE and Air 1, an effort which raised more than $800,000 for the group's work.
Jars of Clay will hit the road extensively this fall, alongside two-time GMA Dove Award-winning Male Vocalist of the Year (and labelmate) Brandon Heath, and plans are underway for a multi-artist tour presenting songs from Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter scheduled for spring 2011.
About Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay launched its breakout career with the multi-format hit "Flood" in 1995. Since then, it's amassed more than six million in career sales (five Gold, two Platinum and one double Platinum certification), three GRAMMY Awards (from eight nominations), an American Music Award nod, six GMA Dove Awards nominations, 17 No. 1 radio hits, and numerous film credits and BMI honors for songwriting and performing. Its GRAMMY nominated tenth album, The Long Fall Back to Earth (April 21), debuted at No. 1 on SoundScan and on October 5, Jars of Clay will release the compelling and community minded project, Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter.
While celebrated for its music and writing, Jars of Clay is most concerned with the needs in Africa. Compelled to make a difference, members Dan Haseltine, Stephen Mason, Matt Odmark and Charlie Lowell founded the Blood:Water Mission in early 2002. The first effort of this non-profit was the "1000 Wells Project" with a goal of raising funds to build, rebuild and repair 1,000 wells in urban and rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. This year Jars of Clay will celebrate the funding of the 1,000th well which will bring clean water to more than 150,000 people, www.bloodwatermission.com.
For updates on Provident related artists, please visit www.providentpress.com.
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Brandon Heath & Jars Of Clay Co-Headline 21 City Tour
(8/3/2010)Two-time reigning Gospel Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year Brandon Heath and three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning band Jars of Clay will join forces this fall to co-headline the 21-city "An Evening With Brandon Heath & Jars of Clay" tour. In partnership with Blood:Water Mission and Food for the Hungry, the tour will kick off Oct. 8, and travel across the country before wrapping in mid-November.
As a unique co-headlining tour, "An Evening With Brandon Heath & Jars of Clay" gives these two musical entities an opportunity to create a true collaborative night not to be missed. Audiences will be able to catch them playing within each other's sets in a series of one-time-only performances not likely to be seen again.
A GRAMMY- and American Music Award-nominated singer/songwriter, Heath will perform selections from his first two albums (Don't Get Comfortable, What If We) including the hit singles "Give Me Your Eyes," "I'm Not Who I Was" and "Wait And See." He'll also unveil new material from his upcoming third studio album, slated for a February 2011 release.
Multi-platinum-selling Jars of Clay will be touring in support of their brand new album, Jars Of Clay Presents The Shelter (Oct. 5, 2010), the band's 11th CD and follow-up to their GRAMMY-nominated The Long Fall Back To Earth. The band will perform songs from the new release, including the brand new single "Out Of My Hands," along with many of their numerous hits – "Flood," "Two Hands," "Dead Man (Carry Me)," "Worlds Apart," "Love Song For A Savior," to name a few – which have become concert favorites.
"I'm more excited than I can even really say about the chance to tour with Jars of Clay this fall," Heath says. "We truly are long-time friends and collaborators. Now, the chance to do this over a period of weeks on tour in front of a live audience – it's going to be special. I really look forward to what will happen each night on stage playing and singing together."
"We can't wait to head out this fall with our friend Brandon Heath," adds Jars of Clay's Steve Mason. "We are looking forward to playing songs from our new album along with some old favorites going all the way back to our first record."
The tour partners with relief organizations Blood:Water Mission and Food for the Hungry in a joint effort to focus on needs in Kenya. "Over the last several years Blood:Water Mission and Food for the Hungry have been working together to help transform many communities in the Marsabit district of northern Kenya," says Ben Greene, Artist Program Director for Food for the Hungry. "Their unified vision in this area has focused on things like water and sanitation; medical clinics; and schools and education. The goal of this work is to tackle the root causes of poverty and empower Kenyans to overcome the obstacles that prevent them from reaching their fullest potential. Food for the Hungry is thrilled to be partnering with Blood:Water, Jars of Clay, and Brandon Heath for this great tour that will surely reach into the heart of Africa."
About Brandon Heath:
Emmy-Award winning, GRAMMY and American Music Award nominated, Brandon Heath holds multiple Dove Awards including the reigning title as Male Vocalist of the Year for both 2010 and 2009, and the 2009 Song of the Year for "Give Me Your Eyes." The Nashville native was featured on the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," while also spotlighted in the Sunday edition of The New York Times as a GRAMMY-nominated newcomer "that shouldn't be allowed to slip through the cracks."
Heath released his sophomore album, What If We (8/2008), yielding two No.1 singles, "Wait and See", and the blockbuster "Give Me Your Eyes" which was selected by NASA as the wake-up song for the orbiting Endeavour shuttle crew on Feb. 8, 2010. The album's third single "Love Never Fails" recently became a Top 20 hit at Billboard's AC Monitored radio chart. His anticipated third album is scheduled to release in early 2011.
