News Update Week Ending 12-28
Pillar Is The Most Played Artist In 2008
GRAMMY-nominated rock band Pillar closes the year as the “most played” artist on the R&R Christian Rock Chart. A favorite of rock fans, Pillar continues to deliver great music to this format. In addition to radio success, the band had a great run on the successful, “Creation Festival - The Tour” and is already writing for a new album in 2009. “This is really incredible news,” shares Rob Beckley, Pillar’s founding member and dynamic
frontman shares. “We just celebrated our 10th No. 1 with ‘Turn It Up’ a few weeks ago and were really shocked to hear about the year-end listing – that’s amazing! We really appreciate everyone at radio and media, and we especially appreciate our fans for their ongoing support. We definitely don’t take any of this lightly.” This year the band also celebrated its first CHR Top 5 with “Smiling Down.” Spending most of the fall performing on the “Creation Festival - The Tour,” which hit 20+ cities and saw thousands in total audience this fall, Pillar was able to reconnect with fans across the country. Bill Darpino, Executive Producer of the Creation Festivals, notes, “This tour was an incredible success and we loved having Pillar on the bill. Rob Beckley and the band command a great show and their hearts for ministry and the youth is very evident in all they do. Pillar has been a great part of this tour, and our ministry, and I cannot wait to have them back. In fact, Pillar is already slated for both of our 2009 summer festival events at the Agape Farm in Union, PA – June 24- 27 and at the Gorge Amphitheater, in George WA – July 22 – 25.” “Playing the Creation Tour was one of the biggest highlights of the year for Pillar,” says Noah Henson, guitarist. We loved being on the road with Kutless, Fireflight and Thousand Foot Krutch, plus we got to introduce one of our two new band members, Rich Gilliland on bass.” Chase Lovelace, Pillar’s new drummer, will join the band on the road in the spring. Keith Shackelford, Senior Agent with Third Coast Artists Agency, adds, “It’s really exciting to see such a renewed energy from Pillar. They are firing on all cylinders and it is translating on stage and off. It’s encouraging to hear promoters call and sing their praises after seeing them live.” Pillar will tour with Orlando-based rock band Fireflight from March 25 through the end of April and both Beckley and Henson have been working closely with Dove-nominated producer/songwriter Rob Graves (Red) and Skidd Mills (Saving Abel, Fireflight) for Pillar’s next release, slated for 2009. Blaine Barcus, vice president of A&R at Provident Label Group, enthusiastically comments, “The new songs are really coming together. There’s something really fresh about them; still Pillar, but there’s a new energy in them. Rob and the guys are plugged into their local church deeper than ever before. I think this is fueling their renewed energy and ministry focus. I’m excited about the future of this band.” Pillar’s fifth studio album, For the Love of the Game (02/26/08), debuted on the Billboard Top 200 album chart at No. 71, while coming in at No. 4 on the Christian (overall) album chart. Since Pillar’s Dove Award-winning debut Above in 2001, the band has tallied ten No. 1 radio singles, 12 top five hits, a GRAMMY nomination, three Dove Awards, nine national headlining tours, covers of numerous national magazines and album sales approaching one million.
For more information on Pillar, visit:
myspace.com/pillar
U2 Announces New Album
No Line On The Horizon, the new studio album from U2, will be released on Monday 2nd March 2009. Written and recorded in various locations, No Line On The Horizon is the group’s 12th studio album and is their first release since the 9 million selling album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, released in late 2004. Sessions for No Line On The Horizon began last year in Fez, Morocco, continued in the band’s own studio in Dublin, before moving to New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and finally being completed at Olympic Studios in London. The album calls on the production talents of long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite.
Facedown Records Signs Hands
Facedown Records are very excited to introduce you to the newest member of the Facedown Family HANDS. Since forming in 2007 Hands have desired to present a passionate and intense live show. Now, a year later, they offer a performance that is characterized by what drummer Josh Silbernagel calls "beautiful chaos." Hands unfurl hugely anthemic prog-rock ballads bearing the influence of Isis while at the same time laying out solidly progressive hardcore tracks inspired by bands such as Life In Your Way and Misery Signals. Hands will be working with Mike Dresch @ Cathouse Studios (Nodes of Ranvier, The Spill Canvas, War Of Ages) for their Facedown debut which will see a July 2009 release date. Keep an eye out for Hands tour dates to be announced soon including a stop at Facedown Fest 2009.
