MAY 2012

MINNESOTA’S LARGEST

FAMILY FRIENDLY FESTIVAL!

SONSHINE FESTIVAL WELCOMES

THURSDAY LINEUPFEATURING

SONSHINE STORIESA CHANCE TO MEET RELIENT K!

ENTER TO WIN

YOUR

8 YOUR SONSHINE STORY We hear what Sonshine Festival means to YOU!

10 MANAFEST Sonshine gets an exlusive interview with Chris Greenwood, a.k.a Manafest to talk about everything from pro skateboarding to his upcoming book

14 SONSHINE EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE Be the first to see Manafest’s NEW video for the song, ‘Figther’

16 SONSHINE TICKETS Choose the ticketing option right for you!

18 CHARTER DAY SCHEDULE Check out all your favorite artists playing on Charter Day Thusday at Sonshine Festival

20 THE GREAT COMMISSION HM Magazine gives us a behind-the-scences look at the band behind the album ‘Heavy Worship’

26 ACTIVITIES AT SONSHINE Whatever you’re into, Sonshine Festival has it!

28 WORSHIP @ SONSHINE

4 ARTIST FEATURE Relient K Get to know the 2 time Dove award winning, and Grammy nominated rock band from Canton, Ohio

LIVE AT SONSHINE 2012

Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Brian Pittman, and Matt Hoopes during the band’s jun-ior year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after guitarist Hoopes’ automobile, a Plymouth Reliant K car, with the spelling intentionally altered to avoid trademark infringement over the Reliant name.

The group is associated with the Contemporary Christian Music culture, most notably the Chris-tian rock and Christian punk scene. Despite be-ing a Christian band the group has performed alongside secular artists. The band has reached

critical success with mainstream pop punk and alternative rock. The band’s sound incorporates piano and acoustic elements. Since its formation, Relient K has released six studio albums, seven EPs, two Christmas albums, and one collection of rarities. The band has received numerous awards including a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Rock Gospel Album and two Dove Awards.

Relient K is best known commercially for their two studio albums which peaked in the top 15 of the US Billboard 200 chart. After signing with Capitol Records, they broke into the mainstream

LIVE AT SONSHINE 2012

in 2004 with the release of Mmhmm, which de-buted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200. In 2007, their fifth album brought the most success for Relient K, Five Score and Seven Years Ago de-buted at No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 and sold 60,000 records in its debut week. The band has sold over 2 million records, with three albums being given gold certification by the RIAA. The band is also highly successful throughout the Christian Albums and Contemporary Christian Music charts. Their newest album Is for Karaoke was released on October 4, 2011.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:Name: Relient K

Genre: Christian rock, alternative rock, pop punk

Hometown: Canton, Ohio,

Members: Matt Thiessen Matt Hoopes John Warne Jon Schneck Ethan Luck

Years Active: 1998–present

Website: www.relientk.com

Albums: Relient K (2000) The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek (2001) Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right...but Three Do (2003) Mmhmm (2004) Five Score and Seven Years Ago (2007) Let It Snow, Baby... Let It Reindeer (2007) Forget and Not Slow Down (2009) Is for Karaoke (2011)

Playing Main StageKTIS Day Saturday

I am a recovering alcoholic. I could not listen to the music I loved as

it became a trigger for me. I began listening to Christian music. one song struck me immediately. I heard the band ask people to say a prayer for those suffering from addiction. The words that followed said to remember that we are are not alone in our pain or perhaps shame and our suffering. And the most powerful words of all “CRY OUT TO JESUS.

I continued to listen to Christian music. It was all so wonderful and I was forever reminded to cry out to Jesus. But my desire would not leave and I began to give up hope of it ever leaving, untill I went to my first Christian concert; Third day, of course. My desire for alcohol was removed and it has not returned.

