Brisbane Christian News @ Brisbane Christian Chat (Queensland, Australia)


	25.06.04 - Soulframe's music crosses over. From Soulframe. Soulframe's latest single 'Tonight' was unleashed into the mainstream marketplace, with their selection on the Sauce n Jam 2004 compilation CD and hot Gold Coast festival line-up. After a tough selection process, this highlights the band's ability to appeal to both Christian and mainstream markets, and provides them with a platform to share their message through their guitar-driven modern rock. Bass Guitarist, Hayden Whitworth, says this move will increase the band's exposure in SouthEast Queensland and has added fuel to their passion for the unsaved. "Sauce n Jam 2004 extends our reach within the music industry and brings us one step closer to fulfilling our vision. As a band we see this as an opportunity to extend God's Kingdom and follow in the footsteps of Christian artists, such as Rebecca St James & Switchfoot," Hayden said. The Sauce n' Jam Festival 2004 is all about finding musical talent of any musical genre, which can be promoted nationally within the hard to crack mainstream music industry. You have to be more than just a pretty face. Event Organiser's Primo Events state the audition process, though lengthy, saw some amazing talent, which made the judges decision very difficult. The Sauce n Jam Compilation CD will be launched publicly as a huge concert, which will be held from 10am at Magic Millions, Bundall, on Sunday 27th June 2004. Tickets will be pre sold at $20 each (plus booking fee) and can be purchased by e-mailing bookings@soulframe.com or for $25 at the gate. Soulframe are also currently working on the finishing touches to the arsenal of songs for their second album, which will showcase their solid handle on their craft and an explosive new sound. Soulframe are thankful for the ongoing support from Christian community and are encouraged by the bridges built within the Christian music scene and beyond. For more information visit www.soulframe.com. Sun 27 June 2004 / 10am, 'Sauce n Jam 2004 CD Festival' featuring Soulframe, @ Magic Millions, Bundall (Gold Coast).
	17.06.04 - Iron and Clay requires new male vocalist. From Iron and Clay. Iron and Clay, one of Australia's longest established professional Christian music performance and recording ministries are looking for a new male singer to join our team. Iron and Clay travel extensively throughout Australia and NZ and where ever else the need arises. We perform nearly 300 concerts a year in high schools, churches, conferences and festivals. We urgently require a male vocalist with strong vocal abilities, strong ability in guitar and/or keyboard and some performance experience. The ideal person will also be able to enthusiastically contribute ideas to our urban/pop/RnB sound. As this is a voluntary ministry position, we seek a Christian person with a servant heart. Remuneration to be discussed. The ideal person will be a mature 20-30 years old and will be required to immediately relocate to Australia and live at the Iron and Clay base in Sydney. If you are interested, please send an email to andre@ironandclay.com.au outlining your contact details, a recent photo, musical experience and why you would like to be apart of Iron and Clay. After this we will contact applicants we are interested in for a demo CD or video and references. See www.ironandclay.com.au.
	17.06.04 - 'Music You Can Believe In' charts on ARIA. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. Sony Music's 'Music You Can Believe In' compilation has debuted on ARIA's Compilation Chart this week at #15. The 10-track sampler features songs from 'Kiss of Heaven' (Darlene Zschech), 'Hope' (Hillsong), 'Do You Know' (Michelle Williams), 'Incredible' (Mary Mary) and 'Almost There' (MercyMe). About 300 Sanity and HMV stores are participating in the promotion. The 'Music You Can Believe In' campaign features extensive nationwide TV promotion, and aims to expand Christian music's availability and make it more accessible to consumers. Around 55% of Christian music sales in the US are from mainstream stores such as Walmart and Borders. In Australia last year, Christian music accounted for 5.2% of audio music sales. Campaigns like 'Music You Can Believe In' can help grow interest in Christian music, and provide opportunities for local artists to gain a broader audience for their music. Sanity.com.au reveals that customers who have purchased the 'Music You Can Believe In' sampler have also purchased Hillsong's 'Hope' CD.
	17.06.04 - 'The Passion' spawns live concerts. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. 'The Passion Of The Christ' sparked a phenomenon in movie theatres earlier this year. Now, film composer John Debney has created a live concert event in the US featuring music from the film, plus music inspired by it. Debney conducts a full orchestra and choir, plus pop musicians and soloists. A multimedia visual backdrop accompanies the music. Released through Sony and Integrity Music, the movie soundtrack is one of the best selling soundtracks on the Billboard charts. The RIAA has certified 'The Passion Of The Christ' soundtrack with gold status for selling more than half a million copies in the US..
	15.06.04 - 'People Change Tour'. From Roma Waterman. We are now at half way point for the Roma Waterman 'People Change Tour' and having an awesome time. It’s been great meeting you all and we are honestly being blown away by all your kind words and emails. Thanks for letting us be a part of your world for a night! For those of you in Queensland - we have our Townsville show this Thursday and Gold Coast show on Sat night. We would love to see you there! If you would like details of the shows, you can walk into any Koorong bookstore to pick up tickets or a poster/flyer, or go to our website www.romawaterman.com.
