Fervent Records 14-time Dove Award nominated band and best-selling new CCM artist of 2004, BarlowGirl (Alyssa, Lauren and Rebecca), are retiring after they release their final song, “Hope Will Lead Us On,” on October 30. As their fans have been instrumental in their success, the sister trio want them to conduct their final interview. On October 29, live via Ustream, the band will perform a few of their hits acoustically, take questions from their fans and premiere their final song, “Hope Will Lead Us On,” (Ustream link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/barlowgirl-live).

Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2004, BarlowGirl has sold over one million albums, received 14 Dove Award nominations and accumulated four No. 1 singles on the Christian radio. Their poignant 2005 hit, “I Need You To Love Me,” topped the charts for 13 weeks in 2005 making it the longest No. 1 single in Christian Hit Radio chart history. With a wonderful run, the sisters are ready to leave on a high note.

“The last 10 years as BarlowGirl has been one of the most incredible adventures we have ever been on,” said Alyssa, Lauren and Rebecca. “We could not have imagined this journey without our incredible supportive fans who waited in lines to get into shows, called radio stations to play our music, watched all of our ridiculous podcasts, bought or sent us hundreds of pounds of chocolate and encouraged us the entire way. We are so honored to have shared our dream with you. Thank you for being a part of it.”

On October 29, fans can log on to Ustream to submit questions. In addition, the sisters will play a few acoustic songs and will premiere “Hope Will Lead Us On” via a lyric video. The following day, their final song will be available at all digital retailers. Alyssa, Lauren and Rebecca Barlow also personally wanted to be the ones to notify their fans of their retirement. To do so, they have drafted a letter that fans can read at www.barlowgirl.com.

Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2004, Alyssa, Lauren and Rebecca Barlow have continuously inspired fans with such intimate portraits, as their sophomore set, Another Journal Entry and such bold challenges as 2007’s, How Can We Be Silent. Nominated for 14 Dove Awards, the songwriting siblings have written and recorded such landmark hits as “Never Alone,” which became Radio & Records’ Christian Song of the Year in 2004 and helped earn BarlowGirl best-selling new Christian artist status. Their poignant hit, “I Need You to Love Me,” topped the charts for thirteen weeks in 2005, making it the longest No. 1 single in Christian Radio Weekly Chart History. BarlowGirl has always represented an interesting dichotomy; tender-hearted, beautiful young women who aren’t afraid to take an aggressive, almost warrior-like stance when it comes to spreading the gospel and serving God.

For additional information on BarlowGirl visit www.barlowgirl.com.

About Word Entertainment
A leader in the music industry for over 60 years, Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is a unique, comprehensive entertainment company comprised of multi-faceted artist service departments including publishing, merchandising, booking, and online initiatives. Word Entertainment represents some of the top names and brands in music, including Meredith Andrews, Chris August, BarlowGirl, Francesca Battistelli, Big Daddy Weave, Jason Castro, Patrick Ryan Clark, Everfound, for KING & COUNTRY, Group 1 Crew, Dara Maclean, Point Of Grace and Sidewalk Prophets and is home to 25 Entertainment, Word Distribution (representing Curb Records and Big Idea/VeggieTales among others), Word Print, Word Films, Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group’s Word Records and Fervent Records.

BEST DAYS YET is Morton’s 10th solo album and features a first time collaboration with phenomenal Grammy Award winning producer Donald Lawrence.   The album offers a flawless combo of Morton’s classic, strong vocals and Lawrence’s masterful vocal arrangements and production.

The album loudly proclaims themes of encouragement, hope and transformation.  The opening title track, “Best Days Yet” starts the album strongly in timeless fashion that will soon have choirs and churches singing along.  Though studio-recorded, the song’s powerful instrumentation gives it a live feel. Album cuts “Times Like These,”and upbeat “It’s Over” continues the themes throughout.

One highlight is “Something Happens (Jesus)” an immediate classic that is pure gospel music.  There are also stand-out guest artists on the project including, Marvin Winans offering smooth and rich vocals on “Things Are Changing” and the incomparable Karen Clark Sheard on the Thomas Whitfield classic “The Grass Withereth.”

BEST DAYS YET is well rounded, blending traditional with contemporary, achieving a definitive release from one of Gospel music’s generals.  Bishop Paul S. Morton continues to serve as the International Presiding Bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship.

BEST DAYS YET is available now for pre-order on iTunes & will be in-stores and on line everywhere November 13, 2012.

