In the ’70s and ’80s Matthew Ward was part of one of the most successful Christian vocal groups ever. The very popular 2nd Chapter Of Acts were pioneers of Christian music who plied their musical wares across churches, theatres and arenas in America and beyond. Formed with his two sisters, Nellie and Annie, the siblings’ vocals blended in a natural way that can only be achieved from shared genes. From its beginnings in the American Jesus Movement to their final tour in the ’80s, Matthew has a wealth of observations, stories, ministry and experience to share. […read more]

In one of the most painfully truthful interviews ever given by a Christian music artist, one-time member of the Newsboys JOHN JAMES spoke in depth to Mike Rimmer. It’s 1997 at the Sheffield Arena and the second (and last) Alliance Festival is in full flow bringing together a mixture of British and American acts. For a journalist like myself, it’s an ideal opportunity to meet and interview a pile of bands and I’m wandering around the backstage area in the afternoon before the gig while the bands are soundchecking. PFR, Iona, dba, The Worldwide Message Tribe and Martyn Joseph are all there waiting for their moment to set up and over in a corner are The Newsboys. Their singer John James is sat on a chair joking with his band mates when I dare to interrupt them. “Excuse me, are you John James,” I ask politely. “Who wants to know?” comes the growled response. […read more]

Mike Rimmer met up with the Minneapolis rockers MAINSTAY and heard about their determination to sing a biblical message. Mainstay, a four man rock bank from Minneapolis, unleashed a powerful debut album called ‘Well Meaning Fiction’ in February 2006. So by the time I met them in Nashville in the spring they were ready to talk a little about the project that has produced the Cross Rhythms radio turntable hit “Take Away”. Vocalist and guitarist Justin Anderson is the heart of the band with accomplished support from drummer Ryan DeYounge, bassist Dan Ostebo and lead guitarist Scott Campbell. […read more]

Mike Rimmer met up with the pop punk rockers from South Carolina, ELEVENTYSEVEN. Hailing from Greenville, South Carolina, Eleventyseven are the latest American band to emerge purveying a brand of power pop punk already popularised by Relient K and Hawk Nelson. Their album ‘The Land Of Fake Believe’ is selling well in the States while in the UK tracks from it, “Teenage Heartbreak” and “More Than A Revolution” have been featured on Cross Rhythms Radio. The band are a three piece comprising Matt Langston on guitar and vocals, Caleb Satterfield on bass and Jonathan Stephens on drums. Originally Matt and Caleb played together in a praise band in church which eventually fizzled out and from the ashes emerged Eleventyseven. […read more]

AN UNPRECEDENTED number of books by Christian musicians are being published in the US in 2007. Thomas Nelson are publishing On The Move by Bono, a small book by U2’s lead singer which includes the full text of a speech the activist gave at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC. In the speech Bono reflected on his own faith, discussed justice and equality and encouraged Americans to work together on behalf of those Jesus called “the least of these.” […read more]

Such is the nature of Britain’s flourishing worship music industry that it usually takes a high profile national event to catapult a worship leader and songwriter from the relative obscurity of local church ministry to national church prominence. Such a process is now underway for Simon Brading thanks to the youth culture event Newday organised by the New Frontiers stream of churches. Simon’s songs and singing are featured on the ‘Newday Live 2006: Shout From The Roof’ album and Survivor have also released Simon’s ‘Going Your Way’ mini-album in their Emerge series. […read more]

The huge critical acclaim and big sales that have followed the release of ‘Woman To Woman: Songs Of Life’ is the latest in a long line of achievements for Vickie Winans, arguably the most popular female singer on today’s contemporary gospel scene. But the songs on ‘Woman To Woman’ with their recurrent theme of trusting in God in the tough times are particularly pertinent for a singer who has had two failed marriages, a miscarriage, a parent’s sudden death, losing her voice and subsequent surgery, even fluctuating weight issues. As Winans has put it, she has been “possessed, repossessed, fat, thin, underweight, sick, divorced - I don’t think there is nothing, nothing, that my poor body and mind has not gone through.” […read more]

There is unlikely to be a single reader of Cross Rhythms articles who doesn’t know the name Graham Kendrick. This towering father figure of contemporary worship has dominated the British church scene for more than three decades and his classic songs such as “Knowing You”, “Shine Jesus Shine”, “The Servant King”, “Meekness And Majesty”, “Such Love”, “Jesus Put This Song Into Our Hearts”, “Amazing Love” and a dozen more have become omnipresent in UK congregational life. […read more]