Off stage, Heath seeks opportunities to merge his public platform with his heart for community, regularly working with Young Life, Blood:Water Mission, Restore International and unofficially volunteering for many other human rights agencies on a global scale. Heath also created the annual "Love Your Neighbor" benefit with songwriter Jason Ingram, in partnership with Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, Tenn., for a night of music to raise funds and gather volunteers for a focused need in the Nashville community. For more information, please visit www.brandonheath.net.
About Jars of Clay:
Jars of Clay, made up of members Dan Haseltine (vocals), Charlie Lowell (keyboards), Steve Mason (guitars), and Matt Odmark (guitars), launched its breakout career with the multi-format hit "Flood" in 1995. Since then, it has amassed more than 6 million in career sales (5 Gold, 2 Platinum and 1 Double Platinum certification), three GRAMMY Awards (from 8 nominations), an American Music Award nod, six GMA Dove Award nominations, 17 No. 1 radio hits, and numerous film credits and BMI honors for songwriting and performing. The band's GRAMMY-nominated 10th album, The Long Fall Back to Earth, debuted at No. 1 on SoundScan and on Oct. 5, Jars of Clay will release the compelling and community-minded project, Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter.
Jars of Clay has headlined thousands of sold-out shows and festivals, and earlier this year headlined its "Two Hands Tour," impacting 23 cities coast-to-coast. The band recently led "Creation Festival: The Tour" on a 25+ city tour.
While celebrated for its music and writing, Jars of Clay is most concerned with the needs in Africa. Compelled to make a difference, the group successfully launched the Blood:Water Mission, a non-profit organization promoting clean blood and water in Africa. Since the band's debut, Jars of Clay has built an extraordinary career based on the uncompromising integrity of its music, worldview, and humanitarianism. For more information, please go to www.jarsofclay.com.
About Blood:WaterMission:
Founded and launched by Jars of Clay in early 2002, Blood:Water Mission is a non-profit organization promoting clean blood and water in Africa. It's goal is to empower communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crisis. The first effort of this non-profit was the "1000 Wells Project" with a goal of raising funds to build, rebuild and repair 1,000 wells in urban and rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. This year Jars of Clay will celebrate the building of the 1,000th well which will bring clean water to more than 150,000 people. For more information, please visit www.bloodwatermission.com.
About Food for the Hungry:
Since 1971, Food for the Hungry has boldly served and spoken out for the poor. Food for the Hungry is more than a relief and development organization; they are tested, trusted and innovative partner who respectively walks with the poor in more than 26 countries worldwide while intentionally reflecting the love of Jesus. For more information, please visit www.fh.org
"AN EVENING WITH BRANDON HEATH & JARS OF CLAY" TOUR – FALL 2010
* All dates are subject to change without notice.
OCTOBER
10/8 Lancaster, PA Lancaster Bible College
10/9 Lansing, MI Great Lakes Christian College
10/10 Wabash, IN Honeywell Center
10/12 Mishawaka, IN Bethel College
10/14 Akron, OH Akron Baptist Temple
10/15 Cincinnati, OH The Underground
10/16 Hartland, WI Westbrook Church
10/17 Elmhurst, IL The Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church
10/21 Ocala, FL First Baptist Church Ocala
10/22 Lakeland, FL Victory Church
10/23 Clearwater, FL Countryside Christian Center
10/24 Avon Park, FL South Florida Community College Auditorium
10/28 Midland, TX Stonegate Fellowship
10/29 Amarillo, TX The Church at Quail Creek
10/30 Enid, OK Emmanuel Baptist Church
NOVEMBER
11/5 Austin, TX Grace Covenant Church
11/6 Tulsa, OK Tulsa First Baptist Church
11/7 Alma, AR Alma Performing Arts Center
11/12 Lafayette, LA First Baptist Church Lafayette
11/13 Tupelo, MS The Orchard Church
11/14 Jonesboro, AR Central Baptist Church
For the most up-to-date tour information, please visit www.jarsofclay.com and www.brandonheath.net.
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To Save A Life Movie In Stores on DVD and Blu-ray
(8/3/2010)The inspirational film, To Save A Life, debuts on Blu-ray and DVD today, August 3rd from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and tells the story of the difference one person can make when they use their influence and time for others. Earlier this year, over 600,000 teens, parents, and youth workers filled seats in theaters to experience this compelling drama that asks the simple question: How far would you go to save a life?
Written by youth pastor Jim Britts and directed by Brian Baugh, To Save a Life stars Randy Wayne (The Haunting of Molly Hartley, The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning), Deja Kreutzberg (TV's "As the World Turns," "CSI Miami"), Joshua Weigel (The Butterfly Circus), Robert Bailey, Jr. (The Happening), Kim Hidalgo (Ball Don't Lie), Sean Michael Afable (Akeelah and the Bee), Bubba Lewis (TV's "Medium"), and Steven Crowder (TV's "Greek"). The film was produced by Nicole Franco, Steve Foster and Jim Britts, with Scott Evans serving as executive producer and Grammy award-winning Charlie Peacock as Music Supervisor. To Save A Life is loaded with bonus content including deleted scenes, music videos, filmmaker commentary track, a gag reel, and the featurette "To Save a Life: Behind the Scenes." To Save a Life is available on Blu-ray for $34.95 SRP and DVD for $24.96 SRP.
