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<title>Top Alternative Christian Contemporary Artists on Rhapsody Online</title>
<dateCreated>Fri Dec 18 17:21:04 PST 2009</dateCreated>
<dateModified>Fri Dec 18 17:21:04 PST 2009</dateModified>
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<outline type="include" text="Mat Kearney" description="While a good amount of Mat Kearney's songs at first appear cut from the same cloth as those of fellow acoustic crooner John Mayer, there's plenty to differentiate him. The hip-hop stylings of &quot;Undeniable&quot; and &quot;Girl America,&quot; as well as &quot;All I Need&quot; -- a song detailing eyewitness accounts of Hurricane Katrina -- point to the fact that Kearney isn't just a dude singing about his hurt feelings on TV (he's had songs appear on &lt;i&gt;Grey's Anatomy&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;One Tree Hill&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Friday Night Lights&lt;/i&gt;, to name just three). Kearney relocated from his native Eugene, Ore., to Nashville, Tenn., after recording &lt;i&gt;Bullet&lt;/i&gt; in 2004. He signed to Columbia and released &lt;i&gt;Nothing Left to Lose&lt;/i&gt; in 2006, the title cut of which reached No. 7 on the U.S. Adult Top 40 chart. His third album, &lt;i&gt;City of Black &amp; White&lt;/i&gt;, came out in 2009.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Adult Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/mat-kearney/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Casting Crowns" description="Casting Crowns started out like so many other Christian bands, leading worship at their home church, and then rocketed &quot;accidentally&quot; to chartbusting status. While similar Atlanta bands were branching out, lead man Mark Hall opted to keep their indie recordings local and continue his 12-year run as youth pastor at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church. But their CD ended up in the hands of Sawyer Brown frontman Mark Miller, who picked the group up for his Beach Street Records, a fledgling label launched by Miller and CCM juggernaut, Steven Curtis Chapman. From there, it only took six months for Casting Crowns to turn every head, hitting big with the pull-no-punches single &quot;If We Are The Body,&quot; which was apparently just the kind of challenging lyrics listeners and the church in general wanted to hear. Favor continued to smile on them with &quot;What If His People Prayed,&quot; and the penetrating, melodic ballad &quot;Who Am I.&quot; So great was their success with this debut recording that they jumped straight to the live album phase of their career, releasing an EP of the same set with a previously unreleased cover of &quot;Beautiful Savoir.&quot; The plan worked, as Casting Crowns, &lt;I&gt; Live From Atlanta&lt;/I&gt; showed their truest musicality, recording from the place they began -- live and in-the-moment worship with the people, the music and the praise.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/casting-crowns/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Skillet" description="Apropos to their name, husband and wife hard rockers John and Korey Cooper, joined by Ben Kasica on guitar and Lori Peters on drums, have spent their first five albums throwing all things rock into a pan and seeing what cooks up the best. Techno, thrash metal, grunge, even an excursion into acoustic alternative went into the mix, but the constants have been their strong spiritual lyrics, challenging themes, musical boldness and their worshipful willingness to experiment. It's been that sense of fearless unpredictability that keeps the charts and the &quot;Panheads&quot; -- as their fans dub themselves -- satisfied.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Christian Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/skillet/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Anberlin" description="For being one of the foremost bands in modern Christian rock, Anberlin still approach their music with an almost humorous sincerity and amazement at their own popularity. Formed as an amalgam of departed indie projects like the punk group SaGoh (Servants after God's Own Heart), the five Floridians found their identity in one another and had no trouble taking off once Tooth &amp; Nail picked up their modern/emo mix in 2003.