Friday, February 19, 2010

MICHAEL W. SMITH GATHERS A COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS TO RECORD “COME TOGETHER NOW” TO BENEFIT HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS

Come Together Now - Music City Unites For Haiti from Provident Label Group on Vimeo.



A Children’s Choir of More than 250 Elementary School Students – Including 14 from Haiti - Joined Artists Wynonna, Steven Curtis Chapman, Casting Crowns, The Oak Ridge Boys, Mandisa, Matt Maher,
Lee Greenwood, Phil Stacey, TobyMac, Travis Cottrell, Darwin Hobbs, Restless Heart, Point of Grace, Brandon Heath, Margaret Becker, Michael Tait, Kevin Max, The Newsboys, Ashley Cleveland, The Katinas, Kirk Sullivan, Meredith Andrews, Matthew West, Francesca Battistelli, Everlife and More

(NASHVILLE, TENN.) January 28, 2010 – Yesterday at Belmont University’s Ocean Way Studios, multi-platinum,
GRAMMY and Dove Award winning artist, Michael W. Smith gathered a who’s-who list from the music
community to record “Come Together Now.” The song, penned by Smith, David Mullen and Cindy Morgan – and
produced by Bryan Lenox – was written to remind people of the need to help those in Haiti.

“The crisis in Haiti has left us all trying to figure out how we can help,” shares Smith. “We wanted to create something that the community could support, for the greater good of those in Haiti. Everyone gave of their time: the studio was donated, the musicians donated their time and all proceeds from this song will go to designated charity/relief work
through The American Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse. It’s incredible to be part of something that is going to help
so many people.”

In addition to lending their voices in song, several artists also recorded PSA’s for The American Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse for use in upcoming months.

Contributing artists include: Aaron Shust, Alathea, Amber Hezlep, Anthony Moreino, Anthony Skinner, Ashley Cleveland, Austins Bridge, B. Reith, Brady Toops, Brandon Heath, Britt Nicole, Byron Chambers, Calvin Nowell, Charmaine, Chris McClarney, Chris Sligh, Chuck Girard, Dana Jorgensen, Darwin Hobbs, David Mullen, Don Poythress, Donovan Tea, Dorothy Savage, Duane Allen, Echoing Angels, Everlife, Francesca Battistelli, Greg Jennings, Hillary McBride, Jaime Jamgochian, Jared Anderson, Jasmine Sagginario, Jason Baird, Jason Dunn, Jimmie Allen, Jody Davis, John Ford Coley, John Schlitt, Joseph Martino, Julia Ross, Justin Rivers, Kate Lazar, Kate Schettler, The Katinas, Kevin Max, Kirk Sullivan, Lara Landon, Lanae Hale, Lannie Anderson, Lee Greenwood, Mandisa, Manic Drive, Margaret Becker, Mark Hall and Megan Garrett of Casting Crowns, Matt Dowley, Matthew West, Matt Maher, Melinda Doolittle, Meredith Andrews, Michael Cavallo, Michael Olson, Michael Tait, Michael Tash, MIKESCHAIR, Mike Weaver, Natalie Grant, Nicole C. Mullen, The Oak Ridge Boys, Paige Armstrong, Phil Stacey, Point of Grace, PureNRG, Rachael Lampa, Rachel B. James, Reco Hight, Restless Heart, Ruben Mundo, Russ Mohr, Sarah Ross, Sarah Sadler, Selah, Shannon Cochran, Shawn Cavallo, Stephanie Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Terrence James, TobyMac, Tommy Coomes, Travis Cottrell, Trey Heffinger, Wynonna, and Yellow Cavalier. (Artist list subject to change.)

The song will be made available for sale soon, with all proceeds going to benefit relief efforts to Haiti. More details
on the song’s release date are forthcoming.

About Michael W. Smith: (Reunion Records/Provident Music Group):
Throughout his 27-year career as a recording artist, Michael W. Smith has amassed an impressive catalog of achievements. His 21 albums have garnered multiple honors including an American Music Award, three GRAMMY ® Awards (from 13 nominations), 44 GMA Dove Awards and 33 No. 1 radio hits. In addition, he holds 16 Gold and five platinum albums for career sales approaching 15 million.

Smith, who was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2009, has scored several film projects, written 11 books and has been featured by media outlets including, NBC’s Today Show, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, Larry King Live, FOX and Friends, Hannity and Colmes, USA Today, NY Times, The Washington Post, LA Times, Newsweek, has been named one of People Magazine's “Most Beautiful People” and has presented multiple times on the GRAMMY Awards show. His tours consistently rank among the best attended in the country, and he has performed to capacity crowds throughout the world.

