NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Watashi Wa   was a band signed to Tooth & Nail Records in the early '00s. The band was formed in 2000 when the members were still in high school. After releasing two albums on Bettie Rocket , a small label, the band signed to Tooth & Nail in 2002. The next year, they released their LP  The Love of Life .  The band broke up two years later and singer  Seth Roberts  went on to form the band  Eager Seas . Roberts negotiated with the label to fulfill Watashi Wa's contract with his new band; however, Eager Sea's debut record undersold the label's expectations. The label decided to re-release the record as Watashi Wa's final album titled  Eager Seas ,  including the band's most recognized song " All of Me " on the record. Roberts went on to form the band  Lakes  and signed to The Militia Group.    IT WAS WRITTEN IN A LETTER TO ME.  Maybe it was an abundance of incredible releases in 2003 that made Watashi Wa's The Love of Life fall unnoticed from

Ontario-based Christian rapper Manafest signed to BEC Recordings and Tooth & Nail’s Hip-Hop imprint Uprok Records in 2005. In 2008, Mananfest released his third album, Citizens Activ , which was surprisingly successful in Japan. His fifth album, 2010’s The Chase , saw the rapper fully embracing rap-rock. The album was preceded by Avalanche - No Plan B EP . The two songs “ Avalanche ” and “ No Plan B ” contained remixes and alternate versions, including a version of “No Plan B” featuring Japanese metal vocalist of Crossfaith , Kenta Koie contributing a verse to the song. The video for the song also features Koie. FACE MYSELF OR GET TAKEN OUT. Christopher Scott Greenwood , the future Christian rapper Manafest suffered many setbacks in his early life. When he was five, his father committed suicide. He became a Christian after attending a summer camp. When he was about 14, he dreamed of becoming a professional skateboarder, but in 1998, he suffered an injury that stopped that dream

Hawk Nelson released two Christmas EPs in the earlier part of their career, starting with 2005’s Gloria . The four-song EP featured two original songs with familiar choruses and two covers--the sacred “ I Heard the Bells ” and the secular “ Last Chrismas .” The original songs, “ Alleluia ” and “ Gloria ” were also divided into sacred and secular. While all of the songs on the EP are interpreted with a mid-'00s emotion, the two original songs are especially emotionally charged. “Alleluia” is a song about the nativity that uses the tune of a liturgical chant for the chorus. “Gloria,” on the other hand is a cheesy Christmas love song that talks about Santa giving the speaker a girl for Christmas named Gloria. Singer Jason Dunn adds a lot of emotion into the first verse, which feels strange given that the song can’t be that serious. The song ultimately interpolates the chorus of the French carol, “ Angels We Have Heard on High ,” because the girl that the speaker wants for Christmas

We’re back to 2003 today, a year we’ve been visiting a lot recently. I’d argue that it was 2003 that made Tooth & Nail Records the biggest label producing mainstream Christian Rock, though the old school Tooth & Nail fans would be quick to point to the ‘90s with MxPx , The O.C. Supertones , and Plankeye . Still, Tooth & Nail seemed more fringe for the conservative listenership in Christian Rock compared to the rosters of ForeFront , Squint , Gotee, and Flicker Records, who signed bands with the intention of ministry. But in 2003, Tooth & Nail released a ton of albums with crossover appeal. On top of the crossover appeal of Tooth & Nail’s catalog, the label started to sign groups that had been established in Christian Rock. Thousand Foot Krutch was one of the acts. But before the band's genre-transitioning Phenomenon , TFK's drummer, Steve Augustine , and lead singer, Trevor McNevan , released an album on Tooth & Nail Records with their side project, FM