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!

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!

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/

Take Me to Your Leader by Newsboys

I was listening to this song the other day, and I remembered there was a music video for it.

I always forget how goofy it is! A bunch of guys in bright blue astronaut suits dancing and running around...oh, and sitting in oversized flowers! Now how they did this video with a straight face, I'll never know!

Unbreakable by Fireflight

I actually just "discovered" the band Fireflight recently. They are a relatively new band. I love their sound...reminds me a bit of Barlowgirl and Superchick.

I don't particularly care for this video that they did for the song...I actually start feeling tired after watching them swing their heads around LOL But I really like the song :)

So enjoy!

I hope you are now ready for the Next Great Love Song

Just wanted to remind y'all to tune in Monday, February 8th, at 9:30am on Klove to hear the Next Great Love Song preformed by Matthew West! According to a tweet of Matthew's, he has finished writing the song! Can't wait to hear it-it ought to be good!








I also happened to notice that Addison Road had a music video for their song, Hope Now. Such a wonderful song!

Preview of Revive's New Single-Blink

Well, here is the preview of Revive's new single Blink! I know, I know, you've been expecting me to blog about this for a while! Haha

I just LOVE this song! It's basically a song about not taking any moment for granted, for taking advantage of every moment, because in a blink, your life will be gone.

This song will be on Revive's new CD, which should be coming out sometime this spring. Woohoo!