Vertical Worship

You would think the title would be obvious, wouldn't you. After all, Worship is about God in Heaven which is "UP", aka Vertical. We on the other hand, are on the level, as in Horizontal. Of all the things I have learned in over 3 decades in Christian Music is that nothing is so obvious that it cannot be missed entirely.

Case in point the Modern Worship (Or Praise and Worship for others) Genre. Most of the songs fit in the stereotypical "Let's Praise Him, We're Gonna Praise Him" lyrics which have the cynic saying "When?" -- Hint: Talking About Praising God is NOT THE SAME as Praising Him. That, combined with the overabundance of Clones of Hillsong or any other successful church, and we have the makings of an extremely bloated genre.

But since God is Good, All the Time, the Cream Rises to The Top. And the latest Cream is Light City Music out of Fort Erie, Ontario. Funny How just as one Canadian Worship Band exits the scene (The City Harmonic) another (Light City Music) takes its place.

This is true VERTICAL WORSHIP. I call it transported to the throne room. The experience when listening to a Worship Album that you join the experience, forgetting about time, and the skip button is never pressed once, but auto-repeat is used frequently. Old Testament Christians will never understand these songs. They are still trying to earn God's Grace (You Can't, plus it's an insult. Would you say to a friend, "Oh, you shouldn't have. Here's the (x amount) you spent on my gift) This should pay you back." So much for that Friendship. When you reject the gifts of Grace (Favor) and Faith, slandering them with the word Hyper, you aren't saved and you can't please God. That's the Bible.

"You always want is what's best for me Your plans are more than I can dream You gave me everything I need And put Yourself inside of me " (from Let Go)


"The veil has been torn so I could know You Here in this moment we are one Take me to heights soaring beside You As the stars proclaim the greatness of Your love." (From Stars)

The entire Bible, if read correctly, is the story of a Father, and his desire for a Family. His Child committed Treason and joined his enemy, and instead of vengeance, out of Great Love, he planned for His ONLY BEGOTTEN Son (we would be created sons) to take on Human Flesh, become the Perfect Sacrifice and Payment For Sin, and Purchase our Redemption, Recreating Our Spirit and Making A New Man. There is NO SIN NATURE in OUR SPIRIT. Only our Body has Sin Memory. We are to Renew our Mind and Buffet Our Flesh and Reckon it as Dead. Sin Dwells in the Flesh, not the Spirit. Our Spirit Cries Abba FATHER. Jesus is the FIRSTBORN among MANY BRETHREN. Amen

There is not much more to be said. I'm Transported again. You and Me Father. In Rivers could be #PlatVnyl9 s Modern Worship Album of The Year, and maybe Album of The Year as well. 5 Emeralds doesn't seem to do it justice, but it is as High as We go Here. Until next time I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Venus and Mars are Alright: The 2017 Platinum Vinyl Award 3rd Qtr - Live Recorded Album

The Multi-Genre Posts are behind us. From now on in it is all single genre posts. In ascending order of quarterly success. We begin with a three way tie. Live Recorded Album, Rap, and Rock all met the minimum threshold of 5 entrants.

Live Recorded Album

• The City Harmonic - Benediction (Live)
• North Central University Worship Live - Always Remain (Live)
• North Point Inside Out - Nothing Ordinary, Part One (Live)
• Sandi Patty - Forever Grateful (Live From The Farewell Tour)
• Jeremi and Amy Richardson - Winds and Waters (Live From Redding, California)

Some people who have been with me for a while may be wondering "A Sandi Patty album?". No, I haven't gone soft. I grew up when Sandi Patty was cool and contemporary, and while my musical tastes have gotten somewhat louder (Demon Hunter for instance), I still recognize vocal talent. Rap is next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Hamilton: The Musical Manifesto

Made You Look. No, this isn't about the Broadway Musical that made Liberals Salivate last winter. This is a Music Blog, and I try to keep it free of political matters if I can. As a lover of history, especially American History, however, I will say, that if the Media was quoting the musical, that is a sure sign of Historical INACCURACY. Enough said.

No, the Hamilton referred to in the title is Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Home of The City Harmonic. These members of The Commonwealth CCM have grown up with The Night Beat and The Platinum Vinyl Awards, and it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye. 

