Strong Hand of Love: Mark Heard Documentary

 Strong Hand of Love: Mark Heard Documentary - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8VnG-iXTY0

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The Prayer Chain - Christian Alternative Rock Band

The Prayer Chain was a 1990s Christian alternative rock band. The band has been called "the epitome of the Christian underground". The Prayer Chain was known for producing moody, angst-ridden music which was, in turn, the result of creative differences within the band and with their record label.

 Their first album, released independently, was recorded with Steve Hindalong at Neverland Studios and was entitled The Neverland Sessions. After signing to Reunion Records they put out The Whirlpool EP and started touring, while focusing on their first LP Shawl released in 1993. After extensive national and international shows they started working on their final album, Mercury, which was released in 1995. Engineer Chris Colbert wrote, "you can hear the band break up on the record, you can see them extend a warm and heartfelt middle finger to the industry". Some releases which included rare recordings followed. The band has since done a reunion show in Chicago in 1998, the Gene Eugene tribute show in 2000, some local California shows and 2003 reunion shows at Cornerstone Festival and the Flevo Festival in the Netherlands.

 The band has released some of their work & rarities on the Bandcamp website. Most notably, they released the original version of their album Mercury titled Humb, ending years of speculation between fans regarding the original album. The original version was sent to Reunion Records in 1994 and the band were subsequently told to go back into the studio to write more songs, "something they could sell". The most evident differences between Mercury and Humb are the absence of "Sky High" on Humb, which along with "Friend or Foe" was written after the record label rejected the original version of the album, and the inclusion of "Chalk", "Antarctica" and "Loverboy" on Humb, all which eventually appeared on Antarctica. Humb also had a different track order. The somewhat different mixing on the original album is considered to be darker.

Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prayer_Chain

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 The Prayer Chain - Follow Me - Whirlpool [EP] (1992) 

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 The Prayer Chain - 3 - Fifty-Eight - Shawl (1993)

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 The Prayer Chain - 5 - Sky High - Mercury (1995)

 

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Profile: Mark Heard (1951-1992)

John Mark Heard (December 16, 1951 - August 16, 1992) was a record producer, folk-rock singer, and songwriter originally from Macon, Georgia, USA. Mark Heard released 16 records in his lifetime, and produced and performed with many other artists as well, such as Sam Phillips (aka Leslie Phillips), Pierce Pettis, Phil Keaggy, Vigilantes of Love, Peter Buck of R.E.M. (who co-produced VOL's album Killing Floor with Heard), John Austin, The Choir, Randy Stonehill and Michael Been of The Call. Heard produced part of Olivia Newton-John's The Rumor, which also included a cover of Heard's own "Big and Strong" (originally called "How To Grow Up Big And Strong").

After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1974 with an ABJ (bachelor of arts in journalism) degree in television, Heard travelled to Switzerland to study at L'Abri under the influential evangelical Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer. Singers Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill literally stumbled onto Mark one day playing his guitar. Norman was so impressed by Heard's abilities that he soon signed him to his record label, Solid Rock Records. Heard and his wife Janet moved to Glendale, California in 1977 to begin work on his Appalachian Melody album for the label, but would also maintain a close relationship with the people at the L'Abri for years. Heard would also record and release Fingerprint on a Swiss label in 1980.

  In 1981, Heard began a recording contract with Chris Christian's Home Sweet Home Records. Although Mark's sales did not attract attention from the Major Christian Labels, Christian felt Mark's music was unique and fresh and deserved to be heard and funded his projects with no production oversight which Mark wanted. His signing to the label was a departure from the commercial Artist that Chris traditionally signed and produced on the Home Sweet Home label. Heard released five albums for the label; 1981's Stop the Dominoes, 1982's Victims of the Age; 1983's Eye of the Storm; 1984's Ashes and Light; and 1985's Mosaics. The overall experience was not one that Heard enjoyed, partly due to his personal experiences with record company executives, and partly due to compromises he felt under pressure to make in order to make himself and his songs more marketable to Christian audiences.

In 1984, Heard began recording in his home studio, which he dubbed "Fingerprint Recorders," after the title of one of his earlier records. From that point on, his albums were largely made at home, with just a handful of friends and relatives lending a hand. In 1986, Heard decided to try something a little different and recorded the experimental Pop/Rock album for What? Records entitled Tribal Opera, under the name iDEoLA. When asked about the unusual name, Heard replied "It's not supposed to be mysterious or anything; I just put a band together and right now I happen to be the only one in it." Heard also directed a music video for the single of that album, "Is It Any Wonder."

