The Official Jars of Clay Email News
6/14/96
3,423 Subscribers
web site: http://www.jarsofclay.com
CONTENTS:
*Electric Flood
*Merchandise at the web site!
*TV airplay
*Jars on Casey Casum's Top 40
*Jars remixes in progress
*Gold party on the web http://www.vision3.com/jarsgold
*Concert Review: 5/15 L.A. Troubador & 5/18 Knotts Berry Farm
*Concert Review: 6/1 Greatwoods, MA: Largest show ever
*Prayer Requests
*Subscriber's Bands
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*Electric Flood:
"Is that an electric guitar I hear in Flood? Are Jars going electric?"
Yes and No! There is a version of flood, unavailable except on radio, that has been released by Silvertone in an effort to please the secular alternative stations. Silvertone asked Adrian Belew to remix the song and add some of his electric guitar skills. Jars had no involvement with this project, and this does not mean that they will be "going electric", although there is a tiny bit of electric guitar in the Petra cover that they've recorded for the "Never say Dinosaurs" tribute cd which has just been released to Christian bookstores.
Meanwhile, the debut album has been lingering in the high top 40 albums sold throughout the U.S., and they made it onto eleven different charts in the latest Billboard, so the scope of things continues to increase....
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*Merchandise at the web site!
Well, after much hard work, we finally have put up the merchandise page at the web site! We hope that you all will be able to visit. We are currently still working on exclusive internet t-shirts that were requested by Jars themselves. Also, there are pictures of merchandise at the site so you know what to expect, but please keep in mind they are the first shots we could get taken and are not yet as professional as we would like, so we are also working on getting better photos.
The number for ordering merchandise is *TOLL FREE* even though it's a 1-888 number and not a 1-800. You may also fax or send order forms which are also included at the site. We are very excited to be able to offer you this at the site, and hope it will help those who couldn't get shirts at concerts because of your distance or due to the high prices they had on the MWS tour.
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*TV Airplay/Much Music Interview
Watch those screens!
The guys have been featured on various channels lately, including MTV's "Sound bytes" during the week in rock last week talking about the Greatwoods concert reviewed in this issue. They have also been playing the new re-done flood video, though they don't seem to be playing it any more than the previous lower-budget version that won the Dove award. Also, jars were featured playing a live acoustic version of "sinking" on Canada's version of MTV, "Much Music" on May 28. They were also interviewed and asked about their faith in Christ! Here's the full interview transcribed:
VJ: Hey, really good! Congratulations for your first record, welcome Charlie, Dan, Matt & Steve...and you guys met in college right?
JoC: "yeah!"
VJ: And how did it work out, how did you get your record deal and how did it all happen for you guys?
Steve: Well, Charlie and Dan shared a dorm floor at college and the next year, I moved in. We just kind of lived together and made music, and we all enjoyed I guess the same kind of musical styles, and had an appreciation for different artists and really just spent time in the studio making music. Next thing we know we're getting calls from record companies on our dorm floor, and....now, we're here!
VJ: So, it's not something that you really planned to do, like as a career?
Charlie: No, it really wasn't!
VJ: What did you want to do?
Dan: Just really wanted to hibernate at college, out of the real world (laughs)
Charlie: Well, Steve and I were in school for music, I mean, we dreamed of doing something like this, but I guess just really didn't have the expectation that it would "pan out".
VJ: So, your first record came out, and now you've been on the road playing, promoting the record and everything, so it must have affected your life a little bit- did it change your life?
Steve: Oh yeah - the next album will be a lot more bitter (lots of laughing).
Dan: I think we just learned how to go from living in a dorm from living in a bus. Roadlife is something I don't think any of us were familiar with. This year we've done I think almost 300 shows, so we've gotten kind of a trial by fire experience here, we've learned a lot about what it's like to be on the road, and to be out there doing shows and meeting people...
VJ: Is it anything like what you expected it to be?