When America’s HM magazine reviewed the Jesus Wept album ‘Show’s Over’ in July 2006 they succinctly nailed the band’s sound. “If this great hardcore/metal band has flown under your radar this far, you need to get a new one. From the ashes of xDISCIPLEx A.D. comes a band that’s impossible to be confused with a ‘Christians in a band’ kind of thing. Short songs, killer breakdowns, unrelenting riffs and chant-able choruses are in abundance here.” So who are this band who so impressed the moshpit-hardened ears of HM editor Doug Van Pelt? The five-piece consist of Dan Quiggle (vocals), Dave Quiggle (guitar), Sean Sundy (guitar), Jon Beckman (bass) and Adam Salaga (drums). The Quiggle brothers and Adam Salaga formed xDISCIPLEx A.D. in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1994. […read more]

Arrogance is not something I expect from Christian rock stars. Call me naïve and sheltered, but in my experience one can count on most of them to be grounded, humble and, most importantly to the likes of me, attitude-free during interviews. So I should have been shocked when guitarist Paul Colman from CCM legends Newsboys spoke of his band’s “great catalogue of songs”, how they are known for putting on “an incredible show” and described their career as “cooking”. I was not shocked. And not because Newsboys have been one of the biggest bands in the Christian scene for the last 20 years, earning themselves 26 number one radio singles, four Grammy nominations, a Billboard Video Award, five Dove Awards and a seemingly endless list of other achievements.

Such a belief in and love of your band’s music is easier to express when you only recently made the transition between fan and band member. Australian-born, Nashville-based Paul Colman only joined the Newsboys in 2006 after success with the Paul Colman Trio and as a solo. Now, the newest Newsboy gushes about his band’s work. As we lead up to our interview he assures me that next year’s tour in support of Newsboys’ new album ‘Go’ will be their best yet. I ask him why. […read more]

One of the intriguing developments in today’s Christian music scene is the emergence of new artists whose fathers were groundbreaking musicians in the first wave of Jesus music in the ’70s. We’ve already had ZOEgirl’s Alisa Girard, whose dad is Chuck Girard of Love Song and Jacob, Joshua and Solomon Olds whose father Jerome Olds was a member of Mylon & Broken Heart. Now rock artist and worship leader Phil Wickham has emerged. Both Phil’s parents were members of the ’70s Jesus music bands The Way and Parable.

Now Phil is receiving accolades for his self-titled rock worship album. It was after moving from Orange County to San Diego that Phil found himself, like his parents, inexorably drawn into music ministry. Phil’s junior high youth pastor took notice of the talented young musician who was showing such prowess on guitar. Phil was asked if he wanted to lead worship. A little reluctant at first, Phil accepted his pastor’s invitation. “When I started leading worship when I was 12, the Lord just really started blessing it with the junior high group,” says Phil. “Kids were singing and I found that I really loved doing it.” […read more]

The rise and fall and rise of Myrrh Records is one of the strangest stories in the unfathomable world of Christian record company manoeuvrings. Started by Billy Ray Hearn in 1972 as a division to Word Records (then of Waco, Texas, later Nashville, Tennessee), Myrrh was the first real contemporary Christian music label. Over the years it released albums by Jesus music pioneers like Randy Matthews and Petra and by the late ’70s was the biggest label in CCM with Amy Grant, Steve Camp and many more. Yet the Myrrh imprint was allowed to languish and in 1997 released its last album. Then, unexpectedly, Myrrh returned.

This year Word Records announced it was reactivating its imprint and that in future Myrrh would be a “worship label”. Despite understandable jibes from more seasoned CCM observers perceiving the whole affair as managerial incompetence followed up with managerial bandwagon-jumping, one thing all the Christian music critics have been able to agree on is the first signing to the reactivated Myrrh has been a very good band. The ‘Song To The King’ album by Pocket Full Of Rocks has finally brought an excellent worship band from Texas to national and international attention. […read more]

The release in the States in July 2006 of the ‘Best Of’ compilation ‘Harps On Willows’ by the All Saved Freak Band brought into the spotlight one of the most fascinating - and controversial - aggregations in the whole development of Christian music. The All Saved Freak Band were a pivotal group as the Church sought to come to terms with the ’60s and ’70s musical culture to develop Jesus music. And when Glenn Schwartz joined the band in 1971 they had in their ranks a world famous musician who had been dubbed “the white Hendrix”, had once fronted the hitmaking James Gang and had enjoyed a top 20 US hit with “Are You Ready?” with his group Pacific Gas And Electric. […read more]

