Wake Up My Soul
Andy Kirk
1CN Records
Worship
The Powerless Rise
As I Lay Dying
Metal Blade Records
Metal
Buy NOW:
Amazon
Letting Go
Jennifer Knapp
Graylin Records
Folk Rock
Buy NOW:
Amazon
Selective Hearing Part 2
LMNO & Kev Brown
Up Above Records
Hip-Hop
Buy NOW:
Amazon MP3
Rumors
Joy Ike
Independent
Singer?Songwriter/Pop
Buy NOW:
Amazon MP3
for more new releases, please check out our ALBUM RELEASE DATES page to stay up to date on all the new music coming out
EXCERPT:
But if you remove the social problem that homosexuality brings to the church—and the debate as to whether or not it should be called a “struggle,” because there are proponents on both sides—you remove the notion that I am living my life with a great deal of joy. It never occurred to me that I was in something that should be labeled as a “struggle.” The struggle I’ve had has been with the church, acknowledging me as a human being, trying to live the spiritual life that I’ve been called to, in whatever ramshackled, broken, frustrated way that I’ve always approached my faith. I still consider my hope to be a whole human being, to be a person of love and grace. So it’s difficult for me to say that I’ve struggled within myself, because I haven’t. I’ve struggled with other people. I’ve struggled with what that means in my own faith. I have struggled with how that perception of me will affect the way I feel about myself.
…………….
I would be really sad if people thought this was a sword trying to cut up something I’ve been deeply moved by. Christian music has been a great surprise for me, but I didn’t aspire to be a Christian music artist. I aspired to be a Christian in my private life, and I think it’s a wonderful side effect that can happen with music—that you can get a lot of people to share in that specific experience. So it would be a tragedy if people couldn’t see the forest for the trees, to see the connectivity between Kansas and Letting Go. It’s there for me, gratefully, with a big, huge, massive sigh of relief. It’s not like I left Christian music because Christian music was bad, or that I’m not participating in church because the church is evil. It’s none of those things. For me, it’s the journey that I’m on, trying to figure things about as best I can.
-Jennifer Knapp
Read Christianity Today article with Jennifer Knapp concerning her sexuality
Amazing what 24 hours, 40 degrees and 30 mph north winds will do. On Friday night there were easily 50,000 music fans strolling the streets of Austin’s music district. After a surprise cold front (it was hard enough keeping up with an overload of music greatness and my NCAA bracket, much less the weather) the crowds on Saturday night dropped to 1500. The clubs were still busy but the streets were quiet.
That did not stop us from continuing our quest to experience great music performed at SXSW 2010 by Christians. After spending the afternoon shivering in the streets, just missing the artists I wanted to see, we got the evening off to a dance party start with Swimming With Dolphins. This electro-pop band is tall, nice looking Austin Tofte joined on tour by a live drummer. Austin worked multiple keyboards, an iBook and sang and danced his way into the psyche of a nice sized crowd at world famous Emo’s. Swimming With Dolphins‘ bright, poppy electronic sound turned heavy halfway through the set when Tofte reached deep into his synths for some bone rattling bass. The college aged crowd could no longer resist at that point and carved out a space to dance. Swimming With Dolphins turned up the geek quotient when they closed with the song “Jasques Cousteau’, dedicated to the world’s most famous marine biologist.
Next, I ran the block and a half to see hard rock band I AM EMPIRE. This five piece band dressed in full rock costume (black boots, black jeans and black tshirts) and delivered on the look. From the first drumbeat to the final feedback I AM EMPIRE rock the joint hard. The lead singer screamed and wailed, the guitarists raged and the drummer pounded his drums as if they had stolen something from him. Through it all they rocked lyrics like “My God won’t forsake me, My sweet Jesus saves me every time I fail”. I AM EMPIRE is like if AC/DC and Bon Jovi had a baby who gave his life to Christ.
