Issue #6
03-13-2003
by Michael Janke

Got a burning question? Trying to understand recent events? Need clarification on a rumor? Want to know how and why things happen the way they do? Ask CMCentral!

Welcome back to Ask CMCentral, where we still come in behind The Chart in random samples of visitors scientifically surveyed. I am your host and answer man, Michael Janke, and Greg Webb steals all my thunder. Actually, I have no thunder to begin with, but the expression seemed to fit. We may answer all of your burning questions, but we still don't have our own radio show.

First of all, some business from last issue. One of the questions revolved around Chris Rice and "The Candle Song," which I concluded was the song "Go Light Your World." Well, there is more to this story. My friend J.D. wrote to inform me: " 'The Candle Song' that was mentioned in this weeks Ask CMCentral is indeed 'Go Light Your World.' It's [found] on his first independent release that he sold at camps before his Rocketown signing." Thank you, J.D., and may your post-Making The Band career be a bright and glorious one.

"Clark" Kent Matthews writes in to say that he believes the "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" song mentioned last issue was sung by Christopher Harris, not Chris Rice. Thanks Mr. Kent. I love you on Smallville.

Last issue I was also stumped on Kendall Payne's whereabouts and requested reader assistance on current information. Unfortunately, not one person wrote in with any news and so it appears we are still living in ignorance. If anyone hears any news in the future go ahead and send it in and I will post it A.S.A.P.

Reality television update time. I've become a fan of American Idol. I tried to stay away but my powers of resistance were broken down. So here's my take. I think this week's boot was a good one; all three of the bottom vote-getters were deserving and any one was as good as the others in my view. As of now my personal predictions for the final four would be Kimberly Caldwell, Clay Aiken, Joshua Gracin, and Trenyce (who I don't really like). Caldwell is my personal favorite, though Clay and Joshua are also tempting me to dial in. Kelly Clarkson returns next Tuesday with her brand new song, so that should be exciting. American Idol - it's no Survivor, but it's a nice way to spend Tuesday evenings when Gilmore Girls is in re-runs.

On to the questions.

Q: I thought that Phat Chance's and ZOEgirl's new albums were coming out in April. According to the Upcoming Releases section of CMCentral it says they aren't coming out until August!
    Zientekm23

A: Well, Zientekm23, let me give you a canned answer. Robin updates the Upcoming Releases section on a regular basis (no joke) with the very latest information available. So what you see there now is the most reliable date that we have. It is not at all uncommon for a release date to be pushed back; even multiple times. This answer relates to questions that voyager, Stuart Spencer, and Randy Burke have all sent in about the latest Amy Grant album, Simple Things. It too has been pushed back. And back. And back. This is a common problem that Amy Grant fans have had to historically deal with. The date now listed is the best we have; hopefully it will stick and her new album will see the light of day in 2003. But you never know with her.

Q: Why is it that groups like Acappella, AVB, The Firemen, and myriads of other all-vocal groups suffer in the CCM world today? Now I don't believe all-vocal music is the only right way to sing or anything like that, but we all know it was the origin of music (before instruments came along). Why is pure vocal harmonies w/occasional vocal percussion looked at as a select genre, not capable of being played on radios with other contemporary hits. The sound of the music is very similar, and the quality is top notch, so why the prejudice toward this style?
    Paul

A: Paul, lemme say that I love answering pure opinion questions, like this one. My answer to you is a pretty basic: demand changes. The Christian music market today is completely different from how it was 15-20 years ago when groups of this nature did better. Inspirational music in general is not a big seller anymore; even name artists like Sandi Patty and Ray Boltz don't move a fraction of the units that they used to. There are a few reasons, but most of it relates to radio in some way. Inspirational radio stations are not as powerful as they were in the past. And then the format itself has changed; what you hear on inspirational stations today is more like what you would've heard on adult contemporary stations years back. In short, Christian music listeners have gotten more hip; even the inspirational ones. So acapella music (is that an oxymoron?) doesn't have the outlet that it had in the past, and that probably isn't going to change in the future. It may be similar to your ear but to the average listener I think the difference is more substantial. Any acapella hits will probably be an exception to the norm and a group that wants to perform this style is fighting an uphill battle in today's music scene.

Q: Speaking of missing in action what ever happened to Rustproof Records? Where's Polarboy and Broomtree? The label web site went static for a long time then eventually it was just gone.
    Ken

A: Rustproof no longer exists. I believe it was associated with Pamplin, which shut its doors a little over a year ago, but I'm not positive on that one. Either way, it's out of business. As for the two bands you mentioned, Jesusfreakhideout last year reported that Broomtree broke up and Nathan joined Polarboy, which apparently still exists though I haven't heard anything about them in ages.

Q: Where is John Elefante?
    Joel

A: Joel, last that I heard he was working on a new album, which was supposed to be more rock-oriented (a la the legendary Mastedon). But with Pamplin no longer in existence I don't know what has become of him; he hasn't been signed to a new label as far as I know. Anyone?

Q: Hey, I was wondering what happened to the group Solomon's Wish? I loved their first album, but haven't heard anything from them in a long time.
    Kari

A: Kari, Solomon's Wish was also signed to Pamplin. Are you sensing a theme? Though they no longer have Pamplin to call home, I believe that the group still exists but is unsigned. Perhaps they will pop up on the radar again sometime in the future.

Q: Is Jeremy Thiessen from downhere related to Matt Thiessen from Relient K? I know they're both Canadian, but I don't know how common that name is.
    David Martin

A: They are not related. Too bad - that would've been a cool connection. Jeremy has stated that he has two brothers (Dave and Steve) and a sister (Julia). And a golden retriever named Coda.

Q: Do you guys cover bands like Disciple? I saw where they will be coming out with their new album, Back Again, and would love to see some articles on the harder side of Christian music.
    Rob Jones

A: Rob, I love Disciple. The Disciple album has actually been the featured album of the week from Fresh Releases this week. And we do cover harder music here, but because of the number of album releases and the limited time and space that we have only the more popular groups will get reviewed. This is not a site policy, per se, but simply what I have concluded as I have watched and been apart of the site from its start. If there's something you want to see more of, though, then by all means make your voice heard. Post in our forum, vote in The Chart, and drop and email to Robin.

Q: I noticed Sixpence None the Richer has a new album out. This brought up an old question that I'm wondering if you might have an answer or opinion on. When I hear the song "There She Goes" [off of their previous album] it doesn't make sense to me that a Christian would sing this. Because it's a female singing about a female I have always been slightly uncomfortable with that song. Do you know what the intent of that song was?
    Michelle

A: In an interview with Pop Entertainment, Leigh stated: "We were fans of the La's. And we liked the song 'There She Goes' a lot. We've been playing it live for about a year and a half. The label encouraged us after a while to go ahead and record it. It was just striking a chord with a lot of people in our live performances. So we went in and recorded it, and it came out really well, so we decided it would be our second single." As for the point about her being a female, I think it's a completely innocent thing, and when I listen I just think that Leigh is singing from the perspective of the one who wrote the song or another member in the band, but mainly I realize it's just Leigh singing a song that she loves. Sort of like when I sing along to ZOEgirl. Don't tell anyone about that, though.

That wraps up another column. Please keep the questions coming, to ask@cmcentral.com. If your already-submitted question still has not been answered, don't fret because it may still see the light of day. I'll be back next week with my opinion column, and AskCMC will return the week after. If ZOEgirl wants me for a duet I sing for free.
          Michael Janke

All questions are subject to editing. Not all questions can be answered due to editorial considerations, and personal replies are not possible.