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Post-Punk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/anberlin/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Newsboys" description="Originally known as the News, Newsboys started out in 1987 as &quot;danceable&quot; Christian band from Mooloolaba, Australia. For a handful of Christian rockers from a place that's hard to pronounce without smiling, they seemed unlikely candidates to become some of the most influential performers, producers and ministries ever to hit Nashville's contemporary Christian music scene. During the nearly 20 years that followed, Newsboys' releases defined the direction of Christian contemporary music as the new millennium approached, beginning with 1994's &lt;I&gt;Going Public&lt;/I&gt;, which exploded with the hit &quot;Shine,&quot; and continuing on with 1998's &lt;I&gt;Step! Up to the Microphone&lt;/I&gt;, which marked their first release for Virgin Records. Despite having just placed six No. 1 singles on the charts, the band went through a stylistic makeover which found them embracing the secular alternative music scene. More recently, they added their hefty alt rock influence to the modern praise and worship movement, contributing some of Christian radio's most recognizable anthems such as &quot;He Reigns&quot; and &quot;You Are My King.&quot; With no signs of slowing down, having released a &quot;best of&quot; in late 2005, it's to be expected that they will remain a musical and spiritual influence in the coming years.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/newsboys/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Switchfoot" description="Beginning with brothers Jonathan and Tim Foreman and their buddy Chad Butler, Switchfoot's leap from beach town garage band to international phenomenon seemed almost instantaneous. A homemade demo found its way to the hands of Christian rock forefather Charlie Peacock, after which it quickly morphed into their 1997 debut &lt;I&gt;The Legend of Chin&lt;/I&gt;. After the success of their debut and follow-up record, the band added keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas in 2000 and recorded a third CD. That album, &lt;I&gt;Learning to Breathe&lt;/I&gt;, served as their bridge to the mainstream with several tracks (including the huge hit &quot;Dare You to Move&quot;) landing on the soundtrack on Mandy Moore's 2002 blockbuster &lt;I&gt;A Walk to Remember&lt;/I&gt;. Frontman Jon Foreman even recorded a duet with the film's star. From there it was only a short hop to Sony's roster for their first mainstream label release, &lt;I&gt;Beautiful Letdown&lt;/I&gt;, which hit No. 1 on the Christian charts and No. 16 on &lt;I&gt;Billboard&lt;/I&gt;'s Top-200, much in thanks to the break-out hit &quot;Meant to Live.&quot; They threw one more log on the fire -- adding touring buddy and guitarist Andrew Shirley -- for their 2005 release, &lt;I&gt;Nothing Is Sound&lt;/I&gt;, which yielded &quot;Stars,&quot; a song that contained one of the most fetching hooks in their history.
So what's with the name? Switchfoot is a surfing term meant to convey changing one's foot position on the board, thus gaining a new perspective. For the band, this concept is more than just a token homage to their years growing up surfing together in San Diego, Calif.; it's purposefully illustrative of their goals in music and in life. In their sound, they mix it up to avoid fitting into any preconceived genre style. In their life, their lyrics speak of challenging one's perspectives toward the self and the world and ultimately taking these questions to God. But according to their official bio (written by the band): &quot;Being Switchfoot is all about putting a different foot forward, risking to change or be changed.&quot;
- Amy Bartlett" category="Contemporary Hard Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/switchfoot/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Flyleaf" description="Flyleaf is a hard-rocking alternative band from Temple, Texas. Bolstering the powerful vocals of singer Lacey Mosley with guitars on top of guitars and a thumping rhythm section, the band resurrects the angst of the grunge years, often simultaneously echoing such disparate influences as Soundgarden, the Cranberries (in that band's heavier moments) and the tight structures of Veruca Salt.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Contemporary Hard Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/flyleaf/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jeremy Camp" description="Camp's journey has been one of courage rewarded. After losing his young wife to cancer just months after their marriage, he held nothing from that experience back, breaking open his heart and faith on his debut album &lt;I&gt;Stay&lt;/I&gt;. The intimate details of his life, combined with his elevated vocals, won over everyone within earshot. He didn't tarry long between being the new Christian alternative &quot;it&quot; guy, via a 2003 Gospel Music Association (GMA) New Artist of the Year Dove Award, and cementing his influence, with two successive Male Artist of the Year Doves in 2004 and 2005. His favorite achievement, however, is his marriage to wife Adrienne Liesching, former The Benjamin Gate frontwoman, which led to daughters Isabella Rose and Arianne Mae. By 2007, Camp had ten No. 1 hits under his belt and hit the road for a national House of Blues tour with family in tow -- and occasionally on stage, as he shares the mic with Adrienne.