Brooke Fraser Appears In Most Added Section For Christian CHR and AC Formats

Brooke Fraser's single "Shadowfeet" is listed in the "Most Added" section for this week's Christian AC and Christian CHR charts. Only songs registering six or more plays at the most stations for the first time make this list. Typically, there are between five and ten singles per week which make this list for each format, so this is big news for Brooke's label (Wood and Bone).

GospelDepot.com Grants Prominent Placement To Holy Mountain Music & Barbara Haynes

GospelDepot.com has granted prominent placement on their site for the new albums from Holy Mountain Music (Songs From Sunday Morning Vol. 1) and Barbara Haynes (How Can I Thank You). "Songs From Sunday Morning" is featured in the New Release section for the week of 6/24/08, and "How Can I Thank You" is listed in the Featured Releases section.

Holy Mountain Music's "Songs From Sunday Morning" has been called a "breath of fresh air for Christian music," not only for the clever arrangement by arranger/producer Bobby Bush, but for the joy and vitality of the music on this largely instrumental album filled with contemporary versions of well-loved hymns and spiritual songs. The recording features performance and solo work by a stellar group of world-class musicians including Gramm Award-winning trumpeter Fletch Wiley, saxophonist Jaared, Dove Award-winning vocalist Marty McCall (of the vocal trio First Call) and vocalist/songwriter Carmen Calhoun. Songs From Sunday Morning is a powerful musical journey, recalling and reviving timeless songs of the Christian faith and the heart of God for His people.

Hailing from the great state of Louisiana (but now residing in Southern California), Barbara Haynes is a well-seasoned artist. Her sophomore project entitled "How Can I Thank You" is contemporary gospel with a sense of knowledge and experience from the soul. Her music truly amplifies victory, praise and thanksgiving, and is purposed to make a life-changing difference to those who might be bound, depressed or just in need of an uplifting of the spirit.

New Releases - Week of May 27, 2008

This week's New Releases:

CD:

Brooke Fraser - Albertine
UPC: 6-34457-40012-2
SRP: $12.99

24 year old BROOKE FRASER is a pop phenomenon in New Zealand and Australia where sales for her new album Albertine and debut What To Do With Daylight have together sold over 225,000 units. Brooke recorded Albertine in Hollywood with renowned producer Marshall Altman (Train, Marc Broussard & Matt Nathanson).

Brooke is a member of the Hillsong United Church for which she was written two wildly popular and best-selling hymns. Her performance of one of those hymns, "Hosanna", has had over 1,400,000 views on YouTube. Overall, she has over 3 million plays on her YouTube channel as well as over 730,000 plays and 30,000 friend on her MySpace page.

National touring commences in May, 2008.

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Trishell Ruiz - Praise On Purpose
UPC: 8-04879-07032-0
SRP: $14.99

Trishelle's heart for worship began at an early age. Trishelle began singing as a toddler where she was brought up singing Southern Gospel. Her current sound is definitely a departure from the more traditional sound of that genre.

Trishell is a former member of the female vocal trio "UpSyde". They had recorded three projects together. As a member of UpSyde, Trishelle had the opportunity to tour the U.S. and Europe. A talented writer and producer, Trishelle wrote, arranged and produced for all three projects.

Gleaning from some of her greatest influences or worship leaders such as Pastor Clint Brown and Fred Hammond, Trishelle began recording what is now her debut solo release "Praise On Purpose" in early 2007. Upon first listen, you'll note that Trishelle has a way of engaging the hearts of individuals to enter into God's presence with complete abandonment of self. Praise On Purpose is written from the heart of a worshipper to the hearts of God's worshippers.

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Krystal Diaz - Passion
UPC: 8-04879-07012-2
SRP: $11.99

Krystal Diaz has a confidence and strength that defines and sets her apart from her peers. The smooth, sultry sound of this American-born Puerto Rican & Guatemalan teen will simply leave you speechless. She has a powerful and natural vocal style that captivates the listener and melts hearts. Being fluent in both Spanish and English sets the stage for an extensive listening audience.

With the release of her debut CD project entitled "Passion", Krystal is stepping out as an influence to her generation.

ChristianBook.com

CLG product is now available through one of the largest online Christian retailers in the country:

Christianbook.com, the online store for Christian Book Distributors, features a huge selection of Bibles and reference, fiction, Christian living, academic and homeschooling books. Also at Christianbook.com you will find gifts, software, Christian music, videos, church supplies, biographies and much more.

GospelMusicOutlet.com

CLG has partnered with Gospel Music Outlet, an up-and-coming online retailer of Christian music of all genres. GospelMusicOutlet.com is an online source for physical CD's and digital Mp3's worldwide to listeners looking for new spiritual music to purchase.

CLG Acquires Distribution Rights For Brooke Fraser Solo Project (Of Hillsong United Fame)

CLG Distribution has inked a deal with Wood & Bone Records for exclusive distribution of Brooke Fraser's Albertine CD to the Christian market. Albertine is set to hit the streets nationwide on May 27th.

24 year old BROOKE FRASER is a pop phenomenon in New Zealand and Australia, where sales of her new album Albertine and debut What To Do With Daylight have together sold over 225,000 units. Selling over a hundred thousand copies of an album in New Zealand is not an easy task and doing so cemented Brooke Fraser’s place as a superstar of sorts. Brooke recorded Albertine in Hollywood with renowned producer Marshall Altman (Train, Marc Broussard & Matt Nathanson) and is now ready to take on the rest of the world.

