Ear 2 Ear: Newcomer Audrey Assad joins Lilith Fair

FT. WAYNE, IN -- "Her melodic sensibilities are infectious," says Jars of Clay's Charlie Lowell of rising new singer/songwriter Audrey Assad.

Assad's new CD, "The House You're Building," combines soothing sounds, whispering tones and hopeful lyrics. The recording raises Assad to the top of this summer's most compelling artists.

The revival of the Lilith Fair tour this summer magnifies the talents of female artists across the country. This year the tour includes Audrey Assad, who brings passion and amazing tone to the music of faith. Lilith Fair collects the best in female artists. Assad meets the standard of music set by the tour, but has a message that reveals her faith to the world.

She's already been working with some of worship music's elite. She collaborated with Chris Tomlin on "Winter Snow" and on her first hit, "For the Love of You."

Assad's music speaks to the little child in all of us, but her music specifically speaks of one little child that touched her heart. According to her website, Assad found out about a little girl in Phoenix named Katie McRae. Katie found out last year that the tremors in her right hand, which landed her in the ICU, stemmed from a massive brain tumor. It is Katie's story that inspired Assad's achingly beautiful "Little Light."

No matter the tumors emotionally or physically we all face, this song gives a "little light" into the darkness we are running from. She sings, "And Jesus bends to hear you breathe; His tender hands are holding you tonight. His heart is ravished when you look at Him, and oh, the endless mercy in His eyes; God is here, little light."

Assad's music will be quick to fill up on mp3 players of people looking for great songs with a lasting heart and head value. It takes a complex heart to find a way to convey the simplest of messages in music. Assad will be among those lasting artists because no matter where you are in hurting or healing, these songs can powerfully penetrate each layer in our lives.

Audrey Assad's debut CD, "The House You're Building," comes out Tuesday. Find out more at herMySpace page.

Ace McKay is morning show co-host at FM 88.3 in Ft. Wayne, Ind., the GMA/CMB 2009 Radio Station of the Year. E-mail at AceMckay@gmail.com. His and his wife's ministry is The Marriage Playbook.
Starting a faith-based band? Tell us about it -- kay.campbell@htimes.com.

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Audrey Assad Explores Faith Walk in New Album

A new worship album from the up-and-coming Christian recording artist Audrey Assad is set to hit stores across the U.S. in July.

Assad says her new album, entitled The House You're Building, is about faith.

"It's about the cross and fear and pain and how God is carrying me even though sometimes it doesn't feel like it,' Assad told Breathe Cast, an online Christian music source.

'Marshall (the album's producer) pulled things out of me emotionally that I don't think I'd ever accessed, making me realize that every time I sing these songs, I have to channel my pain and walk through it...That's been my journey the last few years, learning to believe that and walk in that acceptance of God choosing me," she said.

The new album has already won endorsements from fellow musicians like Chris Tomlin and Jars of Clay's Charlie Tomlin.

According to Christian's Music Review, "Her vocals are Female Vocalist of the Year quality...I think she could be the next big thing."

In a recent interview with CBN News Reporter Wendy Griffith, Assad shared where she gets her musical inspiration. Click play to watch the interview.

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Rock and religion come together… Terre Haute band opens for Grammy award-winning Jars of Clay

MARTINSVILLE, IL — A speckling of fans stood in the hot grass as bands warmed up Monday afternoon, making sure they’d have a place when the concert started.

“I think it’s amazing they’d come to a town this small,” Angela Short said of contemporary Christian artists Jars of Clay. The Merom resident brought her 13-year-old son Ben out to the Martinsville Ag Fair in Illinois’ Clark County, where the band with three Grammy Awards, nine GMA Dove Awards and five BMI awards was ready to rock out inside the fairgrounds track for about 2,000 people. “We couldn’t pass up coming,” she said.

Jars of Clay performed at 9 p.m. Monday, and sound checks were ongoing from 4:30 p.m. onward. Opening up for the national act was NEEDTOBREATHE, as well as Scot Longyear and Justin Hoeppner, both of Terre Haute’s Maryland Community Church.

“I think it’s a unique opportunity,” said Hoeppner, whose Justin Hoeppner Band opened up the night at 6 p.m. An Orange County, Calif., native, the lifelong surfer came to Terre Haute “a year ago today” to serve as pastor of worship arts at Maryland. “I’ve been in bands my whole life,” he said, explaining that his brother is a record producer in Los Angeles. But the ministry’s call led him and his family east, a move Hoeppner said he’s glad he made. “There’ll be tons of people here from Terre Haute,” he said before the night’s performance.

Longyear, teaching pastor at Maryland Community Church, ministered during Hoeppner’s songs, and throughout the concert it was clearly a Christian event, with a prayer tent available toward the back of the crowd.

Nick Sanders, a Terre Haute resident and parishioner of Maryland Community Church, made the drive to Martinsville to watch his ministers jam with Jars of Clay. “I love their stuff,” he said of the headliner, noting as did others throughout the event that a band like that doesn’t often show up in places like Martinsville. “I think it’s great they go to the smaller towns.”



Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.

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2010 Three Rivers Festival: July 9-17

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - Friday, the 42nd annual Three Rivers Festival will kick off, with a few changes.

Among the changes, the festival's closing fireworks have been moved to Saturday night, July 17th.

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9-area bands will be in Saturday’s parade, which should attract the biggest crowd of the festival.

Despite all the management changes over the past year, the list of events is very similar to years past and the new team is excited about a possible new direction.

Christian band Jars of Clay highlights a diverse list of entertainment options.

While most festival events are free, organizers say they've tried to keep prices down to attract more families.

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