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4-5 FIREFLIGHT HM Magazine checks in with the band’s latest realease, ‘NOW’

6 SHIRT4LIFE DAY AT SONSHINE Check out the bands playing SHIRT4LIFE DAY at Sonshine

8-9 A PLEA FOR PURGING 6 Years, 4 vans, and 3 trailers later, we get to know Plea!

12 YOUR SONSHINE STORY Featuring Maria Mickelson

13 THE LOST COLORS Read all about 2011 SMT Winner, The Lost Colors

14-15 THIRD DAY One of Christian Music’s most prolific acts on thier 11th studio release, ‘Revelations’

16 THESE HEARTS North Dakota’s own talking about being on the road and their debut album, ‘Forever Ended Yesterday’

20 ERIC SAMUEL TIMM Meet speaker, Artist, and Author Eric Samuel Timm

24 JAMIE GRACE NRT’s Kevin Davis talks with Jamie on the inspiration behind the hit, ‘ Hold Me’.

22 SOLID ROCK POWER TEAM We sit down for a Q&A with the Power Team

10-11 ARTIST FEATURE RED Read about one of the hottest shows in town, LITERALLY! The band talks about their latest album, ‘UNTIL WE HAVE FACES’

APRIL 2012

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Playing Main StageCoca-Cola Day Friday

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Playing HM StageCoca-Cola Day Friday

The epic quest of finding one’s identi-ty might be one of the most univer-

sal themes found in the pursuit of art. The hopeless wandering replaced by the hope-filled breakthrough has been chronicled time and again in painting, sculpture, prose, poetry, film and, cer-tainly, music.

The men who make up the rock band RED have been through those trials themselves. They’ve taken those ex-periences to heart, mixed them with a plethora of influences – be they ob-servations on art they admire, or com-munications with fans they adore – and now burst forth with a dynamic new set of songs geared toward finding who we truly are, inside and out.

The time is now for Until We Have Faces.“We had the title before anything else,” says RED bassist Randy Arm-strong. “And we didn’t set out to make a concept record. But as I sat and listened back to the final record, it’s amazing how much of the content, pretty much unintentionally, deals directly with the

title of the record. From start to finish, it’s about all the emotions people go through trying to find their identity.”

It takes some doing to meld divergent inspirational resources as author C.S. Lewis with the stylings of Sevendust and Slipknot. But that’s exactly what RED has done with Until We Have Faces – merge those ideas that inspire with experiences that inform, and craft face-meltingly driving tracks as the end result. From the out-of-the gate relent-lessness of “Feed The Machine” and “Faceless” through the roller coaster of emotion of the song cycle of “Let It Burn,” “Buried Beneath” and “Not Alone,” to the hope and comfort (even in the midst of mourning) of “Best Is Yet To Come” and “Hymn For The Missing,” RED compels the listener to walk through the fire of confusion and pain to emerge confident and strong in their identities.

Simultaneously, the members of RED – Randy Armstrong, bass; Anthony Armstrong, guitar; Michael Barnes,

lead vocals and Joe Rickard (named one of 2010’s up and coming drum-mers” by Modern Drummer magazine) on drums– have had to go through a season of rediscovering who they were as a band, with Rickard as the newest member, both a live force and contribu-tor to the songwriting process for Until We Have Faces.

The result of that introspection is a cleaner, more focused RED in the live space, and an injection of new energy in the writing and recording situation, as Rickard made his presence felt with authority. Many of the tracks on Until We Have Faces were based on his drum parts, with the rest of the band and production team (with producer Rob Graves again at the helm) building from them; something quite rare in the rock realm, and certainly a working depar-ture for RED.

“Joe was writing an entire song the way he would hear it as a drummer; struc-ture, pre-chorus, chorus, turnaround, everything,” Anthony says. “And I told

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him, ‘If that’s how you write, that’s how I write. If you give me your drums, I’ll write over it.’”

“There’s a symmetry to everything now,” Randy elaborates. “We’ve kinda settled into this as four guys with a very serious focus. We get on stage, and it just feels different. It’s very clean and more in-tense. When we started out doing this, we were punk kids who just wanted to make noise,” he continues. “Now we’re really concentrated on being a great band.”

So while the ferocity of the musical at-tack has been amped up, so too the emotion and messages conveyed via the songs on Until We Have Faces. The job and passion of bringing those emotions to the surface falls to vocalist Barnes, a quiet and unassuming man offstage but an undeniable force on stage and in the vocal booth.

