Newsboys to release Christmas Album!

With the continuous momentum of Newsboys' current CD release Born Again, a No. 1 radio hit and an extensive touring schedule, they continue their whirlwind year with the announcement of their first-ever Christmas project. Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday will release October 12th, courtesy of Inpop Records.

The new CD was produced by Dustin Burnett, Michael Tait, and Juan Otero of The Write Bros, half of the production team of Born Again. Comprised of six holiday classics, Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday includes "Winter Wonderland," "Jingle Bell Rock," "All I Want for Christmas is You," "O Holy Night," "The Christmas Song," and "Mary Did You Know."

To help promote Christmas! A Newsboys Holiday, Newsboys will join Newsong the weekend after Thanksgiving to kick off the "Very Merry Christmas Tour 2010." This 20+city nationwide tour kicks off in North Carolina and will finish up in Georgia on December 20th. Check out the tour dates listed below to see if can help ring in the Christmas season with Newsboys at a city near you.

There is no question the momentum keeps continuing to escalate for Newsboys and their July 13th release of Born Again. The current single and No. 1 hit "Born Again" continues to stay high up on the charts, having a total of 7.1 million impressions to date. Following the largest street week of their careers by selling an astounding 45,311 units and hitting #4 on Billboard's overall chart, Born Again continues to keep its place on the Billboard Top 200 chart and is No. 3 on the Christian Soundscan chart, scanning more than 72,000 units in the first month of release.

Newsong's Very Merry Christmas Tour 2010*:
11/27 Whiteville, NC
11/28 Charleston, NC
11/30 High Point, NC
12/2 Norfolk, VA
12/3 Schofield, WI
12/4 St. Cloud, MN
12/5 Brookings, SD
12/7 Portage, MI
12/8 Valparaiso, IN
12/9 Marion, IL
12/10 Marion, IL
12/11 Franklin, NC
12/12 Destin, FL
12/15 Saint Peters, MO
12/16 Athens, AL
12/17 Pascagoula, MS
12/18 Albany, GA

*Dates subject to change

New Christmas CD from Alathea!

The ladies of Alathea have brought us a wonderful folksy Christmas cd featuring terrific renditions of songs like "The First Noel", "What Child Is This", "Silent Night", "Tennessee Christmas", and more.

For a preview of some of the songs (including the above) visit their special Christmas CD Myspace.

Relient K & House of Heroes Christmas Songs Coming Nov. 18th

Relient K and House of Heroes bring their musical festive tidings to this year’s Christmas season on November 18th via digital music stores with three brand new holiday songs and an animated music video from Relient K, as well as label mates House of Heroes offering up their rendition of the classic “Silent Night”.

The three songs from Relient K will include “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “O Holy Night,” and “Silver Bells,” with an animated music video for the song “Sleigh Ride” coming as well. The Christmas anthems will be added to the platinum-selling band’s 2007 album, Let It Snow, Baby…Let It Reindeer, and upon purchasing online the customer will given a unique code and directions to download the additional three tunes. Fans can also anticipate extra gifts from Relient K upon purchase, including exclusive photos, downloadable wrapping paper, and a few other bonuses.

House of Heroes brings their powerhouse pop sound to “Silent Night” which is also available at all online music outlets on November 18th. The band, whose most recent album The End Is Not The End was delivered via digital stores, has seen an incredible response with the release making it to the #6 spot on the iTunes rock chart and #42 on the overall chart, with a #1 radio hit single and over 1 million plays on their MySpace page.

Relient K, who has toured with the likes of Switchfoot and Good Charlotte, has a GRAMMY nod, and three RIAA-certified Gold albums to their credit. The pop-punk band has performed on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” with their video for “Must Have Done Something Right” receiving airplay on mtvU, MTV Hits, FUSE's "Steven's Untitled Rock Show," Nickelodeon's The N, IMF and Music Choice. Relient K is comprised of lead singer/guitarist/pianist Matt Thiessen, lead guitarist Matt Hoopes, drummer Ethan Luck, bassist John Warne and guitarist Jon Schneck.

House of Heroes’ discography includes a 2005 self-titled debut and the re-release Say No More in 2006. Prior to signing a record deal with Mono Vs Stereo/Gotee, the band released an indie project What You Want Is Now (2002) to much critical acclaim and a large grassroots following. On the tour front, House of Heroes has opened up for the likes of Filter, Silverchair, Relient K, and MxPx, as well as full-blown tours with acts including Spoken, The Evan Anthem, Last Tuesday, Dropping Daylight, Love Arcade, and Kids In The Way. The band is Columbus-Ohio natives Tim Skipper (guitar/lead vocals), A.J Babcock (bass/vocals), Colin Rigsby (drums/vocals), and Jared Rigsby (guitar/vocals).

The Washington Projects release Christmas EP

Following the success of their debut release earlier this year, The Washington Projects (formerly Souljahz) are pleased to announce the release of their Christmas EP. The six-song release is available now through online digital outlets.

Click below to buy at iTunes:


Christmas features three original songs, “Stay A While”, “Thank You For Christmas” and “This Christmas” as well as three instrumental tracks. The EP showcases the vocal talents of the brother and sister duo, Je’kob and Rachael Washington with a solo performance by Je’Kob on “This Christmas”, a song written for his wife, and Rachael performs solo on “Stay A While”.

"Christmas has always been our favorite holiday and season, from what it represents to how it makes us feel,” Je’kob and Rachael explain. “We bump Christmas jams and literally celebrate it all year round so it was only a matter of time before we cranked out some warm and fuzzy goodness for our listeners.”

The EP is available exclusively through digital online outlets, iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon, as well as the Washington Projects' website.