Brooke is a member of the Hillsong United Church for which she has written two wildly popular and best selling hymns. Her performance of one of those hymns, “Hosanna,” has had over 1,800,000 views on YouTube. To date, she has over 3 million plays on her YouTube channel, as well as over 800,000 plays and 34,000 friends on her MySpace page.

Albertine encapsulates the sound of Brooke having toured the world with her songs. It’s the sound of her blossoming love affair with Africa (the album is named for an orphan in Rwanda with whom Brooke has a special bond); the sound of passion for justice, authenticity and faith. "One of things of which I'm most proud is that it would not be too much of a stretch to call this album 'live'. I'm thrilled at the way Marshall steered the process, letting the music be what it was meant to be whilst pushing us all as players and reining us in where needed.”

On June 2nd, Brooke will embark on her North American tour in support of the album.

GospelDepot.com & Napster Grant Prominent Placement To The Damascus Experience

Napster & GospelDepot.com have both granted prominent placement on their sites for the new album from The Damascus Experience. The title will be featured in the New Release section for the week of 5/6/08.

Riding on the success of "Sword of the Spirit" which saw The Damascus Experience (TDX) being played on over 300 plus radio stations in the US, Australia, Europe and Israel, The Damascus Experience releases its 3rd album entitled "Born For The Battle" on Prince of Peace Records. Bringing their unique ability to completely fuse all styles of music into one sound, TDX embodies the art of worship through song in a way that transcends many racial and cultural boundaries.

The Damascus Experience is full of revelation for a world in crisis. As the leader of a "musical church of Acts", Rich Spremich, like Paul, witnessed a rebirth through crisis and uses TDX as a platform to share the good news of Jesus Christ to a world in need...a world that doesn't necessarily begin where the church door ends.

Sara Renner Wins Club 3 Degrees 19th Annual Music Tournament

Gospel Recording Artist Sara Renner took the First Place title in the nationally recognized 19th Annual Music Tournament. Hosted by Club 3 Degrees, a premier Christian club located in downtown Minneapolis (MN), the tournament draws bands from across the Midwest vying for the title. Past winners include some well-known names: PFR, Casting Pearls, Ace Troubleshooter, Philmore, Mainstay, Children 18:3, Clear, Charity and Big Fat Jam. Over 80 bands/artists entered this year's competition, and 14 finalists competed this past weekend in a two-night event judged by an all-star panel from the Christian Music Industry.

This year's finals judges included: Jim Worthen (V.P. - Tooth & Nail, BEC, Solid State), Ronn Tabb (V.P. of Marketing - Word Records) Darren Tyler (Manager - Platform Management), Guy Mahmarian (President & Band Manager - Vision Van Gogh), Shane Boyd (President - Pure Tracking Radio Promotion), Mark Claassen (Agent - William Morris Agency), Tony Shore (Music Journalist; Marketing & Account Manager - Litho Express), Paris Bennett (American Idol Season 5 Finalist), Jamie Statema (Producer & President - GFK Records), and Tom Jackson (World-renowned Performance Coach).

As the Overall Tournament Winner, Sara took home a prize package valued at $13,875 which includes 40 hours of recording time and preproduction work from Fuzzy Slippers Studios in St. Paul (MN), $1,500 in Graphic Design, Duplication and Packaging services from Vision Van Gogh, an eight week Radio Promotional Package from Pure Tracking, a Custom Snare Drum from Risen Drums and many other great prizes.

Congratulations to the 2008 Dove Award Winning Producer of the Year Ian Eskelin

Congratulations to Ian Eskelin, former front man for the popular '90's Christian Rock Group "All Star United" (and producer of our very own Kathleen Carnali's "Dangerous Prayer" CD - released to the public on 3/11/08). Ian won a Dove Award for "Producer of the Year" last night at the 39th GMA Dove Awards held in Nashville, TN for his continued excellence in producing top-notch Christian music!

2008 MidWest Music Festival - May 3, 2008

The MidWest Music Festival was founded in 2006 by Jason Mitchell (aka Gospel Rap Artist "S.O.C.O.M."). Originally dubbed the "MidWest Holy Hip Hop Fest" the name was later changed due to the intent to incorporate other genres of music as well as other forms of ministry into the mix. The first year's roster included at least 9 Hip-Hop Groups/Artists from across the country. The event was very successful and opened up many doors for Gospel & Hip-Hop in Colorado Springs. In the few years since inception, the Festival has already expanded to include Spoken Word, Rhythm & Praise and Dance Teams.

In 2007, the line-up featured Lecrae and Mark J. The first day of the festival took place in Denver and moved to Colorado Springs for day two. The event turned out to be a great success with a combined attendance of over 1,200 during the course of the two day event. Over 120 souls were saved and/or re-dedicated to Christ.

This year's festival, although a one day event taking place on Saturday, May 3rd, will likely prove to be the most successful festival to date. This year will feature Grammy-nominated National Recording Artist "Da T.R.U.T.H." as well as eight other nationally-known artists from across the country including: J Dubb, Supa Mario, Dillon Chase, D-M.A.U.B., C-Micah, Da Clay, JayMay and Lil Prophet.

Over $500 in cash and prizes will be given away during the course of the night, as well as a special door prize for the first 150 in attendance.