Newsong's Winter JAM 2002 deemed a huge success

Reunion Records artist Newsong recently completed its most successful JAM tour to date. Winter JAM 2002 featuring the Newsboys, Michelle Tumes, Brother's Keeper, Paige, Freddie Colloca, Phat Chance, and speaker Josh McDowell (on select dates), along with Newsong, averaged nearly 5,000 people per night in 18 venues across the South and Midwest during January and February 2002.

"We have always been able to see God's hand at work in the JAM tours," says Eddie Carswell, one of Newsong's founding members, "but this year in particular we sensed a real move of His spirit. I think the events of September 11 heightened the country's spiritual awareness and because the way JAM is structured (no tickets required and low admission), people who might not have been out in a while because of September 11, felt it was time to celebrate life and have a good time. We had more decisions for Christ and bigger crowds than on any previous tour-everything it could be judged by was positive!"

"We were cautiously optimistic that Winter JAM 2002 could be the right tour at the right time," comments Troy VanLiere, Newsong's manager with VanliereWilcox Management. "Due in large part to September 11, the touring market has been soft with low ticket sales and many tours canceling or rescheduling. We believed having seven artists for a low admission with a real focus on evangelism would draw people in. The JAM tour has become a real success story as one of the industry's highest attended tours and all credit goes to God."

In addition to the high attendance figures, an average of 165 people made a salvation or other decision during the evenings' altar calls, while the JAM tour saw on average 134 people per night making a commitment to World Vision, either by sponsoring a child or by participating in World Vision's "30-Hour Famine."

Winter JAM 2002 visited cities such as Cleveland, OH, Greenville, SC, Mobile, AL, Jacksonville, FL, Norman, OK, Ft. Wayne, IN, Columbia, SC, Lynchburg, VA, Peoria, IL, and St. Charles, MO, among others.

Newsong's JAM events have galvanized the Christian music industry, as a diverse lineup of artists such as the Newsboys, Rebecca St. James, Audio Adrenaline, Margaret Becker, Anointed, Clay Crosse, and Big Tent Revival have realized the benefits of a multi-artist bill. The events consistently draw large crowds, some as big as 15,000, to major venues like 1999's record-setting concert in Greenville, SC's Bi-Lo Center. Last year's Winter and Summer JAMS drew a collective total of 116,000 people, catching the attention of corporate sponsors like Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.