Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Steven Curtis Chapmans första skiva efter dotterns död

Grammy-belönade Steven Curtis Chapman aviserar sitt nya album. Den 3 november släpper artisten "Beauty will rise", en samling bestående av tolv "nya och inträngande sånger".
Låtarna är skrivna under de senaste femton månaderna då familjen Chapman vandrat i mörker och tårar sedan de förlorade sin femåriga dotter i en tragisk bilolycka. "Det känns konstigt att kalla det för ett album, det är mer en samling av mina psalmer och klagosånger", säger Steven Curtis Chapman när han tillkännager albumet på sin webbplats www.stevencurtischapman.com.
Mycket talar för att skiva är den viktigaste i Steven Curtis Chapmans tjugoåriga karriär som artist. Första singeln från skivan släpps i dag för den amerikanska radiopubliken.


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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Steven Curtis Chapman announces release of 'Beauty will rise'

Steven Curtis Chapman will release his new album, Beauty Will Rise, in November, a collection of 12 new and profound songs created over the past 15 months during the walk through the darkness of the loss of his daughter Maria in May 2008. The album is described as “Part lament, part praise, part grief, part hope, part wrestling, part pondering, hopeful, raw, personal and honest recording that is likely the most important of his already incredible 20-plus year ministry.”

Christian rock worship band MercyMe was involved in an accident in the early morning hours of Aug. 8, when their tour bus collided with a car in Fort Wayne, Ind. Two passengers in the car and the driver's unborn baby were killed in the crash; the driver died a few days later. No one on the tour bus was injured. According to police reports, the bus was proceeding through an intersection on a green light at about 1 a.m. when the driver of the car turned into the bus’s path. The band asks for continued prayers for the families of the victims.

Singer/songwriter Jason Gray breaks a two-year writer’s block with his new album, Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue. Blending elements of folk, alternative rock, and R&B, the album features Gray’s soothing vocals and deep insight into life and faith. “I think we’re often in danger of reducing Christianity to information, a series of facts that you must know and believe in order to be saved,” Gray says of his song “More Like Falling In Love.” “It seems obvious, but I need to be reminded that a relationship with Jesus Christ should look less like intellectual assent and more like falling in love.” Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue was set to release Sept. 1.

The Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee recently announced that musicians Amy Grant and Vince Gill have been named the recipients of the 2009 Jack C. Massey Leadership Award. This award is presented biennially to recognize outstanding community leadership and considerable contributions to numerous causes that improve the lives of middle Tennessee’s citizens.

International youth outreach organization Teen Mania Ministries has announced the launch of a new worship label, EE-Taow Records. The label will introduce its flagship artist, Atlanta-based worship band Unhindered, with the release of their national debut Be on Oct. 20. The label was founded to develop the next generation of worship musicians and songwriters and provide its young audience with an authentic, relevant worship experience.

Dream Center advocates Press Play have had early success with the release of their debut album, Life Is Beautiful. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Christian chart and No. 45 on the Billboard Top 200 chart while peaking at No. 3 on the iTunes Top Christian and Gospel charts. The band has already performed before millions nationwide and was recently featured as a musical guest on the “The Today Show,” FOX News Strategy Room, and will be featured in an upcoming issue of Seventeen magazine. Lead vocalist Dave Hanley is recovering from a broken back and other injuries sustained in a recent auto accident, but that hasn’t stopped the band; they haven’t cancelled a tour date, and Hanley is making progress toward recovery.

Fans of Diamond Rio will get an intimate look at the band with the release of the book, Beautiful Mess, this September. The book offers behind-the-scenes access to the band members’ personal lives, including health scares, freak accidents and how contrasting personalities formed a partnership that’s evolved into one of country music’s most successful bands. The book coincides with the release of the band’s 11th album, The Reason.

Francesca Battistelli continues to make significant headway with her acclaimed debut, My Paper Heart. The hit radio single, “I’m Letting Go,” was heard in the promotions for the movie “Julie & Julia,” featuring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, and her current radio single, “It’s Your Life,” was heard during the season finale of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Christian hip-hop pioneer KJ-52 ventures into more uncharted territory than usual with his upcoming release, Five-Two Television, releasing Sept. 22. “I wanted to create a record that’s almost like a TV station,” KJ-52 explains about the album’s packed, 24-track menu. “The record’s really about embracing where culture’s at and the way we relate to each other because of it, so I’m running toward it and using it and letting people see themselves in it.” Amid the music, for example, is a four-act spoken-word biography starring a fictional character named Chris Carlino. Carlino represents who KJ-52 might have become had it not been for a life-changing decision at age 15 to follow Christ. In a sense, KJ-52 says, the songs themselves can be viewed as commercials for what can only be described as The Chris Carlino Story. Fans that purchase Five-Two Television will also get access to a downloadable version of the album designed specifically for them to give away. For more information, visit www.kj52.com.

Artist/songwriter Shelly E. Johnson from Franklin, Tenn., and Jake Brothers from Indianapolis, Ind. were the big winners at the 2009 Immerse Conference, formerly known as GMA in the Rockies. The 24-year-old Johnson was named GMA’s Artist Solo 2009 for contestants in the 13- to 24-year old category and also won a development deal with Centricity Records. Brothers was the recipient of GMA’s “Disney’s Night of Joy Best of Show Award,” and he also took home the award for best band with his group, the Jake Brothers Band. Holly Starr, from Quincy, Wash., was recognized by Compassion International for the ministry emphasis of her music. Joshua Johnson, from Los Angeles, was the winner in the American Bible Society Scripture Song amateur class for his song, “Wait.”