It was January, 2011. The Platinum Vinyl Awards was still in its infancy, being only #PlatVnyl2. (We are awarding #PlatVnyl7 and tallying #PlatVnyl8. It seems like ages ago). New Release Today (New Release Tuesday at the time) had as its album preview something called Introducing The City Harmonic. The second track on the 6 song 25 minute EP was entitled Manifesto, It was all the introduction the band needed. Manifesto made Song of The Year that year, and the EP was our Pick for Modern Worship Album of The Year. They just got edged out for Album of The Year. A little number called Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars came out the same year.

Personally, they let success get to their heads as I Have A Dream (October 2011) and Heart (September 2013) didn't really impress the judges here, though they were very good albums. They righted the ship, however, and came out with We Are (September 2015) which garnered a Perfect 5 Emeralds and entrance into #PlatVnyl6 and walked away with AC/Insp Album of The Year and AC/Insp Song of The Year for We Are One.

And now it is over. Six Years. But what a ride. The appropriately titled Benediction, recorded at Hamilton, is a fourteen song ride of a lifetime. A best of concert that will remind longtime fans of what they loved, and newbies cry for what they missed. Twelve of The Fourteen are from their four albums and not surprisingly the best represented is their "Debut" which had four of their six songs represented, including Manifesto.

The album kicks off with the appropriately titled My God (The Chorus is Oh My God), and doesn't let up from start to finish despite calming down for songs like Holy (Wedding Day) and Honestly (not the Stryper fave, though I think they could pull it off). Picking a favorite song is impossible. This is on auto repeat all this week.

You know a band will be missed when the live album shows that the audience clearly knows all the lyrics and sings along perfectly. I think you know my rating. 5 Emeralds. 



And All of the people of God sang along, AMEN. I am Awaiting Your Reply.

#PlatVnyl6 The Nominations Begin: Adult Contemporary/Inspirational Video of The Year

#PlatVnyl6 is now underway as the Nomination Announcements begin. The Road to the Finals starts here. We start, as always, with the Video of The Year Awards. Our second group of nominees is Adult Contemporary/Inspirational Video of The Year. The Nominees are: Be Like You by +Finding Favour ; The Joy by +theneverclaimVEVO  My Story by +Big Daddy Weave ; We Are One by +thecityharmonic ; and We Will Rise by Natasha Owens.

Here is the Playlist of the nominated videos.

Our next announcement will be for Modern Worship Video of The Year. Until next time I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Shemita Songs: The 2015 Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Qtr - Adult Contemporary

I usually make fun of Adult Contemporary. I like to call it Air Conditioning Music. You know, it keeps you comfortable. Well the air conditioner is blowing pretty well, despite it now being November. Just Joking. These were the releases for the Summer Months, so AC is just fine then.

Adult Contemporary/Inspirational

• The City Harmonic - We Are
• Noah Cleveland - Church With No Walls
• Colton Dixon - Calm EP
• Julie Elias - Unbroken
• Laura Kaczor - Restore Me
• Cheri Keaggy - No Longer My Own
• The Neverclaim - The Joy  
• Natasha Owens - No One But You
• For A Season - I Will Wait
• Amber Nelon Thompson - Just Sing
• Big Daddy Weave - Beautiful Offerings

The City Harmonic roared back on top this quarter with a Perfect Entry. I was beginning to worry about them. The big surprise of the quarter, however, came from Amber Nelon Thompson. With Southern Gospel history I was expecting a test to my gag reflexes. Good thing the youth generation decides to rebel. It leaves hope for the music world. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: #PlatVnyl4 - Adult Contemporary Video of The Year

The time has come. We will begin our Awards Celebration for this years Platinum Vinyl Awards with the Video Awards segment. Then we will progress to the Album and Song Awards, with the general field sprinkled throughout.

Our first Video Award is Adult Contemporary/Inspirational Video of The Year. If we had a pretty music star to announce the awards. She would say that our nominees are: A City On A Hill by +thecityharmonic ;
Love Does by +Brandon Heath ; Promises by +Sanctus Real ; Sing of Your Glory by +Bebo Norman ; and Swallow The Ocean by Newsong. I won't bother putting up all 5 videos this time. If you wish to see them you can go to the announcement post by clicking on the link.

This was a tough category. All the songs are inspirational in nature, all of them easy to listen to. So they fit the category. It all came down to the video portion of the award. The Best Video of the bunch won.