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Christian Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jeremy-camp/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="David Crowder Band" description="David Crowder and band launched in college when Crowder and a friend realized that more than half of the Baylor student body weren't going to church (Baylor's a Baptist University). In response, Crowder became a kind of Christian pied piper, playing trailblazing worship sets and deeply personal rock that draws you in through a million unique points. Listening to Crowder is like a reunion with something you didn't know was missing: his voice is solid, raspy at the right moments and replete with personality. He loves to throw in playful &quot;la las&quot; and &quot;yeah yeahs&quot;, but makes them musically substantial and even rooted. His songwriting is refreshing and needed; he's introduced several new praise and worship tunes while giving existing P&amp;W songs like &quot;Heaven Came Down&quot; entirely new interpretations. While rhythmically he marches to a different drummer, the beats are never obscure or hard to relate to. The band is comparable to Dave Matthews' with strong instrumental influences, including strings and live acoustics. Still, it's hard to say whether or not he's most celebrated (or at least most noticed) for his awesome, shocked-out hairdo.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/david-crowder-band/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="MercyMe" description="MercyMe started out as an unassuming independent band, dropping off their material in roots venues around the country. But in a hop, skip and a jump (and a breakthrough single) this unknown southern rock group from Greenville, Texas became known everywhere as that band that sings &quot;I Can Only Imagine.&quot; Some argued their crossover blockbuster was no guarantee that they were here to stay. But after going platinum, showing up in &lt;I&gt;Billboard&lt;/I&gt;'s Top 200, raking in the awards, and generally changing the climate of overt Christian-themed mainstream music, the quiet sextet stepped up to the microphone and responded with the follow-up hit, &quot;Word of God Speak.&quot; Unlike their debut, which was a collection of material written during their nearly seven years on the indie circuit, their sophomore release kicked off an era of fresh writing. While they never quite duplicated their debut album's double-platinum status, their following releases kept MercyMe influential in Contemporary Christian Music, with light rock, dependable pop and the occasional remarkable ballad.
- Amy Bartlett" category="CCM" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/mercyme/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Hillsong United" description="For more than a decade, Australia's Hillsong Church has been impacting the music sung in congregations around the globe, so it's only natural that the church's youth-oriented worship team would have a similar effect. Hillsong United deliver the same spiritual messages heard in the worship act's parent group, Hillsong, but this energetic offshoot is distinctive for its modern rock sound and youth focus. It may be hard to believe, but the Dove Award-nominated group was never meant to become a touring band or release any recordings. The CDs grew out of a desire to chronicle what was happening with the vibrant youth ministry at the Sydney-based mega-church that regularly reaches 3,000 young people." category="Praise and Worship" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/hillsong-united/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="RED" description="RED are one of those all-too-rare bands for whom success came fast and hard. Founded in 2004 by ace guitarist/composer Jasen Rauch and drummer Andrew Hendrix (who would eventually leave the group), the Nashville-based quartet was quickly signed to Essential Records, Sony BMG's hugely successful Christian music imprint. RED's debut, &lt;i&gt;End of Silence&lt;/i&gt;, produced by the in-demand Rob Graves, made the group an instant force not only in the world of Christian metal but in all of modern rock as well. With its crunchy yet melodic mix of post-grunge angst and snarling metalcore, the group's first single, &quot;Breathe Into Me,&quot; cracked the Top 20 on &lt;i&gt;Billboard&lt;/i&gt;'s U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. RED's second full-length, the even heavier &lt;i&gt;Innocence &amp; Instinct&lt;/i&gt;, generated more crossover appeal, debuting on the U.S. &lt;i&gt;Billboard&lt;/i&gt; 200 chart at a whopping No. 15. In November 2007, the group's tour van was in a serious highway accident near Nashville. But despite injuries to drummer Hayden Lamb, who sat out the rest of the tour and subsequently left the band, RED soldiered on, tirelessly delivering its brand of brooding Christian hard rock to an insatiable and ever-growing fan base.