The next day we drug our tired bodies out of bed, headed to Stubbs for the Gospel brunch. We were treated to some awesome Texas barbecue and TexMex and were blessed to be in the the presence of the legendary gospel group Bells of Joy. This 64 year-old group (that’s right, the group is 64 years old) is in just about every hall of fame you can be in. The Bells of Joy delivered on their name as they performed a raucous set of joyful Gospel music punctuated by slick dancing, tasty solos and the Word. As I set there, I realized that from a musical perspective groups like the Bells of Joy made SXSW possible. Without these groups that brought gospel out of the Church and into the streets there would have been no Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis or Little Richard. Without those guys there would have been no Beatles or Stones. Without groups like Bells of Joy, SXSW would be Clay Aiken singing show tunes. Thank you Bells of Joy.
As we wrap up SXSW 2010, we were excited by the be-bop electronica of Son Lux (a must-see if he comes to your town), awed by the artistry of Danielson and Jennifer Knapp and happy to have discovered some new favs, Ben+Vesper and Ortolan.
A great start to South by Southwest today. This global music industry conference is held every March in Austin, Texas 
and features more than 10,000 music acts over five days. We are featuring as many of the Christian acts playing the conference as we can manage to see.
Today we started the evening in the sanctuary of one Austin’s downtown churches. This is a cool place t0 see music. The setting is beautiful, with dark woods and stained glass, and the acoustics are unbelievable.
Even better, I was able to see the great Jennifer Knapp in the middle of her tour back onto the music scene after a seven year journey to find her muse. Am I glad she found it. This was a mesmeriszing performance by an exceptional artist. She mostly played songs from her tremendous new album “Letting Go” which comes to you on May 11th. This was an acoustic set but you can tell Jennifer Knapp likes to rock. She started by asking the crowd “Do you want to vibe out or do you want me to rock your face off.” Jennifer Knapp weaved a powerful, nuanced voice and her guitar mastery into a hypnotic set of songs that left the audience stunned and enthralled. At one point she commented that the crowd did not seem to care that her guitar was out of tune. They did not care, they were too busy soaking up the soulful tunes she was delivering.
Next I ran to the Beauty Bar to catch the Asthmatic Kitty/Sounds Familyre showcase. I went to see three bands I had never seen live and I was not disappointed.
First up were Christian indie music masters Ben + Vesper. First of all, Ben is married to Vesper. Was the band jut called Ben before? Their set featured shot looping harmonies, crystal clear vocals, driving rhythms and, in some songs middle period Beatles song structures. Ben + Vesper‘s songs stop suddenly. At times I felt they were leading into crescendo dynamics when they suddenly ended the song. It was bracing, not in a bad way, and it did catch your attention. Ben + Vesper deliver a full sound with two guitars, keyboards and a trumpet on top of a hard driving rhythm section. The band’s most distinctive performance trait was their group singing which featured powerful, loud harmonies sung over and over. This was a striking dynamic to a performance by talented, visionary musicians.
After that I moved to the outside stage to catch a new band I had not even heard of until this week. Daniel Smith‘s newest protege’s are a four girl group called Ortolan. These are four fresh faced, small town hipsters who performed a set of quirky indie pop songs. Great harmonies with atonal ellements and constantly shifting rythms make this group compelling to hear. Though they claim a lead vocalist many of their songs feature dual lead vocals between the guitarist and keyboard player. At times they seemed surprised the SXSW crowed genually liked their music.
All of that was a prelude to the much anticipated set by indie icon Danielson. As soon as Ortolan finished their set, the crowd surges forward and the club filled. Danielson master mind, Daniel Smith, enlisted the help of four memebers of Ben+Vesper and Ortolan’s lead singer to complete Danielson. Daniel Smith’s vision for Danielson is visual as well as sonic. All of the band dressed in custom, hand-made uniforms, right down to the shoes (see above). While the visuals of Danielson may be quirky and the vocal style off beat, make no mistake that this is complex, precise, layered music constructed to challenge us listeners. And even though Daniel Smith sometimes sings in a high pitched chanting voice do not underestimate him as a performer. The sweat runnig down his face after two songs, even though it was a cool Austin evening, and his intense trembling performance left no doubt that Daniel Smith is a serious visionary and Danielson is his vision.