Mike Rimmer met up with Florida’s modern rock band STORYSIDE:B to talk about surfing and the gift of encouragement. Cross Rhythms radio turntable hit “Miracle” by Florida rockers brings into the spotlight yet another excellent American modern rock band. The band got their start via a TV talent show. The runaway success of US TV’s American Idol talent contest has also spawned similar searches for new sounds in Christian music. One such story is StorySide:B, whose founders Lucio “Lu” Rubino and Jordan Mohilowski formed the duo that placed second in the 2003 Exalting Him programme airing on Trinity Broadcasting Network. After adding bassist Ron McClelland, guitarist Matt Lande and guitarist Preston Pohl, the group shopped its sound to Nashville labels, eventually meeting Gotee president Joey Elwood and founder Toby McKeehan. “We met backstage after one of (Toby’s) shows and played some tracks for him on the tour bus,” Rubino says. […read more]

Mike Rimmer spoke at length to CHUCK GIRARD about his music ministry since the disbandment of Love Song. Chuck GirardIn 1975, Californian singer/songwriter Chuck Girard was one of the most popular Christian artists on the planet. His group Love Song were certainly the most popular Jesus music group and when they imploded under the pressure of their own success and the multi-talented gifts of its members, Girard stepped easily into the solo spotlight. […read more]

If your specially-reinforced ears are inclined to the sound of the mosh pit yet have written off Christian bands as musical wimps, Atlanta-based Becoming The Archetype will be a sonic revelation. Here is a band who, in the words of Metal Hammer, produce “an onslaught of deep and dirty death metal growls over experimental noise that samples elements of modern metalcore” while Kerrang magazine called the band’s ‘Terminate Damnation’ album succinctly, if crudely, “**** hot”. So who are these purveyors of enthralling noise? […read more]

Down the years Jars Of Clay have demonstrated quixotic changes of musical approach while continuing to hold on to a huge support base among American Christians. In 1995 they were being dubbed “alterna-folk” for their ‘Jars Of Clay’ breakthrough album. By 1999 ‘If I Left The Zoo’ was offering everything from Sgt Pepper retro to hard alternative rock. And in 2003 there was bluegrass and country sounds on ‘Who We Are Instead’. But it’s the release of this year’s ‘Good Monsters’ that has finally brought the band’s stylistic eclecticism into sharp creative and commercial focus. It has already been named by the influential CCM magazine as the Best Album of The Year. What is particularly impressive about ‘Good Monsters’ is that despite featuring songs that are, in the words of CCM, “so well constructed, performed and just plain catchy,” the album actually explores personal insights and theological and social issues at a greater depth than any previous Jars Of Clay album. […read more]

In the first part of a personal history, LARRY NORMAN, Christian music pioneer, charts the rise of Christian music from its roots and, based on his experiences, gives his own perspective on the collision between creativity and commerce. 

Larry Norman, 1973In his most recent “State of the Union” address to the American people, President George W Bush said, once again: “The state of the Union is secure.” And this is a country at war in the Middle East and at war within its own borders: the “blue” States against the “red” States. […read more]

Although British Christian music fans may question the rather perverse decision of Nashville’s Gospel Music Association to name Chris Tomlin Artist Of The Year and indeed the whole practice of handing out such awards to worship leaders, no one can argue with influential trade magazine Billboard’s recent description of Tomlin as “the Christian industry’s most successful artist.” Tomlin’s 2003 album ‘Arriving’ has sold an unprecedented quantity for a full on worship project (close to 600,000 copies) while his guitar-driven pop rock worship is at the epicentre of the Passion events which have galvanised a whole generation of young collegiate worshippers. […read more]

Mike Rimmer had a lengthy chat with US rock band BARLOWGIRL and found spiritual maturity behind the squeaky clean image. The three sisters of BarlowGirl can be an excitable bunch. Drummer Lauren, bassist Alyssa and guitarist Becca are in London for the first time and they are clearly enjoying themselves. Alyssa reports, “We went on a big bus tour, like the double-decker thing. So we saw the entire city.” Lauren adds, “And we got to take the Tube.” Becca throws in, “We took a tour of Westminster Abbey and we went to Buckingham Palace. I think we did everything! But we’re gonna go see the Tower of London today so I’m really excited about that.” […read more]