- Justin Farrar" category="Christian Metal" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/red-2/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Relient K" description="The pride of Canton, Ohio, Relient K's Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes and Dave Douglas are becoming the punk-pop surprise of the century. In perfect tribute to their style and sense of humor, their name comes from guitarist Hoopes' beat-up old Plymouth Relient K Car -- incidentally the official squad car of the NYPD in 1982. That sense of humor, camp and mischief has become their musical cornerstone. After their self-titled debut in 2002 (produced by dc Talk guitarist Mark Townsend), they took a mere two-and-a-half years to release four hit albums and hit the one million sold mark. Their third LP, &lt;I&gt;Two Lefts Don't Make a RightÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂBut Three Do&lt;/I&gt;, debuted at No. 38 on Billboard's Top 200 and went gold, paving the way for the mainstream euphoria of &lt;I&gt;MMHMM&lt;/I&gt;. The band front-pages their Christian foundation in their lives and in the media, but blend the Gospel only gently into their happy tunes. They're uber-peppy without being preppy and hysterically tongue-in-cheek without being sardonic; a feat mastered mostly by frontman and primary songwriter Thiessen (who co-produced &lt;I&gt;MMHMM&lt;/I&gt;). In the battle for the best asset, the lyrics are rubber and the melodies are glue; their clever wordplay ricochets like a SuperBall lodging permanently in the head via the stickiest hooks.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Punk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/relient-k/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jars of Clay" description="Along with Creed and Sixpence None the Richer, Jars of Clay attend of the new school of CCM that has gained a foothold in the secular world of alternative rock. With punchy acoustic arrangements that range from dark, rocked-up numbers to the more introspective music usually associated with Christian bands, Jars of Clay express their faith through song without falling into traditional evangelistic traps.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jars-of-clay/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Passion Worship Band" description="Like the chicken and the egg, it's hard to say exactly which came first: alternative bands recording standard Sunday morning praise and worship songs, or praise and worship bands picking up the alternative sound and injecting new life into the church music scene. Either way, Passion Worship Band have done both, inadvertently becoming one of a small but vastly influential group of forefathers in the modern worship movement -- so much so that for a while it was called &quot;The Passion Movement,&quot; inspired by their &lt;I&gt;Passion&lt;/I&gt; album series. Suddenly, worshipers were crying &quot;turn it up&quot;; the acoustic guitar made friends with driving, wired guitar riffs; drum sets on church platforms grew Plexiglas soundboards; and church worship leaders became the new hot charting artists and Dove nominees (like Matt Redman, Mark Schultz and the epic Darlene Zschech). The David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin and Charlie Hall were partners in the movement and on its tour, which drew hundreds of thousands of college-age people looking to marry their love of the music and their love of the Lord. And a musical era was born.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/passion-worship-band/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Thousand Foot Krutch" description="Canadian import Thousand Foot Krutch is in it for the rock and the Rock of Ages, keeping faith the backbone of their sound, while hitting mainstream charts. Like many before them, TFK started singing together while in high school, claiming to have played everywhere from corn-feeds to post-prom parties. Since their start in 1997, they have effectively evolved, not only keeping stride with the HR climate, but with their own maturing musicality. Their broad-base success speaks to their ability to meet variant rock/metal/hip-hop/rapcore needs, producing highly melodic and still sufficiently edgy content.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Punk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/thousand-foot-krutch/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sixpence None the Richer" description="Heard everywhere from junior miss departments to royal nuptials (and every teen-geared movie and television situational drama in between), sleeper superhit Kiss Me has brought Sixpence None the Richer farther than their original, modest aim to be part of the Christian Pop movement. Recognition-wise, they've skyrocketed past Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) biggies like Michael W. Smith and have garnered wide Alterna-Pop and Adult Contemporary radio play. Their name and sound evoke such British folk/pop-inflected acts as Fairground Attraction and the Sundays -- mostly due to singer Leigh Nash's pretty and airy vocals which bring to mind London summer picnics in Regency Park. This is somewhat remarkable considering their Shiner Bock, Austin, Tex., roots. In fact, their lyrical approach is often more subtle and secular than the blue collar spirituality of artists like Van Morrison or Bob Dylan. Sixpence None the Richer's Patsy Cline-meets-&lt;i&gt;Rubber Soul&lt;/i&gt;-era Beatles may not be cutting edge, but it sure sounds awfully nice on the radio, chasing any track by Alanis or Courtney.