That is it for Day One. Check back with us tomorrow as we try to catch-up with Americana superstar Buddy Miller and electro-pop super hero Lights, among others.
Below is the tracklisting and album artwork for Jennifer Knapp‘s first new album in over 7 years, entitled Letting Go, which will hit stores on May 11th, 2010. Many reading this website do not have to be reminded that Jennifer Knapp has always been an important, and creative figure in the Christian music landscape. It seems that she is making up for lost time now with a tour with Derek Webb, SXSW, and then on to Lilith Fair Tour.
1. Dive In
2. Letting Go
3. Fallen
4. Want Nothing More
5. Mr. Gray
6. On Love
7. Better
8. Stone To The River
9. If It Makes A Difference
10. Inside
for more new releases, please check out our ALBUM RELEASE DATES page to stay up to date on all the new music coming out
The One21 Essential 100 is a collection of albums that represent the best in creativity, innovation, and originality in music. This is not a “best of” list, nor is it influenced by album sales, or even popularity. Our attempt with this series is to highlight the gems, those rare albums that push boundaries and encourage new ways of thinking; both musical and philosophically. In our opinion, the music highlighted in this series is the “good stuff”.
Simply what this is going to be is a list of 100 albums from Christian music artists that we think you should own. Like our website, most genres will be represented, and some of the albums will be from as far back as the 60s, to as current as 2009. Each week we will post five albums, in no real order, with descriptions, album artwork, and places to buy the music.
Check out Pt.1
Check out Pt.2
Check out Pt.3
Check out Pt.4
Check out Pt.5
Kansas
Jennifer Knapp
1998
Buy this album:Amazon
Kansas basks in both the relative youth of as a woman and as a Christian. Featuring her smartly communicative songwriting, Kansas examines matters of spirit and faith in an era dominated by pop culture. Jennifer Knapp chooses to embrace the dichotomy of spirit and culture with the back to back “Undo Me” and “Trinity”; the former, an infectious rock anthem and 1999′s Dove Award for rock song of the year, the latter a harmonically layered scripture-based examination of the Holy Spirit.
Self-described as “just a girl with a guitar,” Jennifer Knapp, crafts acoustic folk-rock in the vein of Lilith Fair rock-maids, yet founds her lyrics on her relationship with God rather than on that of a beau. Blessed with an agile, earthy voice that reaches from matter-of-fact talkiness to power yowl to melodious balladic lilt Jennifer Knapp examines herself and, in the process inspires us to examine ourselves. Coupled with her taut and circular guitar lines and inspired string arrangements, Jennifer Knapp‘s Kansas is a testament to her well-used talents.
Highlights: Undo Me, Romans, Martyrs & Thieves
Through Thick & Thin
Dogwood
1996
Buy this album: Amazon
By combining elements of traditional punk, pop punk, hardcore, and even a little metal, Dogwood’s 1996 sophomore album, Through Thick & Thin, was (and in many was still is) the punk album to beat. Every member of the band ejected each track with their own personal flavor that gave Dogwood’s sound stand so far ahead of the rest they could barely be seen. It wasn’t so much that they reinvented punk, but it is so refreshing still to hear a band who took a genre and made it their own. Josh Kimbles vocals sound like they could fit in a Seattle grunge band, the guitars sounded more Metallica at times than Sum 41, and the lightning fast drumming makes even the most seemingly simple part explode through the speakers.
Aside from the sound, it was the message of Through Thick & Thin that makes it still relevant today. Instead of singing about parties and the beach, Dogwood tackled issues of sin, child abuse, and integrity. Every song contained some type of deeply grounded truth that was far more emotional than expected, and gave Dogwood the distinction of being the most seriously minded happy band on the planet. Fast, impactful, and unique: Through Thick & Thin was a classic then, and it is a classic now.
