Copious Notes

David Crowder and drummer Bwack bring their church music to Southland Christian Church on Nov. 6, 2009. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

NICHOLASVILLE — Yes, it was the Church Music Tour.

And yes, the guys in the David Crowder Band showed up dressed in their Sunday best.

And this sold-out concert did in fact take place in a church — Southland Christian Church, to be precise. But it was also Friday night, and that was the spirit Southland’s visitors from Waco, Texas, embraced the most.

Danyew frontman Phil Danyew performed before the David Crowder Band took the stage.

Throughout its career, David Crowder’s group has made complete albums, and Church Music is no exception. The band’s October release is a thorough exploration of contemporary music styles put together in an arrangement that mirrors a mainline church service. But DCB doesn’t tour albums. It tours its hit-heavy catalog. Like his albums though, Crowder arranges those hits into a concert as satisfying as his studio efforts.

New quickly mixed with old Friday night as early selections included the Crowder classic and worship staple There is No One Like You and the disco-drenched selection Church Music - Dance (!). The latter was yet another chance for Crowder to show his love of gadgets, employing the T-Pain ap on his iPhone to achieve a vocoder effect several band members demonstrated — guitarist Mark Waldrop singing Sean Kingston’s Fire Burning and bassist Mike D. invoking the prototype Autotune song, Cher’s Believe. A few tunes later, Jack Parker had the banjo out for the regular Bluegrass barn burner  I Saw the Light and I’ll Fly Away.

We’ve particularly gotten used to seeing that Bluegrass bit at the Ichthus Festival, but one of the coolest things about Friday night was Crowder’s close proximity to the audience, allowing for the exchange of several gifts including a McDonald’s toy pony and a bottle of Dr. Pepper that had indeed been shaken.

Seabird frontman Aaron Morgan at the keyboards.

What Crowder gave back was a whole new way to think about church music.

The concert opened with like-minded artists Seabird and Daynew who gave brief, rousing opening sets. Seabird’s portion closed with the evocative, defiant anthem Cottonmouth (Jargon) and included a winning new single, Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful, from the Dec. 15 release Rocks into Rivers. Phil Danyew’s set energized the crowd for the headliner, in large part thanks to drummer Brandon Lozano’s tireless and nuanced work.

Switchfoot’s This is the Sound rocks the new Blackberry commercial.

During the past year, there have been public signs that Christian pop music is on the rise.

Last spring on American Idol, a pair of openly Christian ­contestants vied for the title and one of them, Kris Allen, won. Your TV doesn’t have to be on long to hear the rumblings of Switchfoot, one of Christian music’s top bands, on commercials for BlackBerry’s new Storm2 smartphone. Late in the summer, when Christian rockers Skillet released their latest, Awake, it perched itself atop iTunes’ rock album charts and at No. 3 overall.

Pretty good stuff for a niche genre, eh?

But beneath the surface, there have been rumblings for some time.

Late in the summer, Gospel Music Association president and CEO John Styll stepped down, saying he was sacrificing his salary in an effort to stabilize the ­organization, which has laid off a number of staffers. Then, in October, the GMA held an all-star fund-raiser - we’re talking Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith ­heading a lineup that included Casting Crowns and other chart toppers - billed as “Save the GMA.”

Even though that $1,000-a-head event apparently was a success, raising more than $350,000, there were rumors late last month that the GMA was closing its doors.

The association’s troubles come on the heels of other setbacks in Christian music, such as the shutdown of the print edition of the industry’s ­flagship ­publication, CCM Magazine, which was founded by Styll, and ­attendance drops at some festivals.

Christian music also has faced the double whammy of the ­economic downturn and the ­effects of a rapidly changing music ­marketplace less dependent on major labels for distribution and increasingly challenged by problems such as digital music piracy. (Yes, people are stealing Christian music. Go figure.)

These are problems affecting the music industry as a whole, and you know that if the top of the pops is getting battered, the foundations of a niche genre really must be getting shaken.

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The David Crowder Band looking very dignified for its "Church Music" photo. Six Step Records.

The David Crowder Band Performs with Seabird and Danyew at 8 p.m. Nov. 6 at Southland Christian Church.

For David Crowder, there is a master plan.

That would seem to be a natural position for Crowder, one of the most popular Christian music purveyors of the past decade. But we’re not talking master plan in a cosmic, God is in control of all things sense. We’re talking about Crowder’s music. Specifically, we are talking about his albums, which have been custom-designed in title and content to follow a trajectory to … to … well, maybe we’d better let Crowder explain:

“I’m gonna geek out on you for a second,” Crowder says, when asked about the title of the David Crowder Band’s fifth studio album, Church Music.

