Downhere Plays Final Concert

Downhere announced on their Facebook that they're playing their final concert tonight.

"Today we play our FINAL concert for the foreseeable future. We're excited to be closing things out where it all began, on the campus of Briercrest College. It feels like a fitting bookend to a fantastic journey.

Moving forward, we just wanted to give you all a quick update on what we're currently doing individually:

Jason
Aside from serving at his church in Nashville as an artist-in-residence, Jay has carved out a niche for himself as a mastering engineer. JasonGermain.com will be launching soon, so keep checking back (there's no link as there's currently nothing to see yet). We get to celebrate his daughter's first birthday this weekend with her - yet another dh family memory!

Marc
Hey everyone! Just wanted say things are going well. I just finished my second tour (already!) with the Queen Extravaganza. Got to fulfill a boyhood dream of playing in the same arena as the Montreal Canadiens. Wow! Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Always especially nice to see some of you at the QE shows. It blesses me more than you can know. My EP is out! You can find it on iTunes by searching my name. Excited also to put out a full-length album later this year. But right now looking forward to getting back on stage one more time with the guys for our last show (for a while) at the place of Downhere's beginnings. Hope you all are well!

Glenn
Life has changed dramatically for Sherri and I over the past 8 to 9 months. I have accepted a job as Director of Worship Arts at the Williamsburg Community Chapel in Williamsburg, Virginia. My role there is to provide oversight and direction to the entire worship service. Not exactly the same as planning a rock and roll tour but there are definitely skills that overlap, like producing videos and lyric slides and of course arranging, planning and leading the music. One of the major benefits is that I still get to bring my friends in as musical guests from time to time so although I am not on the road I'm still able to bring the road to me! In the next month we'll have Marc, Jason Gray and Andrew Peterson! If you are ever in the area to visit Colonial Williamsburg or Virginia Beach come on out and say hi! Thanks for your prayers and support - stick with us to get us through one more weekend. :) Hope to see you out there!

Jeremy
Funny… as I write this I'm listening through a rough recording of our Farewell Tour set in preparation for tomorrow's show - a full rehearsal will not be possible. And - I'm sure not by chance - the song I'm on right now is "Let Me Rediscover You". I feel like that's what I've been doing over the last couple of months. There's a part of me that wishes I had a simple, concrete answer for you as far as what this new season looks like for my family: "I am working for _____ doing ____." The truth is that _____ has still not been answered. But had that question been answered when I first started asking it, I would have missed out on the gift of the past months. I have enjoyed a season of rediscovery - rediscovering who God is and His desire for me to pursue both Him and holiness above everything else, and rediscovering my family and what it's like to be a father with a "normal" schedule. Liam has turned 4, Karis will celebrate her 3rd birthday in a couple of weeks, and baby #3 will make his arrival sometime mid-April. Erin and I continue to ask the Lord for direction (read Luke 18 and the parable of the Persistent Widow - a good reminder for us all), and He continues to provide in unexpected ways. Thanks for your continued prayers and support - we (the Erin-and-I "we" as well as the Downhere "we") have felt them in very tangible ways over the years and are grateful for your investment in our personal and professional lives.

Well, there you have it. We will do our best to keep you updated as life goes on - and hope to see you at a Downhere show at some point down the road!

Jeremy, on behalf of the guys

Follow Us on Twitter:
Marc - @marcmartel
Glenn - @glennlavender
Jeremy - @normalrockstar
Downhere - @downhere"

Marc Martel Performs on American Idol with Queen Extravaganza

On a recent afternoon in Toronto, Queen's Roger Taylor was checking out rehearsals for Queen Extravaganza – a 25-date tribute tour with a lineup hand-selected by him and his bandmate, guitarist Brian May – when singer Marc Martel belted out a few notes from "Bohemian Rhapsody," stopping the 62-year-old drummer in his tracks. "It was as if Freddie (Mercury) was in the room," Taylor said today during a conference call with journalists. "It was uncanny."

Martel is just one of four singers selected to join the Queen Extravaganza lineup after a lengthy online audition process. The nine lucky musicians will kick off their trek on May 26th in Quebec City after making their live debut last week on American Idol, where they were joined by Taylor and May. "We had such a fantastic response," said Taylor. "We weren't just looking for copies of us. We were looking for great musicianship, great charisma and the right people, the right sort of personalities that fit into the band. What we weren't looking for were lookalikes." Martel first discovered Queen's music while watching the 1992 film Wayne's World. The 36-year-old singer, who is also in the Nashville-based band Downhere, was later encouraged by his bassist to study Mercury's singing. "I realized, 'Wow, this guy did so many amazing things with his voice,' especially in the studio," Martel explained. "He really pushed himself."