The #PlatVnyl4 Winner of Adult Contemporary/Inspirational Video of The Year belongs to The City Harmonic and City on A Hill

We will continue our Video Awards all this week as a series of MVM Special Editions. The Awards will also be announced via our Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ pages, so keep it locked both here and there so you wont miss anything. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

MVM Special Edition: Adult Contemporary Video Nominees

It's that time again, ladies and gentlemen. The time when we begin our announcement of the NOMINEES for the 4th Platinum Vinyl Awards. This is no joke, despite the day. If we were a big time operation we would have CCM and Fringe and GRAC stars read the nominees on network television in the morning, and everything would be glam and glory. Instead, you have me. We will make the announcements in various ways through this blog, and on the Night Beat Social Media Network which includes, at present Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. You really should follow me on all three.

The easiest nominations for the blog is always the Video Awards, now in its second year. To get a nominee a Video has to be good as a video, not just to have something filmed to music. We begin with the nominees for Adult Contemporary/Inspirational Video of The Year. The votes determining the nominees have been cast and have been certified by the law firm of Youppi, Snoopy and Cow, pc. And the nominees are:

A City On A Hill, +The City Harmonic 
Love Does, +Brandon Heath  
Promises, +Sanctus Real 
Sing of Your Glory, +Bebo Norman 
Swallow The Ocean, Newsong

Our next set of nominees is for Alternative Video of The Year. Stay tuned right here. I would like to make this interactive, so please use the comments to cast your vote on the best one. I am Awaiting Your Reply. 

Music Video Monday: I Was Wrong

Our regular scheduled Music Video Monday is another housecleaning post. Picking up those orphan videos from various genres and assembling them into one entertaining post. We begin with Modern Worship, and the band Bridgecity. This is Forgiven.
Moving on to Alternative. Derek Webb, formerly of Caedmon's Call, now President of Noisetrade. This is the title track to his new album, I was wrong, I'm Sorry, and I Love You. I can think of at least one person I would say that to, but I would say I Apologize instead. To the video.

We conclude housekeeping with The City Harmonic and A City on A Hill. 
Rap and Hip hop begin on Black Friday. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heat Advisory: The 2013 Fourth Quarter - Adult Contemporary

Continuing our announcement of  the pool eligible entries for the Fourth Quarter of 2013. We begin with our single genre posts, and we begin our musical journey with Adult Contemporary, or easy listening, if you prefer. This is the stuff that finds its way into most of the radio stations piped into public establishments. We had one perfect 5 in this grouping, that of Audrey Assad, usually more of a pop mainstay.

Adult Contemporary/Inspirational

• Audrey Assad - Fortunate Fall
• The City Harmonic - Heart
• David Huntsinger - Autumn Daydreams
• Matt Papa - Look & Live
• Aaron Shust - Morning Rises
• Matthew West - Into The Light: Life Stories & Live Songs (Deluxe Edition) [+video] [+digital booklet]

Sometimes I feel guilty with these double dip allowances for deluxe editions and the like. Matthew West had Into the Light released last year. This is the same album with a live DVD packaged with it. 

Sometimes I think that all the good album titles are already taken. Case in point. The Title of The City Harmonics latest release is the same as the second release by Audrey Assad.

Four genre's down already. Things are heating up. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Summerfest: Rock the Lakes Edition

If you could catch some of the top acts in Christian Music today for free, what would it be worth to you? This isn't a trick question. You can volunteer at a festival for the festival promoter or for a lot of the exhibitors and you can usually get your ticket for free, but that's not what I'm talking about either. If you get that opportunity, though, go for it. I attended one Soulfest (I believe it was 2000) where I worked with Sparrow Records. A few hours a day saved me about $100 or so for the festival pass.

Back in the early days of Christian Rock the Music and The Ministry were of equal importance. An altar call at the end of the concert was not uncommon. It's not that common these days. Unless a ministry sponsors the concert.

Rock the River (or Lakes or Pond) is a minifest (2 days does not make a festival, just like 2 movies in 2 days does not make a miniseries) put on by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The lineup is top notch. There is a short sermon by Franklin Graham. (You were expecting Billy?). There are four of them this year.

