The Celine Dion of Christian music--Natalie Grant--will be releasing her eighth album, Love Revolution, on Curb Records this August 24, 2010; it'll feature her recently released single, “Greatness of Our God,” which is currently at Christian radio. The song was penned by Jason Ingram ("Give Me Your Eyes,” "The Lost Get Found"), who has written numerous recent #1 singles and Reuben Morgan of Hillsong, who wrote "Mighty To Save," a breakthrough single at Christian radio and one of today’s most powerful worship songs. After finishing the “Make it Matter Tour” in July 2009 with Chris Sligh and Meredith Andrews, Natalie most recently finished up a 30 date tour with Jeremy Camp late last year and is currently headlining the nationwide "LOVE REVOLUTION" tour with Britt Nicole & Phil Stacey.
Over the past four years, Grant has gained prominence as a major contemporary Christian singer and songwriter, breaking out in a strong way with her signature song, “Held.” She was awarded the Gospel Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Since 2001, she has released four albums entitled “Stronger” (2001), “Deeper” (2003), “Awaken” (2005), and “Relentless” (2008).
In addition to her dedication to singing and song writing, Grant regularly performs at the “Women of Faith” and “Revolve” conference tours. She uses her own stories of overcoming life’s struggles to motivate young girls to make smart decision about their own life, and encourage them to see their own self-worth. Grant is also passionate about ending human trafficking and spends a great deal of her time working to support this cause. In 2005, she created The Home Foundation in order to raise awareness and financial support to help rescue women and girls out of sex slavery/human trafficking and is incredibly passionate about this effort in her personal and professional life. |
 Chonda Pierce, who got her start imitating Minnie Pearl and recently appeared on ABC's The View, has been making audiences laugh for a while now. She has a voice like no other-- imagine a cartoon character with a Southern accent saying "Isn't that precious?" and you've got an idea of what she sounds like. Interestingly, she's also a singer, and can belt out tunes with the best of singers-- she's got powerful pipes that could handle country, jazz, or Gospel music.
As a performer, she often makes audiences laugh for over an hour and then at the end, she'll sing a poignant, inspirational tune with that strong voice of hers, and it's almost like getting two shows for the price of one. On her latest DVD, "Did I Say That Out Loud," she sticks to this winning formula, and the show is very entertaining, even when she's singing at the end.
Chonda starts the new DVD off by relating to her Tennessee audience how she has an apartment in West Hollywood, and how people in California are quite different than people in the Bible Belt. She could totally make a TV series out of this material, a kind of "fish out of water" comedy where the country gal moves to the big city, and it would probably do well.
Some of you might know Chonda from her comedy special "This Ain't Prettyville," which has aired on CMT multiple times. Chonda's comedy appeals to middle-aged women who love the Lord, and in America, that's a huge market. She regularly tours, playing churches rather than bars or nightclubs, and makes a good living entertaining church crowds. She gets away with a lot, saying things you'd never normally hear in church, and that's why people love her. She manages to walk the fine line between evangelical Christianity and secular worldliness with her comedy-- while she's firmly planted in the church world, it seems she'd like to expand to Hollywood and expand her audience. This would be a good thing. She could bring to the world her unique Christian worldview, and help show non-believers that while some Christians are indeed "weird," they're human, too, and can laugh at themselves and the world around them.
If you want to laugh, "Did I Say That Out Loud" will indeed get you laughing out loud a couple times, and get you smiling. Visit chonda.org for info. |
 Legendary recording artist John Schlitt — solo artist and former lead singer for Grammy Award-winning Christian band Petra and mainstream rock band Head East — was the keynote speaker at the Russian Gospel Music Association conference (EMA). The EMA ran from May 12-15, 2010.
During the conference, Schlitt performed at various locations throughout the city of Moscow, including an open air concert in Gorky Park, the prestigious "Radio City Moscow" night club and the closing EMA ceremonies.
In addition to performing, Schlitt also conducted master classes for aspiring Russian musicians, designed to stimulate professional growth and personal development.
"I am so glad that American musicians who heard of our plight for years are lending a helping hand in bringing their expertise to Russian musicians," says EMA founder Nikolai Pankratz, formerly of the Christian band Ruscha.
With the demise of Communism, a new era of music — and Christianity — in the former Soviet Union is being ushered in. "I was very excited about being a part of EMA and sharing my knowledge and experience with the people of Russia," says Schlitt. "Nikolai, having grown up in the former Soviet Union, told me about the times the secret police would storm into a meeting, confiscate Bibles and break musical instruments. Pastors were taken to jail, and his grandfather was arrested and killed for believing in God," Schlitt continues. "It's amazing how times have changed; I feel that the Lord had major plans for the week and I'm very honored to have been a part of it all." |
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