"Our own cities have become our mission fields," says Derek Hoiem, president of Save the City Records. "We go where the people are."

Save the City Records artists Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers and Benjiman joined Group 1 Crew to perform at the Lents Park festival, which began seven years ago as part of a park outreach ministry by Portland's Revolution Foursquare Church.

Other attractions during the day included BMX and skateboarding demonstrations, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a motorcycle stunt team, inflatable jump houses and food tents. Radio stations WAY-FM, The Fish and Air 1 were on-hand with giveaways and other promotional activities.

"The Portland Day in the Park event should become a model across America on how neighborhood churches, working together, can engage their community and share the love of Jesus Christ," said David Jones, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Luis Palau Association.

BMX fun during Day in the Park.

About Save the City Records: In 1997, Derek Hoiem had a vision to assist musicians in local churches. Having been a software designer for Microsoft, he knew that the digital wave would bring massive change to the music industry. After investigating music business models, he found that record labels were necessary but needed to change by adopting the indie wave. Also, he believed that record labels in the Christian industry were sometimes at odds with the goals of churches. So in 2003, Hoiem founded Rain On Me Productions, the parent company of Save the City Records. Hoiem began working with various musicians around the Northwest, recording them, and helping them with their indie careers. Along the way, he met a talented artist named Brandon Bee, already widely-recognized in the Northwest. Together, they decided to team up and formally launch a national label and in 2009 they introduced Save the City Records.

Save the City Records released Bee's freshman album This is the Revolution in 2009 to critical acclaim. Soon after, Save the City expanded its marketing and PR efforts, garnering the attention of Provident Distribution, Sony's Christian music division, which led to a distribution deal.

Since that time, Save the City Records has picked up more artists and has been introducing titles to the Christian music market. Save The City artists have been featured on iTunes, played on national radio, ranked on the Billboard charts, and featured at national music festivals.

For more information on Save the City Records, visit savethecityrecords.com.

 

 

 

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