Since the 2006 Summer release of the aptly titled We Can’t Stand Sitting Down, Phoenix-based punk quartet Stellar Kart have been a restless bunch, garnering their first No. 1 hit, hitting the road with newsboys, as well as earning 5 Dove Award Nominations including Song of the Year. Take some time out with lead singer Adam Agee to hear the thoughts behind the success. BC: Are you guys still on the road with the newsboys right now? SK: Oh yeah, definitely. We will be until the end of April. BC: How’s that been? SK: It’s been awesome man, it’s crazy. There’s just a bunch of people at the shows, everybody on tour’s been great - it’s the best. […read more]

No strangers to success, veteran rock group downhere have been catapulted back into the spotlight with the release of their third studio recording, Wide Eyed and Mystified, the band’s first album on Centricity Records. Read on to take a downhere look at the group through the eyes of bass player Glenn Lavender. BC: I was looking through your site, and you guys have really developed your web presence a lot more than other groups have. Can you share about why you guys have decided to take that route? […read more]

What you see is what you get with these passionate rockers from North Carolina, who’ve already hit the top of the radio charts twice since the release of their debut album, End of the Grey, last summer. Take an inside look at the group as BREATHEcast interviews frontman Caleb Oliver. Caleb: So where are you guys based out of? BREATHEcast: California, but I’m in New York right now. Yeah, we were up in Massachusetts when the snowstorm came through, we got all that stuff, so it was pretty crazy. Yeah I was reading about that, you guys got into an accident right? Yeah we did about a week or two ago, and we totaled our van (laughs). But it’s been a blessing just seeing people come together and donate, and so we’re in a rental now, and hoping to buy another soon. […read more]

Introduce yourself to one of the brightest rising stars on the music scene today, Christine Evans. At age 16, the singer/songwriter, performer, advocate for youth, and student from Canada has already had her first national tour, as well as released her second album – the passionate, rock inspired Push. Read on to take a look behind the scenes at this budding artist. […read more]

One of the nation’s largest and most extensive sources of Christian music has launched a revamped version of its website in an effort to better serve its audience and rise up to new levels. BREATHEcast.com, one of the nation’s largest and most extensive Christian music sources, has launched an innovative and revamped version of their website.After the re-launching of BREATHEcast.com Monday, the already vast online music and media library found in the music portal now includes new sections to enhance availability of music news and keep Christians informed about recent trends. […read more]

SESAC held its annual Christian Music Awards ceremony Monday in Nashville, Tenn. Jason Ingram was named Christian Songwriter of the Year for 2006 and Wordspring Music (a division of Word Music Publishing) was named Christian Publisher of the Year. Other SESAC award winners included Tiffany Arbuckle Lee (aka Plumb), Adam Agee of Stellar Kart, Christopher Clonts of Decyfer Down, Krystal Meyers, and NewSong’s Michael O’Brien. Ingram was recognized as the Songwriter of the Year for writing “Shine,” which was recorded by Salvador. The single spent an impressive 11 weeks in the top 5 on the Christian singles charts and more than 32 weeks and still counting on the charts overall, according to a press release. Ingram also wrote “I Will Lift My Eyes,” which was recorded by Bebo Norman. […read more]

Several Christians made the big cut to make it as the final 12 competitors in this year’s American Idol, one of America’s most watched television programs. Jordin Sparks, Melinda Doolittle, and Chris Sligh have all sang their way into America’s homes and each of them share a link to the Gospel Music Association (GMA) to some degree. The trio stands as an achievement for Christians as they help break stereotypes in mainstream media, which has often looked down upon the Christian genre as lower in quality. And, in addition to proving that people of faith can sing, these contestants are also becoming witnesses for Christ. […read more]

Switchfoot has come a long way. After their album The Beautiful Letdown went double-platinum in 2004, Switchfoot’s ensuing projects have been getting better and better. The group recently released their latest project Oh! Gravity. Switchfoot backstage at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London, Tuesday, February 6, 2007.Despite being critically acclaimed on a worldwide scale, the five-piece Californian rock band remains as humble as ever, long having claimed to be “Christian by faith, not by genre.” Switchfoot frontman Jonathan Foreman likes to emphasize that who you are offstage is what really matters, and that life should be your testimony as a Christian. […read more]

