
Michael W. Smith was honored with the Thursday night's
major award, Artist of the Year, at The 33rd Annual Dove Awards which broadcast live
on PAX-TV from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House.
Smith also received Dove Awards as both artist and producer for his Gold-selling project, Worship,
which won Praise & Worship Album of the Year, and Freedom, which was honored as Instrumental Album
of the Year. From the Worship album, Michael's chart-topping "Above All" was also recognized as Inspirational
Recorded Song of the Year. In addition, Freedom, Michael's first all-instrumental recording released
in 2000, received a Dove Award for Recorded Music Packaging.
From the podium an emotionally-moved Smith said, "I know I am up here tonight because of the Worship project.
God has used this record to heal people." He continued, "I don't really care if I win any more awards.
I just want to be pouring my life into people." Smith's performance segment was the grand finale of the telecast.
Performing a new piece on electric guitar titled "Step by Step/Hallelujah," a melding of the Rich Mullins
classic and new Smith-penned worship song, brought the audience to their feet. The song medley is featured
on the recently recorded Worship DVD/video releasing August 20. The DVD/video project was recorded
in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada as Michael led worship for 15,000 youth and will feature familiar worship music along with six new worship songs.
Third Day also won big at Gospel Music Association Dove Awards
for their second consecutive year. Members of Third Day were prominently honored with an outstanding total
of six awards, including a repeat win in the prestigious Group of the Year category, while lead singer
Mac Powell became the first non-solo artist to win the coveted Male Vocalist of the Year title in 25 years.
Asked about his breakthrough "Male Vocalist" win, Powell was quick to praise the talent of his fellow nominees
and to give the real credit to Third Day and what they have accomplished as a group. "It's just unbelievable to
me that I would win Male Vocalist. I'm so honored, especially considering the incredibly talented singers who
were nominated. If it weren't for the rest of the band playing great music and allowing me to sing,
I wouldn't have this award at all." Congratulations to the guys in Third Day!
Here's an update from Justin McRoberts on his latest project: "The NEW ALBUM is finished, done, caput! We are
expecting the actual CD's to arrive any day now. The content of the album is something I have been wanting to
communicate for a long time and my first full length independent project was a perfect opportunity. Trust is
about the Church in context; it's about knowing, loving and appreciating the stories of those who don't share
our understanding of life and God. I think that is the first step towards genuine relationships in which the real
love of God is communicated." You can preorder his new record online now at: https://cipher.secure-orders.net/5minutew/justinmcroberts.com/store/commerce.cgi
Multi-GRAMMY and multiple-platinum selling Reunion recording artist Michael W. Smith
and Essential Records' reigning Gospel Music Association Artist and Group of the Year Third Day
today announced their partnership for the year's premiere worship tour to be billed as Come Together and Worship.
"This is an exciting opportunity for us to be able to tour with someone who we look up to so much!" says Third Day
front man Mac Powell. "We in the band are not only fans of Michael and his music but also are challenged by his
leadership within Christian music. All of us are excited about learning from Michael on this tour and coming together with Michael and fans from all over the country to join in worship. We can't wait for this tour to start!"
"I love the guys in Third Day. They have incredible hearts for God and they love to worship. I just returned from leading worship for 15,000 youth in Alberta, Canada. There is something so special about the body of Christ coming together in large numbers like that that is just so amazing," says Smith. "Our goal on this tour is that what happens will be on a new level, that it takes us all to a place of worship that we've never been. That's our hope; that's our prayer for this tour. I've said it before in concerts, I've never seen a wave like this pass through our country like I'm seeing today. And the amazing thing is that it's being led by the youth. I'm seeing kids 10-, 11-, and 12-years-old completely and whole-heartedly worshiping God. It's what motivates me every night. It's the future of our church."
The Come Together and Worship tour will visit 12-14 major markets during this November.
Three-time GRAMMY nominee and Gospel Music Association "Artist" and "Group" of the year Third Day broke ground today in Nashville for its first "Come Together Tour" sponsored home in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI).
The home is being built in the Rainwood Community, a multi-family development in association with Affordable Housing, a division of the Mayor's Office, and Metro Nashville Government. When completed mid-June, the home will belong to Yvonda Nixon and her family. Nixon, who is employed by Tennessee State University in the Cooperative Extension Program, is excited to be able to move from a poorly maintained apartment located in a high-crime neighborhood to a safe, stable living environment.