With the formation of Fingerprint Records and his studio, Heard began to produce albums for a number of artists including two albums for Randy Stonehill, Jacob's Trouble, Pierce Pettis and 1992's Vigilantes of Love album, Killing Floor, which he co-produced with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. Stonehill's Until We Have Wings including a song co-written by Heard, "Faithful," although the CD liner notes credit the song to Heard's pseudonym Giovanni Audiori.



To read more about Mark Heard go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Heard


To view the Official Mark Heard Tribute Site:
http://www.markheard.net/


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Mark Heard - Worry Too Much - Second Hand (1991)

 

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 Mark Heard - Satellite Sky - Taken from his last concert performance, Mark Heard plays at Cornerstone 1992 at the Encore Stage.

 

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Brainstorm Profile: Terry Scott Taylor

Terry Scott Taylor (born May 24, 1950) is an American songwriter, record producer, writer and founding member of the bands Daniel Amos and The Swirling Eddies (credited as Camarillo Eddy). Taylor is also a member of the roots and alternative music group, Lost Dogs. He is currently based in San Jose, California, USA.

Taylor is highly regarded for his songwriting skills. These often include allusions to and reworkings of material ranging from Elizabethan poets to modern authors. Foremost among Taylor's influences is William Blake. The Daniel Amos album title Fearful Symmetry was drawn from Blake's poem "The Tyger," and numerous songs across The Alarma! Chronicles series of albums have Blake-inspired references. Some other poets who have influenced Taylor's work are T. S. Eliot and Christina Rossetti. Eliot's poetry inspired the song "Hollow Man" from the Doppelgänger album. "Where Dreams Come True" from Taylor's solo LP A Briefing for the Ascent draws heavily from Rosetti's poem "Echo."

The inspiration for many Daniel Amos and Taylor songs from the mid-1980s can be found in the book Behold, This Dreamer: Of Reverie, Night, Sleep, Dream, Love-Dreams, Nightmare, Death. This book, compiled by Walter de la Mare and published in 1939, contains poems and essays that appear in Taylor's songwriting. De la Mare is thanked in the liner notes of the final installment of The Alarma! Chronicles, Fearful Symmetry. References to contemporary authors also appear in Taylor's songs. One example is the song "Shape of Air" from the LP Darn Floor-Big Bite. The song explores the mystical musings of Annie Dillard found in her Pulitzer prize-winning book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. The album is also heavily inspired by the works of Czesław Miłosz. This is especially evident in songs like "The Unattainable Earth" (which was named after one of Miłosz' books), "Safety Net", "Pictures of the Gone World", "Divine Instant", and "Half Light, Epoch, and Phase". On Taylor's 1998 release, John Wayne (album) he credits more influences; Flannery O'Connor, Dennis Prager and Frederick Buechner.

During the 1990s and into the new millennium, Taylor's songwriting for the Lost Dogs and on other projects turned away from more esoteric themes. The songs crafted during this phase of Taylor's career marked a shift toward "Americana" and, in some ways, a return to the country music sound of Daniel Amos in the early 1970s. The primary vehicle for this phase of Taylor's songwriting career is the Lost Dogs, with a number of noteworthy solo projects. The Lost Dogs began in 1991 as a one-time collaboration between vocalists and songwriters from four different bands at the behest of their label at that time. Taylor, Gene Eugene (of Adam Again), Derri Daugherty (of The Choir), and Michael Roe (of The 77s) have released several eclectic albums of traditional American music (country, folk, blues, rock) over the last decade.

Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Scott_Taylor

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Profile: Steve Taylor

Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957), also known as Steve Taylor, is an American Christian singer, songwriter, record producer and film director.

In 1980, Taylor wrote and directed a pop musical comedy titled Nothing To Lose based on the story of the prodigal son from the Bible. It had a short run at a community theater in Denver. He also wrote and starred in a short film, Joe's Distributing, a parody of avant-garde films.

Taylor wrote articles during this time that were published in the Wittenburg Door and Contemporary Christian Music magazine (for which he won an award from the Evangelical Press Association).

After recording a demo of original songs, Taylor began to write for the musical group The Continentals. The Continentals' founder, Cam Floria invited Taylor to join the group on a tour of Poland sponsored by Solidarity.

When he returned to the United States, he was asked to perform at the Christian Artists' 1982 Music Seminar in Denver. Billy Ray Hearn, president of Sparrow Records, was backstage and immediately signed Taylor to a recording contract.

He recorded his debut solo project I Want to Be a Clone in 1982 and released it in January 1983. He quickly gained a reputation for writing songs that satirized beliefs and practices with which he disagreed.