Constantly giving back to the community, one of Smith’s current projects is Rocketown--a nightclub for teens in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn.--which serves as safe place for young people to enjoy music and for artists to be discovered. He and wife Debbie Smith are the proud parents of five children. For up-to-date information on Michael W. Smith, please visit www.michaelwsmith.com or www.providentpress.com.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

MICHAEL W. SMITH JOINS DOZENS OF NASHVILLE ARTISTS FOR “COME TOGETHER NOW” MUSIC CITY UNITES FOR HAITI RECORDING PROJECT

“Come Together Now” Single Available at All Digital Retailers,
Music Video Debuts This Week

NASHVILLE, TENN. (February 18, 2010) – Artistic communities around the world continue to come together in efforts to aid the island nation of Haiti after the devastating earthquakes of January 12, 2010. Music City has done its part with the recent collaboration of the biggest names in Nashville’s own Country, Christian and Gospel music communities.

Multi-Platinum, GRAMMY and Dove Award winning artist Michael W. Smith gathered a community of Nashville-based artists on January 27 at Belmont University’s Ocean Way Studio to record “Come Together Now” – a song written by Smith, David Mullen and Cindy Morgan – to benefit Haiti relief efforts.

Released under the banner Music City Unites For Haiti (Various Artists), and with the studio’s, artists’ and musicians’ time all donated, proceeds from the single will go to designated charity and relief work through Samaritan’s Purse and American Red Cross.

The single is now available at all digital retailers.

Bringing aid and relief efforts to Haiti is a personal mission for Michael W. Smith, who has already traveled to the island with Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational evangelical Christian humanitarian organization, in the wake of the earthquake, and whose wife Debbie has done missionary work in the nation in the past.

“I’m deeply grateful to Michael for all his efforts to help those suffering in Haiti,” shares Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse. “Every artist and every individual who can use their talent and ability to shed light on those in need, when it’s all added together, it makes a huge difference. My prayer is that God will use this song and video to touch the hearts of this nation to give generously to the people of Haiti.”

The music video for the song will be released by Aristo Media this week. Please visit www.AristoVideoPromo.com for more information.

In addition, “Come Together Now” will be the lead track for the March 2nd Healing4Haiti, a full album project featuring songs by artists including Israel Houghton, DecembeRadio, Kari Jobe, The Afters, Hawk Nelson, Flyleaf’s Lacey Mosley, Canton Jones, Lincoln Brewster and Mary Mary. For more information on the album, please visit: www.samaritanspurse.org.

Artists part of “Come Together Now” Music City Unites for Haiti include:
Aaron Shust, Alathea, Amy Grant Vince Gill, Ashley Cleveland, Austins Bridge, Brandon Heath, Britt Nicole, Chris McClarney, Chris Rodriguez, Chris Sligh, Don Poythress, Dorothy Savage, Duane Allen, Echoing Angels, Everlife, Francesca Battistelli, Jaime Jamgochian, Jared Anderson, Jody Davis, John Schlitt, Kate Lazar, Katinas, Kevin Max, Kirk Sullivan, Lee Greenwood, Manic Drive, Margaret Becker, Mark Hall, Matt Dowley, Matthew West, Matt Maher, Meredith Andrews, Michael Tait, MIKESCHAIR, Mike Weaver, Paige Armstrong, Phil Stacey, Point of Grace, PureNRG, Rachael Lampa, Restless Heart, Selah, Steven Curtis Chapman, Toby Mac, Veronica Petrucci, Wynonna, and Yellow Cavalier.

About Michael W. Smith: (Reunion Records/Provident Music Group):
Throughout his 27-year career as a recording artist, Michael W. Smith has amassed an impressive catalog of achievements. His 21 albums have garnered multiple honors including an American Music Award, three GRAMMY ® Awards (from 13 nominations), 44 GMA Dove Awards and 33 No. 1 radio hits. In addition, he holds 16 Gold and five platinum albums for career sales approaching 15 million.

Smith, who was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2009, has scored several film projects, written 11 books and has been featured by media outlets including, NBC’s Today Show, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, Larry King Live, FOX and Friends, Hannity and Colmes, USA Today, NY Times, The Washington Post, LA Times, Newsweek, has been named one of People Magazine's "Most Beautiful People" and has presented multiple times on the GRAMMY Awards show. His tours consistently rank among the best attended in the country, and he has performed to capacity crowds throughout the world.