The sonshine festival is near my home town and I look forward to it every single year. I always leave

with the peace that does pass all understanding. Two years ago a gentleman approached me and said its my birthday. I told him happy birthday and he told me he had one year sober. Later that evening, I spoke with a woman who had told me about her sobriety as well.

My depression became overwhelming this year and I made a very serious suicide attempt. I was air lifted to a hospital where I finally felt hope that I can overcome my illness. It was a therapist who worked with me that gave me the same spark I felt when my desire for alcohol left. She saw my spirituality and God led her to pray with me. sometimes, we do not see at the time, God allows us to get to our lowest point to remind us that we need him.

My doctor said it was a miracle that I survived and God has a very important purpose for me. God

provided me with a doctor that I beleive gave me hope that I may have never felt. I no longer will only survive. I will live again and I will feel that overwhelming feeling that I felt the day my desire for drinking left.

Music is a very big part of healing for me. I have had 2 tickets on layaway for the full four days...last year! my friend surrendered his heart to God at the Sonshinefest. I wanted to make certain that we would again feel the power of God working in our lives. When I read the post that Third Day would be there, it all fit. Also, Cassie has been wonderful in helping me obtain the tickets! I feel blessed that I will be at Sonshine festival again. With God’s help I am alive and able to attend. Maybe I may find Gods purpose for me there. You never know?

-TAMARA MCKESSON SONSHINE FESTIVAL MINNESOTA’S LARGEST FAMILY FRIENDLY FESTIVAL JULY 11-14

2 PASSES TO MEETFOR A CHANCE TO WIN

“RELIENTK” TO 96599TEXT

Standard text messaging and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to stop receiving messages. Reply FESTIVALHELP for more information.

SONSHINE FESTIVAL MINNESOTA’S LARGEST FAMILY FRIENDLY FESTIVAL JULY 11-14

2 PASSES TO MEETFOR A CHANCE TO WIN

“RELIENTK” TO 96599TEXT

Standard text messaging and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to stop receiving messages. Reply FESTIVALHELP for more information.

Over the past 11 years, Chris Greenwood has been better known as

Manafest to his scores of fans around the world. In 2006, Manafest released Glory from which the rock anthem “Impos-sible,” featuring Thousand Foot Krutch’s Trevor McNevan, be-came a global hit. Most recently Manafest released his fifth stu-dio album, Fighter. I spoke with Manafest about his international success, skating and a new book he has been working on.

I know you are from Canada, how long have you lived in the United States?

I grew up in Toronto and didn’t move to America until a year ago. I’ve traveled here exten-sively, but always went home to Canada. I have a lot of friends in California, and the weather is nice obviously. California really made sense.

You just came home from a trip through China and Japan. How did that go?

It was great! Every time we won-der if it will be our last opportu-nity to go, but this was our fourth trip to Japan. We shot a music video there for Fighter and I got to skate a lot. China was totally

new to us. We stopped in Beijing and Shanghai. It’s funny, we are playing in clubs and bars over there. It’s a great opportunity to play our music in these ven-ues and connect with the people there. We have built some great relationships in our time there. It’s really exciting.

How did you get so popular over there? You are almost as big as David Hasselhoff!

Ha! I don’t know about that! There is an A&R guy at EMI that really grabbed onto my mu-sic and thought it would work. What Japan typically does with

Sonshine Exclusive Interview by: Kent Matthews

international music is import a little bit and see how it does, and if it sells they import a little more and if it builds momentum they will put marketing behind it and have a domestic release of the al-bum. That is what happened to me. It’s an honor to keep going back.

What’s the craziest thing you have eaten in all your interna-tional travels?

I stay away from the crazy stuff, but some of the guys in the band get a little daring. My buddy ate what we thought was a hash brown type of thing, but it was

raw, cold fish! It’s one thing to know you are trying something new, because you are prepared mentally, but when it’s a surprise it’s totally different! He basically spit it out on me. It was hilari-ous! I’m really picky, so I’m not going to try any kind of tongue or whatever, I let the other guys try that stuff.