Queen's Roger Taylor Announces Winners of Queen Extravaganza Competition

Four decades later, the music of Queen hasn’t just survived, it’s thrived. The band, who recently received the “Global Icon Award” at the MTV European Music Awards, has sold more than 300 million albums, 16 of which were No. 1 chart-toppers. They’ve written and recorded 18 No. 1 singles, have amassed a planet-wide fanbase, and remain one of the most influential groups of all time. And to hear Queen drummer Roger Taylor tell it, they’re just getting started.

2012 will see the launch of “The Queen Extravaganza Tour,” a grand touring production that will celebrate the music of Queen. Coming on board to ensure the touring show will match the design and excitement of Queen at its best will be such rock tour heavyweights as stage designer Mark Fisher (U2, The Rolling Stones, Cirque de Soleil) and lighting designer Rob Sinclair (Adele, Peter Gabriel).

Taylor will oversee this royal road show, taking the role of producer and music director, with Brian May involved later in the production, but Taylor’s most important role, however, was leading the judges, Spike Edney (Queen’s keyboard player since the mid 80’s and Trip Khalaf (Queen’s eternal sound engineer) in hand picking the musicians that will be featured on the tour. And after 11 weeks of reviewing online auditions and weighing votes from Queen fans around the world, Taylor is ready to announce the line-up.

“As the audition videos began posting, we could see right away that the caliber of talent was very high,” says Taylor. “But when I got into the studio with the final 25 musicians, I realized that these guys are seriously good players. They went way beyond my expectations. It was an incredibly difficult decision to choose the final line-up. I wish I could've kept them all, but in the end, I'm very happy with this group of exceptional musicians."

“The Queen Extravaganza” lead singer will be Marc Martel (Montreal, QC / Nashville,TN)   

 “What an amazing and unexpected opportunity to come our way – not to mention the timing of it all for me,” said Marc Martel, whose audition video for “Somebody to Love” earned him an MTV O Award and an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show.  “Having gotten to know the other contest winners a bit in LA, I’m confident we have what it takes to gel as a unit and give our best to do justice to some of the best rock music ever recorded.  I am so thankful for the chance to do this.  Gonna be Fun!”

Ellen Labels Marc Martel a Hunky YouTube Sensation

From the Ellen Show web site:

"The hunky YouTube sensation, Marc Martel, performed a cover of the Queen song, "Somebody to Love." He sounds so much like Freddie Mercury, it will knock your socks off. Check out the impressive performance here."

Downhere's Marc Martel To Perform on The Ellen Show October 3

Downhere's lead singer, Marc Martel, has become a YouTube sensation. Martel entered the Queen Extravaganza contest with his rendition of Queen's hit, "Somebody To Love," which can be viewed here. His recording was the top video in the Queen Extravaganza auditions already garnering 3.3 million views since last Thursday. The winner of the contest will tour with Queen Extravaganza in honor of the band's 40th anniversary. Due to the huge popularity of the video it came to the attention of The Ellen Show, who invited Marc to be interviewed and perform live on the show.

Downhere is Somebody to Love

Legendary rock band Queen is celebrating 40 years of music by launching a North American tour and hosting a Youtube contest to pick musicians for it. Marc Martel of Downhere uploaded his rendition of “Somebody To Love” and quickly gathered more than 2 million views in its first three days online. Shaun Groves notes in a great blog entry that fans are raving as are outlets such as The Wallstreet Journal and Entertainment Weekly. Of more significance, he makes an interesting observation:

The Christian music industry and fans have a history of jumping on the bandwagon of veteran Christian artists only after the general market confirms their talents first. Mercy Me couldn’t get played on Christian radio until a mainstream station spun I Can Only Imagine and the song was added at general market stations nationwide. POD? Played side stages at Christian music festivals until they broke through to the mainstream via MTV. Switchfoot was never a staple on Christian radio until, again, the mainstream vaulted them up the charts first. Sixpence None The Richer sang about kissing at twilight on every movie and television soundtrack out there and, well, only then did the Christian music gatekeepers pull out their keys.

Read the entire blog here.