Winter Jam is ongoing legacy of Christian band NewSong

It all began one bleak mid-winter night in 1994. The Christian contemporary band NewSong was looking for a way to get more people to brave the elements to attend their concert. They decided that another act was needed to provide the buzz and bring in the additional audience. Bob Carlisle of "Butter Fly Kiss" fame was the answer, and the rest is history.

Years later, the buzz continues at even greater decibels as what has grown into the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular brings its multi-artist, ticketless concerts to 31 cities, providing thousands with the opportunity to hear the music and the gospel message.

"It turned from just a small thing into a three-month tour where some of the biggest names in Christian music come out and tour with us in some of the largest venues," said NewSong singer/songwriter/guitarist Bruce Goodwin, via phone from his home outside Atlanta.

The lineup changes, but Jeremy Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman and Newsboys have all had a hand in making it the biggest annual Christian tour in the country, topping 311,000 paid attendees last year.

This year's Winter Jam carries on the tradition. TobyMac will perform an eclectic mix of rap, reggae, hip hop, funk that appeals to Christians and non-Christians alike.

"TobyMac is definitely a focused man trying to reach a diverse group of people with his music and his message and that is one of the reasons that we love having him on the tour with us," said Goodwin.

NewSong's Christian contemporary sound has been reaching out to listeners since 1981 with 17 albums and 20 number-one hits. "We purposefully try to reach out to not only to just young people, but their parents, to open their hearts to what we have to say," Goodwin said.

Along with evangelist/speaker Tony Nolan, the diverse show will be driven by the rock sound of BarlowGirl, The Afters' guitar-fueled power pop, the piano-driven pop/rock sound of Francesca Battistelli, pureNRG's high energy power pop, and the powerful voice of Stephanie Smith with her edgy pop rock.

"We add new artists every year - ones that are creating the buzz in the industry, as well as long-time artists," Goodwin said.

The initial glimmer of hope they saw in 1994 might get lost in blinding lights and blaring guitars, but NewSong believes in the positive effect of its music. "One night can make a difference in people's lives," Goodwin said. "...We try to utilize every door that God opens for us to speak to as many people as we can."

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GRAMMY® WINNER TOBYMAC'S VIDEO FOR HIT SINGLE, “LOSE MY SOUL” TO PREMIER ONLINE AT AMAZON.COM AND BE FEATURED ON FRONT PAGE OF AOL MUSIC

** Fresh off his GRAMMY® win and recent GMA Dove Award nominations for “Alive & Transported” as well as Artist of the Year and the RIAA GOLD Certification for “Portable Sounds,” TOBYMAC’S brand new music video for his hit single “Lose My Soul” will make it’s online premiere tomorrow, February 24th, at AMAZON.com. The video will also appear on the front of the AOL Music Page and Video of the Day for AOL popeater on March 15th. AOL Music is currently the No. 1 music site with a monthly audience of more than 23 million.

As does the single, the video also features great performances from guest vocalists Kirk Franklin and Mandisa. The single has made major inroads on R&R’s Christian AC chart, and is currently No. 6 on AC Monitor and No. 12 on AC indicator.

** Future airings of the video include the Gospel Music Channel’s broadcast premier on March 6th (10p ET) as well as at iTunes and other video outlets including Yahoo!, YouTube and more as of March 17th.

**The video was directed by Endeavor Media Group, who has worked on over 40 music videos (Anberlin, Silverstein, Comeback Kid among them) and were recently awarded the Runner Up Music Video Director of the Year by Alternative Press Magazine. Their videos have been aired on virtually every music video outlet including Big 10 rotation on MTV, Elite 8 Rotation on MTV2, Heavy Rotation on Much Music, B Rotation on MTVu. They have also been featured on MTV’s Discover and Download, Fuses Top 10 Countdown, Target In-Store Video Reel, and many more. MTV Headbangers Ball has also nominated 4 of their videos for Video of the Year in 2007.

**TobyMac is currently working on his next studio recording as he headlines the Winter Jam Spectacular 2009 and gears up for a run of of major summer festivals.

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Presentation Toby Mac

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TobyMac talks Christian rap before Birmingham, Alabama concert

TobyMac is stylin'.

The GMA Dove Awards' 2008 artist of the year has a massive collection of Nikes, a passion for funky hats, a penchant for vintage clothing stores - and no problem whatsoever talking about such things.

