Meet Me In Motion - a band fairly new to the Christian music scene, but poised to quickly move up in the ranks. Comprised of three stellar guys, and based out of Columbus, Ohio, Me In Motion is off to a great start. And it sure doesn't look like they'll be slowing down anytime soon.

Let's begin with some introductions. Seth Mosley, lead vocalist and guitar player, is the one who started the band. When? Nobody seems to be exactly sure, but the consensus is that it was about two years ago. "I had been working in the studio as a producer for a couple of years, and knew for a fact that I couldn't sit down in one place for a long time. I just love the spontaneity of being on the road for a long time and meeting lots of cool people and playing music that reaches out to people," says Seth. When I asked him what he would like the fans to know, he replied with a very important fact. "If you ever come see us at a show and want to give us any presents, we really like Mamba candy."

Jars of Clay's Stephen MasonI heard Bono proclaim that, “I don’t believe that Rock-n-Roll can really change the world.”  The Music Builds Tour rolled across America this year in hopes that Rock-n-Roll could really change one person, one place at a time. Hoping that if they can draw attention to cause of Habitat for Humanity, then maybe they can raise the level of awareness needed to make a difference in someone’s life.  And that my friends would begin to change the world.

This tour featured 3 Redlight managed bands: Third Day, Switchfoot, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band, along with the independent Jars of Clay and RED (on select dates).

Michael Barnes of Red rocks the main stage at Purple DoorWe first met Red at GMA week in 2006 as part of a New Artist Feature.  Two years later, the quintet from Nashville is still touring on their debut release, End of Silence.  We had the privilege of meeting up with Michael Barnes, lead vocalist, during his few short hours in his hometown during a tour with 3 Doors Down.  It was a spontaneous interview, yet packed with great information.  In the ten minutes we sat down together while Michael ate lunch, we found out a bit about what Red has been up to since we last sat down together, some discussion about “Christian” versus “mainstream”, the direction of their sophomore release, and more.

inReview: Two years ago when we met, you were a fairly new band.  Tell us a summary of what has been happening in the last two years.

Michael: Last year just doing a lot of shows.  We have been touring a lot.  Last year alone we did about 250 shows.  [We were] on the road for about 300 days, really.  We have just been really busy.  We played with some bands like Sevendust, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and just recently with 3 Doors Down.  Just really taking off, doing well.

Sintaxtheterrific probably makes more money than you. The South Carolina-based emcee is an attorney by day and rhyme-spitter by night and, as such, doesn't need hip-hop to survive. But the artform is a passion of his, and one that has produced a good deal of quality music.

In addition to his contributions to spiritual rap uber-collective Deepspace5, Tax has produced two solo projects since 2004: Simple Moves and Curb Appeal, which was released in 2006. We caught up to him at Gospel Music Association (GMA) Week in Nashville earlier this year. Read on...

inReview: When we last spoke to you, "Simple Moves" was about a year old and you were still working as a lawyer. Are you still doing the lawyer thing?

sintax: I am still an attorney.

Acoustic performance in New York CityI first heard the term “after-show” back in the fall of 2006 when I was looking for the members of Switchfoot and found out there was some sort of acoustic show at a coffee shop several blocks away.  I arrived at the after-venue to find Jon Foreman, lead singer, sharing some of his writings with Drew Shirley backing him up on guitar. A year later, when available coffeehouses were scarce, I attended two after-shows where the platform was the sidewalk outside the venue of the Appetite for Construction tour, including New York City.  Just months later, I had the privilege of attending a “real” Jon Foreman acoustic show near Greenwich Village where Bob Dylan began hitting the music scene decades earlier.

Nevertheless rocks ShoutfestWith the myriad of press and artists floating around at GMA week each year, a pre-scheduled interview is often delayed or rescheduled.  Sometimes it does not take place at all.  When I arrived for an interview with Nevertheless, it turned out that another interview had been scheduled with them at the same time.  Yet they graciously took a few minutes out of their lunch to answer a few questions in anticipation of a yet-to-be-titled sophomore release.  It was a short interview, but packed with a punch.  Read on.

Nevertheless
GMA Week April 2008
Nashville, TN

Josh Pearson - lead vocals, guitar
AJ Cheek - lead guitar, background vocals, piano
Brad Jones - guitar, background vocals
Adam Wann - bass
Adam Rowe – drums

Pete Prevost, the newest memberSanctus Real is not a new name to Christian Music.  We caught them on the See Spot Rock tour in 2003 when they burst into the national scene with Say it Loud.  We sat down with them again in 2004 to talk about their second release Fight the Tide that garnered a GMA Dove Award for Modern Rock Album of the Year one year later.  Two albums and band member changes later, we talked to them once more.  This time we met a well-seasoned band with much more experience than our first meeting.  Read on to hear about their latest release, experiences at GMA week, and more.

Sanctus Real
GMA Week April 2008
Nashville, TN

Chris Rohman – guitar
Dan Gartley – bass
Pete Prevost – guitar

After Edmund at GMA weekIn Part 1 of our new artist feature this year, we hung out with Article One just before their sophomore release. In Part 2, we got to know an even newer band fresh off their national debut release.

After Edmund hails from LaGrange, Georgia and the members are all musically trained. In fact, they all met while studying music in college. Playing together regionally since 2001, these five guys just released their debut national record Hello on Slanted Records in February. When we sat down with them, we met five goofy guys who also know how to be serious when necessary. Come join us as we get to know this band a bit better.

Photo by Pixel Peach

GMA week, held each April in Nashville, is a place to meet up with old friends, and meet some new ones. This year we decided to bring out our two-part New Artist Feature again. We met Article One who sat down for a few minutes between time in the studio and playing at an evening showcase.

Article One traversed across Canada for a couple of years. Soon they caught the ear of Inpop Records who released their sophomore album Colors and Sounds on May 27th, after their debut release in 2007. Hailing from Canada, the four guys that make up the band recently experienced a good part of the US by touring with the Newsboys this Spring.

Join with us as we got to know the band a bit better!

Plot the trajectory of Ethan Luck's career on a graph, and the image would be odd. Unconventional, to say the least, and not because it would convey an unusual number of peaks and valleys. If anything, first glance leaves the impression Luck has travelled from one peak to another, to another. From one popular rock band to another popular rock band, to a third.

Perhaps this is deceiving, because nobody finds success without hardship, but it is the idea that a first glance will leave. Include the names of his bands on your graph, add a sound clip or two, and then the weirdness becomes apparent. Success is certainly not foreign to Ethan Luck, and neither is diversity.