(releasing May 22, 2102)
- MercyMe – The Hurt And The Healer
- Switchfoot – Vice Re-Verses (a remix CD)
- Delirious? – The Cutting Edge Years: 20th Anniversary Edition
- Kris Allen – Thank You Camellia
…..According to TobyMac, his new CD will be called “Eye On It” and will be released on August 28.
Kerrie Roberts’ new CD is coming July 10 – “Time for the Show” – listen for the first radio single, “Finally Home.”
Remember Cheri Keaggy? She’s got a new CD coming out June 19 called “So I Can Tell.”
Meredith Andrews is in Nashville this week tracking songs for her next album, and Francesca Battistelli and Jeremy Camp are working on Christmas CDs.
Happy birthday (on 5/18) to Francesca Battistelli (27) and Michael Tait of Newsboys (46).
Former Anthem Lights singer Kyle Kupecky is getting married next month. He and his fiance were engaged last fall. Meanwhile, a replacement for him in the group has been announced – singer Joey Stamper.
Dove Award winner Jamie Grace just graduated from Point University. Grace received a Bachelor of Science in child & youth development with a focus on children’s ministry.
Will and Jillian
Congratulations to Will Franklin Chapman (younger son of Steven Curtis and MaryBeth Chapman) and his fiance Jillian Edwards who their engagement this week! No wedding date to report yet.
"Tonight" goes gold
TobyMac received a “gold record” this week – his CD “Tonight” passed the 500,000 sales mark, giving it “gold” status. The CD has several landmark hits, including “City On Our Knees,” “Get Back Up” and the title song. Toby’s next album comes out in August.
Adam Agee, lead singer of the band Stellar Kart, is recovering from shoulder surgery…
A couple weeks ago we heard about the Spirit West Coast Christian music festival calling it quits. Now, officials at the Cornerstone Music Festival in Bushnell, Illinois have announced that this year’s festival will be its last.
Always known as one of the top alternative festivals which included some of the more fringe genres, Cornerstone began back in 1984 with 5,000 attendees. Attendance peaked in the 1990s with tens of thousands of fans.
“Based on a range of factors – including changes in the market and a difficult economy – the timing seems right,” Cornerstone directors said in a news release.
Their farewell festival runs from July 2-7. Check www.cornerstonefestival.com
If you follow tweets from Colton Dixon, who was eliminated last month on “American Idol,” you know he’s looking forward to a chance to work with several Christian music artists. He’s traded tweets with Leeland Mooring of Leeland and Tricia Baumhardt of Superchick as well as fellow A.I. alum Melinda Doolittle about possible future collaborations.
Mandisa Hundley, a previous A. I. finalist, says Dixon has a future in Christian music should he decided to pursue it.
Here are some of the top Christian graduation-theme songs according to a list compiled by www.about.com
Walk By Faith – Jeremy Camp;
We Are – Kari Jobe;
Blue Sky – Francesca Battistelli;
Wait and See – Brandon Heath;
We Live – Superchick;
Newsboys – Way Beyond Myself
Here’s a couple more we thought of:
The Words I Would Say – Sidewalk Prophets;
Find Your Wings – Mark Harrisl
Any other suggestions? Add yours below.
Young Micheal Shust – infant son of singer Aaron Shust – is recovering from open heart surgery last Monday (5/14).
Baby Michael was born with a hole in his heart’s interior, and blood was not being circulated properly by his heart valves.
“Michael had a very hard time breathing and his heart was straining,” Aaron explained of his son’s Complete AV Septal Defect.
The surgery was successful and Michael was removed from the ventilator the next day. He remains hospitalized. Get updates at www.aaronshust.com
Jamie Grace (2nd from r.) several Leeland band members and evangelist Nick Hall (l.) at the UNITE event
Jamie Grace and the band Leeland were guest performers last week at a UNITE prayer gathering at the University of Minnesota with evangelist Nick Hall, who was the speaker on this year’s Winter Jam tour. The youth-oriented event hosted by the “Pulse Movement” (the ministry founded by Hall) drew more than 2,000 in person and online.
Editors note: You can hear Terry’s music news updates Fridays at 4:20 p.m. on JQ-99 (99.3FM), or streamed on line at www.jq99.com.
You can read various of his feature articles at www.mlive.com or www.westmichiganchristian.com
Laura Story
From the heart of the writer: here’s a link to a devotional video from Dove and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Laura Story (“Blessings”) on turning our questions of “Why?” into “How?”
See it at http://youtu.be/_d3iqHY5o54
(Note: Laura and her husband Martin are expecting a special blessing this September, when they anticipate the birth of their first child…. a girl!)
It’s been several weeks now since singer Chris August was in a skateboard accident which hospitalized him with some head injuries.
This week he posted a video update for fans on his recovery. “I didn’t remember anything about the accident…I woke up and I was in the hospital,” August recalled.
He said he was riding on one of those electric skateboards (which has its own power) when he ran into some unexpected construction on the roadway and a rough road surface, which caused him to lose his balance.
Although he usually wears a helmet, this was a short ride and he was not wearing one.
“I’m still in some pain and my memory is kind of ‘out there,” he added.
The title of his new CD will be “The Upside of Down.”
“What I’m learning is just that – I’ve realized I can totally rely on God in these months.” Watch his video update at http://youtu.be/nkpzfdz68CA
Jeff Gilbert (r.) is leaving Kutless
Kutless drummer Jeff Gilbert exits the band after a seven-year run. The drummer has already been active recently in speaking engagements at places like Calvary Chapel’s Bible College. “I’m so overwhelmed by the love and support of everyone,” tweeted Gilbert. “Words can’t give it justice how you have made my family and I feel….”
Noa Elayza Richardson
Avalon members Jeremi and Amy Richardson are celebrating the birth of a baby girl last month, joining the couples’ two older children. The other half of the Avalon quartet is also a married couple – Greg and Jana Long.
(releasing May 22, 2102)
