Thursday, July 22, 2010

Nevertheless

My Nevertheless CD came in the mail from Amazon today!

Now, for those who don't know, Nevertheless is a Christian band that the awesome AJ Cheek was a part of before joining the Christian band Revive. Nevertheless disbanded a few years ago, after only two CDs (and two EPs).

I was very curious about the band since AJ was in it. As I'm sitting here listening to their debut album, Live Like We're Alive, it seems sort of strange (in a good way) that AJ is the one on guitars in the songs. I think my curiosity paid off, because Nevertheless is really good! It's sad that the band broke up, because they really have talent, but I'm also glad that they did, because AJ was the perfect person to replace Tyler Hall in Revive. Now that I've heard what Nevertheless sounds like, I'm going to have to buy their second (and last) CD, plus the one EP that actually has additional original songs on it.



Right now, on my first listen, the last song jumps out at me. I would say it's my favorite so far :)
It's a song called Oh Child, and it's about how much God loves us, and how much He wants us to love Him back.

So overall, I think I would rate this CD 4 out of 5 stars. I think you should really check it out!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Guess what came in the mail today???

I checked my tweets on Twitter Monday when I noticed it. "No way, no way!" I said, stunned. I checked the tweet to make sure I read it right. "No way!" I said again, excitedly this time. Sure enough, what I was reading was true. I had won the most recent Inpop Records Freebie Friday giveaway!

I quickly showed my mom, who got excited with me. I quickly send Inpop a direct message letting them know my address, and then I went to go look at the picture Inpop had posted showing all the stuff that would be given away. All I had really paid attention to when I entered was that it was a Superchick merch giveaway.

I figured that I would have at least a week to wait for the package to come. So imagine how surprised I was when I came home from work today (two days later!) to see that the package was already here!

My heart was going a million miles an hour as I pulled the goodies out of the manila envelope. There was a "ta-da" moment as I showed it to my family (who were all eagerly waiting to see what was in the bookbag as much as me). Then I started to pull stuff out bookbag.






As you can see, there is a bookbag (from their first remix album, Regeneration), that was holding all my stuff inside. If you look closely, you can see that it was signed by the members of Superchick! I also got Superchick's most recent album, Reinvention, which was also signed by the band!








There was also a small poster from their
Last One Picked album. This one from
today was signed on the back. I also now have
Superchick shoelaces and a rub-on tattoo.












Then there was the other wearable stuff. There is a really cool hat that is from the Last One Picked days too. It has a quote from on of the songs off that CD, "All princes start as frogs." And it has a cute little frog on it. And its signed too!






And finally, there was one last thing that was just the icing on the cake for me.

Yup, you guessed it. I got Superchick's (now signed!) set list!!!! This is my first ever set list! I must say, I about fell over when I realized what this scrap of paper was! It's totally going in a frame :)

So, needless to say, I'm very happy with my prize from Inpop Records! Thanks Inpop, and thanks Superchick!


Sunday, May 2, 2010

Fusion Fest 2010



I had a blast at the Fusion Fest 2010 yesterday! Fusion was a concert with bands Revive, Chris and Conrad, and Big Daddy Weave.

My brother and I arrived at Fusion about 4:00pm, two hours before the concert was supposed to start. I wanted to get there in plenty of time because my favorite band, Revive was going to be playing first, and naturally I wanted a good spot, right up front. I was also curious about some of the local bands that were going to be playing.

I figured that since it was two hours before the show, we might walk around some, checking out some of the venders, and maybe hitting the merch tables before they got busy. We wandered over to the main stage, since that where the K-love radio tent was. I realized as soon as we got close that Revive was doing their soundcheck! So we spread out our blanket and sat down to watch. Of course, I didn’t stay seated for long. I got up close to the base of the stage and started taking pictures of Revive. At that point it hit me-I was standing about 5 feet from Revive! It was like a dream or something, only way better.

Several times during their soundcheck, I saw them smile at me. And at one point when Dave was trying out his microphone, he spotted me and waved. I was quite proud that I was able to wave back, because I was stunned that he seemed to recognize me!

