HM Magazine Announces Showcase During SXSW
Thanks to T-Flo Productions, this is HM’s second party/showcase during Austin’s SXSW. It’s a FREE show and it’s all ages (up until 10pm it’s all ages). The show starts at 7pm with Austin’s own Invisible Target (at 7pm), followed by and the Greatest of These (8pm), followed by veterans from last year’s showcase Victory Records and Houston’s own Before There Was Rosalyn (9pm), The Famine is next at 10pm, followed by Firstborn from the Dead (11pm), a last-minute addition to be announced later (at midnight) and Austin’s own The Brigade at 1am. I’m told that at 10 pm that all minors will have to leave, which is a bummer, due to curfew laws in Austin’s entertainment district.
Facedown Presents: Young And Wreckless 2 Tour
Facedown is launching the second Young and Wreckless tour this spring featuring Onward to Olympas, Your Memorial, and As Hell Retreats. They will be joining up with the newest addition to Facedown, Gideon.
Tour Dates:
4/8 – Facedown Fest
4/9 – Facedown Fest
4/11 – Las Vegas, NV
4/12 – Orangevale, CA
4/13 – Provo, UT
4/14 – Arvada, CO
4/15 – Sioux City, IA
4/16 – Willmar, MN
4/17 – Springfield, IL
4/18 – Tulsa, OK
4/19 – Terre Haute, IN
4/20 – Nashville, TN
4/21 – Little Rock, AR
4/22 – Waco, TX
4/23 – Plano, TX
4/24 – San Antonio, TX
4/26 – Defuniak Springs, FL
4/27 – Fayetteville, GA
4/28 – Macon, GA
5/4 – Crofton, MD
5/5 – Lemoyne, PA
HM Magazine Co-sponsors Over My Head Tour
GRAMMY ® nominated rock band Decyfer Down joins forces for the first time with Brian “Head” Welch, known as the former lead guitarist and co-founder of the multi-platinum metal band KoRn, as they co-headline the Over My Head Tour. Presented by the Mocha Club and Hard Music Magazine, the tour is set to launch this spring. Slated to open the rock show for all of the show dates are Tooth & Nails’ The Letter Black and emerging band The Wedding. The Over My Head Tour kicks off March 25 in Greenville, SC and continues through to 4/23, wrapping up in Kansas City, MO. “We are very excited to partner with such great bands to bring an awesome rock show and hopefully a life changing experience to many people this tour,” says Josh Oliver, drummer for Decyer Down. “Can’t wait to see all the fans there!” Head shares the excitement saying, “My band and I are itching to get on the road again since our tour with Red last fall. We’re so stoked to play a full tour with our friends from Decyfer Down, The Letter Black and The Wedding. This is our guarantee to all fans who come to see the tour – you will be completely satisfied!”
Tour Dates:
3/25 – Greenville, SC
3/26 – Knoxville, TN
3/27 – Charleston, SC
3/29 – Jacksonville, FL
3/30 – Douglasville, GA
3/31 – Chattanooga, TN
4/1 – Mobile, AL
4/7 – San Antonio, TX
4/9 – Beeville, TX
4/19 – Tulsa, OK
4/20 – Joplin, MO
4/21 – Cabot, AR
4/22 – Paragould, AR
4/23 – Kansas City, MO
The Famine Offer Free Download
North Texas technical death metal act, The Famine, has teamed up with DC9 At Night, the Dallas Observer’s music blog, to offer fans a free Mp3 download of “The New Hell”, the opening track off the band’s new album, The Architects of Guilt. The Architects of Guilt can be purchased online via the Solid State webstore, AmazonMP3, or on iTunes.