Check out their myspace:
myspace.com/wearehands
Seabird's Debut Named Among Best Albums Of 2008
Credential buzz band Seabird’s June debut, ‘Til We See The Shore, was a favorite among critics this year, turning up on multiple lists of the standout albums from 2008. The group will work into the new year to win over more fans on tour with House of Heroes in January. Critics including CCMMagazine.com, JesusFreakHideout.com, and GospelMusicChannel.com are giving props to the piano-based pop/rock band for its debut effort. Thealbumproject.net raved, “this is exactly how piano infused rock ‘n rock should be done, everything about this album screams quality,” while CCM Magazine commented “Cincinnati piano pop soars perfectly with this long-awaited release.” Seabird was also recently chosen for inclusion on a compilation by purevolume.com featuring the top indie bands of 2008. The sampler, which will include a free download of Seabird’s “Rescue,” goes live today. After playing the Rage Festival on Jan. 17 at Castles ‘N Coasters in Phoenix, Seabird will head out on tour with House of Heroes. Kicking of Jan. 26, the tour, sponsored by Relevant and purevolume.com, will run through late February.
For an up-to-date tour itinerary, visit:
myspace.com/seabird
Retroactive Records Set To Release Fires Of Babylon
Retroactive Records is set to release the self-titled debut album by All-Star heavy metal band FIRES OF BABYLON. Already released in Europe, the album is only available as a pricey import. The USA release date is Tuesday January 27th, 2009. FIRES OF BABYLON is classic 1980's-style, shredding U.S. heavy metal reincarnated! Their lineup is one of highly skilled and lauded musicians, including guitarist Lou St. Paul (WINTERS BANE), vocalist Rob Rock (ex-IMPELITTERRI), bassist Kelly Conlon (ex-DEATH), and drummer Robert Falzano (SHATTER MESSIAH).
Family Force 5 Primed For 2009 Invasion
Family Force 5's sophomore release Dance Or Die, out now on Transparent Media Group/EMI and Tooth & Nail Records, forged out of the gate armed with rippling rhythms, assaulting electronics and raucous rock 'n roll. Now, with almost 50k units sold to date, Family Force 5 soars into 2009 for complete attack as the band gears up to hit the road on the AP Tour 09 presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. Since the beginning of summer 2008 the band and their latest release Dance or Die have been garnering rave reviews and playing sold out shows on the Vans Warped Tour 08, Dance Rawr Dance Tour and the Winter Wonder Slam. As the year comes to an end the band refuses to slow down, announcing their run on the AP Tour 09 presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. As always, expect to see and hear an unrelenting rush of delightfully uncontainable madness when Family Force 5 hits the stage. Alternative Press will be taking the nation by storm for the third consecutive year with the AP Tour 09 presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. The tour headliners are bands hand picked from the magazine's highly anticipated '100 Bands You Need To Know' issue. Not all the AP Tour 09 bands have been announced yet, but so far sharing the stage with Family Force 5 will be A Rocket to the Moon and Hit the Lights. The tour will be making 45 stops nationwide from March 20 through May 9 with a ticket presale January 12-16 and national on sale January 17.
Check them out here:
familyforce5.com
Remedy Drive News
Ringing in the New Year will be celebrated in many different ways, but for Remedy Drive it will start with helping a family raise money. The group will participate in a benefit concert for Aaron and Jennifer Thompson who are adopting orphaned siblings from the Philippines.
The event will be held at Freeman Academy in Freeman, South Dakota on January 1, 2009. Remedy Drive will join with the Thompson family, friends and local businesses to help in this community effort. "I get very excited about doing something that is going to benefit children," says David Zach, lead singer for Remedy Drive. "Being able to rally with a whole community to help a family make even one child's life better, brings all of us in Remedy Drive joy. We are grateful to be given this opportunity to get beside this family in helping them accomplish their goal." "We are really trusting God to make this all work out since we know this is what He wants," said Jennifer Thompson. "It will totally be worth all the work." Currently, there are 1.5 million children with no family living on the streets in the Philippines searching garbage dumpsters for food.