About halfway through the soundcheck, my brother and I walked over to the K-love tent. I had wanted to meet JD Chandler, who is my favorite DJ on K-love. So I was able to say hi and get a picture with him!

After that, we went to sit back down and watch the rest of Revive’s soundcheck. Only I would think that sitting through a soundcheck would be almost as fascinating and cool as the actual concert! LOL When they finished their soundcheck, Rich came around to the front of the stage and waved at me.
“Hi Hannah!”
My jaw nearly hit the grass!
I quickly ran over there to him and said hi back. That was when AJ walked up. He took one look at me and was like, “HEY! I know you! You’re on Facebook!”
And then Dave comes up, gives me a high five and said, “Hey, what’s up, dude?”
I said I was doing great, and then Rich told me they were all heading off to go pray before the show, and that they’d see me later. So I said bye, and went to sit back down again. My head was spinning-I had no idea they would recognize me! I guess I made some sort of impression or something, haha.

My brother and I then started to listen to a local band RITK that was playing on a side stage. The music was fine-it wasn’t totally horrible-but there are only a few bands I will listen to that rap/sing in their songs. The main issue I had with the band was that they chose to sing a TobyMac song, Made To Love. Now I love that song, but only if Toby himself is singing it. I’m sorry, but there are just some songs that should not be sung by anyone other than the person who originally recorded it. Made To Love is one of those songs.

After RITK was through with their set, a guy by the name of Austin Simmons came up on the main stage to sing. I hadn’t heard of him before either, but he was good! It was just himself with a guitar, no band. After his set was finished, my brother went and bought one of Austin’s EPs.

Finally, it was time for Revive! Rich, Mike, Dave, and AJ all took their places and proceeded to rock! Thankfully I had snagged a spot to stand right up front, so I got a ton of amazing pictures.
Revive got a full hour to play, which made my day :) They played all new songs, except for one at the end, Chorus of the Saints, which is the title track and single off their current album. And let me just say, if you haven’t pre-ordered their new CD yet-you should! I heard all but 3 songs off of this CD, and they were amazing! Here’s the link if you want to go order it. How’s that for a plug? LOL
I think one of my favorite songs I heard Revive sing was a song called Love Found Me. I remember hearing this one when I watched them play at the WinterJam concert that was streamed online, but their set went by in such a blur I didn’t remember it until I heard it last night. And it is definitely a song you can “boogie” to, as Dave put it! I’ve had the tune going through my head all day, though all the words I know are “I found Love, and Love found me.”

It was also really cool because Rich grinned and nodded at me twice! I was so close to getting a picture of him looking at me, but he started looking away just as I took the picture.
All too soon, Revive’s hour set was up :) So my brother and I headed over to the merch tables to see what was available to buy.

I didn’t buy too much, but I knew I wanted to buy some from the Chris and Conrad and Revive tables. I got a poster and a Love Revolution bracelet from Chris and Conrad’s table, and a poster and 5 different pins from Revive’s table. Revive’s wives are all so sweet! The one who I bought merch from was Pip, Dave’s wife.

I was glad I bought the Revive poster when I did, because Rich, AJ, and Mike came up to do a bit of signing before they ate dinner. I didn’t see Dave…I guess he snuck back to where the food was. LOL The first one I got to talk to was Rich. He said hey and started signing my two Revive CDs and my new poster. Our conversation went something like this:
Rich: Hey Hannah! How's it going?
Me: Good! You sounded awesome tonight!Rich: You excited about the new CD?
Me: Uh huh! I can’t wait!
Rich: So…what do you think of AJ?
Me: I think he’s a really cool guy!
Rich: Yeah, he is. Well, see you soon, Hannah!
Me: Okay, thanks!

He wrote “thanks for your support, Hannah” on my poster when he signed it, and he put Hebrews 4:16 on my Chorus of the Saints CD when he signed that.
After Rich, I went over to AJ. One word can describe AJ perfectly-hyper! He is all over the place! LOL But he’s a super cool guy. He’s become less the “new guy”, and just become part of Revive. AJ just fits in so well :) Anyhow, as he signed my stuff, I told him I thought he played great, and that he was great for Revive.