“We’re in a three-record cycle,” he said. “We have three records, and then a second set of three records that are sort of mirror images or reannunciations of the first three records. Before we got into all of this, we had an idea for a seven-record kind of thing.”

Crowder grants that there have been EPs and remix albums thrown in. But for the band’s studio albums, they are executing the master plan of seven albums.

“We’ve been sitting on this title, knowing that it was coming as the mirror of the second title in the first three,” Crowder continues, referring to the band’s 2003 release, Illuminate.

Within all of this geekiness are things like number games: The first three albums were four syllable titles and the second are all three, because four plus three equals seven.

Out of all that complexity, the band has created numerous hits that contemporary worshipers know by heart, including Foreverandever Etc. and Oh, Praise Him. And writing songs for people to sing is, at its essence, what the band is trying to do.

But the structure, Crowder says, keeps them engaged and gives them direction.

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Brenton Brown’s music has been played in churches for years, but it’s usually performed by other recording artists, including Chris Tomlin, who made Brown’s Everlasting God ­famous.

Brenton Brown in performance. Photo by Mark Butcher | myspace.com/brentonbrownmusic

Now, Brown is stepping from behind the lyrics and into the spotlight, billed as “the most popular worship leader you may have never heard of.”

“I guess that’s probably fair to say,” Brown says. “I have been a worship leader for a long time and a writer, but I haven’t really been an artist.

“I don’t even know how I feel about the term ‘worship artist,’ but I guess that’s what I am now.”

Listeners can get to know Brown right now through ­Introducing Brenton Brown, a six-song collection of some of his best-known tunes, including Everlasting God and Lord Reign in Me.

In January, after the proper introductions, listeners will get a new batch of Brenton Brown music performed by Brown in a new solo album. People will get to know Brown’s story and understand why one of his most effective songs, ­Everlasting God, is based on the promise in Isaiah 40 that God will strengthen people who follow him.

Brown grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and studied politics and law, first at home and eventually as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England.

That’s where he was introduced to contemporary worship music spearheaded by the Vineyard Church and worship leader Brian Doerkson.

Eventually, Brown was writing and participating in recordings. As his music career was taking off, Brown’s health took a bad turn: He was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. It derailed a career as a church worship leader, although he says he can tailor his schedule to be at peak energy levels when he needs to perform.

Then, last year, Brown and his wife lost their daughter just days before she was expected to be born.

These are circumstances that color his latest music.

“My friend Paul Baloche says that a worship album is a chronicle of your spiritual journey at the time, and that is definitely true of these songs,” Brown says of Amazing God and Adoration, the new songs on Introducing Brenton Brown. “Encountering death right at the start of this young life lifted my eyes to the idea that there is more than this earth. … It focused us on the reality of heaven and the hope that it is for us, and that all our burdens and heartbreaks will be vanquished, will be beaten, and we will know the comfort of God, forever.”

Chris Huffman on stage with Casting Crowns at the 2008 Ichthus Festival. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

The last time we checked in on Glasgow native Chris Huffman, in 2004, he was a single guy in a white-hot Christian rock band who got a charge out of seeing his group’s CDs on the shelves at Wal-Mart.

Today, Huffman remains the bass player for Casting Crowns, but he’s a married guy with two kids, which makes touring and getting back to Kentucky a bit more challenging.

Casting Crowns are Megan Garrett, Brian Scoggin, Mark Hall, Hector Cervantes, Chris Huffman, Melodee DeVevo and Juan DeVevo. Photo by David Dobson.

“Everybody in the band has kids,” Huffman said Wednesday afternoon from a tour stop in Casper, Wyo. “In fact, my wife and I just had our second child three weeks ago tomorrow.”

That makes getting back home all the more important to Huffman, and leaving harder, particularly because his wife suffers from fairly serious car-sickness, so she can’t often hit the road with the group.

“It can be hard,” Huffman said, “when you call home and find out someone’s been hurt or something big happened to not be there.”

Still, despite the separation, Huffman said that Crowns is a valuable ministry, and the band’s policy of returning home for services at its home base of Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta means he is rarely gone for an extended time.

“When you’re passionate about what you do, the negative sides don’t really bother you,” Huffman said. “I get frustrated a lot of times, but you learn to overlook the frustrations and the hardships.

“I believe God has called me to do this, and as long as he has, my response is, I’m here; send me.”
Huffman, who was born in Glasgow and lived there until he was 10, returns to Kentucky next week with the band’s concert Thursday night at Rupp Arena. The band is touring in support of its new album, Until the Whole World Hears, set for release Nov. 17.