Steve: Well, there's no glamour in it, that's for sure (laughs). We decided too, you can't be claustrophobic and be in a band...that's a no-no, that's just impossible. We did a bunch of shows last summer in a minivan, there were six of us and there were only four seats in it, so we had to throw a futon in the back, and me and charlie were probably closer than we care to be, cause we had to lay on this futon...most of the summer.
VJ: Now, you guys are from Nashville, and I've never been there- yet- but my understanding is it's a very country place right? And I don't see any country influences on your record!
Dan: Really? :)
Matt: Nashville is kind of an interesting town, there's a lot of different music scenes happening down there right now, and I know it has this kind of country-stigma from the outside, but it's...as metropolitan as Tennessee gets, I suppose. So, it's growing, it's in massive growing pains right now. It's kind of an exciting place to live.
VJ: So when you used to live there you didn't go line-dancing on the weekends or anything... (laughing,etc.)
Charlie: We have not yet been line-dancing!
VJ: Ok, well there's two songs on the record, Flood and Liquid, that were produced by Adrian Belew, and you guys produced the rest of the record, so tell me a bit about it, how you hooked up with him...
Dan: Actually we had a mutual friend- Adrian's wife's cousin was a friend of ours and actually came to us with the idea of us giving our demo to him to see if he'd be interested in producing an album, but because of the past roster of people that he'd worked with, we didn't think we had a chance. But he was very interested in working with us and we were very surprised, but it was a great experience, he's a wonderful producer, very talented, a skilled guitar player as well...so, it was just an enjoyable experience all-around, for us.
VJ: Did it change a little bit of the direction the album was going into, when you started working with him?
Steve: Yeah, I mean, we gave him the more aggressive songs on the album just because we knew that they'd be a little more...I guess experimental and outside, but he took everything to a whole different level. And, it just kind of made up our minds that we'd never self-produce anything again! (laughs). Because with him it worked so fluent, and he was able to filter-in our ideas - we have four different opinions and four different directions we want to take, so it's good to have someone there to mediate.
VJ: That's great. Well, you're already writing songs for your next records? And you're writing together all the time, as a group?
Matt: Yeah, we write most of the songs together, as a group. We usually start on guitar and by the time the song's finished, pretty much everybody has had a little input into it.
VJ: That's great, you're getting along still! And I wanted to ask you, before we go to the video, how does your religious belief influence your music? Does it play a big part in the way you're seeing your experiences?
Matt: Yeah, for us, I mean, we're firm believers that you write out of your experience, and for us, who we are in terms of our relationship with God, and growing up in church and things like that - are a very big part, the biggest part, of who we feel like we are. So, it's very natural for us to write out of that context. So, there's a lot of songs that kind of deal with what that means, on our record.
VJ: That's great! Well, thanks very much for dropping by, and bringing your instruments and singing to us, and we'll play flood, this is the first single from Jars' debut. Good luck with everything!
JoC: Thanks!
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*Jars on Casey Casum's Top 40:
Jars have been making it onto Top 40 lately, which is featured nationally once each week. The neat part is the way Casey talked about them for quite a while a couple weeks ago. Here it is - Preach it, Casey!
C.Casum: "Well now we're up to the first top 40 hit for Jars of Clay. They're a contemporary Christian band whose members try to balance their strong religious beliefs with their love of rock and roll. The members of Jars of Clay got together on the campus of Greenville College in Greenville Illinois. It's a small liberal arts college that's affilliated with the Free Methodist Church. The band's singer and main writer, Dan Haseltine, says he had ambitions of becoming a youth pastor in his church but after he joined Jars of Clay, he also had aspirations of becoming a rock star. Like the other members of Jars of Clay, Dan takes his faith very seriously, and he says the band has worked very hard to develop a unique sound, a sound that would appeal to a contemporary Christian audience and a wider rock and pop audience as well. A lot of the group's lyrics are strongly spiritual and have references to scripture. The band often uses the imagery of grunge rock to spread the message that misery can be cured with faith. Guitarist Matt Odmark says quote "We don't feel like we're trying to *push* a big Christian agenda on anyone" unquote.
