With just two albums and four years under their belts since signing with Sparrow Records, the lads of Sanctus Real have already tasted more critical and popular success than most groups do over the course of their entire careers. Their major-label debut, Say It Loud, netted the Toledo foursome two Dove nominations, Best New Artist honors from CCM Magazine and the highest first-week sales figures for any debut rock album in the Sparrow catalog. And rightly so, given its irresistible amalgamation of guitar-driven classic rock and tuneful modern pop. Likewise, the five Top 20 songs from the Modern Rock Album of the Year-winning sophomore outing, Fight the Tide, were most surely a product of that record’s heightened musical and lyrical diversity and the band’s escalating proficiency with studio technology.

Bleach played their final show in Nashville, TN in August 2004. They followed that up with a release of a live DVD/CD of that show. Now, Bleach is coming back (for a few live shows).

In a post on their Myspace page on April 6, Milam, guitar player for the band, sums it up nicely:

"Hello everyone, This is Milam. You may have noticed that we have some shows listed. Pretty crazy from a band that broke up almost 2 years ago. We'll be flying to Germany for 3 shows over there. We will also be playing a very special show in Nashville on May 27th. This will be a benefit for an orphanage in Uganda. Every cent that is made from this show will go straight to the kids. No middle man organizations or funny stuff. This is extremely important to us. Important enough for us to get together again! You will be hearing about this far more in the future."

Before he became an MTV personality and punch line for late-night talk show hosts, Sean "Puffy/Puff Daddy/P.Diddy/Diddy" Combs was the Midas of mainstream hip-hop. Known best for introducing the world outside of New York to iconic emcee Biggie Smalls, Combs dropped a hit album of his own while producing tracks for the likes of Mary J. Blige, Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey among others, and earned a reputation as one of the industry's top hit-makers. Virtually every project caressed by Puff's digits, it seemed, turned instantly to gold.

Wednesday night was a big one for reknowned worship leader Chris Tomlin, who took home five statues from the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards, held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.

Tomlin was named Artist and Male Vocalist of the Year, and saw his No. 1 single "How Great is Our God" honored as both Song of the Year and Worship Song of the Year. He was also among a bevy of popular artists who contributed to the Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was dubbed Special Event Album of the Year at the awards.

In 1991 a blonde-haired Seattle-area misfit named Kurt Cobain changed the landscape of rock music with the opening guitar rift to "Smells Like Teen Spirit," easily the most important rock song of a decade that was only a year old and perhaps among the most essential of all time.

At around the same time, a three-man hip-hop/rock/soul group of aggressively evangelical Christian vocalists had released their sophomore album, Nu Thang. Free at Last, which came one year later, was an extremely popular effort that would eventually be hailed as a classic. But in the wake of the album's success, the crew began to plot a masterpiece that would represent a dramatic shift in their approach to songwriting—away from the poppy mainstream-style rap that made them popular in the first place, and onto the grunge bandwagon that Cobain's band Nirvana had helped build.

The move was transparently a commercial one, but it was also sublime. The anthemic title track from Jesus Freak, the resulting album, became the Christian "Teen Spirit." Enduring gems like "Colored People," "What if I Stumble" and a cover of Charlie Peacock's "In the Light" buttressed what could easily be called the best Christian rock album in history. It was our answer to Nevermind, the Nirvana album that few children of the 90's do not have in their collection, and it changed us along with the industry dc Talk had helped to create.

Last year marked the tenth anniversary of the album, so this feature is a bit late in coming. But what follows here is an ode to Jesus Freak from a generation of writers who count it among the crowning achievements in modern religious songwriting. Some of what you'll read is from staff at this website, some is from friends of ours, and a lengthy piece contains the thoughts of one of the men who made it all happen. All of this, it's safe to say, comes from people who sung along with the lyrics "I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak/There ain't no disguisin' the truth," and meant every word.

April is now upon us, and Mother Nature has already begun to tease us with tantalizing tastes of spring. Here on the Eastern shore the cherry trees are in full bloom. Toes are reappearing in flip-flops after their long winter hibernation. And while the proverbial young man’s fancy may be turning to love, it’s this time of year that our thoughts turn to our own personal passion…summer festivals.

A few of our staff were fortunate enough to spend a few days of last summer basking in the glorious sunshine and even better music of Creation East in Pennsylvania. Although muses don’t traditionally take the form of sweaty, fluorescent-haired adolescents, we found that the experience brought out our poetic side. So whether you’re a festival aficionado who ordered your armband months ago or you’re new to the whole phenomenon, here’s a summary of our trip that’s sure to get you excited for the upcoming summer.

If one were trying purposely to minimize their chances of success in the music business, they could, say, try to convince the members of Iron Maiden to open for Ashley Simpson. On the other hand, they might hire Celine Dion to sing a few cuts on an Anthrax tribute album. Truly daring souls could always ring up the boys in Metallica and ask them to write a tune for Hilary Duff's next Lizzie McGuire movie. As unlikely, and some might say unholy, as the aforementioned alliances seem in theory, such cross-pollination of wildly varying musical genres does indeed take place from time to time.

Jeff Risden
Artist Management - Relient K and House of Heroes

GMA '05 Nashville, TN

InReview: So, what kind of management do you do. Road management?
Jeff: No, we do artist management. We look over their careers to help them navigate the waters that make the music business and hopefully help them develop and build artists and careers.

InReview: Ok, I used to think you just have a band, a road manager, and a promoter.
Jeff: The road manager is part of it. The promoters have nothing to do with the artist. The promoters have their own little deal. They have their own companies and they promote in their areas. The road manager just deals with stuff on the road so I don't have to do it. That is what Scott [Cannon, Relient K's road manager] does. I make sure the guys are OK and that the record label is doing their job and the booking agent is doing their job and the publicist is doing their job. To make sure that everyone around them is paying attention.

I’ve tried to buy an Iron and Wine CD on several occasions. Yet each time, I read something in the lyrics that discourages me, because it’s something I don’t wish to have playing through my mind. Of course, I can always buy individual tracks, but I’m still a child of the ‘90s—still delighted and dazzled by an entire CD in physical form.

For folk artist Jamie Barnes, I’ll make an exception to my silly rule. He cites Iron and Wine as an influence, but he’s strived for his own voice and chosen to write lyrics that edify the soul. His newest project is a five-song EP—a free download from his Myspace page. It’s the first taste I’ve taken of Jamie’s work, and it leaves me salivating for more. I could complain and say this project is too short, but I’ll just have to purchase a few of his full-length projects to satisfy my craving for more music.