The Land of the Fear of Men is a land of affections. It is a land unhindered by geography. It is a land that our heart either seeks out or flees from. It is a land where Faith does not dwell. The Fear of Men is rarely a fear that is frightening; a fear that causes us to run from men. On the contrary, this strange fear seems to motivate us towards men. It is a type of revering fear where the affections of our heart seek their satisfaction in the approval of others. This is a toilsome, unfruitful land.

Yet, there is a kind of revering fear that should be the affection of our heart: “Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

This week, Fireflight’s rock performance at the Winter X Games 13 in Aspen, Co., is featured in an action-packed video, sponsored by Taco Bell, which highlights the thrilling events from the Games 13, Day 3 events. Fireflight’s smash hit song “Unbreakable” is the soundtrack of the piece, used on ESPN.com and during ESPN and ABC Sports TV broadcasts. To watch the video, please visit: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3857611. To learn more about Fireflight, please visit: www.fireflightrock.com, www.myspace.com/fireflight or www.flickerrecords.com.

The Crucified is back. Tooth & Nail Records has agreed to release / promote their new box-set that is set to release in March. Pillars of Humanity has been remixed and it sounds amazing. Check out their new website here.

Source: HMmag.com

Electronic Arts’ ROCK BAND updates weekly with new downloadable content. Tuesday, January 20th will see the following DLC made available for purchase on the Xbox 360 (Thursday on Playstation 3)

“Space Cowboy” by Steve Miller Band
“Take the Money and Run” by Steve Miller Band
“The Joker” by Steve Miller Band
“I Stand Alone” by Godsmack
“Feed the Tree” by Belly
“Wind Me Up” by Ghost Hounds
“Typical” by Mute Math
“War Zone” by Rob Zombie

The Steve Miller Band track pack is a win, but what a huge surprise to see Mute Math come to Rock Band! Of course, Mute Math has made it clear that they are not a “christian band” but a good portion of their fanbase identify as Christian, as do the members themselves.

Mute Math is not the first “christian or sort of type-group believers will be stoked to have in the game” to be featured in Rock Band. Flyleaf is featured in the first Rock Band, and Underoath, Kutless, The Myriad and Paramore have been made available as downloadable content.

Now if only the ten or so good songs on that Guitar Praise safe-for-youth-group-kids Guitar Hero knock-off could be played on Rock Band… I mean, seriously, Bride!

Source: 1up.com

Los Angeles, CA - The Christian Comic Arts Society (CCAS) is excited to announce a call for sketchbook submissions for the 2009 CCAS Sketchbook to be distributed throughout the year.  The Society also received confirmation from WonderCon 2009 and will be making its first appearance at annual event to be held in San Francisco, California from February 27 - March 1, 2009.

Distributed at various conventions and events as well as online, the Christian Comic Arts Society Sketchbook is the prestigious annual showcase featuring outstanding artwork from Christian comics artists. Submissions can be made by members through the free CCAS social network web site at http://christiancomicart.ning.com. All submissions are reviewed by the CCAS selection committee which selects the best artwork based on quality and thematic content for inclusion in the annual sketchbook.

The Christian Comic Arts Society will also make its first appearance at WonderCon 2009 (Comic and Popular Arts Convention) which takes place from February - March 1, 2009 at Moscone Center South in San Francisco, California.  The CCAS exhibition will be featured in the Small Press area of the convention in booth SP29. More information about WonderCon 2009 can be found at http://www.comic-con.org.

The recently launched CCAS Social Network site has quickly grown to 400+ members and features member created art, video, blogs, forum discussions, and more.   Recent updates to the site include a special announcement from Ben Avery about the very popular ArmorQuest series, and new artwork from Sergio Cariello, Doug Klauba, Leon Garcia, and Carlos A. Rosado.  Video content features micro-documentaries from Mark Carpenter of Dust Comics, Robert Luedke’s “Eye Witness: Rise of the Apostle,” and the soon to be released Crown of Life Comics project “David and Goliath” from Peter Gonzalez. The site also features ongoing forum discussions, and the latest industry news from Christian Comics International (CCI) by special arrangement with Nate Butler, also a member of CCAS.

About Christian Comic Arts Society:
The Christian Comic Arts Society (CCAS) exists to network and serve professionals, aspiring professionals and fans who are Christians interested or active in the area of comics and the comic book industry. It sponsors Alpha Omega, the Amateur Press Association (APA) of Christian comics and Christian comic displays at various comic conventions across the country.

CCAS’s goals are accomplished by providing opportunities for the following: 1. The sharing of the Christian message and our Christian faith, primarily within and through the comic book industry and art form. 2. Mentoring, training, friendship and networking. 3. The collaboration on and creation of visual storytelling. The Christian Comic Arts Society can be found at http://www.christiancomicarts.com/

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Family Force 5 • Worth Dying For • Red • Steve Fee • Pillar • Barlow Girl Classic Crime • Stephanie Smith • The Showdown • and many more!! Youth Leader VIP tent and exclusive seminars • Children’s tent • Worship tent • Extreme sports • Candlelighting service • Artist Meet & Greet • and so much more! Experience four jam packed days of music, teaching, camping and fellowship… …a summer’s worth of fun for one low price! CLICK HERE TO SEE COMPLETE ARTIST LINEUP

Copyright © 2009. Creation Festivals, LLC. All rights reserved

Paul Thorn has signed with New Frontier Touring!