Last year Jars of Clay put their unique combination of spirituality and rock into their debut album. And it's been so successful that it has gone gold! And helped the band win two of Contemporary Christian music's highest honors, two Dove awards. The C.D. has also won rave reviews from critics and rock fans, and last week it gave Jars of Clay their first top 40 hit. It's the song that climbs four notches to number 30 this week on Casey's top 40. Here's Jars of Clay with Flood".
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*Jars Remixes in Progress:
Jeff Savage, brother of Jars' drummer Scott Savage, is currently working on some amazing remixes of "Flood", "Liquid" and "Blind". They will be featured on Essential sampler cd's but hopefully also as b-sides to jars singles eventually.
We may also attempt to feature these as sound files at the web site so keep an eye out! :) Jeff can be contacted at PogoBoy7@aol.com
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*Gold party on the web http://www.vision3.com/jarsgold:
(Press release):
JARS OF CLAY CELEBRATE GOLD ALBUM WITH PARTY ON THE INTERNET
Essential Records/Brentwood Music recording artist Jars of Clay will take the celebration of their debut album RIAA (Recording Industry of America) 500,000 unit gold certification status onto the information superhighway with a live World Wide Web site. The WWW site, http://www.vision3.com/jarsgold, will contain still photographs and RealAudio(TM) streams from the actual gold record party to be held at the newly-opened Caffe Milano in downtown Nashville on Wednesday, June 12, 1996.
"Jars of Clay has a tremendous following on the Internet that has been building consistently even before the release of the record," said Robert Beeson, Director of Essential and Executive Producer of the project. "This is a way for the band to reach out to an audience that has been very supportive of Jars over the past year and invite them to celebrate with us."
The Gold Party Webspace is not Jars of Clay's first multimedia effort. Along with the official Jars of Clay website at http://www.jarsofclay.com, Essential Records also has released Jars of Clay Interactive, a CD-ROM produced by Nashville's GenX Communications available in Christian bookstores nationwide.
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*Concert Review: 5/15 L.A. Troubador & 5/18 Knotts Berry Farm:
From: wpolek@artcenter.edu (Wendy Polek)
I went to the show on Wednesday and then also to Knotts Berry Farm on Saturday. Both shows were awesome! For selfish reasons I liked the Troubador better-- it was smaller and we all just stood around listening to a great band play and worship God. Afterward the guys all came out to mingle with the crowd. I really appreciated how willing they are to talk with people. I took a girl from my Young Life group with me, and she commented on how different Jars are from other bands she's seen. She couldn't believe they'd actually come out and talk to us, let alone sign autographs and honestly act interested in what we had to say. We caught the drum stick that Dan threw out while they were dealing with some minor technical difficulties. We had a great time!
Then on Saturday a whole bus full of our Young Life kids went down to Knotts for the Jubilee Celebration. 35,000 people all praising God!!!!! The Newsboys and Third Day played at a stage set up outside in a courtyard, and the whole place turned out to hear them!! Jars had two concerts-- 9:30 and 11pm. The line for the first one was so long that the whole arena was filled and it didn't even cut the line in half! Since our group didn't get into the first one, we stayed in line and got 3rd row for the second one. This show was much fancier than the one on Wednesday. They had the lights going, and at the end a bunch of water flowed down the stage during FLOOD. The crowd went wild! I couldn't believe how many people were there trying to see Jars! When they first opened the doors, the crowd was RUNNING into the arena... Everyone really loved the Coffee song, and all of the stories Dan told made the whole show flow very smoothly. They seemed to have ironed out any technical difficulties they might have had on Wednesday.
Everyone had an awesome time! Our kids loved the concert. The music continues to be helping us reach the non-Christian kids we're working with. Keep up the good work!
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*Concert Review: 6/1/96 Greatwoods, MA:
The first real jars concert in New England was a great success! 25,000 people were sprawled all over the lawn and inside seats in the summer heat, waiting to hear Jars among 20-odd other secular musicians. It was the 17th annual "KISS-FM" festival. Although I'm guessing 99% of the people in attendance were there to see Joan Osborne, Seal, Bryan Adams, Melissa Etheridge, Cher, Harry Connick and Gloria Estefan, there was a surprisingly good crowd response for Jars, particularly during Flood, of course. Each of the artists were provided a short time interval during which to play their best songs.