Call him a fashion plate, and he laughs, betraying nary a hint of "Hey, I'm a guy" embarrassment.

"I'm an absolute sneaker freak," he says. "I'm wearing a purple pair of high-tops on stage these days, and I think it's the bomb."

Kevin Michael McKeehan, 44, nicknamed Toby in his childhood, doesn't worry about traditional stereotypes, in his life or in his art. In fact, he's all about breaking them.

When the music industry frowned on the idea of Christian hip-hop, TobyMac responded with a shrug, and a "you watch me" vibe. In his early years with dc Talk, and the solo career that followed, he has merged rap, rock and religion, earning millions of fans in the process.

"I heard so many things over the years," he says. "`You can't do Christian and rap.' `You can't do rap because you're a white boy.' `You can't do rock 'n' roll and mix that with a message of faith and hope.' As far as I'm concerned, you can't put a positive or negative on a guitar riff. It's all about what you say or do with that. I always go back to the old saying, `Give me bricks and mortar, and I can build a house of worship or a house of ill repute.'"

With hard work and steadfast devotion, TobyMac has proved the naysayers wrong. He's also earned three gold records, eight Doves and several spots on the Billboard charts. As a member of dc Talk, the list of accolades increases even more.

On Saturday, TobyMac will headline Winter Jam, a Christian music festival at Birmingham's BJCC Arena. On Sunday, he's up for a Grammy Award, vying for best rock or rap gospel album with "Alive and Transported."

But you won't find TobyMac posing for the cameras with other celebrities at the Los Angeles Convention Center. He's got a tour stop on Grammy night and has opted to perform with his band, DiverseCity, at the Gwinett Center in Duluth, Ga.

Is TobyMac dissing the Grammys (he already has four of them as a member of dc Talk) or simply displaying his workaholic tendencies?

"I wish, a lot of times, that I was a guy who also stopped to enjoy any achievement or accomplishment," he admits. "I'm the type who looks and moves on to the next mountain I'm climbing. I probably should look down the mountain more often, and see how far we've come."

The next piece of his terrain, after Winter Jam concludes in mid-March, will be a recording studio. TobyMac says he's "about halfway finished" with a new CD and has a fall release date in mind, probably near Thanksgiving.

"There are a couple of songs I'm super happy with, and I have the first song written and recorded, I think," he says. "I'll be moving in the same direction with DiverseCity, trying to write more poetically and write songs that connect with people's lives. I don't want to sound pretentious, but it's like I wait for God to give songs to me."

Divine inspiration doesn't imply, however, that TobyMac regards himself as a preacher or that his concerts morph into church services.

"A song can be about a good time; a song can be about pain; a song can be about victory," he says. "It doesn't have to have an overt message about Jesus. I think it's about a body of work, and resolve in God is my underlying message. I know what I want the center of my life to be. I want to write about my life and be honest about it. In the song `Lose My Soul,' that Kirk (Franklin) and Mandisa are on, I'm telling you my prayer, the things I struggle with, my deepest desires."

TobyMac says he applies the same principles, and the same freedom, to the artists on his indie label, Gotee Records. These include Relient K, Flynn Adam, House of Heroes and Ayiesha Woods. (TobyMac's solo albums are released by ForeFront Records, dc Talk's label and part of the EMI Christian Music Group.)

"I don't tell any of my artists how to write or use their gifts," he says. "I only sign an artist if I know their heart is in the right place."

If a higher power is guiding his steps and decisions, as TobyMac believes, he remains its grateful object. Religious conviction is the most valuable tool in his music arsenal, giving him the will and desire to succeed.

"If I wasn't trying to move people toward hope, love and faith," he says, "I would have given up a long time ago."

Christian Music News Source

TOBYMAC HONORED WITH FIRST SOLO GRAMMY ® WIN FOR “ALIVE & TRANSPORTED”

Los Angeles, CA… Feb. 9, 2008… Last night at the 51st Annual GRAMMY® Awards, The Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album honor went to the Gospel Music Association’s 2007 Artist of the Year, Forefront Recording artist, TobyMac, just following the RIAA GOLD Certification of his 2007 studio project, PORTABLE SOUNDS. This marks his fifth consecutive GRAMMY® nomination and his first win as a solo act for his newest project, ALIVE & TRANSPORTED, his CD+DVD combo that released last summer. TobyMac won four GRAMMY® Awards as a member of dcTalk. The 51st Annual GRAMMY® Awards were broadcast live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"It's an honor to win my first Grammy as a solo artist,” TobyMac commented from the WinterJam tour. “I still can't believe it, truly humbling. My band and I worked hard on this project and it really is the culmination of diverse people collaborating."