• Rock The Lakes, Rochester, NY June 16 & 17 - Sahlens Stadium - Newsboys headlines this one, along with Michael W. Smith, Canton Jones, The Almost and Trip Lee.
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• Rock The Lakes, Green Bay, WI August 18 & 19 - Leicht Memorial Park  - Skillet has Saturday all to themselves. Did I mention it's free. Sunday Michael W. Smith, The Afters and The City Harmonic.
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• Rock The Lakes, Buffalo, NY September 22 & 23 - Coca Cola Field - Fireflight makes Saturday worth the wait, and on Sunday, Rend Collective, Smitty, and Reilly (Three words: Dueling Rock Violin)
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• Rock The River, Ottawa, ONT September 29 & 30 - Parc Brittania Park - For the Canadians. Saturday, Three words: THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH. Michael W. Smith and the Afters lead up Sunday.
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At all of these events Lacey Sturm, lead singer for Flyleaf, will be speaking along with Franklin Graham. Unfortunately Flyleaf themselves will not be performing.

The concerts start at 4pm and go to about 9 or 10. I was privileged to watch the Calgary and Edmonton Concerts on the Internet back in 2010, the 2 hour time zone change made for late watching.

If you're in the area I would recommend turning out to see these great artists. You can sit through a sermon. You'd sit through a time-share pitch for a Disney or Vegas Trip, and this would be of more lasting consequence. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Scientists in Japan are Courageous

Welcome to the latest installment of Music Video Monday, where we share the latest video releases from the best CCM artists out there. (Of course from time to time my definition of a CCM artist may differ widely from the industry.)

Since this is a recent development, I have tried to progress to a different genre each week until I am caught up to the most recent releases. It may take a while. Right now we are on the Fall 2011 Releases in the Pop Genre.

We will begin with Folk/Worship/Pop act Shane & Shane who know The One You Need. This marks the debut Music Video by the two Shanes,

I have shared this before, but it bears another listen. This is I Have A Dream [It Feels Like Home] by The City Harmonic.

Pop/Rock/Worship Supergroup Casting Crowns is next with Courageous, which is the title soundtrack for the movie of the same name.

And finally a rarity of sorts. A Music Video from Sara Groves. Sara takes us to 1950's Sci-Fi Programs in the somewhat unsettling to watch Scientists in Japan from Invisible Empires.

That concludes this weeks edition of Music Video Monday. Next week we will go to Rock (and Hard Rock) and that will conclude the Fall 2011 Releases (or at least those video's which were released by time of this post). Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Poison and Wine

Welcome to the latest installment of Music Video Monday. We have come to the end of the first part of this column as we are approaching the end of the videos which are associated with the nominated songs, albums and artists in the 2011 Platinum Vinyl Awards. This week we are doing the Song of The Year Videos, and that will wrap it up. Next week we will move on to some newer videos.

We begin our video tour with the modern worship anthem As for Me and My House by John Waller.

We Continue with Third Day and Children of God

They say nothing in life is free, but Hyland begs to differ. They say This Love Is Free.

We return to a video that was shared earlier in the series, The City Harmonic and Manifesto.

A Rousing Gospel Song follows, Window by Canton Jones.

We move from Gospel to Dance, although this is more of a slow dance song. The next three are audio only. Sorry about that. This is Are You Ready by Beckah Shae


Another Audio only. This one is from the multi-artist masterpiece Music Inspired by The Story. This is Mark Hall and Megan Garrett from Casting Crowns as Abraham and Sarah in Who But You. .

Another orchestra laden ballad from some otherwise very Hard Rockers. This is Red and the Hymn for the Missing, one of the most haunting songs out there this year.


And we finish, as always, with the song teased in the title. This duo has grown on me since I first heard them for the first time last winter. This is The Civil Wars, and Poison and Wine..

I may have let my love for Strings overwhelm my choices, but such is the way of this blog. If you are into great ballads, then I think you will agree that all of these songs are great Song of The Year Candidates.

That completes this edition of Music Video Monday. I will return Next Monday with more great videos. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

PVA 2011 Nominees: Song of The Year

My final post on the 2011 Platinum Vinyl Award Nominees. Once again I wish to remind all of you to check out the full list of nominees by clicking on the link.


For the sake of brevity we will only cover Song of The Year, Modern Worship Song, Gospel Song, and Alternative Song.