Earlier this year thousands of women around the world voiced their excitement about the Dare to Be women’s event.  Now, Grammy nominated vocalist Natalie Grant and international speaker Charlotte Gambill are gearing up for the second annual Dare to Be event tour set to launch January 10, 2013.   

Sponsored by World Vision and Regent University, the multi-city event tour kicks off in Nashville, Tenn. and will visit major markets including Baltimore, Columbus, Sacramento, Cleveland, Seattle and Portland.

With the purpose to inspire women from all walks of life to step out of their comfort zone and realize their God given potential, Dare to Be is an intimate evening of inspirational music, worship, teaching and fellowship.   Grant will perform some of her most popular songs and Gambill will make audiences laugh and cry through her authentic and relevant bible teaching, challenging women to dive into their God designed destiny.

“Dare to Be is not just an event, it is an adventure that we want to invite you to join us on,” says Gambill.  “We believe that God has purposed so much more for all our lives and often the barrier between that purpose being a dream or a reality is daring to believe it.  Over this past year we have seen hope revived, relationships restored and God’s girls leaving what’s comfortable to become courageous.”  

Each evening, Gambill and Grant will acknowledge a woman in the local community who has overcome extraordinary circumstances and exemplifies a woman who is “daring to be.”   Despite the challenges that life can bring, Grant and Gambill want to show the powerful impact and importance of sisters honoring sisters.

 Grant says, “Each evening is an opportunity to build someone up.  We get to take a moment to love on each other and it’s amazing to see what happens when we simply say ‘We see you.  We recognize you. You are important and are making a difference in this community by your example.’ We’ve seen countless women restored by this simple act of fellowship alone.”

The upcoming events will engage radio and social media to encourage community leaders to share the stories of those who are making a difference in their own congregations, whom they feel should be honored at their localDare to Be event.  

More information on story submissions can be found at www.daretoberevolution.com.

Earlier this year, Dare to Be visited a select number of markets and impacted thousands.   Women are still sharing about the impression the event made on their lives:

“It’s 5 months later and I continue to hear stories of life change. Natalie Grant & Charlotte Gambill are the real deal! Run, don’t walk to get your tickets,” said Libba Tullos, Women’s Pastor at Hope Fellowship in Frisco, TX.

“This event challenged women to dare greatly to be all that God has created them to be.  It dared women to step outside of their comfort zones, to trust God and to do all that He has called them to do. This event dared women to stretch farther, go higher, and dig deeper with God than they ever have before,” said former attendee.

In the early stages of their friendship, Grant and Gambill ministered together on several occasions in the UK and USA. Complete strangers at first, God instantly knit their lives together.  Now seven year later, they are closer friends and are excited to be walking out a purpose that God united them for.

Grant continues to gain international acclaim for her music, garnering countless awards, selling over a million albums, and performing in front of sold out crowds across the country.   Founder of Abolition International, a non-profit origination that works towards abolishing human trafficking, Grant uses her platform to bring a voice to the voiceless.  Gambill is an international speaker and author, best known for her practical and passionate application of God’s word. Her messages of life and purpose are rallying a generation to embrace the broken and become ambassadors of hope. 

For more information about Dare to Be events and to purchase tickets, please visit http://daretoberevolution.com/. 

Dare to Be dates & locations 

January 10^th        Nashville, TN                     $15/$20/$75VIP                CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 11^th        Baltimore, MD                  $17.50/$22.50/$75VIP    CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 12^th        Cleveland, OH                  $15/$20/$75VIP                CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 13^th        Columbus, OH                  $15/$20/$75VIP                CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 17^th        Sacramento, CA                $15/$20/$75VIP                  CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 18^th        Portland, OR                      $15/$20/$75VIP                CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 19^th        Seattle, WA                       $15/$20/$75VIP                CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 24^th        Mobile, AL                          $17/$20/$75VIP                CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 25^th        Victoria, TX*                      $25                                         CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

January 26^th        Shreveport, LA                  $15/$20/$75VIP                CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

*Note this date is part of a 2 day conference

The cover art for rap artist Jayceon “Game” Taylor’s upcoming album is stirring up controversy because it portrays Jesus Christ as a gang member.  

The artwork for the upcoming “Jesus Piece” album shows a stained-glass image of Jesus Christ, who is wearing a gaudy gold chain and a red bandana – often associated with the Bloods street gang.  The depicted Jesus has a teardrop tattoo on his face – often a sign that the person wearing this tear drop has committed a murder.  The album’s title is written as “Je5us Piece,” with the number five also being a symbol of the Bloods, and there are marijuana leaves on both sides of Jesus’s likeness.

