Ayiesha Woods to release Christmas album Nov 10th

GRAMMY- nominated singer Ayiesha Woods injects her soulful vocal prowess into a classic holiday offering with Christmas Like This on November 10th. The album will be available as a physical CD product exclusively through MusiChristian.com with the digital album being available at all other online retailers.

“Here at MusiChristian.com we believe strongly in partnerships and are thrilled to partner with Gotee and Ayeisha on her latest Christmas project,” says Daniel Smallbone, CEO of MusiChristian.com and BooksChristian.com.

The nine-song track listing includes Woods’ inventive take on the classics including “Merry Christmas Baby”, “Walking in a Winter Wonderland”, “Jingle Bells”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, “O Holy Night”, “Joy to the World”, This Christmas”, and “ O Come All Ye Faithful”.

Producer Jamie Moore (CeCe Winans, tobyMac) comments, "Being from Muscle Shoals, AL and growing up with all of its music heritage, I've always wanted to do an old soul album,” He adds, “Ayiesha definitely took me to that place with her undeniable soulful and rootsy vocals. Hopefully this Christmas album will be racked alongside the other classics for years to come."

Read our interview with Ayiesha.

Stephanie Smith Update

On the heels of her Not Afraid debut release (December 23rd), Gotee’s pop-rocker Stephanie Smith is keeping a whirlwind schedule that includes a recent missions trip to El Salvador with Compassion International, and her latest role as official correspondent for Winter Jam 2009.

On a Compassion International trip to El Salvador for four days earlier this month, Smith spent time visiting three different projects and getting to know the children there. She also had the opportunity for a first time meeting with her own sponsored child Mariela (photo attached).

Smith says of Compassion’s ministry, “Kids are identifying dreams that would otherwise go unnoticed and Compassion is helping them to identify those areas. I got to hear stories and learn how the children’s dependency was totally on God. It was amazing to see up close both the younger kids beginning the process and then the older kids who had reaped the long-term effects of the ministry.”

As the official tour correspondent for upcoming Winter Jam, Smith will conduct exclusive interviews and grab candid, behind-the-scenes footage with artists that are available to fans online www.hearitfirst.com/jamtour and at www.godtube.com. The Winter Jam 2009 Tour Spectacular, Christian music’s largest annual musical tour, features tobyMac at the helm, along with special guests Hawk Nelson, Brandon Heath, The Afters, and of course 24-year old Smith. The 10-week tour kicks off January 8th and lasts through the March 15th final show in Nashville, TN.

On the marketing front, Stephanie Smith’s new radio single, “In My Eyes” is currently #28 at Rock radio and climbing. This is Smith’s fourth radio single that has included other hits “Superstar,” “Not Afraid,” and “Renew Me.” Her first music video for the title track was just released to the TV and video show circuit with current viewing on the Pulse TV Rock channel (Video On Demand service) alongside of videos from Coldplay, Pink, Weezer, The Killers, as well as on their Christian Channel.

Along with her musical debut Not Afraid, Stephanie Smith’s whirlwind year has included the release of her first book, Crossroads: The Teenage Girl's Guide to Emotional Wounds (Zondervan/Youth Specialties) which chronicles her journey towards choosing forgiveness and compassion over bitterness and despair. She also continues to work with the non-profit organization Soles4Souls (www.souls4souls.org). On the performance front, Smith has graced the stage at music festivals such as Rockfest, Ichthus, AtlantaFest, Music in the Park, Kingdom Bound, and Riverstages, as well as a return to Agape Fest, the original arena that lead her to meeting tobyMac and eventually signing a deal with Gotee Records. Smith has also performed as part of various conferences that have included Feedback Conferences, Secret Keeper Girl Tour, Pure Freedom, the Asphalt Assault Tour, One Life of VA and the Freedom Experience. In addition, she joined illusionist Brock Gill as part of the Florida-based SuperWow Camps, where nearly 350 individual youth groups attended weekly.

Read our interview with Stephanie!

House of Heroes unveils three new songs

Powerpop rock band House Of Heroes is giving away three new songs free to fans as part of a digitally-aggressive campaign by label home Gotee Records with the full album The End Is Not The End available at iTunes.com on April 15th for just $9.99.

The site, www.freeHoH.com, allows fans to download three new House Of Heroes songs free of charge in return for providing five email addresses of other people who they think may enjoy the music as well. Those email addresses will only be used by the label to send the link to the House Of Heroes download site.

“When you set out to make a record, you have certain hopes and expectations as far as how you expect the final product to turn out. I can honestly say that we exceeded every single one of those with this new music, “says lead vocalist/guitarist Tim Skipper. He adds, “It's an exciting time for music with the developments we have in technology, especially communication. We're ready to try something new! Hopefully this thing spreads very organically, with friends telling friends and so on.”

House of Heroes has two major label releases to their credit including their 2005 self-titled debut and 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 Silverchair, Relient K, MxPx, and music legend Stryper, as well as full-blown tours with acts including Spoken, The Evan Anthem, Last Tuesday, Dropping Daylight, Love Arcade, and Kids In The Way. Plans for extensive touring this year include a recent headlining club tour in markets including St. Paul, Chicago, Columbus, NYC, Nashville, Atlanta, Orlando and more.

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).

Stephanie Smith Partners with Soles4Souls

Stephanie Smith, Gotee Records’ up-and-coming female pop-rocker, performed her hit song “Superstar” as part of a Soles4Souls shoe donation at The Tennessee School For The Blind.
Soles4Souls staff was on hand to fit each student of the Tennessee School for the Blind (115 Stewarts Ferry Pike, Nashville) with their new pairs of shoes. This is part of a month-long series of donations that will include 25 locations across the U.S. with over 25,000 pairs of new shoes to be given to those in need during this Holiday season.

23-year old Stephanie Smith is already turning heads with an early introduction to her forthcoming debut album Not Afraid by Stephanie Smith, slated for an early 2008 street date. At radio, the first two singles “Superstar” and “Not Afraid” are gaining momentum with growing support weekly. “Superstar” is also available online at the iTunes store. Fans can download the song for $.99 by clicking the link below.



Smith, who has a passion for reaching the youth culture, is also actively involved with the Pure Freedom conferences (www.purefreedom.com) and the Secret Keeper Girl Tours, founded by top-selling youth author Dannah Gresh (And The Bride Wore White/Moody).

"This is such an exciting time in my life; I don't want to take that for granted,” asserts Smith who will be partnering with Soles4Souls through her live concert ticket sales and merchandise sales.