Huffman loves his job, but the band’s fourth studio album and family obligations have quelled that Wal-Mart thrill. Somewhat.

“When I go to Wal-Mart, I’m usually going to the grocery and baby department,” he said. “But sometimes I get to electronics, and it’s nice to see we’re there.”

Jeremy Camp listens for the audience to sing back the chorus to "Tonight" during his Thursday night performance at Quest Community Church. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

After nearly an hour of performing rousing rock ‘n’ roll (and encouraging the audience to “dance like nerds” with him), ballads and worship, Jeremy Camp sat down at an upright piano Thursday night and sang a spiritual.

“Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,” he sang, bathed in lavender light. “You can have all of this world. Give me Jesus.”

Hunched over the keyboard, his face shielded from the crowd, Camp’s voice filled the room with the same kind of power that seemed to exist in his biceps — toned by px90 workouts — and simultaneously had the tremor of a young man who’s already endured some trials, including losing a wife to cancer and an unborn child in a miscarriage.

Natalie Grant delivered a surprisingly rockin' set Thursday at Quest.

Whether in recordings or on stage, there is nary an un-genuine moment from Jeremy Camp, which is a big part of why he can so seamlessly rock, worship and sing empathetic ballads — I’ll Take You Back is still his best tune, which he performed Thursday with a bit more fire than some acoustic renditions he’s delivered in the past.

The new sanctuary at Quest Community Church proved to be an ideal venue for Camp, as the 2,400 seat auditorium would probably be great for any artist seeking a midsized room. That describes a lot of Christian artists. It’s not clear whether Quest intends to use its facility as a Christian concert hall — this show was booked by an outside promoter — but you have to think word will get out about the room, which you had to keep reminding yourself is a church.

And there were two other artists on the bill to testify for it. Natalie Grant played right before Camp with a more rock oriented show than you might expect and a moving rendition of God of This City, and Bebo Norman opened the night flanked by a superior sideman in Gabe Scott, who flipped between guitar, keyboards and hammer dulcimer.

Bebo Norman (right) and multi-instrumentalist Gabe Scott (left) opened Thursday night.

Quest Community Church was hosting its first concert in its new 2,400-seat auditorium.

Harlan County native Phil Stacey. Photo courtesy of Reunion Records.

Listening to Phil Stacey’s Into the Light, you think, if this guy wasn’t on American Idol, he should have been.

His debut on Reunion Records under the guidance of legendary Christian producer Brown Bannister sounds very Idol, with songs that showcase soaring choruses and emotional lyrics, and Stacey definitely has the chops to deliver them.

It also sounds very contemporary Christian — hence, Idol’s friendliness to Christian singers the last few years. That’s also what makes Into the Light a little disappointing.

His post-Idol debut on Lyric Street records was a refreshing sound for the Christian market, introducing some country songwriter cleverness in songs like It’s Who You Know, and bringing some genuine energy to the project. But Stacey says he was miscast as a country guy and pop was always where his heart was, hence the move to the Christian pop label and embrace by Christian pop royalty — Michael W. Smith is his labelmate.

The result is a solid album with catchy tunes like Inside Out and soaring worship ballads like One. He also pulls out a great Rich Mullins cover, Hard to Get, that could serve to show some younger listeners there’s more to the Christian pop legend than Awesome God.

What’s really missing here is any sense of Stacey’s own individuality, which seemed to be so present on that 2008 debut. With Into the Light, Stacey has been embraced by the Christian music establishment. On future efforts, he needs to avoid sounding like a generic contemporary Christian artist.

Is the GMA in trouble?: My fellow Christian music blogger Joanne Brokaw has an interesting post about recent cuts and layoffs at the Gospel Music Association and the just-annouced $1,000-a-plate Save the GMA fundraiser. Is Christian music’s umbrella organization in danger of going under?

Close, but not quite here: Yes, we do have Jeremy Camp coming Thursday night and Casting Crowns in a few weeks. But there are two Christian tours of interest not quite getting here, but they will be close if you’re the road tripping type.

~ If you’ve wanted to see Newsboys with Michael Tait out front, they get as close as Wilmington, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati, Nov. 15. Click here for Newsboys tour itinerary and ticket links.

~ You may also have heard plenty of TobyMac and Relient K live, but still find the concept of their Winter Wonder Slam tour together irresistible. It hits Louisville Nov. 29.

Derek Webb says it was ­inevitable that he’d make Stockholm Syndrome.

Derek Webb.