Constantly giving back to the community, one of Smith’s current projects is Rocketown--a nightclub for teens in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn.--which serves as safe place for young people to enjoy music and for artists to be discovered. He and wife Debbie Smith are the proud parents of five children. For up-to-date information on Michael W. Smith, please visit www.michaelwsmith.com or www.providentpress.com.

# # #

For more information, please contact:
Jacquelyn (Marushka) Luttrell
Vice President, Public Relations, Provident Music Group
Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.
Ph: 615-261-6439 pr@pmgsonymusic.com

About AristoVideo: A division of The AristoMedia Group, AristoVideo has built a 25-year history of marketing artists through visual mediums, including music videos, EPKs, liners and interview features, which are serviced to television, closed-circuit and Internet outlets across the globe. Visit www.AristoVideoPromo.com for more information.

For radio servicing of “Come Together Now” please contact Andrew Patton at andrew.patton@pattonhouseentertainment.com

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Kevin LeVar Nominated in Two Categories For Dove Awards




Please help us support Kevin in the Dove Awards
voting on the first ballot. He is on the ballot for two categories:

New Artist of the Year

Inspirational Song of the Year ("A Heart That Forgives")

The official list of eligible entries is located
online at www.doveawardsvoting.com

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Abandon Kansas New Video "Close Your Eyes" Released Today


ABANDON KANSAS DEBUT VIDEO CLOSE YOUR EYES LAUNCHES TODAY EXCLUSIVELY ON ABSOLUTEPUNK.NET
http://img.ymlp18.com/loriincali_AKImageCropped_2.jpg
Today, Gotee Records and the band Abandon Kansas proudly released a video for the song CLOSE YOUR EYES. This is the first video from the band’s “We’re All Going Somewhere” EP, and is available to view at AbsolutePunk.net as an ABSOLUTExclusive.

To view the video, please click here - http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1539041

Filmed in Atlanta by director by Nathan Corrona, the video explores creative film styles while bespectacled lead singer Jeremy Spring croons “Close Your Eyes, then we’ll start to see….”

"This was our first music video, and we weren't sure what to expect,” explains Spring. “The director took the phrase "you don't answer to time" from the second verse and ran with it. We used a lot of organic special effects on the timing that really enhance the song.

“We are so happy with the way the video turned out, and are even more excited to partner with AbsolutePunk for the premier.”

CLOSE YOUR EYES has also been added to Paste Magazine’s “Songs for Haiti” Compilation. 100% of the funds contributed through “Songs for Haiti” will be spread among three charities active in the relief effort: Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. For more information, please see http://songsforhaiti.org


Upcoming February tour dates:
Feb 11 – Manhattan, KS
Feb 12 – Wichita, KS
Feb 13 – Kansas City, MO
Feb 18 – Minneapolis, MN
Feb 19 – Wausau, WI
Feb 20 – Mankato, MN
Feb 21 – Cedar Falls, IA
Feb 25 – Waco, TX
Feb 26 – Plano, TX
Feb 27 – Houston, TX
Feb 28 – Austin, TX

www.abandonkansaslovesyou.com
www.gotee.com

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

SKILLET SLAMS INTO 2010 WITH NO. 4 MAINSTREAM RADIO HIT, SHINEDOWN TOUR, MORE WWE AND MASSIVE SALES

January 13, 2010

**Atlantic/Ardent/INO rock outfit SKILLET has slammed into 2010 following an incredibly successful 2009 with their best selling project, AWAKE:

-Already over 300k in scans in just 20 weeks (more than double that of the GOLD selling COMATOSE), AWAKE was a critic and fan fave last year, Amazon.com’s best selling Christian CD of 2009, and now boasts the No. 4 mainstream Active Rock single in the country with “Monster,” which was also AOL Music’s No. 4 mainstream rock song of last year.

-“Monster” has proven to be just that for Skillet, with fans purchasing so many digital copies over the holiday, their sales increased almost 300%.
In addition to all the success “Monster” is having, their No. 1 Christian rock and CHR track, “Hero,” has been creating a great buzz as well:

-‘Hero” will be used in the upcoming trailers and promos for the new Twentieth Century Fox film, “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” which stars Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman and is based on the best-selling book by Rick Riordan.

-“Hero” has been used all season long by the NFL in their, Sunday Night Football and NFL Weekend Kickoff promos.