He knows the goal: connecting those hard-earned fans with the stories be-ing told through RED’s music. “I like

to think about our audience and what they’re going to feel the first time they hear the record,” Michael says. “What are some of the emotions that may im-pact them? I try to get that emotional feeling stirred up inside me.”

In the making of Until We Have Faces, Barnes was charged with quickly find-ing his place within these songs, as ac-celerated recording time frames meshed with playing packed shows didn’t give the band and its oft-screaming vocalist a lot of down time.

Another crucial aspect of RED’s over-all identity is the band’s relationship with its fans. Through feedback and support received with RED’s first two Grammy nominated projects, End of Silence (6/6/06) and Innocence & In-stinct (2/10/09), and the five-plus years of near-constant touring, the members knew they could reach out to the fan base for inspiration and direction for Until We Have Faces.

It’s part of that ongoing and ever-chang-

ing process of trying to find out who you are, as the circumstances and defi-nitions of the world morph around you. And it’s in that continuous examination that new answers can continue to be found, even for a band that’s been asked the origin of its name a million times.

“People ask what the name RED means and where we came up with it; it’s a power color, a very emotional thing,” Barnes says. “And I think our music gets to the core of that. We’re really trying to flesh out and draw out those emotions that may have been stagnant or just stir-ring up in people.”

The thing is, the members of RED really don’t mind the questions. And they’re inviting fans to help them find the an-swers. They know it’s in the reaching, the yearning, the struggling, the want-ing and the needing that new identity is formed, emerging forged and strong, powerful and loud.

Playing Main StageShirt4Life Day Wednesday

I found out about Sonshine a few years ago (back in 2009) but I fell in love the

second I started reading what it was all about. I even gave a speech on the fes-tival that spring, before I ever even at-tended! Now this will be my fourth sum-mer attending Sonshine and I’m just as excited as if it was my first.

There’s an indescribable feeling that washes over you the second you go through those gates. You just know you’re about to begin the best week of the summer. I think that’s my favorite part about Sonshine—the atmosphere. Yes, I love the bands and the music, but that’s only part of it.

I love all the new friends you make while hanging around in the crowd at 2nd Stage. I love taking laps around the Civic Center, getting to know the people who run the booths and hear their sto-

ries. I love the insane amount of energy that pulses from the HM Stage. I love the crazy weather that makes for some of the best stories.

I love the buzz of excitement at the end of the day during the migration back to Tent City. I love when the sun is just starting to go down at Main Stage and the entire crowd surrounding you has their hands raised in worship. Every-thing about Sonshine makes me smile, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Another great thing about Sonshine is the welcoming family environment. My mom and I have attended together every year—sometimes with friends, some-times without—but we’ve been able to build some awesome memories together that I know I’ll never forget. Sonshine Festival is the first family vacation we ever had and it’s definitely proved to be

the best. I hope to share the magic that is Sonshine with my own children some-day!

I like being on the Street Team for Son-shine because I get to take my love for the festival and share it with as many people as possible. I wish that everyone could experience all the amazing things that Sonshine has to offer! Each year has been different, from the bands to the people to the weather, but the memories and happiness Sonshine has given me remain the same.

Not only that, but attending the festival has also helped me to increase my faith and strengthen my relationship with Je-sus. I promise you, once you attend Son-shine, you will never be the same again. And it will all be for the better.

-MARIA MICKELSON

Few bands effectively walk the line between the mainstream pop/rock and indie dance/rock genres. The Lost Colors man-

age to be one of the few. After two years of playing music and growing together, they’ve earned their reputation for catchy melodies, groovy rhythms and fun dance beats.

Music aside, their energetic live performances and quirky stage personalities also help them deliver a positive message to show-goers everywhere with a spunky, in-your-face attitude. “Turn Around” is an assurance that no matter how down you feel, or how tough what you’re going through, that God can get you through it., while “Say OK” encourages listeners to stand up against the negative in their lives and fight to change their lives for the better.

In the past two years the band has had the privilege of shar-ing the stage with nationally known artists ranging from Hey Monday to Hawthorne Heights, from RED to Relient K, and they have no intention of slowing down now. On the contrary, with new front Amanda Blackmon, there are even bigger op-portunities lining up on the horizon, including festivals, tours, and new recordings. This Wichita, KS band has been rocking the Midwest for two years, and they’re just getting started.