I see you have a couple of new music videos out already for this new album.

Yeah, we tend to shoot quite a few. The one out now is, Never Let You Go. We shot it in France and I got to drive this awesome

1950s Porsche! We shot, Pusho-ver, in Hollywood and Venice Beach with a bunch of skaters. We had a scene in the L.A. river and I’m splashing around in this nasty water. We just shot, Fight-er, in Japan and we will shoot for a song called, Throw It Away, in Toronto. I’ve got a great team around me, I try to keep busy.

Tell me about your new song Pushover, I know a lot of people are jumping on the anti-bully-ing bandwagon, but this is a lot more than that to you, right?

Continued Next Page >>>

Playing Shirt4Life StageCharter Day Thursday

The idea of, Pushover, is having confidence in yourself and I believe confidence doesn’t come from money or physical strength, but it really comes from your relationship with God and knowing who you are in Him. That was a key factor to me when I was growing up. I got picked on and bullied a lot and knowing who you are in God and know that he has a plan and future for you that gives you a real boost of confidence to step out in faith and do awesome things.

I see you skating a lot in your music videos. You wanted to go pro right?

That was the dream! I started when I was 14, and skated non-stop. When I got injured everything changes. About that same time I got dumped by a girlfriend, too. She wasn’t a believer in Christ, so I shouldn’t have been dating her anyway. But I was just in a real dark place and got into music and writing songs. I still skate, but God put a new dream in my heart to pursue music. I’m very thankful for where I am now.

With the recent celebrity suicides, this has been pretty prominent in the news lately, especially in sports. What would you say to someone who is having those kind of thoughts?

I’ve been there and had those thoughts before. Sometimes we are in a dark or depressed state, but it could be stress, lack of sleep or just one really bad thing in your life that is consuming your attention and it feels like everything is lost. My message to you is not to give up. Life is worth living. Problems don’t last forever. We need you here and God loves you and has

good plans for you. I almost quit myself when I felt that way, but I’m glad I didn’t, and you will be too. Just keep

going!

You said something on Twitter that made me thing you might be writing a book. Are you?

I’m keeping pretty quiet, but yes I am writing a book. Part of it will be biographical and I will share some of the things I went through growing up, like my dad’s suicide.

The other part will talk about the music industry, the business side and the artist side. I want to help

aspiring artists with tips on how to navigate their way through it. People need to be warned of some

of the pitfalls and know the pros and cons of certain things. I’ve toured in 10 countries and things can get

pretty crazy. I have a lot of artists ask me how to get into the business and I want to help them do it

right. I hope to have it out by the end of theyear.

Coming up real soon you are making the rounds for a few summer festivals, including

Sonshine Festival!

I’m looking forward to it! I’ve played Sonshine for many years.

Since you are an avid skater will you be hitting the

skate parks at the festivals?

I do mostly street skating, I’m not much of a ramp guy, but in the past I’ve had a chance to skate with

some of the teams that were doing demos and it was a lot of fun. I would do it again!

For more info on Manafest visit

www.manafest.net

PROUDLY PRESENTSTHE EXCLUSIVE WORLD PREMIEREOF MANAFEST’S NEW VIDEO

“FIGHTER”

PROUDLY PRESENTSTHE EXCLUSIVE WORLD PREMIEREOF MANAFEST’S NEW VIDEO

“FIGHTER”

CLICK THE VIDEO PLAYER TO WATCH THE PREMIERE OF ‘FIGHTER’

TICKETING OPTIONS

Full Event PassYOUTH (4 Day) 2012

CLICK HERE

TO BUY!

Choose the Ticketingoption best for you!

Full Event Pass (4 Day) 2012

CLICK HERE

TO BUY!

(7-11)

Full Event PassGROUP CLICK HERE

TO BUY! (4 Day) 2012

4 Day Pit Pass CLICK HERE

TO BUY!