- Nick Dedina" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sixpence-none-the-richer/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Kutless" description="Hailing from Portland, Ore., Kutless bears many of the features of neighboring Seattle bands, but with a distinguishing birthmark of faith. Their highly melodic modern rock conjures up the sounds of Nickleback and Puddle of Mudd, filling a need in the Christian industry for less-hard hard rock. Without losing any intensity, they stop shy of rapcore or metal, cutting out the screaming (or keeping it to a minimum). Delivering the good stuff -- emotional vocals, ambitious guitars -- on a more temperate platform makes their CD more palatable and has landed them on a wider variety of radio playlists as well as a bigger range of fans.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Christian Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/kutless/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Matthew West" description="When Matthew West didn't get the baseball scholarship he had his eye on, he put down the bat, picked up a guitar, and decided to pursue a major in music Millikin University. By graduation, he had a multi-campus following, including some prayerful supporters who surprised him by covering a sizable price tag to send him to the Gospel Music Association's &quot;Seminar in the Rockies.&quot; There, he attracted the attention of a Nashville mover and shaker, who set him on the course of his chosen path. Although convinced this was what he was meant to do, West still suffered some trials, like writing his first hits for other artists (Rachael Lampa, Sara Groves, Salvador, etc.) and putting his hand through a window, which almost curbed the guitar playing permanently. The happy ending came with the debut of the appropriately titled &lt;I&gt;Happy.&lt;/I&gt; Label execs had tried to narrow his focus for the album's sake, but West insisted that mixing it up &lt;I&gt;was&lt;/I&gt; his style, so he laid it all down in wax Â acoustic, guitar pop and alt rock akin to Matchbox Twenty (check out the single &quot;More&quot; and title track). For all West's subtle eclecticism, those two tracks left the impression they were most 'him' and pretty much indicated where he was headed.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/matthew-west/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Chris Rice" description="In pen, voice, instrument and spirit, Chris Rice is a fountain of creativity. With a twist of tone he jumps from the joy of pure comedy in &quot;Cartoons&quot; (a song he jokingly wrote as a skit, which took off like wildfire, admittedly to the author's dismay) to intimate missives like &quot;Come to Jesus.&quot; But this craftsman singer-songwriter and all-around &quot;fun guy&quot; didn't start out with designs on making it in the music industry. Piano lessons as a teen equipped him t! o lead worship in college (Union University in Jackson, Tennessee) while pursuing his primary passion which was mentoring and ministering to students. His unique talents were recognized by genre-giant Michael W. Smith, who signed Rice as the first-ever artist on Smitty's self-started label, Rocketown Records. Debut &lt;I&gt;Deep Enough to Dream&lt;/I&gt; garnered six Dove noms, trumped by his sophomore release which won him the Male Vocalist of the Year. In late 2005, after his seventh release, Rice moved to INO's Ebb + Flo, looking to broaden his reach and stretch his artistic boundaries. The resulting project, &lt;I&gt;Amusing&lt;/I&gt;, instantly proved the benefits of giving this minstrel the creative freedom to speak his merry mind.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Folk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/chris-rice/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="DC Talk" description="Anthemic electro-rock perfect for the late night club scene. Funky, danceable rhythms and shouted, sing-along choruses combine rightious-minded lyrics with decidely catchy production.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/dc-talk/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bebo Norman" description="Acoustic Christian Rock from an unplugged Grunge perspective. Norman falls into the same category as Jars of Clay, with understated alterna-moves and truly accessible messages.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Alt Christian Folk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bebo-norman/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Family Force 5" description="Family Force 5 represent a new school of Christian rock; they combine a range of styles that touches on emocore, Outkast-spawned dirty Southern hip-hop and '80s throwback dance pop, all while offering practically zero references to their faith (which they nevertheless take very seriously). Both lauded and panned for submerging said themes, the band has developed a major league following in the ACCM scene with three EPs and a pair of full-lengths in conjunction with numerous appearances at various Christian music festivals, where they undoubtedly confuse roughly ninety percent of the audience. With a nucleus of three brothers (Solomon, Jacob and Joshua Olds -- all children of '90s CCM artist Jerome Olds) leading the charge, the kids signed with both Maverick (for the secular) and Gotee (for the Christian folks) and delivered a rap metal debut, &lt;i&gt;Business Up Front/Party in the Back&lt;/i&gt; in 2006. The more club-oriented &lt;i&gt;Dance or Die&lt;/i&gt; followed in 2008.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/family-force-5/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Caedmon's Call" description="Among the crop of Alternative/Christian Rock bands that seem to be popping up on the radio more and more, Caedmon's Call stand out as one of the best as far as secular appeal and non-preachy messages are concerned. With rootsy folk structures and the cracked harmonies of Cliff Young, Derek Webb and Danielle Glenn, the band performs gently rocking, semi-country songs that address the issues of their faith.