Playing Main StageShirt4Life Day Wednesday

facebook.com/thelostcolorstwitter.com/thelostcolors

thelostcolors.com

2011 Winners of the SMT Contest Click here for more info

During the past 15 years, Third Day has built an impressive ca-

reer. The Georgia-based band has won 23 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, three GRAMMY Awards, earned two consecutive American Music Award nods, and multiple ASCAP honors for their songwriting skills. Their catalog of hits has helped define the Chris-tian radio landscape for more than a decade while the band scored 24 No. 1 singles and sold more than six million albums.

Success has also earned them re-spect and admiration from other artists, and Revelation, the band’s 11th studio album, features some intriguing collaborations. Pedal steel guitar phenomenon Robert Randolph adds his distinctive flair to the raucous Southern-fried an-them “Otherside.” Chris Daughtry,

a longtime Third Day fan, adds his unique voice on “Slow Down,” and Flyleaf ’s Lacey Mosely lends her beautiful vocal the poignant ballad “Born Again.”

As they entered a studio in Char-lottesville, Virginia last spring to begin writing songs for the new al-bum, the band was armed with the seasoned vision that comes from years of experience, yet there was a creative restlessness in their spirit that signaled something different was stirring.

“That initial session in Charlottes-ville really did set the tone for this album,” says Anderson. “We’ve done most of our albums in Atlan-ta. We’re all from Atlanta and our families are there and we’re kind of home. Even though we travel and we like to go places, we like to be

home as much as we can. Some-times with that comes this sort of comfort level that I think could be good, but it can also hinder the creativity because you are thinking ‘I can be out of here in an hour and be home.’ By not really being able to look at our watches, it was just a productive time for us to be fo-cused and I really feel like we got the results we needed. This is a new statement of who Third Day is.”

Once out of their comfort zone, the band continued to stretch creatively by heading to Los Angeles to work with producer Howard Benson. “We chose to work with Howard because of his incredible history and current resume,” says Powell of Benson’s track record working with Daughtry, Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Flyleaf. “We loved those records and the vision he had for those al-

facebook.com/ThirdDaytwitter.com/thirddaythirdday.com

THIRD DAY

bums. We really wanted to shake things up. We needed something fresh. We needed to do something different and going with a different producer and then working differ-ent places than we’d ever worked before, did get us out of our com-fort zone. They weren’t easy deci-sions but in hindsight, I’m so glad that we did.”

The band credits Benson with teaching them that less is more. “It almost sounds too cliché to keep it simple,” says guitarist Mark Lee, “but it really does work well with music, with any sort of crea-tive thing. If you’re having to re-ally think hard, then you’re prob-ably thinking too hard. If it’s a great song, it just comes naturally and that’s how music should be. It should be a natural expression of what’s inside and the emotion. I

feel we captured that on this album better than we have in a while.” Anderson admits to being initially a little nervous about working with Benson. “It’s the most I’ve ever been intimidated working with a producer,” he admits candidly. “I feel like we started more insecure than ever and we left more confi-dent than ever.”

Carr compares it to a team sud-denly getting a new coach, a tough-er coach. “A new coach comes in, and he’s not a nice guy, so everyone is intimidated,” he says. “Howard came in and made us work hard. He made us think about our pro-cess and what really matters to us. It was hard, but he brought the best out of us and we’re really happy with the result.”

The songs on the album explore

the complexities of living out one’s faith in today’s world. “Looking over the lyrics, there are different processes in life: there’s faith and prayer and salvation. Within those, you have this place of brokenness. There’s a place of coming before God in prayer and saying ‘I need some help,’ and then there’s the pro-cess of being changed and moving forward with what God has shown you. I think those experiences are reflected throughout this record.”

Adds Lee, “Our goal for the album is for these songs to hold out hope for people. Our desire is that peo-ple do relate to a lot of struggles that are in some of these songs, but at the same time on this album find strength and find hope and en-couragement.”

Playing Main StageShirt4Life Day Wednesday

THESE HEARTS

BY REGGIE EDWARDS

When Fargo, North Dakota-based These Hearts were fi rst formed under the name These Hearts Turn Quickly, they were a pop/punk band. Nowadays, lead vocalist Ryan Saunders is the lone founding member and the band released their debut record, Forever Ended Yesterday, on June 21.

When some of the original members left, the band was looking for a guitarist and drummer, so guitarist Daryl Van Beek and drummer Isaiah Folk joined and the name was shortened to These Hearts.

Next, they took more of a scream/post hardcore direction and started writing songs for their EP. They ended up recording independently in South Dakota and supported the EP for a while.