In other Third Day news, their groundbreaking third release, Time, has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of 500,000 units. Time released in August of 1999 and earned
Third Day a GRAMMY nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album in the year 2000. Time follows the success
of the band's GRAMMY nominated and Dove Award winning recording, Offerings - A Worship Album, certified Gold
last April.
With 19 performances and hosting by the likes of Kurt Warner and Yolanda Adams,
what can get better for the 2002 Dove Awards? How about actor
Jim Caviezel (The Counte of Monte Cristo, Frequency) appearing
on the show?! Be sure not to miss this very special event, with many more surprises, on PAX TV, April 25 at 9 PM Eastern.
There will also be repeat telecasts a few days later. Latenight Saturday, April 27 at 1 a.m. ET/12 a.m. CT
Latenight Friday, May 3, at 1:30 a.m. ET/12:30 a.m. CT
Out Of Eden has finished their video for "Meditate." It was directed
by Elliot Lester for Geneva Films (N*Sync, Britney Spears, Toni Braxton, Brian McKnight). Scenes were shot in
Los Angeles on Broadway with major production in casting with 2 shoot
days, multiple locations, first class transfer and edit, and more. Look for the video on your favorite Christian
station and BET May 1st.
Here's something for the SCC and basketball junkies.
In this last week of the spring leg of the extremely successful Live Out Loud tour,
Steven Curtis Chapman will be singing the
National Anthem at the San Antonio Spurs final regular season home game tonight,
Tuesday, April 16th. This is a moment not to miss! The current Live Out Loud tour features
Steven Curtis and Nichole Nordeman as Steven hits cities nationwide to promote is recent release
Declaration.
On Friday, guitarist of P.O.D., Marcos, had the opportunity to hang out at Ozzy Osbourne's house for the
cover shoot for the next issue of Guitar World. In other P.O.D. publication news, lead singer
Sonny graces the cover of Teen People w/Jay Z & Shakira. According to the P.O.D. email newsletter,
"While Shakira spent hours in her trailer deciding what pair of
pants to wear, Sonny changed t-shirts and spent time with his
daughter. Sonny puts God and family first and becomes a pop icon." Still can't get enough of the San Diego
boys? P.O.D. have been invited to perform two songs on the April 20th
taping of Saturday Night Live! P.O.D. and crew will fly to New York on April 19th for
rehearsals with the cast and crew. Shine the light, guys!
As if the Atlanta boys that make up Third Day didn't have "interesting" enough hair styles as it is, bassist
Tai Anderson decided to shake things up a bit. Tai's new style more is a little more in line with his
Georgia roots. Tai revealed his haircut to his fellow bandmates in Seattle, WA, as well as 5,000 unsuspecting fans
For the complete experience of Tai's new cut, he decided it was ideal to post the experience in the form of two
video clips on ThirdDay.com. Tai is certainly proud to don his snappy new... mullet.
The first clip featured on the site shows him back stage with Bebo Norman in Salem, Or.
The second shows Tai revealing the new follicle arrangement to not only the band but to thousands of enthusiastic
Washington fans! Check the clips out, here.
It's not a 100% yet, but it looks like Bleach will be printing up a
limited edition promo EP to sell starting in June. This limited printing
will contain two songs from the band's upcoming record Again, For The First Time, a demo version of one of the
songs, and a B side. The EP will only be available at the band's shows this
summer, so stay tuned to find out when the band is coming to your area. Again, For The First Time,
the band's fourth studio album, and their first release on any label besides Forefront Records, will tentatively be release
August 27th on Tooth and Nail Records.
Rebecca St. James will be singing an acoustic version of "Breathe" from her new album
Worship God at the Dove Awards
on April 25. The show will be aired on the PAX TV network. Also,
Rebecca's cover for her new Wait For Me book has been finalized. Recently, she
spent a day with friends Teryn and Josh taking the photos with Eric Welch
(who also produced her 2 most recent videos). The book hits shelves in late July
from Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Three-time GRAMMY nominee and reigning Gospel Music Association "Artist" and "Group" of the year
Third Day has already raised $100,000 dollars for Habitat for Humanity International
(HFHI) on its current "Come Together Tour." As the blockbuster event of the season continues to be
the best-selling tour in all of Christian music, additional funds for HFHI are being raised with every added
ticket sold. To date, the tour has sold out 19 concerts and performed in front of over 120,000 people with
several major market performances to go on the extensive 51-city tour. "There is an excitement on this tour we
have never felt before," said Third Day member Tai Anderson. "It's incredible to be able to stand in front of
thousands of people each night knowing that all of these fans have contributed to a cause bigger than Third Day.