In 1983, Taylor recorded his first full length album. Released in 1984, Meltdown included some of the demo material that was not on Clone along with some new material. His video single of the title track, "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)" was played on MTV, which was unusual for a Christian artist at the time. The video featured an appearance by actress Lisa Whelchel. The album also included "We Don't Need No Colour Code", which was critical of Bob Jones University and its anti-interracial dating policy, a policy that was not abandoned by the university until 2000.

Another track on Meltdown, "Guilty By Association", one of the original demo songs, includes a jab with an impression in the middle eight at televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. The song "On the Fritz", the title track from Taylor's next studio album, was also targeted at Swaggart. Swaggart later struck back by devoting part of a chapter of Religious Rock 'N' Roll, a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (ISBN 0-935113-05-3) to Taylor, whom he saw as playing evil rock music.

During a performance at 1984's Cornerstone Festival, Taylor fractured his ankle while jumping off the stage. He finished the summer's tour in an electric wheelchair.

Taylor followed that release with On the Fritz, produced by Foreigner's Ian McDonald. Fritz was Taylor's first album to use all studio musicians instead of his usual backing group. Some of the musicians who played on this album were George Small, Tony DaVilio, Hugh McCracken, Carmine Rojas, Larry Fast and Allen Childs. Fritz, keeping with Taylor tradition, took aim once again at religious leaders, such as Bill Gothard ("I Manipulate"), greedy TV evangelists (again) ("You Don't Owe Me Nothing"), politicians using religion or avoiding questions of morality in order to get votes ("It's a Personal Thing"), and public schools teaching "values clarification" to children, asking them to determine who should be thrown overboard in an overcrowded lifeboat ("Lifeboat").

In 1985, Steve received his first Grammy nomination in the "Best Male Gospel Performance" category, while also being nominated for Dove Awards as "Gospel Artist of the Year" and for Meltdown as the "Best Contemporary Album of the Year". Taylor and "Some Band" performed at the Dove Awards ceremonies in Nashville in April of that year, where they were introduced by Pat Boone.

Taylor also recorded a duet with Sheila Walsh, "Not Gonna Fall Away", a tune written and recorded in 1981 by David Edwards. This was released as a 12" single titled Transatlantic Remixes. Taylor and Walsh embarked on the "Transatlantic Tour" which included dates in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Taylor and Walsh also participated in the recording of "Do Something Now", a collaborative effort, similar to "We Are The World", to raise money for Compassion International's famine relief programs in Africa. Other artists participating included Amy Grant, Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Mylon LeFevre, Steve Camp, Evie, Phil Keaggy, Second Chapter of Acts, Sandi Patti, Bill Gaither, and Rick Cua.

In between performing, recording and touring, Taylor met and married Debbie Butler of Irvine, California. They were married by Taylor's father at a private ceremony in Connecticut. Mrs. Taylor designed the album cover for a compilation on Sparrow, The Best We Could Find (Plus 3 That Never Escaped), as well as some of Taylor's more colorful stage costumes.

In 1987, Taylor once again lived up to his controversial reputation with a song called "I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good". The song criticizes anyone who claims to be a pro-life activist who would blow up abortion clinics or kill doctors. The point of the song was lost on many and resulted in Taylor's album, I Predict 1990, being pulled from the shelves at some Christian record stores. Taylor himself would occasionally call those stores to explain the song to them.[6] With 1990, Taylor's targets included mainstream Universities ("Since I Gave Up Hope I Feel A Lot Better", featuring fiddle work from Papa John Creech of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna). Other tracks included "Jim Morrison's Grave", which once again brought Taylor some MTV exposure, and the Flannery O'Connor inspired "Harder to Believe Than Not To". Some stores also pulled the album as they thought the cover looked like a Tarot Card.

Taylor's tour for "I Predict" was his most ambitious to date, bringing him to Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden and the Philippines.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Taylor

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VIDEO: Jim Morrison's Grave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLW-Pr-y8qA

This is the video for Steve Taylor's classic song, "Jim Morrison's Grave." This video landed on MTV's "120 Minutes" back in 1987.

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VIDEO: Drive, He said

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUu-vbhzuuw

Profile: The Call

The Call was an American rock band from Santa Cruz, California active from 1980 to 2000.

The Call formed in Santa Cruz in 1980 by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, Scott Musick, and Tom Ferrier. Been and Musick were originally from Oklahoma. Been was previously a member of Chicago band Aorta, and then, between 1969 and 1971, of Lovecraft, the successor band to the psychedelic rock group H.P. Lovecraft.