New Owl City Album To Hit
When Owl City’s Adam Young released his debut record in 2009, he didn’t know he had a hit on his hands — he honed his songs in his parents basement in Owatonna, MN, during his off hours working at a Coca-Cola factory — but Ocean Eyes went on to become the sleeper smash of the year, topping the iTunes Albums Download chart in its first few weeks and moving more than one million copies to date. On May 17, Young will return with his second album, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and the 24-year-old has cut a more ambitious collection of songs this time around. Young teamed up with top engineer and producer Jack Joseph Puig (Green Day, Beck) and broadened his sleek, laptop-pop sound by adding fuzzed-out guitars and club-ready synths and beats. Still, tracks like “The Honey and the Bee” hew closely to the charming, lovey-dovey vibe that helped rocket “Fireflies” to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100. “I wanted to move forward, play around with ideas, and just do something more mysterious or unexpected,” he says. “You can only sing about love so much before you start to get annoyed with it.” Things are looking up for Young, too: He recently moved out of his parents’ house into his own place a few blocks away, where he built a new studio to record much of the album. “My house is like a studio that happens to have a kitchen and five bedrooms added on to it,” he says. And he’ll head out for a huge tour this spring, which kicks off June 13 at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. Owl City’s new album All Things Bright and Beautiful is set for a May 17th release on Universal Republic which will quickly be followed up with a headlining world tour.
Anthem Lights To Release Debut May 10th
Provident’s Reunion Records unveils the signing of innovative, pop foursome Anthem Lights to its roster of award-winning artists as the outfit debuts two songs at Christian radio, and heads into the final weeks of its first national tour, playing 27 cities with MercyMe. With soaring vocals and hearts bent on ministry, Anthem Lights is set to release its infectiously melodic self-titled debut on May 10. At radio, the project’s lead CHR single “Can’t Shut Up” breaks into the charts at No. 27. The lead AC single “I Wanna Know You Like That” is now adding as stations applaud the new track. Johnny Stone, Program Director for Star99 in New York, says, “The first time I heard Anthem Lights and ‘I Wanna Know You Like That’ I knew I was listening to a top 5, if not a No.1 hit!” Although the four extremely gifted vocalists did attend Liberty University at different intervals between 2003 and 2009, they didn’t all meet on campus. Instead, Anthem Lights can trace the group’s formation back to the fall of 2007, when singer/songwriter Alan Powell joined forces with then aspiring solo artist Chad Graham. Both were living in Los Angeles to pen songs for Graham’s solo effort. But providentially, it became clear that these powerful, harmonic songs were meant for a group. Within a matter of days, the pieces fell into place, when LU students—Caleb Grimm and Kyle Kupecky—came on board. Produced by Juan Otero and Seth Moseley, known as The Write Brothers (Newsboys, Me in Motion), and Rob Hawkins (Fireflight, Chasen), Anthem Lights’ 10-song debut carries a message of hope and purpose for believers and non-believers alike. Powell notes, “We were intentional on being more than just another pop group. We understood our calling – – that we were meant to be more than ‘music business.’ We were called to share the Light we’ve been given. To build people up. To lead the way.” Kupecky adds, “It comes down to the three things we love: music, entertainment, and Jesus… And the greatest of these is Jesus. We’re here to help people know who Jesus is and connect on a deeper level with Him. For those who don’t know Him, we want to make that introduction, to say ‘your life has a bigger purpose.’ There are such hedonistic messages in our culture—from music, movies and TV—‘if it feels good, do it,’ but we want to give them something that speaks to their soul, to encourage them and support them as they grow up in Christ. And for believers, we just really want to start a fire in them.” With a wealth of songwriting talent and an arsenal of musical influences including dcTalk, Michael Jackson, One Republic, Stevie Wonder, Gavin DeGraw, tobyMac, and Justin Timberlake, Anthem Lights has fashioned a dramatic pop experience that is all their own. Powell says of the band’s sonic approach, “We wanted it to sound big, textured, layered, to give you that feeling of being swept away, and to really connect with pop music fans. But we wanted it to have an edge too. Live instrumentation is important to us as a group, so we wanted to keep that authenticity and accessibility… incredible keys, real guitars and real drums. With those barometers, we were confident in our producers and their great musical sensibilities.” Currently, Anthem Lights is performing with MercyMe, Jars of Clay, The Afters, Matt Maher and others on the “Rock & Worship Roadshow Tour,” playing 20+ markets through March 13 including Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix and Sacramento. Beginning March 24, Anthem Lights will perform 25 dates with Building 429 and Revive though May 1, before kicking off a summer schedule packed with performances at 16 summer festivals, including AtlantaFest, Six Flags Great America, Carowinds – Sonfest, Alive Festival, Big Ticket Festival, Six Flags Wonderland – Wonder Jam, Lifest, Paramount’s Kings Dominion, King’s Island / SpiritSong Festival, Kingdom Bound, Higher Ground Festival, Unity Festival and Lifelight Festival.