Having met a few of these amazing Habitat future home owners and seeing their overwhelming sense of gratitude
is truly worth all the effort."
It is a week of milestones for Christian rock
band Newsboys. Thrive,
the critically and now commercially acclaimed album
from award-winning band Newsboys debuted in the #1 slot on Christian Sales
Chart and #38 on Billboards Top 200. With Soundscan reporting over 37,000 units sold
in the first week of release, this is the strongest debut for a new album by
Newsboys in their 14-year history. Newsboys
performed a sold out concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland,
Ohio, which will also be a part of a PAX TV special. This special will be
titled "Thrive: Live," and will air in prime time on PAX TV at 9:00 PM CST
on April 20th. With the growing market for live music DVD's and the Newsboys live
performance as strong as it has ever been, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
show will also be released on DVD/VHS on June 18! Congrats guys!
On May 21, 2002 a collection of nearly 20 tracks of MxPx's finest
material, entitled 10 Years and Running, including 2 brand new songs ("Running Away", "My Mistake") along with a re-recording of the classic
"Punk Rawk Show" will hit stores everywhere. The new songs were tracked by the band at their Clubhouse Studios
in Bremerton and mixed by Tim Palmer (U2, Pearl Jam) who also remixed 14of the other songs. While it is true
that MxPx and Tooth & Nail have had their creative differences in the past, this new release was a cooperative
effort between the label and the band, with the label looking forward to continuing in a positive new
relationship together. The CD layout includes a 32 page full color booklet with many never before seen photos
and a timeline history of the past 10 years of the band put together by frontman Mike Herrera. There will also
be an additional enhanced section at MxPx's website. MxPx is currently on the Warped Tour in Australia.
The band is also a headliner on the US portion of that tour which begins on June 21st in Nampa, Idaho.
Multi-Platinum, multi-GRAMMY and Dove Award winning band Jars of Clay and its Sputnik Studio were
featured in Tuesday's Life section of USA Today. The feature spotlights Jars of Clay
as a band that has made a commitment to its art, bypassing the traditional recording studio to self-record its
latest critically acclaimed and commercially successful recording, The Eleventh Hour. Having produced
their double Platinum and self-titled 1995 debut, Jars of Clay members returned to their roots self-producing
The Eleventh Hour. This time, they took a step further, not only writing and producing the new album,
but also building their own recording studio in Nashville, Sputnik Studio, to record the album. A fully functional
Macintosh computer-based studio, Sputnik was further recently featured at Apple.com. Jars of Clay has also recently
been featured on National Public Radio (NPR). The album and the band were highlighted on NPR's
"Weekend Edition Saturday" March 30. Interviewed by NPR's Peabody Award-winner and noted radio journalist Scott
Simon, the full feature was heard on 520 radio stations across the country. The full feature is online at
http://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/features/2002/march/jars/index.html.
Now you can pre-order Fireproof by Pillar from FamilyChristian.com
at here and receive an exclusive
FREE DVD valued at $19.98 featuring 60 minutes of unseen Pillar footage, photographs, Pillar scrap books, the
music video for "Open Your Eyes" and tracks from their independent albums Metamorphosis and Original Superman.
“This is honestly one of the best rock albums I’ve ever listened to,” Bob Herdman, President of Flicker Records
said. “Pillar’s grown so much as a band since we first signed them and we truly believe they will be a major
force in Christian Rock. I work-out to this album, drive with it, I can’t get away from listening to it.”
Fireproof ignites shelves on Tuesday, May 21st.

We Will Worship Releases New Single "Ndiyabulela," feat. Lisa Oduor-NoahFri, 28 Nov 2025 11:00:00 EST |
Danica Hart Releases Powerful New Single "Amazing Grace"Thu, 27 Nov 2025 12:30:00 EST |
Tasha Layton Debuts New Holiday Video for Her New Song "Christmas All Year Long"Tue, 25 Nov 2025 17:30:00 EST |
Procyse and Illustrate "Had To Run This One Back," Drop New Remix ProjectTue, 25 Nov 2025 17:20:00 EST |
NF's "FEAR" EP Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rap AlbumsMon, 24 Nov 2025 21:30:00 EST |
Kemara Lynn Announces New Single, "Apply Pressure," featuring DKG KIEMon, 24 Nov 2025 21:20:00 EST |
Gospel Legend John P. Kee Drops New Album, "Throwback," Nov. 28Mon, 24 Nov 2025 20:20:00 EST |
Click here All News Headlines |