Beginning with their self-titled debut in 1982, the Call went on to produce a total of 10 albums by 2000. The eponymous premiere album was recorded in England, and Been later recalled that the band was in an exploratory phase at this point. Been noted in a 1988 interview, "The Call was a compassionate album, but it probably came out as anger." Peter Gabriel liked the band so much that he asked them to open for him during his 1982 "Shock the Monkey" tour.

The next album, Modern Romans, was notable for its political content. Been later stated, "There was a great deal happening politically - Grenada, Lebanon, or the government saying the Russians are evil and the Russian government probably saying the same about us. That kind of thinking inspired me to write the last lines of 'Walls Came Down'."

This was followed by Scene Beyond Dreams. Been referred to it as The Call's "metaphysical" album. With a strong poetic sense to the lyrics and a change in instrumentation, the change in sound is notable. Garth Hudson of The Band played keyboards on these first three records.

Reconciled was recorded during the summer of 1985. At this point, the band had not had a recording contract for two years, due to what Been described as "legal bickering" between The Call's former record label and their management company. However, once the deal was signed with Elektra Records, the band resumed playing and produced their most commercially successful album to date. Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds' Jim Kerr, and Hudson and former Band mate Robbie Robertson all guested the album which was released in 1986. Several tracks from the album became hits on the Mainstream Rock Chart, and one of these tracks, "I Still Believe". "I Still Believe" appears on the soundtrack of the 1986 film The Whoopee Boys. The following year, "I Still Believe" was re-recorded by singer/multi-instrumentalist and long-time Tina Turner sideman Tim Cappello for the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, and Russ Taff also recorded a version that appears on his 1988 self-titled album.

Next came the band's 1987 release Into The Woods, which Been referred to as his favorite album.

In 1989 they released Let the Day Begin, whose title track reached #1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. Red Moon, which included background vocals by U2's Bono, was released in 1990.

Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Call_(band)

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VIDEO: Sanctuary from the album "Let The Day Begin"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98C9izfzgas

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VIDEO: The Walls Came Down from the album “Modern Romans”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kX8lqXAONg

Profile: Vigilantes of Love

Vigilantes of Love is a rock band fronted by Bill Mallonee with a large number of secondary players drawn from the musician pool in and around Athens, Georgia. In its later manifestations in the later 1990s and early 2000s, Mallonee usually sang, played lead and rhythm guitar and harmonica, although in earlier bands he played drums.

The band takes its name from the New Order song "Love Vigilantes," although their sound tends more to folk, Americana, and country rock than New Wave. Their 2001 album Summershine also showed some movement toward Britpop and R.E.M.-style college rock, which would be more fully explored in Mallonee's solo career.

The band formed in 1990 in Athens, Georgia, where Bill Mallonee attended the University of Georgia. The act developed as a mostly acoustic, side-project of The Cone Ponies, the last in a long series of line-ups beginning in the mid-'80s with Windows and Walls, and Bed of Roses. For their first two recording projects—Jugular, Drivin' the Nails—the band performed as a trio between Mallonee, Mark Hall (accordion), and Jonathan "Dog-Mess Jonny" Evans (harmonica); the Athens, Ga. performance venues in which they were booked regularly included The Flying Buffalo, the 40-Watt Club, Rockfish Palace, Uptown Lounge, and—their musical "home"—The Downstairs Restaurant (now DT's Down Under). For the third and subsequent cd projects, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Billy Holmes played an increasingly important role. Later, when greater local success led increasingly to engagements more widely in the Southeast, and with the departure of Mark Hall and Dog-Mess Jonny, the band then re-formed as a traditional touring four-piece rock band including front man Mallonee, Newton Carter, David LaBruyere, and Travis McNabb (later of Better Than Ezra and Sugarland.).

After many years of successful touring nationally and abroad—England and Holland being particularly fond of Mallonnee's music—the band disbanded in 2001 as Mallonee went solo as a singer-songwriter/guitarist/raconteur playing to the renewed interest in roots-music Americana.

The band has now reformed in November 2008. The band played its first show back together on November 20 at the 40 Watt Club. A new album will be released in 2011.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigilantes_of_Love

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VIDEO: Good Luck Charm (Live) - Vigilantes Of Love play Good Luck Charm at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA - sold out show on 1-23-2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqqYhNg7HLk

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VIDEO: Skin from the album Blister Soul (1995)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy15OXC1uls

The Choir – Alternative Rock Pioneers

The Choir is an atmospheric Christian alternative rock band, led by Derri Daugherty on guitar and vocals, Steve Hindalong on drums—who also writes most of the band's lyrics—along with Tim Chandler on bass, Dan Michaels on saxophone and lyricon and Marc Byrd on guitar (as of 2005).