Christian leaders were dismayed last week to hear the lyrics of Conan O’Brien’s “homophobic country western singer,” but said they were not shocked. “It is not shocking when non-believers don’t understand Christian or religious themes,” said Michael Cromartie, vice president at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, to The Christian Post on Saturday. “They are mostly baffled by anybody religious so they make fun of what they don’t understand.” […read more]

BC: So you guys are from San Francisco you said? Inhabited: Yeah, that’s right. We always talk about this, but we’re from Texas, and actually, we always get the best response from Texas and California. And I’m not just saying that because you’re from California, but every time we go to California, the people that invite us in always take really good care of us and the crowds are always crazy awesome, and it’s very cool. And Texas and California are so different state wise anyways, but it’s cool; ya’ll have that in common with us – great crowds! […read more]

BreatheCast: How was the turn-out for the first session of Worship Central (6 May, 2006)? Tim Hughes: We had a great day! We had just under 700 people turn up here at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) Church. We spent a lot of time worshipping and talking about what worship is, and we held seminars. I did a seminar on ‘The Journey of Worship’, on what we are trying to achieve in worship as we lead people in our churches. My colleague Al Gordon did one on ‘The Sound of the Heart’, about getting our hearts right for God. It was amazing. When you gather 700 worship leaders and musicians to worship and sing, you can really sense God’s presence. […read more]

BreatheCast: Tell me more about Ron Kenoly’s Academy of Praise. RK: Academy of Praise is a mentoring program for praise and worship leaders. For pastors, musicians and anybody who is involved in the music area of the church. It’s designed to help them realize a higher level in their praise and worship experience. I get to go to a lot of different conferences and speak in a lot of seminars, and generally, the [high] number of people will eliminate the intimacy that can be experienced.

For the Academy of Praise, I take no more than a hundred people at a time. No more than I can pray for and lay my hands on. I try to answer as many questions I possibly can. I feel in my heart that in all of the ministries, and in all the great stories of Jesus, there was a great level of intimacy. Even with His disciples, a lot more comes out of an intimate setting, rather than a large group. […read more]

BreatheCast: How was the Japan tour? Krystal: That was just so much fun, oh my goodness. It’s so cool to be around the Japanese people. There’s something so refreshing about their culture. They’re very soft-spoken and respectful towards one another. You don’t have to know each other, but they’re just so full of respect and love towards one another. It’s just really cool to experience. And it’s also a different story there than it is here. It’s mainstream… your audience can be a lot more broad. It was just cool to be there and get to bring the Word into a place where there’s less than 1% of Christians. […read more]

BC: The most obvious thing to start with is your name, which is your real name, and you are named after the character in the Lord of the Rings. Are you a fan of the Lord of the Rings? Eowyn: My dad was a huge fan of the books even before the movies, and he had all the calendars, and he just loved the fact that [Eowyn] was the king’s daughter, and Jesus is the King, so there’s a whole lot of spiritual meanings for him, but definitely, [he’s] a big fan. I’ve personally watched all the movies and stuff - I kind of have to. […read more]

Whether it’s on the record or on the road, Jonah 33 is a band with a message to give. Check out our interview with lead singer and guitarist Vince Lichlyter as he shares moving testimonies and the band’s direction for 2007. So you guys are on the road now? Yeah, we will be tomorrow morning; we’re headed out early tomorrow morning. We had a little time off for Thanksgiving. Is that the show with Todd Agnew, or you guys are on your own right now? I think we’re on our own. […read more]

BreatheCast: Turn Around is your fifth album, and your first release to the Christian marketplace. Can you tell us a little bit about the writing process for the record? Jonny: “I wrote and produced the record with a couple of guys: Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders. And the three of us began writing for this record - we spread it out probably over about a year, and then we began recording the album, and also finishing up writing while recording some other songs.” […read more]