	11.06.04 - Propane update. From Propane. We are playing along with go_roko at 'The Alley' Thursday June 17th. Mal, Phil and I (Brendan) will be joined by Dale Rankine (Farlow Star) on drums and DJ Scott Cooke on decks and effects. Don't say we don't offer variety. And remember fellow Australians, in the words of our future PM - the Hon. Peter Garrett - "We've got the best of both worlds!"
	11.06.04 - 6across 'Live In G-G-G-G-Gatt-tt-tt-tt-on-n-n-n'. From 6across. Brisbane's 6across have made their first live MP3 available through BrisbaneChristianChat.com. More below. Sunday 2 May 2004 saw five members of "Top Brisbane Christian Band 6across" (as printed on the program) make the one-hour trip to Gatton Historical Village for the Heritage Christian Concert, the concluding event of the annual two-day Gatton Heritage and Folk Festival. After a flat battery & some creative navigation Geoff & Renata Rankin, Weide Curnow and Anthony Edwards made it to the Historical Village in time to see a spectacular sunset. Soon bumping into Daniel Saunders, Gatton's favourite son (or at least one of Mr & Mrs Saunders' favourite sons), the band posed for photographs in front of the historical public conveniences (a good a place as any); the sunset providing a beautiful backdrop. 6across headlined the concert as well as being the final act on the weekend’s packed program. The band charged their batteries & bounded onto the stage for their first night-time outdoor gig. Crowd highlights of the performance were the ever-popular 'Farmyard Animals' (special thanks to the four volunteers) and 'Roll On Like A River', complete with actions. By half-way through the set, the Wind really was Blowing Through The Windows (or would have been if there had been any windows) and at least one band member’s teeth were noticeably chattering. Slowly but surely the temperature dropped quite a bit until after 75 minutes of holy original acoustic folk rock, everyone decided that any longer might have hazardous to their health (referring to the cold, not the music!). Recorded on the night, and as a special gift to their Gatton friends, 'Roll On Like A River (Live In Gatton)', is available to freely download in full here. It captures a moment just before the temperature plummeted and has an ending that is so bad it's funny. All in all it was a concert that will be remembered as being very enjoyable, a lot of fun & a real success. There was a lot of positive feedback, appreciation and most importantly, when they got back to their car, the battery wasn't again flat.
	07.06.04 - Crying Out Loud news. From Crying Out Loud. Album - it's getting there. Bass tracks are almost done. But because of exams we are putting a hold on it. But it's due for release in September so watch out for shows all over the country that month. So yeah we are planning on hitting the studio hard after exams. Mp3 - we are going to be putting up a new Mp3 on www.mp3.com.au so keep an eye out for that. It's the live favourite 'Broadway'. According to Sounds Like Chicken it sounds a bit Frugals... but we deny any association... Merch - merch is now available online. Check out www.fist2face.com for ours and a whole stack of other great bands CDs, T's etc... Our sponsor Reuel is on there too. We are looking at getting a whole stack of new winter type merch soon. Hoodies and the like... so keep a look out for that. Sorry if you have come to show and not been able to get the T-shirt you want, we are running out of popular stuff, but don’t worry we will have new stuff soon. Webby - we are hoping to get some new photo's up within the week... so keep checking our site for them... and hopefully when Ben sorts it out we will have the videos working. If you have a free moment then please visit the forum and drop us a line. Gigs - thanks to everyone who came and supported all the bands at Jannali a few weeks ago. It was a great show with one of the best local turnouts ever!!! So good on ya's thanks heaps!!! This weekend we have gig with The Refrains who are great, so it is not the kind of show you want to miss... be there... the details are on the website so check that our... or email mark at emotionalpromotions@tpg.com.au and tell him to stop being lazy and update the site. Or ask him. We will also be doing some interstate touring around September to promote the debut album which means Brisbane yet again and of course lovely Melbourne. And yes of course our little ACT buddies you won't be missing out! We are also playing out first Wollongong show in a few weeks also with good friends Wishful thinking, Never The Less and The Refrains.
	04.06.04 - Christian bands wanted to play at Hillsong Conference 2004. From Hillsong Church. Are you interested in being a part of this year's forecourt entertainment for Hillsong Conference at the Super dome in Homebush, Sydney? Hillsong Conference will be held July 5th to the 9th. We are looking for acoustic bands, both solo and group, to book for approximately half hour slots and one hour slots between 11:15am-3:15pm & 4:15pm-7pm. Unfortunately these will not be paid gigs, but it will be amazing exposure and experience for you and your band. We are expecting more than 20,000 in attendance and it would be a great opportunity to showcase your material, as well as provide excellent entertainment for our delegates. It will also be masses of fun. We would dearly love to showcase Christian music from all churches. If you are interested, please send us a demo of material ASAP (and please respond ASAP as we will be programming the event shortly) to: Hillsong Church c/o Olga Mullarkey 188 Young Street Waterloo NSW 2017
	03.06.04 - Roma captures Sydney's heart. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. Singer-songwriter Roma Waterman has one of those voices that begs comparisons. Sometimes, she exhibits the brittle smoky feel of Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer), and other times, the tender melancholy of Norah Jones. Being in such good vocal company is impressive in itself, but Waterman is simply a remarkable and individual performer. FM103.2's breakfast announcer Greg Allen says that Roma "captured Sydney's heart" and held a "full house in rapt attention" for the opening night of her national People Change tour at the weekend. The tour, which takes in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Launceston, Geelong, the Gold Coast and Townsville, is Waterman's first national tour in seven years. "Roma's beautifully crafted and delivered songs, along with personal stories from her life journey, [have] made this concert event one that will not quickly be forgotten," Greg reports. "Opening act Nathan Tasker, who had just arrived back from the USA that same day, complemented Roma beautifully, helping to make this a very special evening," he says. Roma Waterman's song 'People Change' is reporting strong adds on Christian radio. See Roma's website for tour dates.