Finally I went over to Mike. There wasn’t much conversation (he’s a very quite kind of person), we mostly said hi, and that was it.

My brother and I hung out for a few minutes at the merch tables for a few minutes, just to see if Dave would show up, but Chris and Conrad started playing, so we went back down to the stage since I wanted to see them too.
Chris and Conrad were great! I was kinda sad though, because they only had a 30 minute set. I got some great pictures of them too. I found it interesting that there wasn’t a band with them. I suppose they had a track playing, since Chris was playing guitar and Conrad was singing and playing keyboard, and I was hearing drums and various other instruments. But that didn’t take away from their music at all!

After they finished their set, we headed up towards the merch tables again, hoping to see Chris and Conrad come out briefly for some signings. They didn’t though, so they were probably waiting for the M&G stuff that would take place after the concert was over.

Mom and Dad called and said they would be coming soon and would try to find us when they got there, so we headed back down for some Big Daddy Weave.

Now, admittedly, Big Daddy Weave was not the main reason why I went to Fusion. I went because of Revive, and Chris and Conrad. Big Daddy Weave being there was a bonus. :)

I’m not really familiar with Big Daddy Weave’s music, but I know that they are a pretty cool band that has been a very influential presence in music. They actually helped jumpstart Chris and Conrad’s music ministry, to which I am very thankful!

I wasn’t able to get as close to the stage with Big Daddy Weave, since there were more people crammed in at the foot of the stage, but I was still able to get a few good pictures. Part of the way into listening to Big Daddy Weave, my brother and I saw my dad trying to find us, so we followed him back to my mom and we all sat down together.

My mom asked me if I had done everything I wanted to do, since we were going to have to leave before Big Daddy Weave finished playing. I told her I hadn’t met Chris and Conrad yet, and that I still wanted a group picture with all of Revive, or at least get to see Dave. So my brother and I went on over to the merch tables again.

I asked the people at Chris and Conrad table if it was possible they would be coming by sometime before the end of the concert. They said they weren’t sure, so I figured we could hang out for a few minutes to see if they came around.

Then I went to the Revive merch table where Nicki, Rich’s wife was sitting. I asked her if it was possible to see Revive, and explained I couldn’t stay for M&G. She said it would be kind of tricky to get all of them together, since they were all scattered at the moment, and then she asked if there was a specific one I still hadn’t seen yet. I told her I hadn’t seen Dave yet, and she said she would try to track him down for me.

So as I waited for her to come back, I watched Mike toss a football around with a couple of other people.

It didn’t take very long for Dave to come out. He spotted me immediately and came over. He remembered my name from earlier too! I told him thanks for coming out to see me, and then he started signing my stuff, and I told him that I was the girl who had sent them a Chorus of the Saints graphic I had made last year. His eyes lit up, and he was like “Wow, I hadn’t made that connection! Cool!” He then asked if I wanted a picture with him (who would pass that up? Haha), so my brother took one for me.

So after I got to see Dave, my brother and I went back over to where our parents were sitting. A few minutes went by, and Dave actually walked right by where we were sitting and waved to me!

Shortly after that, we all got up and left. I was so happy. I still am! I had gotten to see all of Revive (though not all at once-that’ll have to happen next time!), and I had plenty of pictures and memories. Thanks to Faithwalk for hosting such an amazing event-I can’t wait until next year!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Inpop Records putting some pop in our lives


With the excitement of several new CDs coming out soon by artists such as Jimmy Needham and Superchick, and the joy of winning a special FreebieFriday prize pack on Twitter, I decided to learn more about Inpop Records, an independent Christian record company.


In my research, I was surprised to discover that Inpop was created by Peter Furler (former lead vocalist for the Newsboys) and the Newsboy’s band manager, Wes Campbell in 1999. The two started the label with the purpose of “discover[ing] the best artists around the world that understand the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and who also have something new and unique to offer the world of Christian music” (Wikipedia).


The unique name of Inpop was born through Furler and Campbell’s desire to highlight the talents of international pop artists. Clever, isn’t it?