“We did some demos out in New York about two years later and tried to write a little more structured songs and get some better recordings to shop around to some labels with,” Van Beek said. “That got a little attention, but nothing we were interested in, so we just supported the demo songs and that EP for another year.”

Along the way they had a guitarist quit, which prompted the recruiting of Kyle Colby who was in a local band in Fargo. He was also a friend of These Hearts, who they knew.

Also, their bass player had to leave for personal issues, so they also added Tyler Rice, who they knew from another local band.

“It was just like members from local bands teaming up and making like a local superband,” Van Beek said. “We just started writing a full-length record by ourselves and we ended up (being) produced by Craig Owens and recorded at 37 Studios. That caught the attention of quite a bit of the music industry. We shopped it to labels and got the interest from Victory, which we thought was really cool and promising.”

They recently signed a deal and their record came out on June 21. Not only that, but they are also on tour promoting their debut effort.

Van Beek said signing to Victory is big for them, because Victory has bands along their genre style, such as A Day to Remember and Silverstein, by whom they are influenced by – and to be on the same label that built them up and brought them to the top shows there is a lot of hope for them and makes them excited to see what their record can do.

The tour, Van Beek said, was booked before they signed with Victory,

independently. On this tour they are playing at some of the major festivals, such as Cornerstone and Ichthus. They’re also on their way to LifeFest and Big Ticket festivals on their venture.

Van Beek said it helps to play big festivals, because often times, people travel hours to attend, so not only are they playing for a crowd from that town, but they are also exposing themselves to an entire region at a time.

“We’ve made a lot of friends and fans already on this tour, so it’s just a great place to promote your band and get a lot of exposure.”

Van Beek said a lot of time and work went into recording the record and it is fi lled with nothing but songs they feel were the best of what they recorded.

“We all personally love this record. We spent over a year writing and recording and getting it produced,” Van Beek said. “We went through some songs that we ended up rewriting or else fully taking off the ones we weren’t really happy with. It’s an album packed with songs we think have a ton of potential and we love playing and we can’t wait for our fans to hear it.”

Album: Forever Ended YesterdayLabel: VictoryRelease Date: June 21, 2011Members: Ryan Saunders, vocals; Isaiah Folk, drums; Kyle Colby, guitar/vocals;Daryl Van Beek, guitar; Tyler Rice, bassRIYL: Four Year Strong, A Day To Remember, Hit The Lights

myspace.com/thesehearts

FEATURET TE 51

149_featurettes_online.indd 9 7/15/2011 4:49:12 PM

Playing HM StageCoca-Cola Day Friday

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on a year’s subscription to HM Magazine.

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Part artist, speaker, and author, Reverend Eric Samuel Timm is all passion. As he speaks and

paints, Eric captivates his audiences with his unique style and unforgettable one-of-a-kind live art performances. He is sought a� er for his ability to creatively and relevantly present truth where words fall short.

� ough he never attended art school, Eric founded No One Underground and PaintingHope. Eric’s gi� to create and catapult vision brings key experiential moments to reality.  When he speaks, people listen - when he paints, people see what they could not hear.

Each year Eric travels through all � � y states and internationally, stirring up the dormant, and leaving audiences inspired. Residing in Minnesota, Eric partners with you, creating with purpose, to expand the Kingdom.

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Speaking Main StageCoca-Cola Day FridayKTIS Day Saturday

If you love to camp but don't have the equip-ment or the will to haul everything you need, the solution awaits you at Sonshine Festival this summer!We realize that while you love the outdoors, you also might not have the equipment or the ability to haul everything. To offer a solution to this dilemma, full size, roomy safari style tents will be set up on-site and available for rent for the duration of the festival. Tents are heavy-duty, with plenty of headroom and can sleep a maximum of six people. sleep a maximum of six people.

Two cots are included for this price. Addi-tional cots are available for $20 each (six cots max per tent). This is a great opportunity for families, youth groups and churches. Rental fees for tents are only $280 for the week of the festival.

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Established in the spring of 2010 by a group of strength athletes, Solid Rock Youth Ministries is dedicated to using their unique tal-ents to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I spoke with founder, Mike Gruppen, to talk about his feats of strength, faith and working with youth.

How long have you been doing feats of strength?I started with another team about four years ago before we founded Solid Rock.

Were you athletic when you were young?I’ve always been into football and played in high school and college. After college I started power lifting. I was doing a lot of youth ministry at the same time and the two just came together for me.

Tell me about this guy on the team with the nickname “Area 51”.Big Jer! He’s 6’6” and 360 lbs. He is one of my best friends.