Jars were given a 20 minute spot just after Joan Osborne and just before Seal, as the sun was setting. They brought out stools and sat down for an acoustic show, which was also done by some of the earlier artists (Lenny Kravitz, Tina Arena, Color Me Bad, etc.) They began the show with that old familiar prayer to God: "Dear God, surround me as I speak, the bridges that I walk across are weak"....Like a child was followed by Boy on a String. The sound was very loud and clear and the boys were in top form. They didn't show their nervousness although they expressed to us a bit of anticipation due to playing for so many people (not to mention Cher walked right by us earlier with ten bodyguards!)
They then brought out Fade to Grey, which sounded the best, followed by Flood as their final tune. A short performance but it was so encouraging to see this band singing praises to God Almighty during a festival such as this. The band was in very good spirits despite having to fly in and out of Boston while conducting interviews (including one short MTV clip). They are happy where God has put them and very excited about these ministry opportunities, and expressed their concern over some doubts that people have about their faith. There are always rumours passed when something this big happens, so please remember that they are human and they stumble over their words, like we all would if we were in front of so many people. Therefore, they prefer to do their ministry through music, making their testimony a lifestyle ministry and letting God speak directly through the music to people's hearts. However true their hearts are, it will always be easy for the media to bring them down, so they will continue to need prayer. There have been numerous misquotes and partial quotes in the press lately. But they are doing the best they can to be lights for Christ in a world of darkness, and God is blessing the ministry.
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*Tour Updates:
Ok, we've now been given much more information to pass on to you about each of the following shows. There are still some that we have no info on, but we will soon enough, and will let you know as soon as we do! These are straight from management, and were just now emailed to me, so you're getting everything Jars' management knows! Also, I won't be around to answer email regarding any dates until late July. Any of the venues listed below should be listed in the local phone books:
6/10 Ft. Meyers, FL Pyramid Club 9:00 pm 407-832-6397 WJST-FM
6/13 Canal Fulton, OH Alive Festival 8:15 pm 330-798-2878
6/14 Atlanta, GA Coca Cola Olympic City festival for 99X 10:15pm WNNX-FM
6/15 Memphis, TN "616" Club 12:00 am 804-463-1940 WRXQ
6/16 Birmingham, AL: City Stages w/ Cowboy Junkies 7:20/8:20 205-985-4900
6/18 Orlando, FL Embassy 9:00 pm 407-898-9598
6/20 Columbia, SC Elbow Room 9:00 pm 803-432-9800 http://www.elbowroom.com
6/21 Charlotte, NC Sound Factory (Treemont?)12:00 am 804-463-1940
6/22 Atlanta, GA Atlantafest '96 @ Six flags 8:15 pm 770-424-8839
6/23 Raleigh, NC The Brewery 9:00 pm 919-954-7303 WCCG
6/25 New York, NY Mercury Lounge 212-260-4700 or 212-249-7773 10:30 pm
6/26 Mt. Union, PA Creation Festival 8:16 pm 717-394-9466
6/27-6/30 OFF
7/1 Cleveland, OH Odeon
7/2 Pittsburgh, PA Metropole
7/3 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall 9:00pm 313-963-7237
7/4 Bushnell/Peoria, IL Cornerstone Festival 312-989-2087
7/6 Del Mar, CA Del Mar Fair
7/8 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues 7:30 pm 213-650-0247
7/9 Santa Cruz, CA Catalyst
7/10 Ventura, CA The Ventura
7/11 Possibly a show in Las Vegas, NV
7/13 Winterpark, CO - American Music Festival - 11:00 am 303-694-1234
7/13 Anaheim, CA CBA International Convention 7:00 pm
7/15 Portland, OR - Roseland
7/16 Spokane, WA - The Met
7/18 Bellingham, WA - The Baker
7/19 Seattle, WA - Phoenix (Fenix?) Club
7/20 Vancouver, WA Jesus NW 12:00 pm at Clark County Fairgrounds 503-393-8811
7/21 Vancouver, BC Starfish Room
7/23 Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Republik
7/24 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Sidetrack Cafe
7/26 Winnepeg, MAN: Pyramid Cabaret
7/27 Fargo, ND Fargo Civic Center
7/29 Estes Park, CO Festival
8/2 Fairfield, OH Tri-City Assembly of God 7:30 pm 606-586-0173
8/3 Louisville, KY Highview Baptist 7:30 pm 606-586-0173
8/4 Springfield, IL Edwong