The artwork posted originally on instagram is causing many to debate feelings the rapper has about his Christianity and lifestyle.   

“I’m calling [my new album] ‘Jesus Piece’ ’cause last year in August I got baptized and so I’ve been going to church, but I still been kinda doing me out here,” Game said in an interview with radio personality Jenny Boom Boom in September. “I still love the strip club and I still smoke and drink. I’m faithful to my family, so I wanted to make an album where you could love God and be of God, but still get it poppin’ in your life.”

The cover of the new album has been greeted with mixed reviews and heated debate on both Instagram and Twitter. “This artwork is Brilliant!!!” hip hop artist Busta Rhymes said via Twitter on Sunday; Twitter user Miss Elizabeth describes it as “blasphemy at its peak.”

Adam Holz, senior associate editor for Focus on the Family’s Plugged In entertainment reviews, says that some people might be shocked by the portrayal of Jesus as a gangster, but, as a person who has reviewed dozens of rap albums in his eight years at Plugged In, he wasn’t surprised by it.

“Rap artists frequently want to appropriate Jesus and Christianity, even if they’re singing and rapping about killing people, or sexual exploits or using marijuana,” said Holz. “So it’s not surprising to see a fairly significant rapper doing exactly that, that he doesn’t see any conflict at all between the teachings of Jesus and a rap lifestyle that is a long ways from what Jesus taught.”

Holz also says Christians should pray for change in those artists who say they believe in Jesus Christ but are accepting of things that go against Christ’s teachings

“Celebration,” a song about getting high on drugs and watching strippers dance, features celebrity artists such as Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa and Tyga, and is the first song to be released from the album.

The chorus of the song is a four line repetition of the lyric, “We havin’ a celebration, love to stay high.” Other lyrics from the song includes, “it’s a celebration, all on the pole they doing the dance” and “all my (n——) got guns, no registration.”

The 32-year-old Game was baptized at Bishop Noel Jone’s City of Refuge Church in Gardena, Calif. last year, and says “Jesus Piece” was a way for him to address situations faced by those who “love God but are still street and wanna remain themselves.”

Those in the word believe that a “double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  Another biblical scripture of God referenced in comments was, “Since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” -Revelation 3:16
 

Gospel superstars Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary are confirmed to host the 28th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards on January 19, 2013.  2013 Stellar Awards Nominees will be announced on Friday, October 26.  To provide interviews and share key details regarding this year’s nominees and show, 2013 Stellar Awards hosts Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary will participate in press opportunities on Friday, October 26.  The nominees will be announced via webcast at http://www.thestellarawards.com.

Academy Award–winning actor Nicolas Cage is reportedly in talks to star in “Left Behind,” a mainstream remake of the Christian-themed movie trilogy about the End Times. The reboot will mark the first film from Stoney Lake Entertainment, a new production company led by Paul Lalonde, a Canadian/American film producer and writer and co-founder of Cloud Ten Pictures, variety.com reported Friday.

“Left Behind” is the first installment of a 16-book series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins about the adventures of the sinners left on earth after the Rapture. The series, first published 1995-2007 by Tyndale House, has sold more than 65 million copies around the world. The series has already been adapted into three action thriller films starring Kirk Cameron, who plays the leader of the Tribulation Force against the Global Community and its leader Nicolae Carpathia, the Antichrist. The original series was launched in 2001.

Lalonde will produce the action thriller with Michael Walker, and co-write the script with John Patus, who wrote 2005’s “Left Behind: World at War,” the entertainment news agency said. Veteran stunt coordinator and second unit director Vic Armstrong is in talks to direct.

The plot focuses on a group of survivors during the first few hours after the Rapture. The budget of the film is in the $15 million range, and its production is likely to begin in early spring for a late next year release. The project was shopped at last year’s American Film Market.  

Variety quoted Lalonde as saying that distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films had given a theatrical guarantee.

Lalonde’s Cloud Ten Pictures is the company behind the best-selling Apocalypse collection. Lalonde and his brother, Peter, started up the production company “as a means of spreading the Gospel message and producing inspirational Christian films that would help to disband the general consensus that Christian movies are low quality,” the company’s website says.

Cage has been unpredictable in his choice of films. Film critic Roger Ebert once wrote in an essay, “Great Movies,” that Cage is “daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively…. He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him.”