VIP RV Parking (4 Day) 2012

CLICK HERE

TO BUY!

ALL ACCESS CLICK HERE

TO BUY!

(4 Day) 2012

(4 Day) 2012

GET THE MOST OUTOF YOUR SONSHINE

EXPERIENCE!BUY YOUR ALL ACCESS PASS AT

SONSHINEFESTIVAL.COM

1-888-GET-CHARTER

PROUDLY PRESENTS:

COMMUNICATIONS DAY

STAGE

MAIN STAGE

SHIRT4LIFE

charter.com

THURSDAYJULY 12TH

COMMUNICATIONS DAYMAIN STAGE

STAGE

THE HARD MUSIC [DIGITAL] MAGAZINE

Reprinted from

Get 50% off a one-year subscriptionusing this code: “SonshineRocks”http://tinyurl.com/SonshineSpecial

Sent By RavenSWith a new album and an imminent tour with Tooth & Nail labelmates Emery, Sent by Ravens are fired up to bring their music to the masses again. Lead singer and founding member Zach Riner says that Mean What You Say, the follow-up to 2010’s critically acclaimed Our Graceful Words, is his most personal effort as a lyrical artist. And, in the heavy SBR tradition, Andy, JJ, Jon and Dane deliver the crushing instrumental accompaniment to Riner’s vocals.

“Our Graceful Words was a different kind of emotional experience for me. It was a lot of me talking to God kind of thing,” Riner says, as he explains the contrast between his band’s previous record to their new one. “This one’s more of a me being comfortable with who I am in my relationship with God, and being able to portray that on CD. It’s kind of like I had free range to take a look into myself and question the things in my heart. A lot of the CD is introspective. I feel like I was mature enough in my life to say, ‘Hey, I want to talk about relationships and religion and things like that.’”

While sects of so-called Christianity that give the Church a black eye continue to

form all over, the movement to write songs about biblical truth, not man-made delusion, lives on. The title track of Mean What You Say is “walk the talk” personified. “I wrote that song on an acoustic first,” Riner says. “I got really pissed off with the Westboro Baptist Church and people who say ‘God hates fags.’ Let’s take those people, for instance. They preach ‘God hates fags,’ holding a book in your in their hand that tells you to love your neighbor. It’s not just that group. There are other groups that do the same thing, but everybody groups it as the same deal. Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, but you need to have tact in what you say, because your words really affect people. That’s all there is to it. All religion aside. You can hurt people with what you say.”

Riner cites vocalists Brandon Boyd from Incubus and Blindside’s Christian Lindskog as two of his major influences. He is blessed with amazing abilities as a singer and easily transitions from clean to scream anywhere in a song, like on the incendiary single, “We’re All Liars.” Mean What You Say’s closer is a beautiful duet of praise, entitled “Best

in Me,” where Riner pours it all out with his wife, Rachel.

What sets Sent by Ravens apart from legions of metalcore, alternative and progressive bands, is the band’s realness and vulnerability, laid out in the open. “It’s a cool thing to be able to express myself and not so much worry about preaching to people and just be able to touch those hard issues that some people may not,” admits Riner. “When you’re a Christian band, you’re under this microscope of fans. I think I can just tell my story, I guess. I feel like I’m getting into a weird space if I’m preaching or ministering – or however people do that thing – to people they don’t know or even people they do know. I think that’s one of the coolest things about being a musician, is that you get a chance to entertain people and put your music out and hopefully they like it. But if a band really enjoys writing and they’re presenting something because they feel they like it or they feel passionate about what they’re saying, then I feel like that makes all the difference. It’s different from other art forms. That’s what keeps me going. “

Album: Mean What You SayLabel: Tooth & NailRelease Date: February 28, 2012Members: Zach Riner, vocals; Andy O’Neal, guitar;James “JJ” Leonard, guitar; Jon Arena, bass; Dane Anderson, drumsRIYL: Emery, The Classic Crime, Blindside, 30 Seconds to Mars

facebook.com/sentbyravens

BY Charlie SteffenS

tHe aFteRS

tHe GReat CommiSSion

feature and phOtO BY reGGie edWardS

One night not too long ago, The Great Commission front man Justin Singh traveled to Riverside, CA to see contemporary worship artist Phil Wickham. During the show, Singh says Wickham just went with the Holy Spirit. Wickham started playing a little interlude and made up lyrics on the spot.