And you say he’s human?Although he appears to be from another world, he is human! He bench presses over 600 lbs. He played four years of football at Fer-ris State University. He was sup-posed to play in the NFL, but be-cause of some decisions he made he ruined it for himself. Again, just like me, building his house on sand. Now he has re-built his house on the Solid Rock and has found purpose and meaning in his life.

If you weren’t doing this what would you do?A: I would be pastor at a church. I have two Bible studies I teach at my home gym right now and we are talking about planting a church out of it. Even aside from ministry in the strength team, I would still be a minister.

You mentioned performing at Christian music festivals. What do you love about these events?

We are all Christian rock fans on the team, but the best part is see-ing lives changed. There is noth-ing like seeing someone enter into a relationship with Jesus for the first time. That’s what I appreciate about these festivals. It’s a welcom-ing environment that brings in a crowd that might not really go to a normal Sunday morning church, but it gets them out there to hear the message.

Sometimes late at night I come across these infomercials with claims to turn flabby people into muscular athletes in 30 days! Is there really anything to these fit-ness fads?I always tell people that if you put any fitness program to work for you, it will work. You have to really apply yourself. At the end of the day it’s all about diet and exercise and sticking to it. You have to have the drive to follow through.

For more info visit solidrockyouthministries.net

SOLIDSOLID ROCKROCK

POWER TEAMPOWER TEAM

Performing DailyAt Sonshine Festival

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Spend any time at all with Jamie Grace, and it’s obvious that she’s special. Her

infectious smile, bright eyes and her ex-pressive way with words are all telltale signs: this is one unique girl.

“She writes, sings and plays her own mu-sic. And she has this style that can’t be put into a typical label box,” says TobyMac, who signed Jamie Grace after tracking her clever YouTube videos for more than three years. “When some people sing and play, it’s almost effortless, and their joy is all over them. That’s what grabbed my at-tention with Jamie Grace. I’ve not been this excited to work with an artist in a long time.”

Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at age 11, her young life became a series of heartbreak and challenge, a long season of physical exhaustion, emotional stress and spiritual doubt. Then one day, inspired by the powerful testimony of Tammy Trent on the Revolve Tour, Jamie Grace came to a life-changing conclusion.

“I heard Tammy speak and I thought, ‘I’ve cried enough. It’s time to accept my joy,’” she said. “It was just the long process of fi-nally realizing that, even with Tourette’s, I still have something to do with my life. I

love to sing. I have a story, and I’ve got to share it.”

Please tell me about the background message behind the song “Hold Me.”I was watching a movie with my sister and her boyfriend a year ago. He’s now her husband. They never made me feel left out, but I didn’t want to join them to watch a movie to watch how happy they were to-gether and that they were in love with each other. So the song came from my yearning that I want to be held and I want to feel important to someone. I ended up try-ing to write a love song, and I didn’t know where to go with it because I’ve never been in love. I got a little bit of the song written, and I knew I wanted to sing “I love the way You hold me.”

My confidence and my understanding grew as I started to really understand the greatest love I’ve ever known. It has noth-ing to do with needing the coolest car or a boyfriend or awesome clothes. Love is all about trusting in God to hold you no mat-ter what you are going through. I’ve had a lot of experiences in my life of needing to trust in God to hold me. He’s the only one who is going to be there. That’s what the song is about, knowing that God is there to hold you and the joy that comes with

that knowledge and understanding.

Do you have a life verse, or are there any Bible verses you used in writing the song? My life passage is Psalm 35: But those who want the best for me, let them have the last word—a glad shout!—and say, over and over and over, “God is great—everything works together for good for his servant.” I’ll tell the world how great and good you are, I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day.

What’s the takeaway message for listeners? “Hold Me” communicates the truth that God will always love and never leave His children. These songs are my heart songs, straight off the pages of my diary. They are very simple, very chill, but very fun. It’s what I think about, and what gets me through. When pain is there, when I’m confused and discombobulated, God’s joy is there for me. God’s joy makes me smile and I can feel Him smiling on me. Every song you listen to, every movie and televi-sion show you watch, they all plant seeds. Whether it’s my songs or big powerful worship ballads, I think it’s important to listen to songs that are uplifting and are meaningful. I completely pour my heart into my songs and I want people to share in the joy that I have in Christ.

Playing Main StageKTIS Day Saturday

Did you know Jamie’s hit song, ‘Hold Me’ was originally going to be a romantic love song? NRT’s Kevin Davis discovers this and more.

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