“I always knew I would make this record,” Webb says. “I always knew there would come a point where I would no longer be able to live my life and be friends with the people I’m friends with in the community I am in and avoid certain topics. Specifically, some of the issues of sexuality that are on the record are paramount for me because there is this contradiction in my life.”

Webb says his best friend is gay. But, as a Christian, he is part of a community not known for being kind to gay and lesbian people.

Webb was particularly struck by a statistic in the book UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity … and Why It Matters. The book said that in a three-year survey of non-Christian 16- to 29-year-olds by the Barna Group, 91 percent of the respondents said present-day Christians could be described as “anti-homosexual.”

“I cannot tell you how much that breaks my heart,” Webb said, “if for no other reason than just generally, a community of people who claim to follow Jesus should not be known primarily for what they hate and what they’re against. But rather, we should be known for what we’re for, which should be love and compassion, ­humility.”

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Slide show photos by Jason Sankovitch and Rich Copley.

Questapalooza 2009 did more with less Sunday: less time and less sun.

The absence of much — if any — sun made for a relatively cool afternoon and evening, and rolling back the start time made for a faster-moving event with main stage action from start to finish. If you were working the festival, say as a volunteer or a journalist, moving the start time back from 2 to 4 p.m. may have put a little more pressure on you. But for 8,500 festival goers, it meant there was always something happening on the main stage and you had a variety of things to catch when their wasn’t.

Like needtobreathe last year, Group 1 Crew made the most of its opening set, electrifying the crowd with a dynamic performance. One thing that has really evolved with the group since we first saw them in Winchester in May 2007 was greater involvement of the band, giving singers Manwell Reyes, Blanca Reyes and Pablo Villatoro more to play off of.

I didn’t get to hear too much of Jars of Clay’s set because I was busy working on our story for Monday’s paper, but it did strike me how seamlessly the band let its latest release, The Long Fall Back to Earth, color its whole set, while not slavishly delivering an overdose of the album. Jars is a band with a vast catalog of hits, and favorites such as Revolution and Love Song for a Savior were all there.

Third Day also has an extensive catalog to draw from, but the feel of it’s set was straight out of the Southern Rock-drenched Revelation album. If anyone came to Questapalooza wondering why these guys are regarded as one of the iconic bands in Christian rock, that question had to be answered a few songs in.

This was the first time I’ve seen Third Day since the departure of guitarist Brad Avery, and it was striking that this set seemed a bit more static than previous 3D shows with one less person to interact with and lead singer Mac Powell appearing to take on more guitar duties than in the past. But he sang with no-less conviction, and the band torched through a tasteful selection including Thief, God of Wonders and the band’s nuclear rendition of Rich Mullins’ Creed.

Quest Community Church continues to build Questapalooza into a signature event, and this is the one where they showed they understood bigger is not always better — in some ways.

Taliah Thornton, 4, of Lexington and Jonell Raglin enjoyed the 2008 edition of Questapalooza. Photo by Gabriel B. Tait.

After four years, you can safely say that if it is the Sunday before Labor Day, it’s time to party at Quest Community Church.

Questapalooza started in 2006 on a modest-but-­ambitious scale, inviting ex-dc talker-now-Newsboy Tait in to headline a day of music and youthful fun at the church grounds off ­Reynolds Road. Each year since, the event has upped the ante, bringing in bigger acts that attract bigger crowds.

This year, two legitimate headliners and Christian music icons in their own right, Third Day and Jars of Clay, top the bill as well as up-and-coming vocal act Group 1 Crew.

The wildcard is that you could open for Third Day.

Henry Shrader in the process of beating Kutless guitarist Nick De Partee in a Guitar Hero contest at Questapalooza 2008. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Questapalooza will feature the finals of The Fame, an American Idol-like singing contest that has been going on around town for several weeks and will culminate in semifinals on the main stage and the winner singing right before Third Day. Last year’s festival included a Guitar Hero competition, and winner Henry Shrader got to school Kutless guitarist Nick De Partee in the video game on the main stage.

“We wanted to give more of the community a way to participate,” Quest assistant pastor Justin McCarty says. There will be a chance to audition for the contest on the festival grounds early Sunday.

“Early,” this year, will be a little later than in the past.

While Although Questapalooza is getting bigger headliners and bigger crowds - more than 6,000 turned out last year - the event will actually dial back its hours, starting at 4 p.m. instead of 2, this year.

“We’ve found that period between 2 and 4 is the grayest part of the day,” McCarty says, meaning the crowd is smaller and activities aren’t quite as focused. “Moving it back gets us past the main heat of the day. We wanted to offer people the full experience for the whole time.”

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