NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Following up two massively successful albums, The Fundamentals of Southtown and Satellite was a difficult task for " one of the biggest success stories " in Christian music. In 2003 P.O.D. released their fifth studio record Payable on Death -- their namesake album. Earlier that year, the band released a song, “ Sleeping Awake ” for the Matrix: Reloaded . “Sleeping Awake” sounded quite different from the songs on Satellite. Notably, the band had a new guitarist-- Jason Truby , replacing longtime member Marcos Curiel . Before joining P.O.D., Truby had been a member of the legendary Christian metal band, Living Sacrifice . In 2003, the Arkansas-based metal band also gave the fellow Arkansas-based band Evanescence   the drummer, Rocky Gray . THIS TIME I’M SORRY. Maybe really hardcore warriors, the fan army of P.O.D. fans can tell the real story behind the 2003 lineup change. Marcos Curiel, along with drummer Wuv Bernardo , was a founding member of Eschatos, the band that late

  The season 2  Labeled  podcasts finale concluded the story arc of  Tooth & Nail Records ’ start from collecting likeminded, DIY-spirited bands to a marketably lucrative record business backed by major- label distribution, a slowing in the market and uncertain times, then back to a purely indie label. As the story goes, the label had signed two bands for general rock radio,  The Classic Crime  and  Jonezetta . These bands were not intended for Christian radio, like how  The Juliana Theory  had been half a decade before. In 2006, at the time of this marketing strategy, the label was losing some of its most successful acts to major labels. Could the new signees save the label? WHEN THE CHORUS DIES, DOES IT KILL YOU TO BE ALONE?  Neither bands reached the level Tooth & Nail had planned for them. The Classic Crime has had a successful career, but mostly because the label accidentally marketed them to Christian radio. Jonezetta, however, wasn’t played on  RadioU , but I think I bou

In 2017, Aaron Sprinkle released Real Life , his last release on Tooth & Nail Records . The legendary producer had released solo work sporadically since the ‘90s; however, being the go-to producer for some of the most successful bands in Alternative and Hard Christian Rock was time-consuming, and Sprinkle felt that producing great records was more successful than trying to promote a solo career. Sprinkle’s production always felt cutting-edge when he recorded, whether for Anberlin , Acceptance , Demon Hunter , Falling Up , or a host of other bands. Real Life, however, feels very 2017. Today, let's explore the album, track by track. 1. Invincible kicks off the album with that 2017 electronic sound. Featuring Poema ’s Elle Puckett contributing a spoken-word/ rap part, the song sounds nothing like what you’d expect from either artist. The lyrics seem to be the speaker coming to realize that he is not invincible. Puckett tries to convince the first speaker that he never needed to

Thomas Wolfe is most famous for his novel  You Can't Go Home Again   which is a tome that I haven't read. However, I did read his first novel,  Look Homeward, Angel ,  which deals with similar themes. I picked up the book in the middle of a semester from hell and an existential crisis. I found Wolfe's descriptions of Southern life--the people in town and family members, the scenery, and the food--so comforting. The mostly autobiographical novel is nostalgic, but the protagonist, Eugene's academic pursuits push him to see the world outside of the isolated mountain town of Altamont (Asheville). DEFER TOMORROW.  The Juliana Theory  is a band whose influence far exceeds its success. Formed as the side project of  Brett Detar , the guitarist of the Christian metal band  Zao , when he wanted to incorporate the catchiness of radio rock bands like  Third Eye Blind  that the metal band listened to in van on tour, The Juliana Theory became a legendary band in the pop-punk scene.

I can't explain this well, but there are some songs that give me a feeling for particular weather. I associate songs with seasons, even if the lyrics have nothing to do with that season. As the weather has gotten chilly lately, I wanted to create a playlist of songs that give me a warm feeling by somehow building a cold atmosphere first, especially for the mid-Autumn.  If this playlist makes no sense to you, I'm sure you're not alone. But maybe it does. I hope that it brings you warmth.

Nothing beats the foliage in the American Northeast. However, being the first week of November, the colors peaked a few weeks ago, and now the trees are looking bare. When I was young, growing up in Central New York, when the leaves came off the trees, it meant a long winter was on the way. One year we got snow on Halloween which lasted until April. New England is romanticized in America, from movies to books to magazines and even a few songs.  BOSTON, WHERE NO ONE KNOWS MY NAME .  In  Season One of  The Big Bang Theory ,   Leonard is moping after his love interest, Penny, starts seeing another man. He comes into the apartment  singing   Augustana 's  " Boston ,"  quite horribly. "Boston" is Augustana's signature song. It placed on the  Billboard Hot 100 , it was a Top 40 hit, and a top 10 Adult (light rock) hit. The band formed at  Greenville University , a conservative Christian college where  Jars of Clay  formed before them and  Paper Route  after them. 

In the late ‘90s, one of the biggest Christian Rock groups had a song that couldn’t be played on Christian radio, despite the song becoming a number 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit . While some Christian bands either quietly or vocally broke with the Christian music industry, Sixpence None the Richer , despite having the song “ Kiss Me ,” a G-rated love song that happened to be nothing about God, collaborated relentlessly with other Christian artists, solidifying their spot in late ‘90s Christian music. During the band’s reign on the pop charts from the singles “Kiss Me” and the cover of The La’s ’ “ There She Goes ,” the latter eventually released on a deluxe edition of their 1997 eponymous record; Sixpence None the Richer contributed to several Christian compilations.  I WILL RUN INTO YOUR ARMS AGAIN. On the second day of my New Years Day Project, I wrote about the song “ I Will Rest in You ” performed by Jaci Valesquez , which appeared on the compilation Streams . The collaborative album