8/5 Richmond, KY E. KY University (McBrayer Arena) 219-267-6662
8/8 Nashville, TN Lightning @ Riverfront Park 8:00pm 615-242-5600 WLRT-FM
8/18 Long Island, NY Press NYC 12:00 pm
8/20 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony
8/22 Washington, DC Birchmere
8/24 Lancaster, PA Mennonite High School 216-454-8104
8/25 Norfolk, VA W/ Michael W. Smith (venue not yet selected)
8/30 Birmingham, AL Samford Univ. 7:30 pm 205-879-3313
9/2 Minneapolis, MN Mill City
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*Prayer Requests:
rjburt@ucdavis.edu (Ron Burt)
To: earthpots@aol.com
I live in Sacramento,CA where my wife and I are involved in a youth group called Wild Life. It's funny how God works because one Sunday morning at church one of our kids "Derek" leaned over and asked me what it took to become like our music minister and know God. Anyways, to make a long story short we went outside and I talked to him, he had so many questions. It was really neat to see someone who really was testing the Christian faith, and praise God he accepted Jesus Christ into his heart and life. However, he hasn't been able to come to our meetings at all, and his mom had numerous excuses why. I started to think something was up and so I went to a friend of his and come to find out his mother is Islamic. So I would appreciate the prayers that somehow I would be able to get in contact with him, since I haven't seen him in about a month. Also I pray that God would use him to turn his family to Christ and not visa-versa.
The second request is for a good friend of mine Corey, he will be leaving to go to San Jose State. He was converted from Buddism to Christianity and has been walking strong in God, but his family hates him. So if you could keep him in your prayers, and if there is anyone around San Jose that enjoys beach volleyball there is a brother coming your way that needs some good Christian friends. Thanks for praying, and I know God works everything out for the good.
Ron
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From: mjnewb@mo.net
Prayer requests: Just a couple requests here. I just graduated college a few weeks ago, and am currently in need of some part time work to help start paying back my loans and stuff. I also start greaduate school next Fall (Lord willing), and I'll need plenty of prayer there as well. I have a good friend that is going to Chile soon for a mission trip with a drama group, as well as another friend that is supposed to be going to Chicago to work in the inner city for a couple weeks. And lastly (well, there are more, but not enough space for all of them), another friend of mine has a band that is going in to record a demo this week, so they need some major prayer there.
Thanks a bunch!
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A friend that I went to a Bible College with has just let everyone know that her and her husband will be going to Kisimu, Kenya to help start a Bible College there... an extension of sorts of the one she just graduated from. They would like for people to stand with them in prayer, and financially when possible. They are both very dear to me, and I know that once the move happens, it will probably be few and far between that I see them... and yet I know the door that has opened, and the lives that will be touched not just here, but for everlasting life.
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From: santiago@vic.com
Please keep me in your prayers. I am in the process of finding a church that I can really call my church home. Also, please pray for my friend Egan. She is an unsaved friend of whom I met on the Internet a few months back. I witness to her constantly, and though I have gained a great friendship with her, she rejects everything I tell her about Christ. She has never been to a church in her entire life, and is into things that she shouldn't, and it's scaring me: such as witchcraft, drugs, etc. Keep her in your prayers, and pray that I or someone else, may reach out to her, and lead her to Christ. Also, keep my dearest friend Anne in your prayers. She is unsaved as well, and she longs to know Christ, but there are no churches whatsoever in her area. Pray that a Spirit-filled church will spring up near where she lives, so that she may possibly get touched by a sermon, and decide that she really does need a Saviour, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Thanks everyone, and God bless you.