Modern Worship Song of The Year

• Adore, Emergency, The Ember Days
• As For Me and My House, As For Me and My House, John Waller
• Great I Am, You Hold It All, New Life Worship
• Higher, Love Riot, Worth Dying For
• How Great Thou Art, Emergency, The Ember Days
• Saving Power, Saving Power, Generation Unleashed
• Yahweh, Yahweh (Live), Hillsong Chapel

Gospel/R&B Song of The Year

• Forgiven, Church on The Moon, Deitrick Haddon
• Heaven Hear My Heart, Angel & Chanelle, Trinitee 5:7
• Jesus, The Awakening of Le'Andria Johnson, Le'Andria Johnson
• Sitting With Me, Something Big, Mary Mary
• Stronger, What if We Were Real, Mandisa
• Window, Dominionaire, Canton Jones
• YRM: (Your Righteous Mind), YRM: Your Righteous Mind, Donald Lawrence & Company feat. Dorinda Clark-Cole

Alternative Song of The Year

• Ambulance, The Valley, Eisley
• Black Cloud, de-plumed, The Choir
• Church Bells, Ghosts Upon The Earth, Gungor
• Dwell, Dwell, Aaron Keyes
• Jumping The Gun, Weights and Measures, Hyland
• Offering, The Sounds of Daniel Bashta, Daniel Bashta
• The War Inside, Vice Verses, Switchfoot
• You're Like A Taxi, Who Can Know It?, Showbread

Song of The Year

• Are You Ready?, Destiny, Beckah Shae
• As For Me and My House, As For Me and My House, John Waller
• Children of God, Move, Third Day
• Hymn For The Missing, Until We Have Faces, Red
• Manifesto, Introducing The City Harmonic, The City Harmonic
• This Love is Free, Weights and Measures, Hyland
• Poison and Wine, Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars
• Who But You, Music Inspired by The Story, Mark Hall & Megan Garrett
• Window, Dominionaire, Canton Jones

Maybe one final note is in order. I picked Song of the Year based on its Epic Anthem sound, or its sheer beauty. These should all be fan favorites to sing.

That does it for my edited announcements of the 2011 Platinum Vinyl Awards Nominees. I encourage all my readers to Check out The Full List of Nominees and to also see the the 2010 Winners. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Doves In The Field

Now Before I get started, I want you to click on the highlighted link and purchase NOW, the latest release by Fireflight. It's a bit softer than For Those Who Wait, but it's written around Dawn's voice, and that's a very good thing. I think I've got some of the Amazon Associates stuff down, since I have to do this manually, but If you click the link, It has my associates ID in it and The Night Beat will thank you. Right now the other options don't wrap around the text and the blog looks ugly with them. This is the most unobtrusive.

Now, on to the other music. With the new releases, preparations for the second Platinum Vinyl Awards and other stuff, my Dove Coverage has taken a bit of a hit. We're finally going to continue with The General Field Awards, those that all genres compete in, such as Group of the Year. The Doves only have five of these awards, and they only have five entrants each, so I'm going to hit them all.

Male Vocalist of the Year

• Chris August
• Chris Tomlin
• Jason Crabb
• Kirk Franklin
• Steven Curtis Chapman

Chris August and SCC didn't even have albums out this time around. (August had the obligatory Deluxe edition and SCC had a best of work. Sorry, that's cheating) Tomlin and Franklin did have new albums, and I was more impressed with Tomlin's. Crabb is SG and I don't pay attention to SG.

Female Vocalist of the Year

• Francesca Battistelli
• Kari Jobe
• Laura Story
• Mandisa
• Natalie Grant

What, no Beckah Shae!? Mandisa is a good choice and Natalie Grant okay if its from MIBTS, but Love Revolution, no. Story's album is a good choice. The only one I really think maybe is a tossup is Battistelli. I see another trend coming on. Same with August for the men.

Group of the Year

• Casting Crowns
• David Crowder Band
• Gaither Vocal Band
• Needtobreathe
• The Isaacs

Headscratchers for GVB and the Isaacs. Of course, since this is the (Southern) Gospel Music Association, they feel they have to honor them. Casting Crowns had a solid album as did Needtobreathe (the album that frustrates spellcheck everywhere). Even though the album was AWESOME, was there any doubt that the GMA would give a farewell honor to DCB. Personally, though I'm trying to stay away from predictions right now, I think they are the shoo-in. I think the City Harmonic should be here as well.