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Alt Christian Folk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/caedmons-call/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Superchick" description="It's hard to define Superchick when the members keep changing on an album-by-album basis. Max Hsu, the band's founder, explains their restlessness by saying &quot;We're more of a movement than a band.&quot; While they haven't done for music what other movements have, like the modern worship movement a la Passion or David Crowder, their movement is more a behavioral one, a rally cry for young folks' personal strength, purity and self-pride. The one thing the variant members have in common is talent and mass teen pop appeal, hitting on some nice pop licks and endearing ballads. One of the oddest occurrences ever in a band's life story: While writing album number four, all six (at the time) members experienced break-ups of serious romantic relationships. The upside goes to the listener, who gets a whole new level of creationÃÂÃÂaching harmonies, more mature writing and introspective melodies. Superchick succeeded in creating surprising &lt;I&gt;Beauty from Ashes&lt;/I&gt;.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/superchic/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Matt Redman" description="Redman benefited from the wave of church worship leaders being hurled onto the top of the CCM charts. But his success is not just a matter of good timing. He earned his status by writing what became the number one worship songs. A prime example is &quot;The Heart of Worship&quot; whose lyrics capture the conundrum of the platinum-worshiper phenomenon, not losing sight, under the bright lights of fame, of what worship is: &quot;I bring you more than a song, 'cause a song in itself is not what you have requiredI'm coming back to the heart of worship.&quot; Other runaway Redman praise songs include &quot;Better Is One Day,&quot; &quot;Let Everything that Has Breath,&quot; &quot;I Am Yours,&quot; &quot;Let My Words Be Few&quot; and &quot;Once Again.&quot;
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/matt-redman/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Francesca Battistelli" description="" category="Christian Pop" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/francesca-battistelli/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Delirious?" description="The British equivalent of Creed or Jars of Clay, Delirious? are an openly religious group whose song craft is good enough to appeal to a much wider audience than their Christian core of fans. A flair for catchy, peppy hooks and memorable choruses earned them a wild card spot in the British Top-20 with &quot;Deeper&quot; -- a spirited Punk-Pop single from their debut album. Subsequent releases have attempted to duplicate that recording's formula for success, alternating blatantly sacred material with radio-friendly secular pop tunes. As the once rigid divisions between Christian and popular music continue to crumble, Delirious? are leading the charge from amen corner to center stage.
- Chad Driscoll" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/delirious/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Nichole Nordeman" description="Nichole Nordeman is blessed with the gift of lyricism. Possessing a voice weighted with sincerity, this signature singer-songwriter has gained tremendous respect in a few short years, racking up non-stop Dove Awards for her mature and penetrating music. A self-described &quot;wrestling poet,&quot; Nordeman is responsible for life-changing songs like &quot;Healed&quot; and such mega-hits as &quot;Legacy&quot; and &quot;Holy.&quot; The minor chords and inventive rhythms in the soul-searching &quot;Is It Any Wonder&quot; and &quot;Wide Eyed&quot; are especially addictive. Heady, gorgeous, folksy and appreciatively deep, Nordeman's artistry is new gold.
- Amy Bartlett" category="CCM" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/nichole-nordeman/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Plumb" description="With danceable beats, noisy guitars and hooky choruses, Plumb bears a certain resemblance to Garbage. Spiritually minded lyrics are layered in alternately subtle and overt metaphors. These songs could easily appeal to secular modern rock fans.
- Will Lerner" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/plumb/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Leeland" description="Leeland Mooring wrote his first song at 11, felt a &quot;calling&quot; to music at 14 and started influencing the industry at 15. A start date of the band named after Mooring is hard to pin down; its founding members describe the beginning as practicing after youth group and discovering that perhaps they were a band. The accidental band is now five Texans strong, with frontman Leeland being joined by his single-syllable bandmates Mike, Matt, Jake and Jack (Leeland's brother). Already proven at 18 as an accomplished songwriter, Leeland wrote an impressive seven songs on Michael W. Smith's album &lt;I&gt;Stand&lt;/I&gt; (FYI, Jack is married to Smitty's daughter Whitney). Still, his best tunes landed on the first two LPs from Leeland-the-band, ushering them straight into touring with industry kings Casting Crowns. Melodically cutting edge, Leeland bring a fluid rock passion to CCM.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/leeland/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="FM Static" description="FM Static blasted onto the scene in 2003 as a &quot;side-project&quot; of Thousand Foot Krutch-ers Trevor McNevan (lead vocals) and Steve Augustine (drummer). Adding bassist Justin Smith, guitarist John Bunner and some of the most head-spinning writing in the biz, FM surpassed side-project goals and started climbing the charts as a power punk pop mainstay. FM Static was the outlet McNevan needed for his cache of songs that didn't fit the TFK identity. It's an impressive sidestep that wins him attention as a total rock chameleon and helped make FM the pied-piper of teen punksters with the cleverest lyrics and most irresistible hooks.