Avalon - The Creed
The Creed is the first all-new studio album from Avalon in three years and the first to feature new members Greg Long and Melissa Greene. Greg, Janna's husband, is a solo artist who has had several #1 radio hits. Melissa joined the group in time for Avalon's 2003 best-of project, Testify to Love, where she sang lead on "Everything To Me," the second most popular Inspirational radio hit of the year.
The Creed Track Listing
- All
- Far Away From Here
- Abundantly
- You Were There
- I Wanna Be With You
- Overjoyed
- The Creed
- I Bring It To You
- Good Way
- Renew Me
This CD has everything to love and it will quickly become one of your favorite Avalon releases.
Barlow Girl - Barlow Girl
Three sisters who rock is a good way to describe this awesome new band. The band was formed four years ago by Rebecca (23 - guitar, background vocals), Alyssa (21 - bass, keyboard, vocals) and Lauren (18 - drums, vocals). The sisters grew up in the Chicago suburb of Eligin, IL and played for several years as a back-up band for their father, Vince Barlow, who was a children's music minister. It was during that time that they started experimenting with songwriting. Participation in the Gospel Music Association's "Seminar in the Rockies" brought them to the attention of Christian music label executives and they were ultimately signed with Fervent.Their debut CD Barlow Girl, brings songs about issues that young woman face today. Drawing from their own journals and journeys, the lyrics speak of things like self-image, loneliness and trusting God. "Everybody is going through the same stuff," says Alyssa. "That's why we love that God has allowed us to use music as a platform to get our ministry out. We have an opportunity to say that we're real, we struggle with these things, we fell here, but God has lifted us up. We have never written a song that said 'We learned this, here you go.' We're still going through this. Our songs still help us!"
Behind the Songs
"On My Own" - Becca: We based the song around a line that says, “How did I manage to mess up one more time?" We can all relate to the feeling of, "God we try so hard but it seems like no matter what we do, we're messing up again." Being "good Christian girls" we always felt like we had the "right" answers for everything, and as we have gotten older, we realize the "right" answers are not going to help us. They don't change your heart or make you a better person - our only hope is in God changing our hearts."Pedestal" - Lauren: This song touches on how we put celebrities up on pedestals. On the surface, they seem perfect so we look up to them in almost every way. God really showed us that He put that need inside us for Him, because He is the perfect person who will not fall.
"Harder Than the First Time" - Lauren: During the breaks at a big Christian conference we were attending, we would run back to our hotel, get the guitar and go out out the pool, where we'd work on this song every day. It's a song about our love relationship with God, and how we've fallen in love harder than we did the first time.
"You Led Me" - Alyssa: While we were on our way back to Nashville to finish the record, we were sitting in the back of the van in prayer of inspiration for a new song. This song was an answered prayer where God delivered us from a dark time in our lives.
"Superstar" - Lauren: This song is from a time when God began to question our motives as a band. He had asked, "What if I don't want you to be a star? But, if you are and I do allow you into that position are you going to start holding onto that, or can you be content in knowing that I called you to shine like stars, no matter where I put you?"
"Clothes" - Becca: About a year and a half ago, we had just seen a movie and we were upset about the immodest clothing that actresses wore. We wanted to, in a creative way, not a condemning way, speak up about that issue.
KJ-52 - 7th Avenue
In the past four years, hip-hop artist KJ-52 has broken down many of the barriers that have existed between traditional urban music and Christian music fans. What started as a Florida-based street ministry has grown to include magazine covers, successful radio singles, movie soundtracks, and national touring. KJ-52 has also had a huge impact on popular culture due to the uncompromising Dear Slim which challenges mainstream rapper Eminem’s negative outlook on the world. KJ’s mission has remained pure, and people are responding.KJ-52’s national debut was nominated for a Dove Award for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year. New fans will want to complete their KJ-52 collections with a special re-released version of 7th Avenue which includes three previously unreleased tracks, KJ’s version of DCTalk’s "The Hard Way" plus guest appearances by GRITS, Knowdaverbs, Amani, Cross Movement and others.
Track Listing
- Press On – previously unreleased
- 12th Round Knockout – as heard in Carman’s film The Champion
- All Around The World – previously unreleased
- The Hard Way
- 1,2,3 (featuring Yankee Man)
- Keep Ya Head Up (featuring Amani)
- We Rock The Mic
- Keep It Moving (featuring Knowdaverbs)
- Do What I Do
- This Is Love (featuring Amani)
- Integrity (featuring Bonafide of Grits)
- They Know Not (featuring Passion and L.P.)
- Mark of the Beast Pt. III (featuring Vex the Vortex of the Boogie Monsters)
- It’s the S.O.I. (featuring Deuce the Ambassador and Phanatik of the Cross Movement)
- Need Someone