New Artist of the Year

• Beyond the Ashes
• Dara Maclean
• Jamie Grace
• Royal Tailor
• The City Harmonic

Never heard of Beyond The Ashes. Of the others, sorry, its a no brainer for The City Harmonic, though the other three in the list all had strong entries. It's just that The City Harmonic is so good and out of the ordinary on sound.

Artist of the Year

• Casting Crowns
• Jason Crabb
• Laura Story
• Lecrae
• The Isaacs

Personally I would pick someone else in this grouping. At least four of the five. Forced among the choices I would go with Lecrae here.

That finally gets me two thirds of the way through the Dove Nominations. Just song of the Year to Go. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: The City Harmonic

We at The Night Beat are always in favor of artists who break out of the mold. And usually, the moldiest (sorry, bad pun) place around is the Christian Music industry. Once a "sound" is defined, everybody gets squeezed into copying it. Though I am not a personal fan of Sandi Patty's music, you can't ignore the voice she has, and also know how many people without her vocal training always think they too can reach those operatic highs, but no, they can't.

Breaking the mold in the Modern Worship/Rock/Alternative genre (I know, that's a lot of slash) is the new band The City Harmonic. Toward the end of 2010 they came out with an EP "Introducing The City Harmonic" with the radio single Manifesto. It's a far cry from the Hillsong Clones and is loosely worked around The Lord's Prayer. The Music Video has already over a million views. Here's to pushing it to two million.

As a City Harmonic bonus, here's the video to the title cut off their new album I have a Dream [It feels like home].

Like the Gospel genre, there just aren't many MW "Official Music Videos". The City Harmonic barely fits the MW mold, but Alt is just so crowded as well. Introducing The City Harmonic made the final 7 in Modern Worship and I Have a Dream is poised to do well next year. I see great things ahead for this group. Next Monday we move on to Pop. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Siberian Summer: 2012 PVA 1st Qtr - Pop

This was the mega-genre this quarter. Pop usually requires a lot of work to narrow down after the eligibility year closes and this year is proving no exception. This is only the first Quarter and already we have ELEVEN entries. Well seven if you count that four are double dippers from another category, but that is just because their music can't be pigeonholed that simply.

First up Sara Groves. The favorite of a lot of Top 10 Lists this year, Invisible Empires just missed both a perfect 5, settling for 4.75 Emeralds as well as a spot in this years Platinum Vinyl Awards. As for a Top 10 album, there were too many Perfect 5's this year. Check out my list of the Best Albums of 2011.

Pop/Worship/Unique sensation The City Harmonic released their sophomore release this past October. Entitled I Have A Dream [It feels like home], the release is a fine successor to Introducing the City Harmonic. While Things are looking up for the band musically, on a personal matter we would like to convey the best wishes and prayers of all at The Night Beat to Bass Player Eric Fusilier as he combats leukemia. Praying for a speedy healing. I gave the album a respectable 4.5 Emeralds.

Once Upon A Time marks the return of Kerrie Roberts to the CCM Market. The EP contains a few acoustic versions of songs on her debut, but she really rocks out on the opening track, entitled Rescue Me (How The Story Ends). This song could be on my list of Dance Song of the Year for 2012. Oh, and it is also the Theme Song for the ABC series Once Upon a Time. It's about time that CCM artists get recognition for their superior talent. We shall see how the EP goes, as I was only able to give it 4.25 Emeralds. That puts it in the initial pool, but it is very short and that is one of its main drawbacks. We shall see how the story ends.

Rather than have an extremely long post, I shall put the other eight entrants on a quick hits list. Without further ado, the remaining Pop entrants for the first quarter.

• Casting Crowns - Come to the Well 4.5 Emeralds
• Keith Elgin - Keith Elgin 4.5 Emeralds
• JJ Heller - Deeper 4.75 Emeralds
• Leigh Nash - Hymns and Sacred Songs 4.25 Emeralds
• Relient K - K is for Karaoke, Vol 2 4.5 Emeralds
• Run Kid Run - Patterns 4.5 Emeralds
• Shane & Shane - The One You Need 4.25 Emeralds
• Phil Wickham - Response 4.5 Emeralds

Due to my combining of a bunch of non producing genres this quarter I have only two more to go. Stay with me. As always I am Awaiting Your Reply.