Highlights: All Hands On Deck
The Grass is Blue
Dolly Parton
1999
Buy this album: Amazon
In 1997, middle-aged, no longer viable at radio, Dolly Parton returned to the Tennessee mountain cabin of her youth to “write like I was hungry again.” The first recording out of her return to her roots was Hungry Again. Then Dolly Parton released The Grass Is Blue, the first of a series of three bluegrass albums. Dolly Parton‘s 61st full-length album is not a superstar covering a genre. The Grass Is Blue is Dolly Parton singing the music of her childhood with the kind of authentic, fiery passion we rarely present is the country-pop Dolly Parton has allowed herself to be chained with for decades. This album revived her reputation as a country singer/songwriter and allowed her to sing and testify her faith.
The Grass is Blue is a full-out bluegrass venture. An all star group of musicians bring dobro, fiddle, mandolin and banjo to Dolly Parton’s warbling voice and mountain twang. The seamless grace of Dolly Parton‘s celebration of her mountain roots won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album in 2001.
Highlights: Silver Dagger, I Am Ready, Travelin’ Prayer
Bad Blood In The City: The Piety Street Sessions
James Blood Ulmer
2007
Buy this album:Amazon
Free Jazz guitar legend James Blood Ulmer collaborates with Vernon Reid and The Memphis Blood Blues Band to deliver a blues take on the destruction of New Orleans. It’s built around a cycle of original Ulmer songs which directly address Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. With this album, Ulmer has delivered one of the most stirring and emotionally powerful recordings of his career.
“Survivors of the Hurricane” opens the album with a bluesy cry of despair and longing that survivors feel. In “Katrina”, Ulmer virtually wails at the physical and spiritual destruction wrought by the big storm. Ulmer’s gruff shuffling singing style delivers a powerful texture to this haunting song cycle.
Highlights:Let’s Talk About Jesus
Brother, Sister
mewithoutYou
2006
Buy this album: Amazon
By the time that Brother, Sister rolled around in 2006, people already knew that mewithoutYou were special. What they didn’t know is that past albums hadn’t even begun to tap into what the band was capable of, and Brother, Sister was the album the band was the album the band was born to make. If you have never heard mewithoutYou, then this will be very hard to describe, because simply…..there isn’t anything that sounds like them. The music is heavy, but it isn’t hard. The songs are creative, but they are simple at the same time. The vocals are not sang or screamed or spoken, more ranted….and sang…..and screamed…The sound mewithoutYou had spent years crafting came on in full force with Brother, Sister, and so in a way it was like everything they had done before, but in the right order for the first time.
Lyrically, Brother, Sister is a call of unification, and plead for brotherhood and worship. Like most things mewithoutYou, this message isn’t obvious; many of the songs talk more about animals and life on the sea rather than the Body of God. What you will find is that the first time you listen to the album, you will spend most of your time trying to get used to mewithoutYou’s unique brand of folk and progressive post-hardcore. The second time you will just start to love the songs themselves, the third time you will start to recognize and dig into the lyrics. Then, something will click, and you cant imagine listening to anything else. We at One21 consider this to be one of the best albums every created, and we also believe it will stand the test of time and be copied, imitated, and ripped off for years to come, all a testament to the power that mewithoutYou communicates. Oh, earlier, notice I didn’t say one of the best albums ever created by CHRISTIAN artists….
Highlights: Messes of Men
After a seven year hiatus, Jennifer Knapp announced last year that she was writing new material and would begin to play live once again. Today, Knapp announced that her new album would be called Letting Go, and would see the light of day on May 11th, 2010.
In addition, Spring of 2010 will see her and Derek Webb hitting a handful of shows together, after which Jennifer Knapp will jump on the traveling Summer tour known as Lilith Fair with the likes of Sara McLachlan, Cat Power, Heart, Jill Scott, and Loretta Lynn.
Below are the tour dates with Jennifer Knapp and Derek Webb:
March 5 New York, NY City Winery*
March 6 Manheim, PA Warehouse 54*
March 8 Alexandria, VA The Birchmere*
March 12 Asheville, NC Pisgah Brewing Company*
March 13 Knoxville, TN The Square Room*
March 26 Pittsburgh, PA Club Cafe Live*
March 27 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theater*
It seems that Ben Olin, vocalist from This Beautiful Republic has left the band.
Carmen is going to start doing movies again….yep, we just mentioned Carmen on The One21.
