NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  Since I wrote about Waking Ashland last January, lead singer Johnathan Jones has given an interview with HM Magazine ’s Black Sheep Podcast .  It’s worth a listen to get a little more insight into this somewhat obscure Tooth & Nail band. One of the most beloved tracks in the band’s discography, “ October Skies ,” is a sentimental track on Waking Ashland ’s debut album Composure. The song evokes the colors and crisp feeling of Autumn as well as the symbolism of death and eventual rebirth that the season means to the cycle of the seasons. The beautiful guitar and piano-driven song isn’t very deep. The lyrics have Christian undertones with the speaker “surrendering” to an unnamed “you” as well as mention of church bells evoking an idyllic New England or Appalachian fall.  Read the lyrics on Genius.

On January 16, 2014, Anberlin posted a video on their social media platforms with a special message . The three-minute eighteen-second black and white video opened with a quote by Helen Keller; a droning guitar riff; and footage of a sideways camera playing a loop of a city from a car, an Anberlin concert, and footage from their “ Paperthin Hymn ” music video --all with a new emblem watermarking the footage. That new watermark was of fingers crossing. As the footage played, each member of Anberlin talked about their experiences in the band. A drumbeat joined the guitar and later a synthline. Then at 1:49 seconds into the video, the band gets to the point of the video: Anberlin is breaking up after releasing a new album and giving a final world tour. The video ends by reiterating the upcoming final album and final tour and with a Tooth & Nail Records copyright notice, inadvertently announcing that Anberlin had returned to their first record label to release their final album.  LO

It was the beginning of a rough year. In January, my favorite band from when I was in high school announced they were breaking up by the end of the year. I was in the middle of a hellish teaching contract in South Korea, and it looked like I could never see Anberlin perform again live. Before disbanding, the band would release their seventh studio album, Lowborn . Of course, the break up didn’t last and Anberlin got back together only four years later to play a reunion show and began touring the year after that. Then in 2022, the band released Silverline , a 5-song EP; another EP, Convinced , last year; and will release their eighth studio record, Vega , on August 2nd, which will be a combination of Silverline and Convinced with two new songs featuring the band's new touring vocalist, Matty Mullins . I FOUND PEACE IN A FOREIGN ATONEMENT.  At the end of 2013, lead singer Stephen Christian told his bandmates that he would give Anberlin a year to say farewell. Christian talks about

In 2016 ,  Yellowcard  called  it quits, echoing many other bands in a changing music industry. Best known for their fourth album,  Ocean Avenue , Yellowcard headlined Warped Tour and were at the top of the genre thanks to  MTV 's  Total Request Live  and placements in video games. But the band that had once been played on pop and rock radio, soon saw waning promotion, particularly in their later years. With albums underperforming and internal conflict in the band, they released their self-titled final album in 2016. They have only reunited in a  controversial lawsuit  against rapper  Juice WRLD , which the band later dropped after the rapper died in 2020. YOU TOOK MY EDGE, SHARPENED IT IN CASE.  My experience with Yellowcard was much like most of their fair-weather fans.  Ocean Avenue  was novel and fun. It was a time when bands could experiment with the format of a rock band to include something like, say, an electric violin on every track substituting for guitar leads. Their sec

The best music doesn't happen in isolation but rather comes out of a community movement. I would define community, when it comes to music, as a mixing of artists who bring different ideas together ideas from various genres. The result of a musical community is stronger musicianship by all those involved. Collaboration, the meeting of minds, happens naturally. Throughout the course of my blog, I've talked about various communities.  Tooth & Nail , Christian Rock, and evangelical communities are definitely the biggest themes. Tegan and Sara grew out of the Northwestern Canadian/American Indie Rock community in the late '90s, and by 2013 became pop stars.   HERE COMES THE RUSH BEFORE WE TOUCH.  Many fans may have been introduced to  Tegan and Sara  when Meredith Grey and Christina Yang danced to their early acoustic,  angry girl music in  Grey's Anatomy ' s earlier seasons.  The musical duo of Calgary-born identical  twins  Tegan  and  Sara Quin  started on the aco

  We all have to pay the bills, and musicians are certainly no exception.  Randy Torres  formerly of  Project 86  works in sound design.  Dan Koch  of  Sherwood  writes music for adverting.  Stephen Christian  is a music pastor. All of these examples, though, have kept the band separate.  The Fold  released two records on  Tooth & Nail Records , but never achieved the greatness of their label-mates, save a Grammy nomination for the packaging of their sophomore record. Though having a smaller fanbase than other Tooth & Nail bands, The Fold started partnering with brands, writing theme songs, most notably Lego's  Ninjago ,  for which they performed exclusively for seven years.  I SPENT A LONG TIME BUILDING LADDERS TO THE STARS.  Today’s song comes from The Fold’s 2013 independent record,  Moving Past.   “ Live Forever ” is the album’s fourth track. The themes on the album are somewhat humanist and somewhat Christian. The subject of “Live Forever” is not about one’s eternal re