Abandon Kansas Release Ad Astra Per Aspera
Abandon Kansas to release their full-length album for Gotee Records, Ad Astra Per Aspera (latin for “to the stars through difficulties”) on tomorrow, March 8 at all digital outlets and tour stops, but today only the release is available at AmazonMP3.com ‘Amazon Exclusive’ for $2.99, release produced Mark Lee Townsend (Deas Vail, House of Heroes, Relient K). Excited to bring their live show to the masses the band will kick off dates with Swimming With Dolphins on March 8 that will lead them into an April tour with tour with The Wedding and Showbread. Abandon Kansas is: Jeremy Spring – vocals, guitar, keys, Brad Foster – guitar, Chet Kueffer – bass and Brian Scheideman – drums
A Movie About The Cry Baby Wah Pedal
Guard House Pictures is proud to announce the release of Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks the World, a definitive documentary that tells the story of the #1-selling effects pedal of all time, from its invention in 1966 through its evolution into the present day. The effect was an essential ingredient in the creation of classics like Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and Guns ‘n’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” This film looks at how engineer Brad Plunkett discovered and developed the legendary wah sound and how artists have used it to express themselves throughout its evolution. Guitar icons such as Eddie Van Halen, Kirk Hammett, Slash, Dweezil Zappa and Jerry Cantrell talk about how the wah has become a part of their signature sounds, while rock journalists such as Rolling Stone’s Ben Fong-Torres and Guitar Player’s Art Thompson explore the pedal’s cultural significance. Learn how a simple effect became one of the most important tools of expression for guitarists everywhere. Watch the entire movie here.
Hyland Asking For Help Regarding Stolen Trailer
Tooth & Nail’s new artist, HYLAND, is facing a challenge: two weeks until they go on a month-long tour with Fireflight, and their trailer and all their equipment has been stolen. This comes just after they have been mentioned in Alternative Press‘ latest issue as 100 Bands to Watch, their single “This Love Is Free” is climbing the charts, and they are preparing for their May label debut album. And this isn’t the first time this has happened to the band – last year they had their gear and merchandise stolen, which inspired the song “Desperate Man.” The band is asking for financial help to get their gear replaced in time for their tour – go to their site to donate. Also you can check out a story that their local Fox station did on the robbery at their site. “Hyland has never before asked for money. Ever. Rarely do we even ask for favors,” shares frontman Jon Lewis. “We are not that kind of band. We believe in earning our keep, working hard, and paying it forward, but this is different. We can’t just get on the road and make this back. We don’t have anything to sell!”
Canopy Red Releases New Single
Pop/rock trio Canopy Red announced today that their new single, “Space Between,” is now available at iTunes. With their new single, the Tallahasee, Florida based band confronts the struggle that many believers face in trying to find a way to talk to their loved ones about their faith in God. “I think we all have at least one person in our lives that we’d like to talk to about God that we just are unable to for some reason,” explains frontman Forrest Krazit. “Whether it’s the pressure that we feel or we’re scared of rejection, and for me this definitely rings true. I’ve wanted to share my faith with my dad for so many years and I’ve been unable to. And that’s the great irony of this whole thing is that often times the people we’d like to talk to about God are the people that matter the most but we just can’t get it out.” Krazit continues, “‘Space Between’ is a song we wrote that’s just born out of the turmoil that I’ve faced in my own life trying to get up the courage and the strength to talk to my dad about God. So this is everything that I’ve always wanted to say.” In addition to the iTunes release, “Space Between” is being released to CHR and Christian Rock radio stations this week, with promotion through Seth Holloway at Least of These Promotions. While Canopy Red may be still making its way through the Christian rock ranks, the Creative Soul Records band makes it clear that their goal is to impact their generation with the Gospel, coupled with undeniable musicality that brings to mind modern-rock innovators like Sanctus Real, The Fray, Relient K and The Afters. They have partnered with OneVerse, a ministry organization whose mission is to accelerate Bible translation for the millions of people throughout the world waiting for God’s Word to be translated into their own language.