Brett Detar, former vocalist for The Juliana Theory and former guitarist for Zao, is going to make a solo album.
The van carrying all of Underoath‘s equipment crashed on a way to a show. Everyone was ok, but three days later, the band was literally snowed into their hotel, and had to cancel more shows. Its tough touring!
Wow, Jennifer Knapp will be on the Lilith Fair tour in 2010. Congrats!
Alyssa Duncan, vocalist for Ilia, has stepped down from the band with no real explanation.
12 Stones, Blood And Water, Letter To The Exiles, Juliagrace, Shonlock, Pergamum, Our Last Night, and Fairgreen are all in the studio recording new music for your ears!
First up is “You’re Cool” by The Joe
Next up is “Open Your Eyes” by female emcee HeeSun Lee
This little gem of mosh is called “Unbreakable” by Saving Grace
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Dreamt Music’s progressive rock band Shapes Stars Make‘s upcoming January 19, 2010 release These Mountains Are Safe
1. Giant Bird
2. Le Dodici
3. (We Are) The Hurting
4. Be Gentle, Young One
5. Sunrise
6. Fireflies and Lights
7. The Calm
8. And the Sky Opened
Next we have the album artwork and tracklisting for The Saving One by Starfield, which will hit stores February 23rd, 2010.
1. The Saving One
2. Rediscover You
3. Declaration
4. No Other Savior
5. Something To Say
6. Absolutely
7. Overwhelm
8. Top Of My Lungs
9. Beautiful The Sound
10. Father
11. The Saving One (Acoustic Version)
A few weeks ago we announced that folk rock icon Jennifer Knapp has resurfaced after three years of seemingly self imposed exile. This week, Knapp herself addressed her return to music and explained her absence in a letter addressed to her fans posted on her website. Read letter from Jennifer Knapp.
Paramore‘s first album, All We Know Is Falling, was certified Gold this last week with over 50,000 units sold. Congrats kids!
Apparently, pop rock band Kids In The Way are getting back together. Don’t believe me? Read the blog Run Kid Run just posted.
Dance rock band Queen’s Club has signed on with Tooth & Nail Records. Interesting
selection for sure…
Following the Insyderz‘s footsteps, both Five Iron Frenzy and The OC Supertones have eluded through various contacts that reunions and DVDs in the near future…
Long time Yours For Mine member Jonathan has decided to leave the band.
New Zealand moshcore band Saving Grace has signed with Strike First Records. Congrats to all involved….
An interview with Micah from Oh, Sleeper was posted over at Lambgoat.com. Take my advice though, read the interview with Oh, Sleeper, but do NOT read the comments anywhere on that website. Lambgoat has got some borderline sociopaths for readers.
The Day Of has signed with Southpawl Records.
A cool little interview with Bradley Hathaway was posted over at Blue Indian. Read Bradley Hathaway interview.
Since October, Stand Your Ground, and Holding Onto Hope are all in the studio right now (or heading there very soon) making some news tunes for YOU.
Below is the new video from John Reuben with the song “Confident”
Below is the latest from Hawk Nelson called “Live Life Loud”
Below is the video from progressive band The Contact for their song “The Divine”.
Below is the new video from Jeremy Enigk for his song “Mind Idea”
Below is the music video for The Crimson Armada‘s new song “The Serpent’s Tongue”
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for The Almost‘s upcoming release, entitled Monster Monster, which will hit stores November 3rd, 2009.
1. Monster Monster
2. Lonely Wheel
3. No I Don’t
4. Hands
5. Young Again
6. Summer Summer
7. Hand Grenade
8. Books & Books
9. Souls On Ten
10. Want To
11. Get Through
12. Monster
In addition to the album above, The Almost will release a exclusive EP through Hot Topic on October 6th, 2009 called The Monster EP. It will contain three songs from Monster Monster, along with two B-sides. In addition, there will be a special addition which will contain not only the EP, but all the packaging for Monster Monster and a blank CD to burn a free copy of the full-length when it becomes available through Shockhound.com. Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for The Monster EP.