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Punk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/fm-static/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Pillar" description="Pillar continue being all things to all people with this sufficiently hooky, hardcore plate of rock. The title track, &quot;Crossfire&quot; and &quot;Tragedy&quot; issue a dash of metal-screamo that will keep Pillar on mosher's playlists, while the lulling ballad &quot;Angel in Disguise&quot; could be the last thing that you want to hear on your headphones at night.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Christian Metal" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/pillar/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Audio Adrenaline" description="Audio Adrenaline have a strong feel for classic AOR and modern Alt Rock. The resulting Christian Rock won't win any awards for originality, but the band offers up a respectable, arena-ready mix of Cheap Trick, INXS, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
- Nick Dedina" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/audio-adrenaline/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Seventh Day Slumber" description="" category="Christian Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/seventh-day-slumber/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Phil Wickham" description="Phil Wickham's wholesale adoption of the Keane model of emotionally loaded songcraft is superficially logical given his strong Christian message, but it does raise a few interesting questions. Such as how to reconcile a sound shaped around yearning with a position predicated on absolute faith -- surely uncertainty lies at the root of existential angst?" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/phil-wickham/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Addison Road" description="The roots of Dallas' Christian rockers Addison Road go back to Baylor University in 2001, when then-students, now husband-wife team of Jenny and Ryan Simmons were asked to play a $500 gig at a youth-oriented Christian gathering called Disciple Now. The money was too good to refuse, so they put together a band with Ryan Gregg, Jeff Sutton and Travis Lawrence, and the quintet has stayed together ever since. Jenny Simmons' full-throated lead vocals helped Addison Road get noticed by a number of known Christian bands, and they toured extensively without a release. INO signed them, and Addison Road released a self-titled debut LP in 2008.
- Nate Cavalieri" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/addison-road/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sara Groves" description="" category="Alt Christian Folk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sara-groves/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Fee" description="" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/fee/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Falling Up" description="" category="Christian Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/falling-up/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Rebecca St. James" description="Rebecca St. James is one of the finest Christian rockers, bringing an Alternative Rock edge to thoughtful, but often bracing pop. This young Australian artist is a real talent and a rarity in the world of mainstream spiritual pop since she deals with spiritual matters in a very direct way.
- Nick Dedina" category="CCM" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/rebecca-st-james/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Shane &amp; Shane" description="Shane Barnard and Shane Everett are often billed as fresh, different and unique worship. That's one thing when you're approaching praise and worship artists like David Crowder, TonÃÂÃÂ©x or other boundary-stretchers. But it takes something else when you're singing soft and soothing mainline alt folk. Both Texas boys and former youth leaders for Breakaway Ministries at Texas A&amp;M, the two paired up to create a brand of worship that trades off between Bebo Norman's folk and Jeremy Camp's headier ballads. Barnard is the primary songwriter, but the two together create a haunting harmony of voices and intricate guitar work. They have a way of pouring their souls out.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Folk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/shane-shane/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Rich Mullins" description="Rich Mullins' ministry ended far too early when a 1997 car crash took his life. His influence, however, was just beginning to grow. His musical skills were stacked a mile highfrom being versed in piano, guitar and dulcimer to his colorful, folksy voicebut despite his excellent musicianship, he was most celebrated for his songwriting skills. He penned probably the most overall-recognizable worship song, &quot;Awesome God,&quot; which was voted one of the top three songs of the decade in 1989 by the Christian Research Report. &quot;Sing Your Praise to the Lord&quot; received its initial boost when Amy Grant covered it on her album &lt;I&gt;Age to Age&lt;/I&gt;. The hit list of signature songs went on to include &quot;If I Stand,&quot; &quot;Sometimes by Step,&quot; &quot;Creed,&quot; &quot;Calling Out Your Name,&quot; &quot;My One Thing,&quot; and that was just the tip of his artistic iceberg. Mullins weaved everything from his spiritual roots, raised on &quot;Indian! a Clay&quot; (as he says in his song &quot;First Family&quot;), to his later life spent on a Navajo reservation. Include innate levels of folk, Celtic influences, and the stellar arrangements of his own songs, and Mullins is all things earthy and was a venerated beloved force in CCM.