New Release Tuesday Breaks Records
NewReleaseTuesday.com (NRT), a Christian music and entertainment site and part of the FrontGate Media family, has started 2011 with record traffic and growth. From welcoming the 40,000th member to the NRTeam, the largest crowdsourced interactive Christian music community online, to posting triple digit year to date growth, and more than doubling the audience of NRT Radio, there is momentum in every corner of NRT. “It’s been an exciting few years for NewReleaseTuesday.com,” says founder Kevin McNeese. “But there’s a certain energy these past few months that I haven’t felt before. It feels like everything we’ve been working hard on for the past four years is truly starting to take hold. Our systems seem to be firing on all cylinders.” The NRTeam welcomed its 40,000th member on March 3, 2011. The NRTeam, the online crowdsource community for NRT, allows Christian music fans to interact with each other continuously building the largest Christian music database online, all while earning points for free merchandise.
Site traffic continued to surge in the first two months of 2011, after a stellar 2010 year which saw 2.75 million visitors and 6.6 million page views. Jan/Feb 2011 site traffic increased 115% in visitors over 2010 to 700,000 visitors and pageviews increased 66% to 1.47 million. Last month, NRT debuted a completely redesigned home page, the first of several planned redesigns for the site. New designs for category pages will follow. “When we built NRT four years ago,” says McNeese, “we had no idea that we’d have the amount of content that we currently have. We’re long overdue for a more robust, interactive offering of information.” The editorial staff of NRT is also expanding, with the recent hiring of Marcus Hathcock to Senior Editor and the introduction of many new contributors. “It’s an honor to be part of NRT,” says Hathcock, “and we’re excited to continue to partner with extremely talented writers, photographers and designers who share a passion of excellence and Christian music. NRT has always had a unique and professional voice, and we’ll continue to expand that in the months ahead.” The NRT Staff will be traveling to Atlanta in April to cover the 42nd Annual GMA Dove Awards as well as having an extended presence at both Creation East and West festivals this summer.
Gospo-Fella Entertainment Signs With Indie Extreme
Indie Extreme adds Gospo-Fella Entertainment to its growing list of independent artist & label partners. Gospo-Fella Entertainment, headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA, is an independent gospel record company founded by Alton Lang Jr., MBA and Loretta O’Neal, MBA. CEO/President, Alton Lang, is a graduate of Full Sail University‘s Entertainment Business Masters Degree program. He has over 25 years experience as an artist and producer in the music industry. Loretta serves as the company’s Vice President with over 20 years financial management experience and 15 years of experience working in the music industry as both an artist and executive producer. Gospo-Fella specializes in contemporary, urban contemporary, rhythm and praise, and pop. Gospel music lovers can depend on their artist’s recordings to inspire, uplift, and provide encouragement during these times of economic uncertainty, hopelessness, and despair. Gospo-Fella Entertainment’s primary focus includes those that may not attend church regularly or not at all, but need to hear a word from God for hope and encouragement. The label’s goal is to win lost souls for Christ by taking the Word of God from the Church and bringing it to the streets. Gopso-Fella Entertainment/Indie Extreme’s first CD entitled, “The CountDown” is scheduled for release in the spring 2011 and will be distributed digitally and physically through Universal Music Christian Group/Fontana. “The CountDown” is a compilation featuring songs from Gospo-Fella’s all star lineup of artists and producers including- Ernest and Ericka Jackson, Anthony Hall, Kevin G thamusicmaker, and JayFam, to name a few. The album is filled with songs ranging from contemporary, to rhythm and praise, to pop. “The CountDown” is a must have for the true urban gospel music lover.
©2011 HM Magazine All Rights Reserved
More news from last week:
still fresh (as far as you know)
About the Author
