New Song from Sara Groves

Sara Groves gave us a glimpse of a new song this week on her blog. Enjoy:

Quality Fem-Fronted Pop Rock

Confession: I’m a sucker for girl singer with an attitude and a bit of soul.

Perhaps it’s the rebel in me. Because, clearly, as stay at home mother of 3 who drives a minivan - I eat rebellion for breakfast. Once? I wore ripped jeans to a PTA meeting.

Stand back. I’m dangerous.

So, what was I saying? Oh yeah, girl singers with attitude and soul…

I’ve been loving Addison Road’s album lately. Jenny has a great voice and sings with an inspiring passion. Here’s an acoustic version of their song All That Matters. Enjoy:


And here’s another song of theirs, a gorgeous tune called Hope Now:

Meet Joel Rakes

Last week I posted about one of my favorite finds of the year, a song called Take Everything - by Joel Rakes. This week I’ll introduce you to Joel. He’s just a boy with a banjo - and, really, who doesn’t love a good banjo solo?

You can check out his website here. Or follow him on Twitter here.

And don’t forget to download his free song here.

Derek Webb Heist Update - Free Song And Clues

Validation is truly a wonderful feeling.

I stepped out on a ledge Monday when I theorized that Derek’s emails were really part of a Macheist-like event. Especially considering my history with questioning his marketing moves and the passionate Derek Webb community. So it was wonderful when Mark commented that he’d deciphered the email and discovered the phrase Paradise Is A Parking Lot. And when Stephen and Sarah sent me the website and Facebook links.

I thought I’d give you a rundown of what I know so far:

Paradise is a Parking Lot

• Letters after underscores in Derek’s email spell Paradise is a Parking lot.
• Paradise is a Parking Lot is a web site and a Facebook page
• Visit the web site. Read the help link to understand how it works.
• Subscribe to the RSS feed for more clues to be delivered to your RSS reader.

Elipses Section

• On DerekWebb.com there is an elipses at the bottom of the page. Click on it and question pops up. Answer: kickdrum
• After entering “kickdrum” you’ll see a huge pic of Derek. The website Black-eye.me is written near his eye. Go to that site. Another question. Answer: youneverknow.
• You’ll then be able to watch a little video of Derek and a song sample.

FREE Song

• Recently, two new links have been added to DerekWebb.com.
• Click on the word “trouble” in the first email. Copy the quoted words in the first sentence of the article.
• Go back to Derekwebb.com and click the word “r_eal” in the second email. Enter the first quoted word and hit submit. A new box will appear. Enter the second word....etc. (Controversy, having, label)
• You’ll now be able to download premix of “Spirit vs. the Kickdrum” - which is a pretty cool tune.

Artifacts

• Apparently, items have been left at various locations around the country for participant to retrieve as clues are released.
• The clues are posted via the RSS feed at Paradiseisaparkinglot.com.
• So far 5 “artifacts” have been retrieved at Ugly Mugs in Nashville. After which, a selection of audioclips was available for download on the Paradise website.
• Subsequent RSS clues have been released that may point to Horizon Records (Greenville, SC), Royers Rountop Cafe (Round Top, Texas) and Dr.Pepper Museum (Waco, TX). These locations are currently unconfirmed.

Another Clue

• Included with the Spirit vs. The Kickdrum song, is a txt file that says, “10-2-4”
• This could possibly refer to Dr. Pepper

Debriefing
And that folks, is what I know so far. I’ll keep posting updates, so be sure to bookmark this page if you want a continued synopsis of what’s happening. If you have clues/info to add, please share in the comments. I’ll update this later today and include credit links to anyone who submits.

Other great places to keep up with the action:
#ssyndrome Twitter Search
Derek Webb Twitter Search

Have fun sleuthing....and stay tuned later today for some discussion on this whole “Derek Webb Heist.”

-Kat

P.S. Assuming you’re a music fan, while you’re here, you might want to check out the free music I posted about this week from Joel and Luke and also Joel Rakes. High quality stuff. Enjoy!

Free Music - Take Everything by Joel Rakes (One of Kat’s Favorite Songs…)

Take Everything by Joel Rakes is a song I first heard while sitting at Starbucks early one Saturday morning, tea in hand. I’d been in a season of wanting to simplify my life and make it more about God and less about me. Then this song came through my headphones and blew me away.