Each band member has also worked on numerous projects outside of The Choir: Hindalong produced the successful City On A Hill series of worship albums, co-writing the well-known song "God of Wonders" with fellow band-mate Byrd. Daugherty has been a member of contemporary Christian "supergroup" The Lost Dogs since 1991, with Hindalong recently joining the group. Chandler has been the bass player for Daniel Amos for many years, pre-dating his work with The Choir. Byrd was a member of Common Children, recorded with his wife Christine Glass as Glassbyrd, and is currently half of the post-rock duo Hammock.

The Choir was originally formed as Youth Choir in the early 1980s by Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong. The two songwriters had been introduced by mutual friend, bassist Tim Chandler, who was touring with Daniel Amos along with Daugherty, who was the band's roadie and sound man at the time. Hindalong and Daugherty quickly became friends and a songwriting team. Youth Choir became part of the Calvary Chapel Christian punk and alternative music scene, which also included the bands Undercover, Crumbächer, Altar Boys and 4-4-1.

The music of The Choir has been described by the Los Angeles Times as "magical songs that combine strains of murky psychedelia with pure pop." Billboard praised the band for its "dark poetic leanings, effects-laden guitars and strong melodic hooks." In 1984, Youth Choir became the first band ever to play at the Cornerstone Festival, the preeminent Christian arts and music festival in the United States. By 1986, the band dropped the "Youth" from its name and began calling itself simply The Choir. Hindalong began writing most of the lyrics for the band at this point, songs that are known for their vulnerability and honesty, particularly about the challenges inherent in romantic relationships and the simple joys of family life.

Although the band has long had a cult following among listeners of Christian alternative music, that did not translate into financial success within the Contemporary Christian music, or CCM, industry, nor did it lead to a successful mainstream crossover experienced by later groups like Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Sixpence None the Richer, who have pointed to The Choir as a significant musical influence. As a result, the band nearly called it quits in 1996 after their final U.S. tour, a few years after Daugherty, Hindalong and Michaels moved from their homes in Southern California to Nashville, Tennessee, since much of the CCM industry is now based there. The difficulty of this cross-country move also made its way into the lyrics of the band's songs, primarily Speckled Bird. Nevertheless, the band continued recording, and received a Grammy Award nomination for their 2000 release, Flap Your Wings.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Choir_(alternative_rock_band)

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The Choir - Render Love


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The Choir - Spring  



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The Choir - If You're Listening
 
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Youth Choir (The Choir) - A Million Years
 
 

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The Choir performs "Sad Face" in Buffalo, NY in 1996
 
 

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The 77s - Alternative Rock Music Pioneers

The 77s (alternatively spelled The Seventy Sevens or The 77's) are an American rock band consisting of Michael Roe on vocals/guitar, Mark Harmon on bass, and Bruce Spencer on drums

After considerable success on Exit/A&M in the early 1980s, The 77s soon found themselves signed to Island Records (which, like A&M would be bought by PolyGram in 1989) and on the road to what Mike Roe would refer facetiously as "teenage stardom." Their 1987 self-titled release was reviewed favorably by Rolling Stone magazine and produced "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes & the Pride of Life," the band's biggest single to date. "The Lust..." ended up being much more influential than the band originally thought. A decade-and-a-half later, the reggae-rock band 311's hit single "I'll Be Here Awhile" "borrowed" several lines from "The Lust..." (i.e., "And if a person, place, or thing can deliver / I will quiver with delight"). Ironically, "The Lust..." itself borrowed musically from Barry McGuire's song "Eve of Destruction".

Unfortunately for The 77s, labelmates U2 found a great deal of success with their Joshua Tree album, thus distracting Island Records' attention from promoting what many fans consider The 77s' best album of their career.

On March 13, 1988, The 77s performed with The Alarm and House of Freaks at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California, entertaining patrons such as Neil Young. Despite riding a wave of popularity with the critics, Tootle and Volz left the band later that same year. While the band reformed in the early 90s with the addition of former Strawmen members David Leonhardt (guitar) and Harmon, the live album 88 and Sticks and Stones, a collection of previously unreleased recordings and demos, were released. One song from Sticks and Stones ("MT") was later covered by Zoppi (featuring future 77s drummer Bruce Spencer) and featured a number of times on the popular FOX television series "Beverly Hills, 90210".

