Most artists can’t wait to give up their day job when they get a record deal. But Casting Crowns frontman Mark Hall isn’t your typical artist, and Casting Crowns doesn’t operate like the typical platinum-selling act. As the band prepares for the August 28 release of “The Altar and the Door” and a fall tour, Hall still works at Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta as a youth pastor. The others also have key church roles. Thus the group tours only Thursday through Saturday to make sure the band is present for Sunday and Wednesday church services. […read more]

Shock-rocker Alice Cooper has a surprise for those who see him only as the man in haunting black eye make-up whose stage show features mock hangings, real snakes and plenty of fake blood. The self-styled “Prince of Darkness” is throwing his energy into building a Christian centre in Phoenix, Arizona for at-risk youths from the area. [ …read more]

Dressed in the clothes of teenage rebellion but preaching God’s word, Christian rock is on the warpath in America. Martin Hodgson reports. Night has fallen, and a full moon is rising above the treeline as a five-piece band called Flyleaf launch into their set at Cornerstone, a Christian rock festival in rural Illinois. Their sound is a squall of ferocious, churning guitars - and at the eye of the storm is the band’s diminutive front-woman, Lacey Mosley. Dressed in ripped jeans and a black dress, she cuts a tiny figure against the wall of amplifiers, but she dominates the stage, her voice switching mid-song from fragile whisper to banshee howl. […read more]

Pat Boone is a descendant of the legendary U.S. pioneer Daniel Boone. He has been a top-selling recording artist, the star of his own hit TV series, a movie star, a Broadway headliner and a best-selling author in a career that has spanned half a century. During the classic rock and roll era of the 1950s, he sold more records than any artist except Elvis Presley. Now 72, Boone continues to be a beacon for moral values in the entertainment industry. [ …read more]

The gospel divas talk secular appeal, sexual lyrics, and their gay fanbase. When you’re a gospel artist and your music is played in heavy rotation on urban radio with a playlist that includes Beyonce and 50 Cent - you’ve obviously entered the world of secular adoration. With ferocious vocals and urban beats gospel sensation, Mary Mary, have evolved from the pulpit to the clubs, garnering a huge and diverse following that’s rare for Christian musicians. […read more]

The past year has been filled with change for Christian pop-rock band The Swift. “We have a different management company, booking agent, record label … pretty much a complete overhaul,” bassist-vocalist Mike Simons said in a phone interview from his home in Nashville, Tenn. “We didn’t set out to change everything; it just kind of happened that way.” The band’s piano-driven pop-rock scored a couple of solid Christian radio hits from their first two recordings. But during a period of transition, Simons and keyboardist/band co-founder Britt Edwards did some reconnoitering. […read more]

Krispy Kreme doughnuts are “crack” for Christians, according to funnyman Mark Lowry. He jokes that the perfect church would have La-Z-Boys with Big Gulp holders and remote controls. “I figure if you’re going to sleep, you might as well enjoy it,” he says. He’ll share zany stories about churches, Christian culture and his life, like he has through concerts, CDs and DVDs, on March 17 at Decatur Baptist Church. Comedy may seem like Lowry’s drug of choice, but seriously — what happens when life doesn’t seem like humor material? Lowry was diagnosed as a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He said he had a huge self-image problem. He wrote in Guideposts magazine that he would go home from school every day with teacher notes pinned on his lapel. […read more]