It’s now less than two weeks until the first Christian summer music festival in this area, “The Day,” in New Holland.
Look for “a day of true worshipers,” organizer Crystal Sowel says in an article to be published in this Saturday’s Intell / New Era.
The Day, marking its 11th anniversary in 2012, will be held Saturday, June 2.
It starts at 10 a.m. in the New Holland park, East Jackson Street and Kinzer Avenue, and is to run until 10 p.m. Petra Christian Fellowship, 565 Airport Road, New Holland, will be the rain location.
Headlining performers for 2012 will be returning artists Brothers McClurg, a national act from Buffalo, N.Y., along with well-known regional artists ranging from duos BrotherSister (out of Harrisburg) and Brad & Rebekah to worship artist Christopher Wright from Exton and guitarist Steve Bridgeman.
The iffy economy “kind of puts a little bit of a crunch” on festivals like “The Day,” Sowel tells us, “but I do believe that we’re going to have the same quality that we’ve had in the past.”
The lineup sure looks good from here.
Here it is:
n There will be worship at 11:15 a.m. with the Lighthouse Assembly of God worship team, and then at 2 p.m. with the Petra Christian Fellowship worship team.
Headlining performers then include:
n 3 p.m., Brad & Rebekah.
n 4:15, Steve Bridgeman, a solo artist and former guitarist for the popular area band, The Rainchildren.
n 5, Christopher Wright, who has performed at Creation Northeast.
n 6:15, SisterBrother, whose music has been getting increasing airplay on Christian rock radio, including on Lancaster’s WJTL-FM.
n 7:15, Speaker Evelyn Klingler, a missionary to Honduras.
n 8:15, Brothers McClurg.
For a schedule of events, visit www.thedayofworship.com.
And by the way, a week after The Day, Witness Fest in Quarryville is set for Saturday, June 9, followed by Creation Northeast up in the hills of Pennsylvania from June 27-30.

In case you’re wondering what Third Day has been up to recently (I know I have been), here’s some great news …
The multiple-award-winning, veteran Christian rock band has been spending what publicists call “a generous part of 2012 immersed in the recording of its next studio album.”
No word yet on a release date for the project, which will be Third Day’s 17th album in its nearly two-decade career in music ministry.
The new CD is being recorded in Third Day’s own state-of-the art studio, The Quarry, in Atlanta.
Plus, the band is working with veteran rock producer Brendan O’Brien, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Audioslave and The Fray, among others.
Don’t expect Third Day to cover Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” or STP’s “Interstate Love Song.”
But the chart-topping Christian band is always getting compared with some of those bands when non-Christian music fans ask who Third Day sounds like, so having O’Brien in the booth looks appropriate.
O’Brien has won two Grammy Awards himself, and has production credits on 14 albums that have topped the Billboard 200 sales chart.
The time with O’Brien “has been nothing less than an amazing experience,” Third Day’s well-known frontman Mac Powell says.
“He is one of my favorite producers. Having made so many great records with so many amazing artists through the years, I consider it such an honor to be working with him.
“Brendan has definitely stretched me as a songwriter and vocalist more than any other producer ever has.”
The new Third Day project comes on the heels of an excellent 2011 for the band, including being the first Christian artist ever to receive ASCAP’s coveted Vanguard Award, as well as a highly successful spring / fall “Make Your Move” tour.
Speaking only for me, I can’t think of a band, Christian or not, that I like to see in concert more than them, so we’ll have to keep an eye out for a possible release date for the new album as well as upcoming tour dates.
Visit www.ThirdDay.com for more on Mac and Mark Lee, Tai Anderson and David Carr.