- Amy Bartlett" category="CCM" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/rich-mullins/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Big Daddy Weave" description="Big Daddy Weave hit the radio waves at the perfect time for their style. They came out of the gates with prime, intimate, made-for-radio alt pop hits like &quot;In Christ&quot; (2002's top Christian AC single) and &quot;One and Only,&quot; which hit the Christian Soundscan charts at No. 5. Just to show it wasn't a fluke, their rave reception was matched by their sophomore contributions of the beatific &quot;Fields of Grace&quot; and the more acoustic ballad &quot;Completely Free.&quot; Mike (Big Daddy) Weaver -- frontman, guitarist and writer of all BDW's songs (except for &quot;Fields of Grace&quot;) -- is joined by Jeremy Redmond, Jeff Jones, Joe Shirk and brother Jay Weaver. Together they pull off a sound that gets them compared to Audio Adrenaline, Third Day and the Dave Matthews Band.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Folk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/big-daddy-weave/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Eisley" description="Eisley twirled dreamily onto the scene just in time to fill the footsteps of a disbanding Sixpence None The Richer. A tragically hip, mostly-sibling act, Chauntelle, Stacy, Sherri and Weston DuPree linked arms with family friend Jonathan Wilson. Equally popular in the Tyler, Tex. Vineyard Church community as in the local coffeehouse scene, their career mirrored this cross appeal as they topped Christian charts while opening for mainstream artists like Coldplay. The sisters on the mic are intoxicating and should not be listened to while operating heavy machinery. Ballads like &quot;I Wasn't Prepared&quot; are unsettlingly hypnotic, distantly reminiscent of uneasy indie rock ballads like Cat Power's &quot;Werewolf.&quot;
- Amy Bartlett" category="Indie/Alternative" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/eisley/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Building 429" description="Building 429 catapulted from newbie band in 2004 to Christian rock royalty
in a single year. When their debut, &lt;I&gt;Space In Between Us,&lt;/I&gt; hit the
airwaves, their success seemed written in stone. Not even counting the
album's equally popular title track and the ballad &quot;No One Else Knows,&quot; the
super single &quot;Glory Defined&quot; hit No. 1 on eight different charts and became
BMI's 2005 Song of the Year for Christian music. That same year B429
received four Dove Award nominations and was named the Gospel Music
Association's 2005 New Artist of the Year. Their fresh, melodic, rock
composition and clear, candid lyrics combine with a fervent personal
commitment to what they see as their responsibility offstage to their fans
and their ministry. This commitment is clear even in the root of their name:
Building 429 derives from Ephesians 4:29 which, paraphrased, encourages
doing &quot;only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs,
that it may benefit those who listen.&quot;
- Amy Bartlett" category="Christian Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/building-429/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sanctus Real" description="Sanctus Real has the Midas touch in music and in marketing. Starting out as a couple of tenth graders at Toledo Christian School playing worship for youth groups, they added a bassist and a drummer and took off for Gospel Music Week in Nashville with a backpack full of CDs. The labels started banging down the door and reaped the benefitsÂSanctus Real's 2002 debut &lt;I&gt;Say It Loud&lt;/I&gt; broke records with the highest first-week sales of any debut rock album in Sparrow Record's history. It shouldn't have been a surprise considering how they first grabbed the public's attention: they beat out 74 other mainstream bands to win a commercial radio station's best band contest as four Christian rockers from the Midwest.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Punk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sanctus-real/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="mewithoutYou" description="" category="Christian Rock" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/mewithoutyou/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Demon Hunter" description="" category="Alternative Christian Contemporary" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/demon-hunter/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bethany Dillon" description="The cover of the August 2005 issue of &lt;I&gt;CCM&lt;/I&gt; magazine called Dillon &quot;the future of Christian music.&quot; Before that, she was dubbed &quot;the next Amy Grant&quot; based on her soft folk debut. Her accomplishments began to fulfill these predictions of grandeur when her impossibly inspiring song &quot;Dreamer&quot; became the theme song for the 2005 hit movie of the same title (starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning). Why all the fuss? The songs that started the phenomenon were written and performed by Dillon before she was old enough to drive. This small-town girl from Bellefontaine, Ohio does not write run-of-the-mill pop fare. Instead, she pens songs with unexpected spiritual and musical depth. It doesn't hurt that her melodic, philosophical musings are delivered by a voice as rich as the countryside she was raised in.
- Amy Bartlett" category="Alt Christian Folk" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bethany-dillon/data.opml?rws=%2Fchristian-gospel%2Falternative-christian-contemporary%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
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