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The Hearts On Fire Band is forming a prayer chain for Jason Clark, a 14-year-old Christian boy interred at Loma Linda Children's Hospital. Jason has leukemia, and is in desperate need of a bone-marrow transplant or he will most likely die within the month. Without the transplant his only hope is an umbilical-cord matter transfusion, like that given to Rod Carew's daughter. The success rate for that procedure is less than 20%, so please join us in vigorous prayer for this courageous young man. If you'd like to find out more about Jason's condition or would like to be considered as a donor, then please contact JJHOFB1@aol.com. Many thanks and blessings to you all.
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From: BethShay@aol.com
Thanks for taking the time to read this. A popular coach at my high school died Sunday morning (May 19) of cancer. I want to pray for his family and friends. However, there is more to this request. A guy I know just lost his aunt and uncle in the Valujet plane crash, and he was really close to this coach. He has just started attending church and I just pray that these incidents will not affect his new relationship with God. When I was a fairly new Christian it was hard for me to keep the faith and I hope that he realizes that God will not give him more than he can handle. Please remember him in your prayers!!!
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From: jorourke@InfoAve.Net (Jeff O'Rourke)
My grandfather in Alabama is very sick and is supposed to have surgery May 31. We aren't sure how long he has to live but I am praying that he will live a very long, and healthy life. Please pray for him, his name is Harry McDougald, and he needs as much prayer as he can get! Thank you!
Sarah
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From: earthpots@aol.com
Hey folks, your editor here. :) Just wanted to ask your prayers for my wedding this month, on june 29, to Kristin Joy Clark, my best friend for 7 years now. We've waited a long time for everything and just pray that everything glorifies our Savior. Also, we'll be moving in together (of course) after the wedding, then have to move 3 weeks later to a new place, then I start my new job teaching (high school geology & chemistry). So, it's going to be very busy and I may not have time to answer everyone right away or put out EV till a couple weeks later. Thanks for listening and praying! :)
Andy
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From: BAUTEB@coral.indstate.edu (ardent)
Prayer request: 15 students from Indiana State University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (both in Terre Haute, Indiana), 20 students from Southwest Missouri State University, and a few students from the University of Kansas are all doing a short-term mission trip to Haiti (ten days) this summer. They're leaving May 22 and returning in early June. I was fortunate enough to go the past two years, but due to my impending wedding (need prayer for that one too!!) this year just wasn't possible. Please pray for the effectiveness of these servants -- the voodoo culture in Haiti is very dark and very real; prayer is our most effective weapon. Merci.
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From: Doogie15@aol.com
>From June 19-23, the Billy Graham crusade will be making a stop here in Minneapolis. It's going to be one of Mr. Graham's final crusades before he passes the torch on to his son. So I know that all of us here in MN would appreciate your prayers for:
-Mr. Graham's health
-All the counselors (myself included :)) and other volunteers that God will work thru us
-Safety and health for all the musical guests (DC T., MWS, Amy G., CeCe Winans, Michael Card, Steve Green)
-Most of all, that many will come and Minneapolis will be set on fire for God.
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*Subscriber's Bands:
HI! this is vesper from Aqua Vida. we're a NYC-based "alternative folk" band, sort of like the indigo girls but Christian, and not as twangy. Anyone interested in a demo should send a SASE (with 3 stamps) to:
Aqua Vida
1000 Clove Rd#2L
Staten Island, NY 10301
From: Epistrophy@aol.com
The Hearts On Fire Band - Original Christian rock/pop band - free concerts around California, Arizona and points beyond. CD release: "Love Changes Everything",
URL is: http://members.aol.com/jjhofb1/hearts.htm
Developing a band, no name yet! We have a web page at http://www.fastlane.net/homepages/kennethm/
thanks-
jwofford@origin.ea.com
Sunny Day Roses: Bloomshine, their debut cd is a unique mix of pop music for the curious listener who likes all different types of music. Combines modern rock with jazz, funk, pop, world beat, etc. Email SunnyRoses@aol.com for details.
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