“There was about 6-700 people singing to Jesus with all they have, spontaneously, at the top of their lungs and I thought that was the heaviest thing I’d seen in my life,” Singh says. “I was like ‘Man, this is amazing to see this happening at a contemporary worship show. I wanna see this happen in the underground, in hardcore shows.’ I thought that was a heavy thing, one of the heaviest things I’ve ever witnessed.”

Singh brought this experience back to his band mates in The Great Commission and they tried to partner what was going on there with heavy music, put them together, thus giving birth to their latest album, Heavy Worship, which was released in July.

Heavy Worship was kind of the icing on the cake for an impressive year for The Great Commission, one that has seen a lot of the time and work they have put in paying off. “The year has been incredible,” Singh says, “this is the year our new album came out. We waited two years before signing to a new label, before putting out any new material. So that’s always a scary thing when your band hasn’t really ... I mean, we consistently toured Every Knee Shall

Bow, but we hadn’t put out any new songs and waiting on God, to be honest, to open up a new opportunity, to open up a new door.

“We had some offers from other labels here and there, but I guess we were just waiting on God to be like ‘This is the one I want you on, this is destiny.’

“When that offer came, everything just came together perfectly. We had our album at Cornerstone, told the label to start selling them there, got to meet a lot of people who still support the band over the two year period and the album came out a couple days after that, I believe. It’s doing incredible, doing a couple hundred a week, we couldn’t be more happy. And what’s cool is that people are finding worship out of it and that means the world to us.

Heavy Worship shows the band experimenting with different sounds from their debut record, Every Knee Shall Bow, an album they wrote as a side-project band. One thing that is very evident is that the album is much more melodic than the debut.

“The album is a lot more melodic and has more singing and a lot of different aspects to it, and if you listen to the songs,” Singh says, “not all the songs sound similar to each other. They may be structured similar, but musically they’re different and we just spend that time. I spend that time

in prayer about lyrics. We wrote that album collaboratively in that we wanted to reflect where we were at that time so each song, I feel, has its own emotion.”

The band may be called The Great Commission, but the band’s name is not merely just a name. In fact, during the recording of Heavy Worship, the band got a chance to put their name to work with an unlikely person.

“We recorded with a guy named Andrew Glover, who’s in a secular band called Winds of Plague, and we recorded in his studio in Rancho Cucamonga,” Singh says. “He’s an atheist and it was kinda cool for us to write worship songs in an atheist studio. It was kinda funny, because at one point, he also did the new Sleeping Giant album, so we were saying he’s America’s number one Christian Atheist producer, which we thought was pretty cool.

“We got to share a bunch of our views and beliefs, when I was tracking vocals he’d be asking questions like ‘What does ‘Let the dead bury the dead’ mean’ or what does this mean or that mean? So, it was cool to be able to explain that to him and a lot of our views on religion and Jesus, he was really turned on to those ideas. I feel like just the culmination of who he was and the culmination of his thoughts and ideas and our music and our involvements put together, really created Heavy Worship.”