The recording industry's most prestigious award, the GRAMMY® , is presented annually by the Recording Academy, NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences). A GRAMMY® is awarded by the Recording Academy's voting membership to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences. It is a peer honor, awarded by and to artists and technical professionals for artistic or technical achievement, not sales or chart positions.

Alive and Transported is TobyMac’s first live concert DVD/CD, which released last May. With over 8 million career scans, "Portable Sounds,” recently certified GOLD by the RIAA, is TobyMac's latest studio and highest solo debut ever on the Billboard Top 200 chart (No. 10), which hit No. 1 on SoundScan’s Contemporary Christian Overall chart in its first week as well. All three of TobyMac’s solo projects have received numerous GMA Dove Award nominations as well as GRAMMY nominations. In addition, "Momentum" (2001) and "Welcome to Diverse City" (2004), both were awarded RIAA Gold Certification. Along with sold out tour dates, back-to-back radio hits, being named the GMA Dove Award’s 2008 Artist of the Year, and R&R’s Christian CHR Artist of the Year in 2007, TobyMac was also nominated for a 2007 American Music Award as Favorite Inspirational Artist. His song “Ignition” was also recently chosen to play during the 2009 Superbowl as The Arizona Cardinals entered the stadium in Tampa, FL.

WWW.TOBYMAC.COM

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TobyMac Wins First Solo Grammy

Rocker/rapper TobyMac finally won his first solo Grammy Award after four previous nominations, taking home the top prize Sunday night for Rock or Rap Gospel Album with Alive and Transported.

TobyMac had previously been nominated for Momentum (2003), Welcome to Diverse City (2005), Portable Sounds (2008) and the song "Made to Love" (2005). He had won four Grammys with his band dcTalk.

"It's an honor to win my first Grammy as a solo artist," TobyMac commented from the WinterJam tour. "I still can't believe it, truly humbling. My band and I worked hard on this project, and it really is the culmination of diverse people collaborating."

Kirk Franklin added two more Grammys to his collection—he now has six for his career—one for Contemporary R&B Gospel Album, The Fight of My Life, and one for Gospel Song, "Help Me Believe," from the same album.

CeCe Winans won for Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album (Thy Kingdom Come), the Gaither Vocal Band for Southern/Country/Bluegrass Gospel Album (Lovin' Life), The Blind Boys of Alabama for Traditional Gospel Album (Down in New Orleans), and Mary Mary for Best Gospel Performance ("Get Up," the hit single from their Grammy nominated album,The Sound).

The night's emotional highlight came when Jennifer Hudson—who won her first Grammy for best R&B album—performed "You Pulled Me Through," clearly thinking of God's sustaining power in the wake of the October killings of her mother, brother and nephew.

"I first would like to thank God who has brought me through," Hudson said when accepting the award. Later, while performing the song, she cried while singing the lyric: "When I was drowning, when I was so confused, you, you pulled me through."

Earlier, the Grammy for best motion picture song went to "Down To Earth" from the Disney/Pixar film Wall-E, recently named 2008's Most Redeeming Film by Christianity Today. Thomas Newman, who co-wrote the song with singer Peter Gabriel, accepted the award. The song is also nominated for an Oscar.

In a pre-Grammy event honoring Neil Diamond as MusiCares Person of the Year, the Jonas Brothers were among the performers covering the legend's songs. The Jonases sang "Forever in Blue Jeans." MusiCares helps musicians who have fallen on hard times.

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Our Interview with tobyMac

TobyMac, the hip-hop/rock fusion artist formerly of dcTalk fame, headlines Winter Jam Thursday. The annual Christian concert also features Hawk Nelson, Brandon Heath, New Song and Francesca Battistelli, among others.

We talked Friday for a story due out in this week’s Applause. While he chatted about the tour, his family and recent Grammy nomination for the 2008 CD/DVD set Alive and Transported, Toby also had a few things to say about the state of the country. Click to hear tobyMac’s thoughts on President-elect Barack Obama and the things he’d pray for if asked, like author and pastor Rick Warren, at next week’s inauguration.

For more on Winter Jam, go to www.jamtour.com. Tickets are $10 at the door, which opens 6 p.m. Thursday for the 7 p.m. show.

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