Hard to imagine that back around the time of the last presidential election and the Olympics four years ago, few of us in Christian music had yet heard of Tenth Avenue North.
But the band, which released its breakout project “Over and Underneath” that year of 2008, has had an impact like few other acts in contemporary Christian music in the years since.
Their songs have gotten into our ears and hearts so much, in fact, it’s also hard to imagine a time when they weren’t around and making brilliant music.
As Billboard Magazine said, correctly, “To say this band is going to be the ‘next big thing’ feels like an understatement.”
And it’s already happened.
Now, Tenth Avenue North is getting ready to unveil its third studio project, “The Struggle,” later this year (Aug. 21), with its new radio single ready for the airwaves later this month.
And from the sounds of it, the band with the deceptively simple, powerful, spirit-uplifting music is getting ready to do it again.
Publicists write that “the 12-track album reflects influences ranging from fan insight from the headlining artists’ past two years on the road, to the addition of two new band members and a new recording process … ‘The Struggle’ is a bold, creative leap forward.”
Frontman Mike Donehey said that “the record’s theme implies permission to struggle with life’s challenges, but encourages us not to remain in that place of struggle. Things are going to be hard, but we have something greater to look forward to.
“We are free to struggle, but because of what Christ did on the cross, we don’t need to struggle to be free.”
Debut single “Losing” will start being heard on Christian radio on May 25.
The song was inspired by a moving letter sent in to a radio station by a woman struggling with forgiveness; it sums up the idea that we actually lose more than we win when we choose not to extend forgiveness to someone.
The band also has new members Ruben Juarez (bass) and Brendon Shirley (keyboards), who were instrumental in the progression of the Tenth Avenue North sound, publicists add.
The band still includes Donehey, Jason Jamison on drums and Jeff Owen on electric guitar and background vocals.
The band is fresh off the “Rock & Worship Roadshow” tour, where attendance exceeded 230,000, and it also made a featured appearance at the Grammy block party in Nashville earlier this month.
Can’t wait to hear what this special band, named for a main exit route from its town in Florida, will present to all of us next!
For more information on Tenth Avenue North and/or “The Struggle,” visit www.tenthavenuenorth.com, www.facebook.com/tenthavenuenorth or www.providentpress.com.

Talk about the perfect finale.
Casting Crowns wrapped up the spring leg of its 42-city “Come To The Well” tour in Houston this past Saturday night, with the final show drawing a sellout crowd of 16,000-plus.
In fact, the show at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion marked Casting Crowns’ highest-grossing and most-attended show ever.
And the seven-member Christian band joins some pretty select company in playing the amphitheater just outside of Houston, in The Woodlands, Texas.
Upcoming acts coming there include the Dave Matthews Band and Jimmy Buffett.
The “Come To The Well” tour seems to confirm that Casting Crowns is the largest act now going in Christian music.
Final attendance for both the fall and spring tour legs exceeded 370,000, with 40 sold-out dates, making it one of the most successful Christian tours of all time.
Pretty amazing stuff … and for the band members, who work in church ministry, it’s a part-time job.
Which, speaking just for me, makes a Casting Crowns show all the more startling.
Singer Mark Hall has as powerful a voice as you’ll hear anywhere, and the musicianship and backup singing is consistently excellent.
In other words, this is a band that should be admired by anyone who likes music, Christian or non-Christian, for its ability to write great songs and then deliver them superbly.
And it’s just clear, the second a Crowns concert begins, that the whole arena feels like the powerful, anthem-like songs are written just for them, just to reach them where they’re at.
For more information on Casting Crowns, visit www.castingcrowns.com, www.facebook.com/castingcrowns, www.twitter.com/castingcrowns or follow Hall’s Twitter at twitter.com/markhallCC.

They’re calling him things like “hard-hitting,” “strong and bold,” a “breath of fresh air” and even “unbelievable.”
If you’re a worship leader trying to make a go of it in Christian music, like Travis Ryan, those are all good things.
Ryan, the worship leader at California’s Saddleback Church, released his debut album, “Fearless,” on April 10.
Ryan comes with lots of good references, including being picked to perform at last week’s National Day of Prayer.
He also performs songs on his CD that were co-written with Matt Redman, Jason Ingram, Brenton Brown, All Sons & Daughters and others.
Here’s what some reviewers are saying …

“‘Fearless’ is immediately off to a great start, with the hard-hitting ‘Love That Has Won’ and ‘Battle Song.’ The production value here is especially high … as a studio-recorded worship effort, the innate musical power of the album never feels forced or canned … the album has an epic feel” … JesusFreakHideout.com.
“If you’re a worship leader looking for some new songs that will light a fire in the hearts of your people, Travis Ryan’s ‘Fearless’ is a great start. Each song is full of truth and praise to a God who loves and expects His children to live out what they believe, which in essence is true worship” … NewReleaseTuesday.com.
“Travis Ryan has captivated me with every song … a breath of fresh air that is revitalizing and enjoyable to listen to” … ChristianMusicZine.com.

Ryan launched the new project with a special ‘Fearless’ release event at Saddleback Church on Sunday, April 15.
Matt Redman joined Ryan that day to sing the song they wrote together for the album, ‘Chase,’ and Ryan also was featured at the National Day of Prayer this past Thursday, May 3, in Washington D.C.
Ryan at the prayer day event led six worship songs between speakers like Dr. David Jeremiah (who was here at Thursday evening’s main Lancaster NDP event), Dr. and Mrs. James Dobson, Bishop Harry Jackson, Mrs. Vonette Bright and others.
Ryan also will be featured at the National Worship Leaders Conference in Leawood, Kans., near Kansas City, July 16-19 and in San Diego, Oct. 9-11 (www.nationalworshipleaderconference.com).
Ryan has spent time as an associate producer for Marantha Music, and was born into a musical family. His father wrote songs for Maranatha during the Jesus Movement.
For more information on this new artist, go to www.travisryanmusic.com, www.facebook.com/travisryanworship, http://twitter.com/travisryan and www.integritymusic.com.
Keep an eye out for a review of “Fearless” in coming days.
Looking forward to hearing more about this exciting new artist!