It’s one of those amazing tunes that would never get radio airplay (because it’s a slower tempo song) but whose lyrics and melody (and in this case, production) will make you want to play it over and over. And whose words I would love to call my own, if I were brave enough.

Without further ado, here is Take Everything.

Click here to Download.

And if you enjoy this song from Joel, stay tuned for more from him this week, including the story behind Take Everything and a video performance of another of his songs. So, you might want to subscribe to our RSS feed and our Twitter account to stay in the know. 

The Derek-Heist?

photo by numstead

Update: Here’s my latest post with a rundown of ALL the clues so far as well as info on how to get his new song.

This message arrived in my inbox today from Derek Webb:

friends-
this is turning into a bigger deal than we expected.  as a result, we’re having to temporarily _pull everything online down (can’t explain now).  and to be on the s_afe side, i’m going to pe_rsonally go offline while we sort this out.  i re_ally shouldn’t use my twitter account for now either so _don’t expect any updates there. 

make no m_istake, our trouble with the label over content i_s very real, and not as simple as one word; we’re back_ed into a corner.  but we have applied all of our creative resources to th_is, working furiou_sly to create something that we believe not only subverts any leg_al issues but should also be a _pretty wild ride. 

so this will be the l_ast email for a while.  we’ll t_ry to lea_k information via a new tw_itter account, @ssyndrome.  you’re o_n your own so start payin_g attention.  i’l_l see you _on the o_ther side-
derek

Now when Derek Webb first send an email out regarding his label troubles, Brody Harper wrote this post questioning whether Derek, in all his marketing brilliance, was turning label troubles into some excellent pr opportunities.

I’m beginning to think Brody is right. Honestly, it feels a bit like the recent Macheist (a yearly “Mission Impossible” type community event ultimately used to promote a the sale of Mac software. )

Surely Derek knows that this will get everyone talking about the album and speculating about the cause of the controversy. And dramatic, cryptic emails like this will only heighten the frenzy. The interesting thing to me is how can you “leak” information during a legal issue using a twitter account announced in your own email newsletter (and on your website)? Isn’t the nature of “leaking” information supposed to be anonymous so that those who provide the info don’t get into more legal trouble? And what’s with all the underscores?

It will be interesting to see how many followers that twitter account will have over the next few days and how the whole controversy/album promotion pans out.

Well done, Derek.

FREE Music From Joel and Luke - Amazing.

Australian artists (and brothers of Rebecca St. James), Joel and Luke have released a free EP containing 5 incredible songs that you really need to own.

I absolutely love listening to Christian artists who seem to have escaped the “CCM Sound.” I don’t know what it is, but when I turn on the radio I can flip stations and “hear” when I’ve hit a CCM station.

The production is predictable and they lyrics usually are too. Now, I still like a good share of CCM music, but I am thriving in the internet environment that introduces me to amazing artists who don’t get much radioplay but are incredibly creative and make music that is compelling and different.

Joel and Luke fall into that category. I highly encourage you to download their album. It’s free afterall…

Great New Video From Joy WIlliams

Joy Williams’ song Charmed Life was featured in the season finale of the hit show Grey’s Anatomy.

She really has a stunning voice and this is a simple yet well done video. Enjoy!

Trouble…

I love finding unexpected raw talent.

I’ve known Michael Farren via Twitter and Blogging for a year or so know, but I never knew how truly talented he is. Then I found this video of him performing a song he wrote called Trouble.

Check it out:

Michael is part of a band called Pocket Full of Rocks. You can find them on Twitter and at their website. Enjoy!

Any YouTube artist videos you love?

Christian Artists on Twitter

Now that Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey have helped introduce Twitter to a wider audience, I thought I’d post an updated list of CCM artists who use Twitter.

As a pretty cool bonus, I’ve set it up to include the latest tweet from each artist.

Let me know in the comments if I’m missing someone and I’ll add them ASAP. And don’t forget to check out the main artist list for each of these artists’ blogs, YouTube Channels, Facebook pages etc.

Again, Let me know in the comments if I’m missing someone and I’ll add them ASAP. And don’t forget to check out the main artist list for each of these artists’ blogs, YouTube Channels, Facebook pages etc.