1. Lonely Wheel
2. Hands
3. July
4. Birmingham
5. Monster
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for John Reuben ‘s upcoming December 22nd, 2009 release, Sex, Drugs, and Self Control
1. Jamboree
2. No Be Nah
3. Burn It Down
4. In The Air
5. Paranoid Schizophrenic Apocalyptic Whisper Kitten
6. Town Folk
7. Confident
8. Everett
9. Radio Makes You Lonely
10. So Sexy For All The Right Reasons
11. Wooden Whistle Man
12. Joyful Noise
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for We Came As Roman‘s new album, entitled To Plant A Seed, which will hit stores November 3rd, 2009.
1. To Plant A Seed
2. Broken Statues
3. Intentions (ft. Tyler “Telle” Smith of The Word Alive)
4. Roads That Don’t End And Views That Never Cease
5. Dreams
6. We Are The Reasons
7. Beliefs
8. I Will Not Reap Destruction
9. Searching, Seeking, Reaching, Always
10. An Ever-Growing Wonder
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting from Plumb‘s upcoming compilation entitled Beautiful History: A Hits Collection . It will be available November 3rd, 2009.
1. Stranded (2010 version)
2. Here With Me (2010 version)
3. Damaged (Redemption Extended Version)
4. God Shaped Hole (2010 version)
5. Real
6. I Can’t Do This
7. Cut
8. Better
9. Blush
10. In My Arms (Radio Edit)
11. Hang On
12. Beautiful History
Disc 2:
1. In My Arms (Bimbo Jones Radio Edit)
2. Cut (Bronleewe & Bose Radio Edit)
3. Hang On (Digital Dog Radio Edit)
4. Always (jRyann Radio Edit)
5. In My Arms (Bronleewee & Bose Extended Mix)
6. Cut (Digital Dog Extended Mix)
7. Hang On (Dave Audé Extended Mix)
8. Always (Bimbo Jones Extended Mix)
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Gwen Stacy‘s upcoming October 20th, 2009 release, entitled A Dialogue.
1. The First Words
2. Profit Motive
3. A Dialogue
4. Creation and How I See It
5. Words of the New Prophet
6. Devil Devil
7. Addictionary
8. Braveheart
9. A Middle Ground
10. The Making Of
11. The Sound of Letting Go
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting from the long awaited sophomore release from hard rock band Flyleaf, entitled Memento Mori, which will hit stores October 27th, 2009.
1. Again
2. Beautiful Bride
3. Arise
4. Bittersweet
5. Break Your Knees
6. Chasm
7. Circle
8. Have We Lost
9. Missing
10. Set Apart This Dream
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Kutless- It Is Well, which will hit stores Oct.20th
1. It Is Well
2. Amazed
3. Hungry
4. Taken By Love
5. What Faith Can Do
6. Remember Me
7. God of Wonders
8. You Are Everything
9. Give Us Clean Hands
10. You Save Me
11. Redeemer
12. I’m Still Yours
Victory Records metalcore band Corpus Christi have officially added a new drummer after the departure of their current one during the Scream For Prayer Tour 2009. With this addition, the band is ready to hit the road once again…
According to her management, it seems that long reclusive pop folk artist Jennifer Knapp is recording a new album, set to be released soon. More details as they come…
Below is the video for hip-hop rock group Shachah‘s song, “Deliver Us”
Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Mae‘s upcoming Sept.22, 2009 release, (m)orning
1. Good (M)orning
2. The Fisherman Song (We All Need Love)
3. The House The Fire Built
4. Boomerang
5. Two Birds
6. Night/Day
7. A Melody, The Memory
8. (M)orning Drive
An interview with screamo rockers A Bullet For My Pretty Boy was posted over at Indie Vision Music this week. Read A Bullet For My Pretty Boy interview.
Below is the music video for High Flight Society‘s latest single, “Run From Yesterday”.
An interview with Derek Webb has surfaced on PatrolMag.com concerning the controversy over his latest album. Read Derek Webb interview.
Below is the music video for I Am Alpha And Omega‘s latest single, “The War I Wage”
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