The 2012 Billboard Music Awards will be airing live later this month from Las Vegas, and for one rapidly-growing genre of music, there are a number of promising nominees to choose from.
Christian music has become much more visible in the overall world of music, and now many of its best-known names are represented on the list of 2012 Billboard nominees.
Casting Crowns adds to its long list of accolades with four Billboard nominations, making the grade in the categories of Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Song and Top Christian Album.
Mark Hall & Co. joins fellow CCM powerhouses MercyMe, Skillet, Laura Story and Chris Tomlin for Top Christian Artist.
Also, its song “Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me),” competes with other radio mainstays, including Matthew West’s “Strong Enough” and Laura Story’s “Blessings” for Top Christian Song.
Casting Crowns also claims two of the five nominated projects in Billboard’s Top Christian Album category with “Come To The Well” and “Until The Whole World Hears.”
Officials said the awards will reflect Billboard’s chart rankings based on key fan interactions with music, including album sales and downloads, track downloads, radio airplay and touring as well as streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Vevo, YouTube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music.
These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound.
The awards will be based on the reporting period of March 1, 2011 through Feb. 29, 2012.
When I think of Casting Crowns’ success on both the “religious” and mainstream level, all I can think is, wow!
The band, which is among the rare Christian acts that can sell out a hockey arena, now has three certified platinum albums, two platinum DVDs, two gold albums and two gold DVDs, and is considered Billboard’s top-selling act in Christian music since 2007.
Casting Crowns has sold out 39 of 40 arena dates, with more than 350,000 in attendance, on its fall/spring “Come to the Well” tour.
Them’s a lot a of folks!
And with numbers like those, no one can really say Christian music is just a small sub-section of the music world anymore.
The Billboard awards will be presented from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 20, from 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern on ABC-TV.

There’s a lot of musical buzz these days, and nearly all of it good, about the huge success of Thousand Foot Krutch and its hard-edged-but-accessible sound.
The Christian band recently released its seventh studio album, “The End Is Where We Begin,” to not only wide critical acclaim, but also with its biggest sales debut ever.
While it climbs up into the stratosphere occupied by bands like Skillet, TFK also seems to be showing itself as an outfit that’s in it for completely the right reason.
Two examples stand out, in how it declared its independence from record labels and in how it treats its fans.
The band built a new marketing and radio team around itself through its management, The Fuel Music Management Co. out of Nashville, and gathered full support for “The End Is Where We Begin.”
The new CD features the adrenaline-infused active rock hit, “Let The Sparks Fly,” and the current Christian radio staple, “Be Somebody.”
TFK also treats its fans like part of the family.
“Since day one, we’ve actually been uncomfortable with the term ‘fans,’ because these people mean so much more to us,” says TFK frontman Trevor McNevan, whose powerful-but-vulnerable voice is a big reason for the group’s success.
“They’re the friends and family of the band, so to speak, and I think they’ve grown to trust us over the years, which is something that’s been built between us and not manufactured.”
A band press statement adds that TFK “has found that sometimes the best way to move forward is to go back to the basics, taking all of the raw energy and emotion of the past and channeling it into the present.”
The new CD also is a case of “marinating its unique blend of towering choruses, razor-sharp rhythms, epic arrangements and stadium-shaking rumbles” into the songs, it says.
The Ontario-bred band also is just part of a mini-revolution in Christian music that’s coming down from Canada.
Canadians are making a bigger impact than ever in CCM, which is clear when you take a look at some of the premier Christian music artists with direct or indirect ties to Canada, a list that also includes Downhere, Matt Maher, The City Harmonic and Relient K.
For more on TFK, including its tour plans for this summer, visit www.thousandfootkrutch.com.

While listening to Lindsay McCaul’s “If It Leads Me Back” in recent weeks, the CD confirmed a suspicion I had from last month’s Casting Crowns, Matthew West, Etc. concert in Hershey.
That was that McCaul, who as one of the opening acts was part of the “Etc.” at the Giant Center show, is a fresh, powerful and very original new voice in Christian music.
She has the oomph-filled voice of a Bethany Dillon or Jami Smith (a little higher, perhaps!), with the honest, earnestly Christ-seeing lyrics of a Laura Story or even (I’ll get a guy in here now!) Chris Tomlin.
In other words, get to know this CD from McCaul, a 28-year-old Illinois-based worship leader.
The first song on the package, “Say My Name,” is being heard on the radio right now, but there are at least seven songs on the CD as good.
My personal favorite might be the catchy “Come Rest,” an earlier single and a quiet, beautifully-sung tune about the uselessness of us being all busy for God without first letting Him lead:

“Busy, busy me
Full of self-sufficiency
I have tried so fervently to earn Your love
But any joy that I once found
is wearing off, is winding down.”

