Third Day on Jay Leno

Third Day helped launch Revelation with an appearance on Jay Leno on July 29. As we all know, Christian artists are infrequent late-night guests. You can watch the performance here:



I thought they did a good job, but Mac should NOT have been singing the 'la las' on the chorus.

You can watch them talk about their experience here:

The Afters on TV

The Afters continue to be heard on the small screen with songs from “Never Going Back to Ok” being used in episodes of Army Wives and Rachael Ray as well as in promotion for Dr. Phil.

Rachael Ray’s daytime show used “Tonight” in May of this year as well. “One Moment Away” will be used to promote the new season of Dr. Phil.

Are you an average Christian radio listener?

Many Christian radio stations base their music programming on a prototypical listener often labeled "Becky." She is a woman in her 30s to 40s, married with kids. Which explains why Christian radio is primarily adult contemporary, pop, or light rock.

A great summary of a recent survey by Dunham+Company Marketing here.

GMC has a trend report which notes how research impacts who and what is played:
"the research often says listeners don’t want to hear from female artists" notes popular singer Natalie Grant.

Natasha Bedingfeld's CCM past

Emerging pop star Natasha Bedingfeld has a CCM past including a CCM release and recording for Hillsong.

CDs I'm anticipating

Third Day - Revelation - July 29
Jars of Clay - Closer EP - August 5
DecembeRadio - Satisfied - August 26
Downhere - Ending is Beginning - September 23
Michael W. Smith - A New Hallelujah - October 28
Jeremy Camp - Speaking Louder Than Before - November 26
Stryper - Murder By Pride - Fall 2008
Switchfoot - untitled [Lowercase People] -- Late 2008?
Tait - Loveology -- Sometime 2008?
Lou Gramm Band - late 2008

Others of note/interest:
Margaret Becker - Air CD - 8/19
Bart Millard - Hymned Again - 8/19
Grits - Reiterate - 8/19
Phil Keaggy - Phantasmagorical - 8/26
Chris Tomlin - Hello, Love - 9/2
Brian Head Welch - Save Me from Myself - 9/9
Ayiesha Woods - Love Like This - 9/9
The Elms
Sixpence None the Richer

Newsboys Front Row Live Taping

We had the opportunity to attend the Newsboys taping of Front Row Live for Gospel Music Channel.

It was a shockingly small crowd of around 100 and the intimate setting contributed to our great experience. It was easily one of the better concerts we've attended. The performance was fantastic and the downtime between songs were quite entertaining. It was nice seeing the playful side of the group as they joked with the crew, each other and the audience. They also ended the night with one of the most compelling altar calls that I've ever heard. A similar, but less compelling one can be viewed here.

Christian artists on Scrubs

Christian artists have appeared in Scrubs, primarily cross-over with the notable exception of Kutless.

Jon McLaughlin - "Human" in episode "My Conventional Wisdom" (Season 6)
Kutless - "All Of The Words" in episode "My Bright Idea"
Lifehouse - "First Time" in "My Point of No Return" (Season 6), "All in All" in "My Coffee" (Season 6)
Mat Kearney - "Where We Gonna Go From Here" in "My Own Worst Enemy" (Season 7)
The Fray - "How to Save a Life" in "My Night to Remember" (Season 6) and "She Is" in "My Night to Remember" (Season 6)

Kutless' appearance is particularly startling because it is a praise song and you hear the majority of it in a pivotal and climatic scene:



Plus
Dashboard Confessional - "Stolen" in "My Cold Shower" (Season 6)
Michael McDonald - "Our Love" in "My Scrubs" (Season 6)

Former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm to release Christian CD

Former Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm has finished recording his first Christian rock album, according to Billboard magazine. He hopes to release the CD this fall.

You can view other notable conversions here.

Delirious - the end is near

Delirious announces in their newsletter that they will disband at the end of next year.

Melissa Ethridge - Christian artist?

In Rolling Stone magazine Melissa Etheridge revealed:

"In high school I had dreams of maybe having a career in Christian music." (Her first real gig was opening for Phil Keaggy in her hometown, and after the show she asked him what he thought of her set. "He basically said, 'I don't think there's a place for people like you in Christian music.' But he said it very nicely. I thought, 'Ok. They don't want me, I don't want them."

Keaggy heard of Etheridge's comments and responded:

"I believe that Melissa Etheridge is a gifted and dedicated artist who has proven herself to be creative and brave especially in light of her victory over cancer...

Well, first off, I hardly remember saying such a thing to her, at least in such a negative tone, as may be perceived. As I recall, in my own journey around that time, I had my own issues with the Christian Music Business as I saw it...

Melissa and I have never met since that day and I regret if she feels offended by what she thinks I said and meant.

As I look again at the words she claims I said, I wonder if, in reality, I was quite impressed with her music and delivery and thought perhaps CCM and the business of Christian music of that day would ever "get her"-- and be able to support her. Finally, I wish her all the best and applaud her fortitude throughout all the adversities of life."

On a related note, even Rolling Stone recognized Keaggy's prowess in an article on the top 25 underrated guitarists.

Christians and American Idol

American Idol alumni who have professed at some point to be Christians:

* Kelly Clarkson (season 1 winner)
* Fantasia (season 3 winner)
* Jordin Sparks (season 6 winner)
* Ruben Studdard (season 2 winner)
* Carrie Underwood (season 4 winner)

* Clay Aiken (season 2)
* Jason Castro (season 7)
* Chris Daughtry (season 5)
* Jennifer Hudson (season 3)
* George Huff (season 3)
* LaKisha Jones (season 6)
* Mandisa (season 5)
* Melinda Doolittle
* RJ Helton (season 1)
* Chris Sligh (season 6)
* Phil Stacey (season 6)

Plus?
* Diana DeGarmo (season 3)
* Kellie Pickler