For more info about Remedy Drive, including tour dates, news and videos, visit:
RemedyDrive.com
Wrench In The Works Announce Line-Up Change
Wrench In The Works has announced that they will become a 4 piece. Here’s a message from the band:
“Hey Everyone! After lots of discussion, prayer and weighing our options out we have decided to no longer be a 3 piece (aka Power trio!). Instead we will be moving Darrell to being a full time front man and we will be having our good friend Derek Anderson jump on bass duties. This has been a hard decision to come to, we have been throwing the idea of this around for a quite sometime now and we really feel now is the right time to do it! This will definitely make our live show more intense, exciting and brutal. I tell you right now, you don't wanna miss this one! So get ready to sing along , jump around and go crazy! ”
Bombworks Records Signs Monotheist
Bombworks Records is happy to announce the signing of Monotheist. Hailing from Orlando, Florida, Monotheist plays their own brand of progressive extreme metal. A melting pot of death, black, thrash, and progressive metal, Monotheist writes complex compositions that extend the boundaries of extreme metal. Furious riffing and ferocious drumming walk hand in hand with progressive stanzas and melodic nuances, painting an aural masterpiece of intensity. Each song has an epic feel and flows effortlessly from one stanza to the next without ever losing the interest of the listener. The band self-released a 7-song demo titled "Unforsaken" back in 2007, and the band is writing new material for their full length debut to be released on Bombworks Records in the summer of 2009. Influences include Death, Extol, Opeth, Suffocation, Emperor and Immolation.
You can check out Monotheist, including tracks from their demo and a teaser of a new song here:
myspace.com/monotheistmetal
Poorly Built Parachute Finalizing Album
Poorly Built Parachute is working on the final touches of their second record, "Tastes Like Sin." Originally slated for a January 2009 release, the date has been changed to March 2009. Poorly Built Parachute's sophomore album will contain 10+ tracks and is being released through Holdfast Records / Dark Habitat Noise Co. It will be available everywhere physical and digital music is sold online in the United States.
Check them out here:
myspace.com/poorlybuiltparachute
The Becoming On Tour With Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The Becoming has just announced a tour for January with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Tickle Me Pink including a few off dates with Madina Lake. The Tooth & Nail recording artist are currently on tour with Saving Abel of which guitarist Dustinn Lowry says “The shows have been going really well, hasn’t’ been show with less than five hundred people and we’re reaching new people every night.” The band has also just released a video for “I Cry” on their myspace page in support of their album Volume 1. Singer Caleb Owens spoke about the video, “This isn’t much of a conceptual video at all for us. I’d say it’s 90% performance, 10% conceptual. The video is filmed in an empty warehouse and snaps back and forth between a white open room and a dark room. The dark room is loosely representative of solitude and being alone.”
Check out their video here.
Tour Dates:
1/7 Nashville, TN
1/8 Asheville, NC
1/9 Tallahassee, FL
1/10 Atlanta, GA
1/12 Tulsa, OK
1/13 Moore, OK
1/15 Des Moines, IA
1/16 Milwaukee, WI
1/17 Chicago, IL
1/20 Indianapolis, IN
1/21 Cincinnatti, OH
1/23 Toledo, OH
1/24 Cleveland, OH
1/25 Millvale, PA
1/30 Jacksonville, NC
1/31 Fayetteville, NC
2/3 Jacksonville, FL
2/4 Baton Rouge, LA
2/6 Houston, TX
2/7 Dallas, TX
Van Morrison Returns To EMI Music
Multi-award-winning legendary soul singer and songwriter Van Morrison has returned to EMI Music, with a live recording slated for release in early 2009. The album marks the first record to be issued on Morrison's own label, Listen To The Lion Records, which will be distributed worldwide by EMI. The album captures the widely-acclaimed live performance Morrison gave at the venerable Hollywood Bowl in November, which featured a breathtaking recreation of the "Astral Weeks" album. "I brought these records to EMI because they seem to have people with vision, who have 'ears' and who understand the significance of the complex arrangements and the classic essence of recordings like 'Astral Weeks,'" said Van Morrison. "They're committed to maintaining the integrity of the records I make. That is what it's all about to me." "Van Morrison is a true living legend, and he continues to inspire artists and fans that span generations and genres," said Nick Gatfield. "We are delighted he is bringing his label to EMI and are very excited to bring his first release to the world." In his remarkable career, Morrison has become one of the most influential artists in the modern age. His album "Astral Weeks," originally released 40 years ago, was heralded as a groundbreaking work and today is universally regarded as one of the most important albums in popular music history. Timeless music from the soul, "Astral Weeks" is ranked one of the greatest albums of all time by Mojo, Rolling Stone and Britain's The Times. "EMI has had the good fortune to work with Van over the years, but I am personally excited about this release because I worked with Van back in 1968 on the release of the original 'Astral Weeks' recording" said Ian Ralfini, Senior Vice President, EMI Music. "This particular show at the Bowl was electrifying. For some of us it was a little bit of nostalgia and for others it was a brand new experience. But for everyone it was a great concert and a piece of musical history. We are honored that Van has returned to EMI."
©2008 HM Magazine - All Rights Reserved
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