This new version of the band released a pair of albums for Word Records: 1992's The Seventy Sevens (known by the band and fans as Pray Naked, the album's original title which was dropped by the record label without consulting the band due to Christian vendor pressures not to sell an album titled "Pray Naked") and 1994's critically acclaimed Drowning with Land in Sight. Leonhardt and Smith would leave the band soon afterward. Drummer Bruce Spencer, formerly of Vector, was brought on board to fill Smith's vacancy. Roe chose not to replace Leonhardt, preferring to record and perform as a power trio; however, multi-instrumentalist Scott Reams was occasionally brought in to enhance the band's sound during their live performances.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_77s

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The 77s - Cornerstone 2012 (Full Set)

   

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The 77's - Frames without Photographs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JJiV-9daHI

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The 77's - What Was in That Letter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTDJEz2c6n0

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The 77s - Don't, This Way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug7l5cYhvf4

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The 77s - Film at 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-YFUvqwuLk

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Brainstorm Profile: Starflyer 59

Starflyer 59 is an alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band has included a number of different musicians over the years, including Jeff Cloud, Frank Lenz, and Richard Swift. The band's sound was initially identified as an outgrowth of the shoegazing movement of the early 1990s, but the band's music in the late 2000's bears almost no resemblance to that of its early days.

Starflyer 59 was signed to Tooth & Nail Records, their original and current label, after Jason Martin gave a demo to Brandon Ebel when the two met at a music festival in 1993. Shortly afterwards, Ebel contacted Martin and offered him a record contract. By the end of the year, Starflyer 59's debut album, Silver, was recorded and released.

In mid-1994, Starflyer 59 released a follow-up EP to Silver entitled She's The Queen. Fans who had purchased Silver and new listeners who were beginning to hear more about the band had begun to say that they "liked the second album more than the first." Interestingly, this somewhat angered Jason Martin, as he did not intend for the EP to be considered any sort of album whatsoever. He felt there was no reason to compare the two pieces of work to each other. Either way, the fanbase for Starflyer 59 was beginning to grow.

In 1995, Starflyer 59 released their second album, Gold. The sound was similar to their first release, while Jason Martin continued to add layers of guitar riffs to each song. Original response to the album was generally negative.[1] Many who had enjoyed the band's debut were disappointed with the release, partly because the songs had a somewhat depressive tone and continued on for minutes and minutes on end. Eventually, people began viewing Gold positively. Sales of the album suddenly jumped and it nearly tripled the sales of Silver.

For Starflyer 59's next album which was released in 1997, Americana, several changes to the band were made. Bass player Andrew Larson departed, being replaced by Eric Campuzano (The Prayer Chain). In addition, Wayne Everett, also of The Prayer Chain became the band's studio drummer, a role that had previously been held by Jason Martin himself (although Everett had been the drummer on several tracks on Gold). High tensions in the studio during the recording of the album led Campuzano to leave the band before it began touring to support the new album. Replacing him was Jeff Cloud, who had been Starflyer's touring manager.

The release of The Fashion Focus in 1998 signaled a significant change in the direction of the band's sound, largely due to the influence of producer Gene Eugene. Where previous albums had emphasized guitars and loud rock and roll, The Fashion Focus was a significantly softer album. This album featured the introduction of keyboards in the music, which replaced layered guitars. The new sound was more pop-friendly than earlier albums, while not abandoning the signature Starflyer sound. The song "Too Much Fun" would be the band's last song in the early shoegazing style. Everybody Makes Mistakes, released the next year, continued in the same direction as The Fashion Focus.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starflyer_59

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Starflyer 59 - I Drive A Lot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csPEitRRfuM




Starflyer 59 - No New Kinda Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qO9F8mtL5o




Starflyer 59 - The Hearttaker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPzhleUuKRE

Brainstorm Radio: Latter Days - Over The Rhine

VIDEO: Latter Days - Over the Rhine

To view original video post, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlOF6R1KWI

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Latter Days
words and music: Linford Detweiler
From the CD: Good Dog Bad Dog

Lyrics:

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin' like sleepin' on a bed of nails. Nothin' much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin' is ever quite what it seems.
And I'm dyin' inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

But tell them it's real. Tell them it's really real.
I just don't have much left to say.
They've taken their toll these latter days.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

Brainstorm Radio: Latter Days - Over The Rhine

VIDEO: Latter Days - Over the Rhine

To view original video post, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlOF6R1KWI

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Latter Days
words and music: Linford Detweiler
From the CD: Good Dog Bad Dog

Lyrics:

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin' like sleepin' on a bed of nails. Nothin' much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin' is ever quite what it seems.
And I'm dyin' inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

But tell them it's real. Tell them it's really real.
I just don't have much left to say.
They've taken their toll these latter days.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

Daniel Amos - Retrospective and Videos

One of Contemporary Christian music's most enduring cult bands, Daniel Amos have taken their own idiosyncratic musical path since their mid-1970s beginnings. Singer/guitarist Terry Scott Taylor has led the group through a host of membership changes and artistic shifts, creating an impressively diverse body of work in the process.