Inpop Records has a great variety of artists on their roster, such as Newsboys (obviously, haha), Jimmy Needham, NEWWORLDSON, and Superchick. (For a complete list, make sure to visit Inpop Record’s website!). I was surprised and pleased to discover how many of my favorite artists were a part
of this label. Plus, there were several bands I hadn’t heard of before who were listed. Guess I’ll be listening to Inpop’s music player, Inpoparazzi to get a sampling of songs from these bands!


I’ll leave you all with a song from the Newboys from several years ago, Love Liberty Disco-one of my favorite songs of theirs.




Follow @inpoprecords on Twitter


Become a fan of Inpop Records on Facebook

Monday, March 29, 2010

It's so hard to believe...


Well, I've gone and done it again. I went searching for some cool, new music to listen to. Like I don't listen to enough already, right?

It all started with that FreeCCM.com contest. As I was browsing through their list of artists, trying to pick my 5 artists, I saw a band VOTA was listed.

Now, I had heard of VOTA before, in passing, because of their touring with bands like Barlowgirl and Stellar Kart, but I couldn't recall ever hearing anything by this band. I was intrigued, and decided to find out what they sounded like.

I did a search on YouTube, figuring that there had to be something uploaded there. Sure enough, there were a few songs.

The first song I clicked to listen to was a song Alright, which is off VOTA's first album. I was shocked to discover that I had actually heard this song, several years ago when it played on K-Love radio. However, I didn't think that the band who played that song was VOTA; I thought that it was another band by the name of Casting Pearls.

As I discovered by reading VOTA's Wikipedia article, the band Casting Pearls and the band VOTA are one and the same. I also found out that VOTA also has a very interesting history.

The band Casting Pearls was started in 1997 by vocalist Bryan Olesen, bassist Case Maranville, and drummer Shane Coop. The band experienced some shuffling around of drummers, finally settling on Scott Rutz as their official drummer. In 2003, Casting Pearls met Peter Furler of the band Newsboys, becoming good friends. So good of friends that for 3 years, Olesen (vocals) became lead guitarist for the Newsboys (replacing Jody Davis).

This experience led to Casting Pearls's Inpop Records (which was founded by no other than Furler himself) self-titled debut release in 2005.

2007 also brought around another album by Casting Pearls, Live in Wichita, also under the label of Inpop.

In 2008, Casting Pearls changed their name to VOTA, due to many people's confusion between them and Casting Crowns, another Christian band. When the name was chosen, the band members really didn't really have a specific definition for the name VOTA. However, it was later discovered by a fan of VOTA that the name is actually a Latin root word for a collection of vows before God. 2008 was also a switch of labels, releasing a self-titled album (now as VOTA) under INO Records.

This may still be a young band, but they have loads of talent. Below is VOTA's music video for their single Hard to Believe. I can't wait to hear more from VOTA!



Sunday, March 28, 2010

5 Free CDs Contest



FreeCCM.com is hosting a contest to win 5 free CDs of choice, from their list of artists! The contest lasts until Friday, April 2, 2010, so it won't be lasting much longer!

Here's the rules:

1. Become a fan of FreeCCM.com on Facebook (this link takes you to their Facebook page)
2. Post a link to FreeCCM.com on your Facebook page, with a message about some of their music you liked, or even promoting the contest. Make sure to tag FreeCCM.com somewhere in your post!
3. Send them and email at freeccmcontest@gmail.com by (here's the last date for the contest again) Friday, April 2, 2010. That is less than a week from now everyone!!!
In the email, make sure to include the following info:
a. link to your Facebook post so they know you really did make a post about them
b. the list of 5 artists you are interested in receiving CDs from (artist list can be found on
their website)


And that's all there is to it! Winners will be drawn on Monday, April 5, 2010, so you won't have too long to wait to find out if you won :) I wish you all the best of luck!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Bus Fire





Please be praying for Addison Road! Just a few days ago they had a massive bus fire that totally destroyed everything they had with them.

Thankfully, they did gain another RV, and have gotten other donations, but they still need help recovering.

Here is Addison Road's blog update:
http://addisonroad.com/2010/03/10/fire-update/