SYNOPSIS:
Jake Taylor has it all, friends, fame, a basketball scholarship and the hottest girl in school. What could be better? Enter Roger Dawson. Roger has nothing. No friends. No hope. Nothing but put-downs and getting pushed aside. Jake and Roger were best friends when they were kids. But the politics of high school quickly pulled them apart. Now Roger doesn't fit in Jake's – or anyone's circle – and he's had enough. He walks onto campus with a gun in his pocket and pain in his heart and makes a tragic move. Jake's last ditch effort can't stop Roger, and the sudden tragedy rocks Jake's world. Something breaks loose inside and sends him questioning everything. Most of all, he can't shake the question; could I have saved Roger? In a quest for answers, Jake finds himself looking for the next Roger and reaching out to the outcasts and lonely. But he quickly finds that crossing class castes threatens all his world is built on. And it could cost him his own friends, his girl, his dreams and even his reputation. Is it worth the price to find the answer to his ultimate question; what do I want my life to be about?
Blu-ray and DVD Special Features Include:
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Featurette: To Save a Life: Behind the Scenes
• Music Videos: "Bounce" by J-Rus, "Sunset Cliffs" by Paul Wright
To Save a Life has a running time of approximately 120 minutes and is rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving teen suicide, teen drinking, some drug content, disturbing images and sexuality.
For more on To Save A Life, visit www.ToSaveALifeMovie.com
Artwork and digital clips are available for download at www.sphepublicity.com
Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com
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Jars Of Clay Opens Doors To Collaboration On New Project
(7/29/2010)Ancient words, carried through a friend, can deliver impact and inspiration which you dare not dream. In the case of the men that make up Jars of Clay, it was an old Irish proverb, translated as "It is in the shelter of each other that the people live," that served as the genesis point for its newest project, titled Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter.
Recorded and produced by the band, Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter dwells on the idea of community, both physical and spiritual, and features a litany of both songwriting and vocal guests – including Mac Powell, Matt Maher, Brandon Heath, Laura Story, Thad Cockrell, Phillip LaRue and others – making contributions to this unique set of Jars of Clay songs.
"Jars of Clay, historically, has been this kind of compact creative environment; we're known for doing everything from the songwriting to the producing to the artwork," says guitarist Matt Odmark. "This was a push in a totally different direction. We brought people in on the songwriting side of things, and we knew in the beginning that we wanted as many voices as possible in the record.
"We wanted to make a record about community, and we wanted the recording process to be community. We wanted it to be an expression of what it was trying to articulate from a concept standpoint," Odmark continues. "It wasn't going to work any other way, and it didn't make sense to us to write a record about community that was just us talking to one another."
Alongside the project's music reside very personal essays about the idea of community, gathered and curated by the members of Jars of Clay themselves. Friends of the band, including author David Dark, Blood:Water Mission executive director Jena Lee Nardella, Sara Groves, Nate Larkin, Anne Jackson, Jim Hancock, Padriag OTuama – have all contributed to Jars' personal views on community, giving the listener and reader another avenue through which to explore that concept.
What emerges on Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter is more of Jars of Clay's signature sonics, informed by the season of its last project The Long Fall Back To Earth but echoing all the way back to its much-heralded self-titled debut, meshed with an heretofore underexplored inclusiveness of lyric that encourages the listener to join in on the song. In short, these songs are designed to be sung aloud, with others, within the parameters of that listener's own shelter.
For some, including the members of Jars of Clay, that will entail bringing them into the church environment proper, something that hadn't really been a purposeful part of the band's work before.
"One of the things we're excited about with this record is to offer, with humility, what we're excited about within the church," guitarist Stephen Mason says. "We're all big fans of the church, we attend church, so part of the passion we want to get to the people is that, hopefully, this is the language we can use to rejuvenate the way we speak about God in terms of each other.
"What has been, graciously, changing us is this idea that when we look around we see God in other people and in what they're doing. We are the hands and feet," Mason continues. "We're trying to find new language to describe stuff that we're all probably in some regards cynical or bored about, because we want to believe there is life in those places."
That idea of being "hands and feet," actively working for the various communities it impacts, has long been a priority for Jars of Clay. It's a notion that extends into the charitable realm through its foundation Blood:Water Mission, which was the beneficiary of a day-long Jars-hosted radio-thon via K-LOVE and Air 1, an effort which raised more than $800,000 for the group's work.
Jars of Clay will hit the road extensively this fall, alongside two-time GMA Dove Award-winning Male Vocalist of the Year (and labelmate) Brandon Heath, and plans are underway for a multi-artist tour presenting songs from Jars of Clay Presents The Shelter scheduled for spring 2011.
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