Released in March of this year, The Washington Projects’ debut project, Commanders of the Resistance has seen great success, garnering critical acclaim from many media outlets. The video for “Take it to the Streets” remained at #1 on the Gospel Music Channel for five weeks and the “You Are My World” video is currently in rotation and holding the #3 spot overall, #1 in the Soul Category.

In support of Commanders of the Resistance, Washington Projects were part of the Dare2Share Tour this past year with Hawk Nelson, Sanctus Real, Lincoln Brewster, Stellar Kart and others. In December of this year Washington Projects will go out on a USO Europe/Mediterranean Tour to support the troops. Tour dates will be announced soon.

For more information about The Washington Projects and their Christmas EP, please visit www.WashingtonProjects.com or www.myspace.com/washingtonprojects.

Read our interview with the Washington Projects here.

Free Jaci Velasquez "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" download

Carried Away Christmas song "Snow Falls"

(NASHVILLE, TENN.) -- Carried Away has recorded a new song, "Snow Falls," for the Christmas season, which is available now as a free download at the all-new Carried Away Insiders (C.A.I.) fansite (www.insiders.carriedaway.ca). The song will also be available at iTunes on December 3rd, and is currently receiving airplay on both mainstream and Christian radio stations throughout North America.

To coincide with the release of "Snow Falls," Carried Away has released an interactive music video which can be found exclusively at the Carried Away Insiders fansite (www.insiders.carriedaway.ca). There is no cost to become a Carried Away Insider, and the interactive website hosts exclusive song downloads, journals, contests and more - all free!

"Christmas is 'the most wonderful time of the year,' but for a lot of people, it can also be sad, lonely and one of the most challenging times," explains Carried Away's Colleen Walker. "We wrote this song to let people know that even though they may not be feeling the 'Christmas Spirit' that God is there for them. That's really our Christmas message: although life isn't perfect and is sometimes downright hard, God sent Jesus to redeem all situations."

"Snow has been often compared to God's Spirit because it covers all with pure white," adds group member Christine Prankard. "We wanted this song to remind people that no matter what's going on in their life, God's love and mercy can cover all. Jesus is here for them when they're figuring out their credit card debt, arguing with their families over the 'right way' to do Christmas or fighting loneliness."

"Ultimately, we wanted to put a smile on people's faces this year," says the trio's Pam Walker. "Regardless of the the crazyness of the season, we hope that people will take a break and have fun with the interactive music video and the fansite. It might just bring a little bit of happiness to their Christmas season."

The Canadian trio has been busy this fall promoting theirs sophomore album, I Want You, which released in August. Sisters Colleen and Pam Walker and their cousin Christine Prankard have been on a North American tour this fall with JUMP5, one of Christian music's most successful pop acts. The girls have had little down time, adding additional headlining dates to a non-stop promotional schedule that has included numerous radio stops at Christian radio stations around the country, Radio Disney and the nationally syndicated program, The Coconut Hut Radio Show. Additionally, they've made national television appearances on Live From Studio B, JCTV, Teen Girl TV, The Jim Bakker Show, The Dino Show, 100 Huntley Street, deeperLiving, 7 Minutes, Bridges, Top 3, ReachOUT TV, Control Track, as well as regional programs such as Positively Arkansas (Little Rock's CBS affiliate), Live at 9 (Memphis' CBS affiliate), Good Morning Arkansas (Little Rock's ABC affiliate) and The Morning Show (Tupelo's NBC affiliate).

In addition to their heavy tour and promotion schedule, the girls have graced the covers of In the Times Magazine (September) and the current issue of Focus on the Family's BRIO Magazine (December), as well as a three-page September feature in Beautiful One Magazine. Christian music fans have encountered online promotions at HearItFirst.com, Shoutlife.com and NewReleaseTuesday.com, the latter of which hosted an exclusive podcast, and coverage by such nationally recognized publications as Power Source, Teen Trend, Living with Teenagers and Journal of Student Ministries.

For more information on Carried Away, please visit the official website at www.carriedaway.ca.

Read our interview with Carried Away here.
Read our review of I Want You here.

C03 releases exlusive Christmas medley online

(NASHVILLE, TENN.) -- In celebration of the Christmas season, Flagship Records pop-country duo CO3 has recorded a Christmas single, "Away In A Manger Medley," which will be available on December 1st at iTunes as well as through SNOCAP on their official MySpace page (www.myspace.com/CO3music). The song has also been released to Christian radio by Wendell Gafford at Creative Promotions, and it's going for immediate adds.

Buy the medley at iTunes by clicking below:



"This started out as just an idea about trying to do the song 'Away in a Manger' in a fresh and different way, something that would be unique and in our style," says CO3's Chad Little. "We sat down with the guitar and I started just playing that percussive rhythm. It really just kind of fell into place with the lyric. So we decided to mix it up with some other notable Christmas songs and that's when the chorus from 'O Come All Ye Faithful' jumped right out at us. Tagging the whole song with 'Noel' just felt right. Lyrically, to end with those words, 'born is the King of Israel,' really hammers home the Christmas message."

The Arkansas-based duo comprised of vocalist/guitarist Chad Little and vocalist/bassist/keyboardist Dave Romero has been making an impact on Christian music fans around the world, by blending remarkably rich harmonies and powerful production on their debut CD, Determined, which is in stores now. Produced by Rick Lloyd (Third Day), the album offers up twelve tracks of hope and encouragement, filled with rich harmonies and a pop-country edge reminiscent of Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood. And it's not much of a surprise that the duo's music often draws an immediate comparison to Carrie Underwood's pop-tinged hits, since Little spent a considerable amount of time in the American Idol winner's band, serving as lead guitarist, band leader and songwriter.