Click Here to Read More by Christian Post

Andrew Peterson, one of the most respected singer/songwriters in the business, will launch his highly popular 13^th Annual Behold the Lamb of God Tour  on November 28^thin Norfolk, NE.  Due to high demand for the tour, it has expanded to 17 dates this year that will include two nights at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, and will run through December 20^th.  Joining the tour for the first time this year is Americana/Pop Artist, Matthew Perryman Jones, who will share the stage with Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, Ben Shive and Andrew Osenga.  A complete listing of dates is available at the end of the press release and online at www.andrew-peterson.com. 

“I look forward to this tour all year—not just because of the music or the shows, but because it’s a chance to spend time with some of my favorite people,” says Peterson.  “This tour for us is a kind of yearly family reunion, and the fact that it’s all done in the name of telling this story that is at the core of who we are, makes it that much richer. And I’m so pumped that Matthew Perryman Jones is joining the roster this tour.”

Peterson launched the Christmas tour in 1999 to present a musical rendition of the Christmas story and to reinforce the true meaning of the season.  It was immediately embraced by fans nationwide because of the powerful performances, entertaining stories, and the sense of community between Peterson and his guest artists.  The result was multiple sold-out venues and yearly return engagements. In 2004, fan support led Peterson to record the album, Behold The Lamb Of God: The True Tall Tale Of The Coming Of Christ, and the project won the 2004 Best Album of the Year, World Christian Music Editor’s Award and was named by Rhapsody.com as one of the ten best Christian albums of the decade. In 2009, Peterson released a 2-disc 10th Anniversary Edition of the project that includes a remastered version of the original CD and a live recording of the Christmas concert from 2008.

Andrew Peterson’s latest project, Light for the Lost Boy was one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year, and the project has been hailed as Peterson’s best album to date.  The reviews have been stellar with media proclaiming the project as the best album of the year, a pioneering album, and Andrew’s boldest and most imaginative work.  The first single from the album, “Rest Easy,” generated a video contest for fans with a $1,000 grand prize for the winners.  The moving and heartfelt video is now airing online. 

Peterson once again hosted the 2012 Rabbit Room Hutchmoot, an event centered on art, faith, and the telling of great stories across a range of mediums.  This is the 3^rd year for the annual conference and it sold out in a mere seven minutes. The keynote speaker for this year’s Hutchmoot was Veggie Tales’s Phil Vischer, along with labelmate Jason Gray, New York Times best-selling author Sally Lloyd-Jones, authors N.D. Wilson and Jonathan Rogers, songwriters Eric Peters, Jill Phillips, Randall Goodgame, among others. 

About Andrew Peterson

Andrew Peterson is a man of many talents with a successful recording and songwriting career, as well as being an award-winning author and the host of a highly popular online creative community known as the Rabbit Room (www.RabbitRoom.com). Peterson released his new album, Light for the Lost Boy on August 28, 2012 to rave reviews….hailing the project “as best album of the year so far.”  His previous project, Counting Stars debuted at #1 on iTunes, and #6 on Billboard. His single “Dancing in the Minefields” reached the Top 10 on the Christian AC chart, while the video for the song has received well over 1,000,000 views online. Peterson is currently working on his fourth and final book in the Wingfeather Saga series that releases in early 2013. Book two won the 2010 Christy Award for Young Adult Fiction.  In September Peterson hosted Hutchmoot, the third annual Rabbit Room conference for lovers of art, songs, and stories—an event that sold out in seven minutes!  Peterson appeared on the spring and fall legs of the Steven Curtis Chapman Songs & Stories Tour and in December will embark on his 13th annual Christmas tour, Behold the Lamb of God. For more information on Peterson please visit www.Andrew-Peterson.com.

About Centricity Music

Centricity Music is an independent recording and publishing company based in Bellevue, Washington and Nashville, Tennessee.  The company’s mission is to enable our artists to create life-changing experiences for the world. Centricity Music’s artist roster includes; Aaron Shust, Andrew Peterson, Downhere, Jaime Jamgochian, Jason Gray, Remedy Drive, Seth Mosley, Sixteen Cities, and Unspoken.  Additional information is available online at www.centricitymusic.com

Behold The Lamb Of God Tour Dates: (Subject To Change)

11/ 28 – Norfolk, NE

11/29 – Lincoln, NE

11/30 – Dubuque, IA

12/1 – Milford, OH

12/2 – Birmingham, AL

12/3 – Knoxville, TN

12/6 – Richmond, VA

12/7 – Gaithersburg, MD

12/8 – Concord, NH

12/11 – Montgomery, AL

12/12 – Charlotte, NC

12/13 – Whiteville, NC

12/14 – Orlando, FL

12/15 – Lakeland, FL

12/16 & 17 – Nashville, TN

12/19 – League City, TX

12/20 – Bullard, TX