Album: Heavy WorshipLabel: ANGRRelease Date: July 12, 2011Members: Justin Singh, vocals; Angela Razo, guitar/vocals;Billy Sweet, guitar; Victor Cota, guitar/vocals; Solomon Joy, bass; Alonso Azofeifa, drumsRIYL: Sleeping Giant, xDeathstarx, The Gun Show, A Day to Remember, For Today

myspace.com/thegreatcommission

THE HARD MUSIC [DIGITAL] MAGAZINE

Reprinted from

Get 50% off a one-year subscriptionusing this code: “SonshineRocks”http://tinyurl.com/SonshineSpecial

Playing HM Stage Charter Day Thursday

WANNA GIVE YOUMONTHLY

GIVEAWAY

and

ANDA MEET & GREET WITH

BUNDLE AND SAVE WITH CHARTER!

©2012 Charter Communications, Inc. Residential customers only. Services not available in all areas. Programming may vary. On Demand programming varies by level of service. A Charter HD/DVR receiver is required for HD/DVR service and customer’s TV must be HD capable. HD programming varies by service level. Not all channels available in HD. Standard rates apply for Charter HD/DVR service. Internet access speeds may vary. Charter does not guarantee data will be secure.

comScore, Inc., Throughput Report, Q4-10. Fastest claim based on a comparison to internet download speeds averaged across all of AT&T/BellSouth, Qwest and Verizon’s broadband internet offerings (including both DSL and FiOS) by these providers in areas serviced by Charter. Charter Phone Unlimited local and long distance includes U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Restrictions apply. Call for details.

1-888-GET-CHARTER | charter.com

Enjoy blazing-fastInternet speeds

Includes powerfulsecurity software to

help protect you fromviruses and spam

Ask about WirelessHome Networking

Watch over 8000 movies and shows

On Demand, many FREE

More channels and choices for the entire family

Ask about HD andDVR service

Unlimited local and long distance calling

Voicemail and 10 callingfeatures included

Join the over 1.5 millioncustomers who have

switched

FOR YOUNG AFRICAN STUDENTS

(Currently 1700 attending & growing)

EDUCATION

I N T E R N A T I O N A LC MEALIVE

JOIN US IN REACHING THE WORLD THROUGH

MUSIC AND MINISTRY!

• The International festival events are free to the public

• Scholarships for poor students in K-12

• Scholarships for the University Students

• Basic items for Schools

(Library & School books, curriculum & school supplies)

• Expansion of Health Clinics

• New construction of School & Church buildings

• Christian Education and evangelism

HOW YOUR GIVING HELPS!

(pocket change) For As Little As $1.00 Per Day.

You can stand with us and see thousands

touched with the Gospel.

BECOME A

COMEALIVE PARTNER!

VISIT COMEALIVE.COM!

COME ALIVE INTERNATIONAL / CREATION FESTIVALS, LLCPO Box 86, Medford, NJ 08055

EVANGELISMTHROUGH MUSIC FESTIVALS INTERNATIONALLY

GHANA FEST

GHANA, WEST AFRICA

FRIENDSHIP FEST

MORROCCO, NORTH AFRICA

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.

STAY FOR THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL WITH

W W W . C O N T E N T M E N T C A M P I N G . C O M

CAMP WITHOUTROUGHING IT“

”

LIMITED QUANTITIES AVAILABLE, RESERVE NOW!

impact communities.impact families.impact lives.all in the name of Jesus.

This summer, make a greater impact!Learn about impact49.org at

Can’t wait? Visit impact49.org

Sonshine2012

Where to Stay

Where to Dine

What to Do

Hotels & Motels - CampgroundsResorts - Bed & Breakfasts

Attractions - LakesTrails - Shopping - Events

Coffee Shops - Fast FoodInternational Cuisine - Pizza Parlors Restaurants & Lounges

WILLMAR LAKES AREA

HOME TO SONSHINE MUSIC FESTIVAL

800.845.8747www.willmarlakesarea.com

What could be better than the best in the Christian music world - in one place - for three days? 20,000 people you will worship with each day or a personal

encounter with the One we worship.

They will celebrate and singabout your matchless mercyand your power to save.Psalms 145:7(CEV)

Sonshine Festival - Minnesota’s Largest Family Christian Music Festival - July 11-14 - Willmar, MN