Over the decades, the lyrical focus of the group has moved away from an explicit evangelical stance toward more personal commentaries on theological and cultural themes. Although Daniel Amos rarely play live, they returned to record-making after a five-year absence with Mr. Buechner's Dream in 2001. Named for two Old Testament prophets, Daniel Amos trace their beginnings to the San Jose, California, area. Taylor began writing songs at a young age; by his mid-teens, he was playing in a series of local rock combos, including the Scarlet Staircase and the Cardboard Scheme. The latter band was heavily influenced by the 1960s British Invasion, foreshadowing Taylor's Beatles-influenced songs of a decade later. The Cardboard Scheme opened for Van Morrison at a July of 1966 concert before breaking up shortly thereafter.


After dabbling in drugs and exploring various religions, Taylor became a Christian in 1971. That same year, he joined forces with guitarist Timothy Warner and singer/percussionist Doug Montgomery to form Good Shepherd, a Christian-oriented country/rock group. His shift toward spiritual themes in his songwriting was natural and unpremeditated. "When I started writing songs about my newfound faith, I didn't think of it as being Christian music," he told Contemporary Musicians. "I wanted to say something about my discovery--I was excited about life and turning over a new leaf.... So I just sort of incorporated Christian lyrics into songs I was already writing at the time." In 1972 Warner left Good Shepherd, prompting Taylor to form another Christian country/rock combo, Jubal's Last Band. Shortly thereafter, the group moved from San Jose to Costa Mesa, California, where it became part of the thriving Christian music scene associated with Calvary Chapel. In 1974 Taylor and fellow Jubal guitarist Steve Baxter combined their talents with guitarist Jerry Chamberlain and bassist Marty Dieckmeyer to form Daniel Amos. A lineup change the following year resulted in Baxter leaving the fold and keyboardist Mark Cook and drummer Ed McTaggert joining the group.


Maranatha Records (a Christian record label affiliated with Calvary Chapel) released Daniel Amos's self-titled debut album in 1976. Acoustic-oriented in sound, the band's initial effort displayed an upbeat, almost naïve sweetness. Such tunes as "Ain't Gonna Fight It" captured the starry-eyed glow of a newly converted believer. The songs on Daniel Amos preached the gospel in unambiguous terms. "In the beginning, because I was young, there was a real emphasis on evangelism," Taylor told Contemporary Musicians. "At one time, I thought that was primarily my calling, to evangelize through what I was doing musically.... And so, the sorts of songs that I wrote ... were insensitive to an audience at large. A lot of it was preaching to the choir." From Country Rock to New Wave Shotgun Angel, Daniel Amos' sophomore album, was issued by Maranatha in 1977. This song collection shows definite artistic growth, both lyrically and musically. Its tracks draw upon a potpourri of Southern California rock influences, from the Beach Boys and the Eagles to Steely Dan. Taylor's knack for mixing the divine and the ridiculous comes through in "Black Gold Fever" and "Meal," a pair of good-humored country/gospel tunes. "Father's Arms" expresses a strong message of faith in a sleek jazz/rock setting. Shotgun Angel's second side is devoted to a suite of songs based upon the Christian Bible's Book of Revelation; these include the giddily operatic "Better," mocking materialism, and "Lady Goodbye," a bittersweet farewell to the world. Daniel Amos grew to a sextet with the addition of percussionist Alex MacDougall shortly after Shotgun Angel's release. Hitting their stride creatively, they began to arouse interest beyond the confines of the Christian music world.


The band was offered a contract by Warner-Curb Records, a mainstream label, in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, the deal fell through, largely due to a contractual battle between Daniel Amos and Solid Rock Records (founded by Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman). As a result, their album Horrendous Disc wasn't released for three years. When it finally appeared on the Solid Rock label in 1981, Horrendous Disc was hailed by many Christian music critics as a major breakthrough. Leaving its country leanings far beyond, the band fully emerged as a modern rock unit. "I Love You #19" is built around a ferocious lead guitar line, while "Sky King" and "Man in the Moon" feature elegantly atmospheric strings and harmonies. Many of the album's lyrics (written mostly by Taylor) comment on the fragility of the material world and the boundless power of God in sardonically humorous terms.