Other terrific songs abound — in fact, there ain’t a bad one of the 11 on “If It Leads Me Back.”
“Where Do You Go” is a powerful song about facing struggles and feeling like you’re not hearing from God like you think you should: “Where do you go, when all you have are questions / maybe the silence is His mercy / and there’s beauty in His mystery,” she sings, helping all of us contending with our own “thorns in the flesh” that we think should be gone.
The title track, which ends things, is a beautifully-performed song about events being for the good if it involves leading us back to God.
McCaul also clearly has something of her own to say.
She co-wrote or wrote by herself all 11 songs, and gets to share a byline with some pretty big names in Christian music, like songwriter Jason Ingram and Cindy Morgan, the one-time solo artist who has made quite a new career for herself as a songwriter.
McCaul, born in Abilene, Texas, moved to Florida as a youngster and lived close enough to the space center to hear the Shuttle rattle her windows when it launched.
The newlywed (McCaul married Mark Mattingly this past September) now is a worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel in Illinois.
She started writing back at age 11 or 12, she recalls: “I would write what I was thinking about or processing, or about how The Lord was revealing himself to me.”
Her webpage continues:
“Unafraid to share her most personal struggles in song, McCaul penned the poignant ballad ‘Let Go’ about dealing with an eating disorder, and seeing a friend in college wrestling with the same issue. ‘I really feel like Satan was trying to get a hold of me, keep me from fully giving my life to the Lord,’ she says.
‘It’s a control thing. You want to control an area in your life. The Lord had to really break me of that and show me that He’s in control of my life.’
“McCaul admits the healing didn’t happen overnight, and her experience left her with a burden for young girls and what they face in today’s society,” the webpage (www.lindsaymccaul.com) adds.
She also recalls hearing Mark Schultz’s beautiful ballad “He’s My Son” in her younger years and sitting on her bed, bawling.
“I was so moved and overwhelmed by this music. I can’t tell you how much Christian music has impacted my life. I truly would not be the person I am or where I am without the way the Lord has impacted my life through Christian music,” she adds.
Now, she’s the one moving people with her powerful, well-written songs and her smooth, easy-to-hear voice.
Don’t be surprised if “If It Leads Me Back,” released in January, wins some major awards and launches McCaul on the path toward HER being the headlining act in the near future.

Laura Story had quite a day for herself at the recent Dove Awards, and music was only part of the reason.
Not only she win multiple awards in connection with her CD “Blessings” at the 43rd annual Doves, held in Atlanta on April 19, the “day of the Doves” also was she learned she’s due to have a baby girl this September.
That will be her new release, she jokingly said.
Story took home no less than five Doves, including for the ballad “Blessings,” which was named overall song of the year.
She had written the song, the title track to her award-winning CD of the same name, after contending with her husband’s serious illness.
So her victories at the 43rd annual Doves were well-deserved, to put it mildly.
To look at the list of 2012 winners, it’s clear that the Christian music industry is as diverse and strong as it’s ever been, and it’s also clear that the number and the talent of women in the industry has never been higher.
Singer Jason Crabb took home Doves for best male vocalist and also for overall artist of the year.
Natalie Grant, who also performed her song “Alive” during the award ceremonies, took home the Dove for top female vocalist.
She also was gracious in victory.
“I’m honored to be in a category where all the nominees deserve to be standing in my place,” she said of her fellow nominees.
And the award for new artist of the year went to Jamie Grace, who thanked established Christian artist TobyMac for his help, and also had a personal thought.
She’s from Atlanta, and the site of the Dove ceremonies, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, was where she had her high-school prom just four short years ago.
The power-packed, soulful rock band Needtobreathe won three awards, including for the year’s top group.
There were a number of popular-music connections for the Dove ceremonies.
Four past “American Idol” finalists (Mandisa Hundley, Danny Gokey, Phil Stacey and former winner Ruben Studdard) sang a medley than included the standard “Lean On Me.”
Atlanta, home city of two of Christian music’s best-known acts (Third Day and Casting Crowns), seems to be a great home for the Doves, which had been up the road in Nashville for many years.
The April 19 awards honored artists in more than 40 categories, including rap/hip-hop, contemporary gospel, worship and urban music.