Jars of Clay's Stephen MasonI heard Bono proclaim that, “I don’t believe that Rock-n-Roll can really change the world.”  The Music Builds Tour rolled across America this year in hopes that Rock-n-Roll could really change one person, one place at a time. Hoping that if they can draw attention to cause of Habitat for Humanity, then maybe they can raise the level of awareness needed to make a difference in someone’s life.  And that my friends would begin to change the world.

This tour featured 3 Redlight managed bands: Third Day, Switchfoot, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band, along with the independent Jars of Clay and RED (on select dates).

Michael Barnes of Red rocks the main stage at Purple DoorWe first met Red at GMA week in 2006 as part of a New Artist Feature.  Two years later, the quintet from Nashville is still touring on their debut release, End of Silence.  We had the privilege of meeting up with Michael Barnes, lead vocalist, during his few short hours in his hometown during a tour with 3 Doors Down.  It was a spontaneous interview, yet packed with great information.  In the ten minutes we sat down together while Michael ate lunch, we found out a bit about what Red has been up to since we last sat down together, some discussion about “Christian” versus “mainstream”, the direction of their sophomore release, and more.

inReview: Two years ago when we met, you were a fairly new band.  Tell us a summary of what has been happening in the last two years.

Michael: Last year just doing a lot of shows.  We have been touring a lot.  Last year alone we did about 250 shows.  [We were] on the road for about 300 days, really.  We have just been really busy.  We played with some bands like Sevendust, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and just recently with 3 Doors Down.  Just really taking off, doing well.

Sintaxtheterrific probably makes more money than you. The South Carolina-based emcee is an attorney by day and rhyme-spitter by night and, as such, doesn't need hip-hop to survive. But the artform is a passion of his, and one that has produced a good deal of quality music.

In addition to his contributions to spiritual rap uber-collective Deepspace5, Tax has produced two solo projects since 2004: Simple Moves and Curb Appeal, which was released in 2006. We caught up to him at Gospel Music Association (GMA) Week in Nashville earlier this year. Read on...

inReview: When we last spoke to you, "Simple Moves" was about a year old and you were still working as a lawyer. Are you still doing the lawyer thing?

sintax: I am still an attorney.

From the opening track on Fall to the very last chord played on Summer, Jon Foreman grabs the listener's attention. Whether it's the instrumental accompaniment on each track or how his storytelling takes you on a journey, these 24 songs leave a vast impact on the listener. While most may recognize Jon as being the frontman of San Diego-based band Switchfoot, of his recent solo project Jon has said, "A lot of these songs are the more personal songs that don't really belong on a band record." The listener can agree as the EP's seem to encompass one man's sadness, loneliness, and heartache as well as his hopefulness and determination at finding peace within his world, his God and himself.

Jars of Clay is at it again.

After leaving their previous record label, the men of Jars are in the studio working on a new CD. To whet the appetite of their fans they have released an EP of songs to iTunes called Closer. When I heard the first song released, the title track "Closer", I was taken back by the lightheartedness of the song. Usually a Jars of Clay song is deep and multi-layered. They can be considered a "deep-thinking" man’s band. Not that the casual listener won't like their music, but without much thought you really don't understand or grasp the full meaning of most of Jars of Clay’s material. So listening to the casual, almost silliness of "Closer"
had me wondering if I was hearing a new Jars of Clay.

Acoustic performance in New York CityI first heard the term “after-show” back in the fall of 2006 when I was looking for the members of Switchfoot and found out there was some sort of acoustic show at a coffee shop several blocks away.  I arrived at the after-venue to find Jon Foreman, lead singer, sharing some of his writings with Drew Shirley backing him up on guitar. A year later, when available coffeehouses were scarce, I attended two after-shows where the platform was the sidewalk outside the venue of the Appetite for Construction tour, including New York City.  Just months later, I had the privilege of attending a “real” Jon Foreman acoustic show near Greenwich Village where Bob Dylan began hitting the music scene decades earlier.

Making the decision to form a power trio can prove to be a risky undertaking. To be sure, without the aid of one or more additional musicians to fill in the gaps created by the typical guitar/bass/drums arrangement, the songs of the average musical threesome are mostly left to stand or fall on their own intrinsic merit. The good news for Scott Gordin and his fellow Southern California-based bandmates, Jesse Manzano and Chip Gumienny, is that the compositions on their debut effort, Make Me a Worshiper, fit squarely into the former category.

Nevertheless rocks ShoutfestWith the myriad of press and artists floating around at GMA week each year, a pre-scheduled interview is often delayed or rescheduled.  Sometimes it does not take place at all.  When I arrived for an interview with Nevertheless, it turned out that another interview had been scheduled with them at the same time.  Yet they graciously took a few minutes out of their lunch to answer a few questions in anticipation of a yet-to-be-titled sophomore release.  It was a short interview, but packed with a punch.  Read on.

Nevertheless
GMA Week April 2008
Nashville, TN

Josh Pearson - lead vocals, guitar
AJ Cheek - lead guitar, background vocals, piano
Brad Jones - guitar, background vocals
Adam Wann - bass
Adam Rowe – drums

Pete Prevost, the newest memberSanctus Real is not a new name to Christian Music.  We caught them on the See Spot Rock tour in 2003 when they burst into the national scene with Say it Loud.  We sat down with them again in 2004 to talk about their second release Fight the Tide that garnered a GMA Dove Award for Modern Rock Album of the Year one year later.  Two albums and band member changes later, we talked to them once more.  This time we met a well-seasoned band with much more experience than our first meeting.  Read on to hear about their latest release, experiences at GMA week, and more.

Sanctus Real
GMA Week April 2008
Nashville, TN

Chris Rohman – guitar
Dan Gartley – bass
Pete Prevost – guitar