-The WWE will use the song once again as the official theme song for WWE’s Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View on January 31st. “Hero” was
also a featured as part of the soundtrack to the WWE’s Tribute To The Troops TV Special, which aired just before Christmas on NBC. Skillet was promoted alongside other contributing artists including Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi, and Nickelback. WWE programming reaches nearly 16 million people per week in the U.S., and WWE.com
currently averages 14 million unique visitors worldwide monthly, providing more than 28 million video streams.

-In follow up to their fall AWAKE & ALIVE tour, which, due to numerous sell out shows made Pollstar’s Concert Pulse’s Top 50 tours
for the fall, Skillet will hit the road with mainstream rockers Shinedown and Puddle of Mudd for the Sound of Madness 2010 tour beginning January 21st in Providence, RI.

- In March and April Skillet will co-headline the AWAKE TONIGHT tour with TobyMac for one of the most anticipated tours of the spring for the Christian concert arena. Tour dates will be announced soon.
For tour dates go to http://www.skillet.com

###
Skillet’s latest, AWAKE, continues to propel the incredible momentum the rock outfit has going for them with a blockbuster debut at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200, selling over 67,000 units and peaking at No. 1 on iTune’s “Top Albums” chart and “Top Rock” chart within 24 hours of its release. Since 2006’s breakthrough RIAA Gold certified project “Comatose,” Skillet has toured with the likes of mainstream megastars Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Seether and Flyleaf, and headlined a slew of major Christian festivals, all followed by solo tours that ranked within Pollstar’s Concert Pulse Top 50 Tours. Along the way, the two-time Grammy®-nominated alternative rockers also scored seven consecutive number one Christian radio singles, a 2008 GMA Dove Award for “Rock Song of the Year,” and a 2009 nomination for Artist of the Year. Along with a trio of singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock charts, a pair of BMI Songwriting Awards, and being chosen as Reader’s Poll favorites on several top ccm websites, they also released their first ever concert CD/DVD combo pack “Comatose Comes Alive.”

For more information on Skillet, go to: www.skillet.com and/or www.myspace.com/skilletmusic

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Matthew West Gets Grammy Nod; Give This Christmas Away "Most Added" at Christian Radio!


MATTHEW WEST GARNERS FIRST GRAMMY NOD
Singer/Songwriter Nabs Nomination for Best Gospel Song


(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Dec. 2, 2009—Sparrow Records singer/songwriter Matthew West garnered his first GRAMMY Award nomination tonight, announced during "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night," aired live on CBS from Club Nokia in Los Angeles. West received a nod in the category of Best Gospel Song for his long-running radio hit, “The Motions.”

West is in good company with fellow artists Third Day, TobyMac, Israel Houghton, and Mary Mary, also nominated in the field. He comments, “This is the icing on the cake to what has been an incredible year thanks to the song ‘The Motions.’ It’s been overwhelming how people have responded to the song and its message, and I am grateful for having been able to connect with listeners on that level. This is my first GRAMMY nomination, and for an artist/songwriter, there is no greater recognition.”

“The Motions,” from West’s 2008 studio release Something to Say, held the No. 1 position on both the Christian AC radio chart for 14 consecutive weeks and the Soundscan Christian Digital Chart for 15 weeks. Something to Say debuted on Nielsen SoundScan’s Christian Retail Chart at #10, while West was the best-selling Christian artist on iTunes the week of its release. The album’s debut single “You Are Everything” additionally peaked at No. 1 on Christian AC radio and was the most played Christian song of 2008.

West’s current single “Give This Christmas Away,” written and recorded for the new VeggieTales DVD Saint Nicholas – A Story Of Joyful Giving, released Nov. 27 and is the “Most Added” song this week at Christian radio. West will perform “Give This Christmas Away” live with Amy Grant on the Fox News Channel’s “Huckabee” Saturday, Dec. 5, re-airing Sunday, Dec. 6. West and Grant will give an encore performance of the song Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 25 on the network’s “Fox and Friends” Christmas special.

In keeping with the “Give This Christmas Away” theme, West released a gift book this holiday through Tyndale Publishers, aptly titled 101 Ways to Give This Christmas Away. The book, along with the Something to Say Christmas Edition featuring “Give This Christmas Away” and three new acoustic recordings, are now available in stores. For more information on Matthew West, visit www.matthewwest.com.


The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Jan. 21, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. A complete list of nominees is available at www.grammy.com.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Kevin LeVar nominated for 2009 GMC Video Award


Kevin LeVar's video "A Heart That Forgives" (found on reel #71) has been nominated in the Praise & Worship category of the 2009 GMC Video Awards. Visit the link below to vote!

http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com/gmcva