By the time Horrendous Disc was released, Daniel Amos had slimmed down to a quartet consisting of Taylor, Chamberlain, Dieckmeyer, and McTaggert. Signing with the Benson Company-distributed Newpax label, this lineup recorded Alarma!, the first of four inter-related albums collectively called the Alarma Chronicles. Intentionally jagged and jarring, Alarma! comments on the alienation and materialism of the modern world in tunes like "Faces to the Window" and "Colored By." Its treatment of spiritual topics is often subtle and tinged with satire, unusual for Christian music of the time.


Replacing Dieckmeyer with Tim Chandler on bass, the group released Doppelganger in 1983, a further indictment of mankind's sorry state. Such cuts as "New Car," "Real Girls," and "Mall (All Over the World)" overlay portraits of soulless thrill-seekers and consumers on top of cleanly rendered pop/rock tracks. "Hollow Men" invokes the bleak poetic visions of T.S. Eliot to convincing effect. Touring in support of Doppelganger, Daniel Amos created an elaborate stage show, featuring Taylor and his bandmates wearing masks with battery-operated lightbulbs in their mouths. Some fans were disturbed by the dark tinge of these concerts, and the band was heckled as well as cheered. Chamberlain left Daniel Amos prior to the recording of 1984's Vox Humana, which features a more prominent keyboard sound courtesy of new member Rob Watson. If anything, the satiric content became even sharper this time out, with "Home Permanent" and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" skewering '80s-style conformity.


Reminiscent at times of the jittery New Wave sounds of Devo and Wall of Voodoo, Vox Humana lacks some of the graceful melodicism heard on previous Daniel Amos offerings. This lack is offset somewhat by "Sanctuary," the album's hymn-like closing number. The Alarma Chronicles series concluded with Fearful Symmetry, released by Frontline (a Benson-associated label) in 1986. Taking its title from a line in a William Blake poem, the album features the guitar/keyboard contributions of new member Greg Flesch. By turns brooding and ethereal, this song collection tempers its caustic ironies with such serene moments as "Beautiful One." As ever, the band had a knack for odd genre combinations, as evidenced by the New Wave country stomp "Sudden Heaven." 


On Christian Music's Far Edge Taken in sum, the Alarma Chronicles were a bold step artistically, far more adventuresome than most Christian pop music of the time. Commenting on the Alarma albums after their rerelease as a CD boxed set in 2000, Phantom Tollbooth reviewer Terry Wandke noted that Daniel Amos "used biting wit and social critique and set it to music that pushed the envelope of Christian music in the eighties." Unfortunately, such creativity didn't lead to wide exposure or popularity. Looking back over the band's career since the 1980s, Taylor told Contemporary Musicians that "Christian radio left us long ago.... I think we don't compose feel-good music--I think it's honest music, and I think sometimes honesty is a threat to our lives and it's something we'd rather not hear. It doesn't fit into the format." Undaunted, Taylor led his band through a period of creative change, losing Watson and moving away from synthesizers toward a more basic guitar-centered sound.


For a number of albums, Daniel Amos shortened their name to DA, then returned to their original moniker in the mid-1990s. The group released much of its 1980s output on various self-launched custom labels--including Alarma and Refuge--distributed by the Benson Company. A number of releases on Frontline (another Benson-backed label) followed. For much of the 1990s, the group distributed albums on its Stunt label through Brainstorm Records before signing with Word for several releases.


READ MORE: http://robertigno-christianblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post_07.html



To view the Daniel Amos and related bands song list and lyrics go to: http://www.danielamos.com/lyrics.html



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VIDEO: "Sanctuary" from the album "Vox Humana: The Alarma! Chronicles Volume 3" (1984)
If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTDMaAr14yU





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VIDEO: "If You Want To" from the album "Kalhoun"

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb42mk2xgKA





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VIDEO: Mall All Over the World from the album "Doppleganger: The Alarma! Chronicles Volume 2" (1983)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcSXit0LAAo





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VIDEO: "My Frontier" from the album "Motorcycle" (1993)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vIzOXVSPHM





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VIDEO: "William Blake" from the album "Vox Humana: The Alarma! Chronicles Volume 3" (1984)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkt3lSsc-hk





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VIDEO: "What a World, What a World" from the album "The Berry Vest", Swirling Eddies (1995)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYojcwUDqRc





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VIDEO: An interview with Terry Taylor (from Daniel Amos) sometime back in the '80s. Live footage, but overdubbed with studio tracks.

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUSZfF8v1Qg







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