	03.06.04 - Hot gospel soul-saving from Christian musicians on ABC TV. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. ABC TV's 'Compass' program last weekend featured a story on Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusade held in Newcastle last year. The documentary focused on some "hot gospel soul-saving" and featured music from NZ's Lads who received a significant amount of airtime performing 'Creator', plus songs from Darlene Zschech, Steve Grace and Crystal Lewis. Talking about Lads, new Australian record label Nourish has confirmed the band will be recording a new studio album in Nashville this month. Joe Baldridge (Newsboys, Phil Joel, Jewel and dc Talk), with some assistance from Steve Taylor, will produce the album. Compass this week (Sun 06 Jun @ 10:15pm, ABC) airs the Journey Films documentary on Deitrich Bonhoeffer that was showing in theatres throughout Australia earlier this year. Bonhoeffer has inspired several Christian musicians including Steve Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman and Monique Lisbon.
	03.06.04 - Furler named as a judge for International Songwriting Competition. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. Peter Furler (Newsboys) will be a judge for this year's International Songwriting Competition (ISC). More than $100 000 in cash and prizes will be shared by 50 winners in 16 categories. Roma Waterman's song 'I Was Carried' was runner up in the Christian category last year. Incidentally, Roma's song is #3 on the UCB Europe song chart this week.
	03.06.04 - Aussies nominated for American Christian Music Awards. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. Darlene Zschech, Newsboys, Rebecca St James and the Paul Colman Trio acquired nominations for the 2004 American Christian Music Awards. Fans and industry figures can vote for these awards. Voting at www.americanchristianmusic.com. Winners announced on 24 September 2004. Darlene has gained nominations for: · Female Vocalist of the Year, and · Outstanding Female Artist with the song 'Pray'. The Paul Colman Trio secured two nominations for: · Outstanding AC album with 'One', and · Outstanding Special Event album with its contribution to 'City on a Hill - The Gathering'. Rebecca St James is also nominated in the Special Event Album category for her contribution to '!Hero, The Rock Opera'. Newsboys gained several nominations for the song 'He Reigns': · Song of the Year · Outstanding Duo/Artist · Outstanding Adult Contemporary Song · Outstanding Current Hits Song The group is also nominated for Outstanding Current Hits Artist and Outstanding AC Artist.
	03.06.04 - It's a long way to the top. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. Merelyn Carter (nee Watson) has come a long way since she recorded her 1991 gospel album 'My Wild Heart'. Now, Merelyn and her husband David are winning awards alongside major mainstream acts such as John Butler, Powderfinger, and Delta Goodrem. Carter & Carter tonight took out the prestigious 2004 APRA Music Award for Most Performed Country Work for their song 'Lead Me Home'. APRA is an association administering the rights of the world's composers, songwriters and publishers in Australia and New Zealand. It is the songwriting equivalent to the ARIA Awards which recognises the recording industry.
	03.06.04 - Rebecca St James stirs controversy. From Wes Jay, The Rock Across Australia. Rebecca St James has caused a stir in London this weekend that has been heard around the world. In an interview with Reuters International News Service in London during her current European tour, Rebecca was asked about her views on the abstinence message she passionately espouses and her opinion of Britney Spears, who also made a very publicised vocal vow of abstinence until marriage. "I feel sad for Britney," said Rebecca in a feature that hit headline news on both the worldwide website of CNN.com and CNN Headline News in the US headlined Christian Rock Star 'Sad' For Britney. "She [Britney] has had an unbelievable amount of pressure put on her. She would have people from the top of her record label to her manager and her peers saying you've got to be more raunchy, show more skin," noted Rebecca. "It's like water on a stone, it just starts wearing away no matter how strong you are" Rebecca's concern extended not to taking shots at Britney but to the overall message being sent to the young by 'role models' from the world of entertainment - a message she feels is too often counter productive to purity. She told Reuters that she feels sad for the nine or 10-years-old watching Spears who see her dressing in a very promiscuous fashion, almost asking for people to treat her as a sex object. They are going to start dressing that way too." Despite the seductive images of sex prevalent in the media, St James is confident that she can persuade youngsters to follow her lifestyle, claiming many teenagers see waiting to have sex until you're married as "a new benchmark of cool".