New Frontier Touring is proud to announce the signing of soulman-singer-songwriter and roots-rocker Paul Thorn!  The Paul Thorn Band will continue touring in 2009 in support of their latest CD “A Long Way From Tupelo” (his 8^th album since 1997.)   Experiencing a Paul Thorn Band concert has been likened to “going to church with a 6-pack!” Thorn is a superb entertainer fronting a band of hot licks musical veterans.  He weaves his stories throughout; mostly funny ones about himself, people he has known, old girlfriends, and childhood discoveries. And his conversational tones conjure an old buddy sitting in the back of a ’69 Dodge pickup drinking beer on a dark, sultry Mississippi night.  Please contact us at your earliest convenience to schedule your show now!

“Hook after hook, cut after memorable cut, until it becomes undeniable that you are in the hands of a master.”
— The Boston Herald

“The real deal comes along infrequently these days…word of a record this good will spread.”
— San Francisco Chronicle

“…the best kept secret in the music business.”
— Kris Kristofferson

http://www.paulthorn.com

http://www.myspace.com/paulthorn

New Site and 2009 Line Up

“I want to start by thanking you all for being so patient. Our website has be undergoing a massive rewrite and these things always take a little longer than expected. Now the new 2009 site doesn’t look all that different from the temporary site that has been running but there are significant additions. Also, most of the links are back up. You can now access many of the pages that had been hidden.

Now I realize many of you want to know who is going to be performing at Cornerstone this summer. Again, sorry for not being able to share this with you all sooner. You see, as Cornerstone tries to bring you the very best in music each year, and hopefully artists you won’t find at other Christian Festivals, we continue to look for groups that are working primarily in the general market and yet share our Faith in their personal lives. This effort has meant working outside the booking agents that typically handle a lot of the Christian bands and developing new friends and partnerships. Likewise many of these artists don’t book their summers until about now. So we are wrapping up the last of our bookings this month. The complete line-up should be available in a week or so. Now for those that can’t wait, here are a few names for you.

Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, Anberlin, Brian Head Welch (with full band this time), Relient K, Family Force 5, Emery, Red, Hawk Nelson, Living Sacrifice and many more names to come. So please check back soon. We covet your prayers and can’t wait to see you all this summer. It just may be the best Cornerstone ever.”

John Herrin
Cornerstone Festival director

Farewell Flight To Embark on First Coast to Coast Tour

Harrisburg, PA’s Farewell Flight are taking their indie-pop sound to both coasts this winter, embarking on their first tour over the Rockies!  We’re pretty sure that this will start an addiction that will bring their veggie-oil powered van back to the lovely left coast again very soon.

If you’re like all of us at the Biscuit PR office, you’ve pretty much worn out your copy of Farewell Flight’s Sound.Color.Motion at this point.  Well, you should be glad to know that the band is currently spending the few days before hitting the road demoing up new songs for a new album!  Let’s hope we get to hear a new song or two on this current tour.

Tour Dates!

Feb 6 – York, PA
Feb 7 – Annapolis, MD
Feb 10 – Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 11 – West Columbia, SC
Feb 12 – Jacksonville, FL
Feb 13 – Tallahassee, FL
Feb 14 – Mobile, AL
Feb 15 – Lafayette, LA
Feb 16 — Dallas, TX
Feb 18 – Fayetteville, AR
Feb 19 – Muskogee, OK
Feb 20 -  Tulsa, OK
Feb 21 – Tyler, TX
Feb 22 – Amarillo, TX
Feb 23 – Albuquerque, NM
Feb 24 – Phoenix, AZ
Feb 25 – San Diego, CA
Feb 26 – Los Angeles, CA
Feb 27 – Santa Barbara, CA
Feb 28 – Sanger, CA
Mar 1 – San Jose, CA
Mar 3 – Portland, OR
Mar 4 – Seattle, WA
Mar 5 – Boise, ID
Mar 6 – Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 7 – Greeley, CO
Mar 8 – Colorado City, CO
Mar 10 – Lincoln, NE
Mar 12 – Omaha, NE
Mar 13 – Wentzville, MO
Mar 14 – Dewey, IL
Mar 15 — Chicago, IL
Mar 16 — Kalamazoo, MI
Mar 17 – Grand Rapids, MI
Mar 18 – Carmel, IN
Mar 19 – Toledo, OH
Mar 20 – Youngstown, OH
Mar 21 — Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 27 – York, PA

http://www.farewellflight.com

COOL HAND LUKE KICKS OFF TOUR WITH MY EPIC

The guys in Cool Hand Luke jump-started 2009 with a January tour alongside their good friends, My Epic.  This weekend, the tour began in Virginia and North Carolina to rave reviews and great crowds.  Joining Cool Hand Luke onstage is Lee Hardin, a great friend and bass player, so if you are able to check out the tour, make sure you say hello to Lee!

COOL HAND LUKE + MY EPIC TOUR
Jan 16 – Little Rock, AR
Jan 17 – Camdenton, MO
Jan 18 – Owensboro, KY
Jan 19 – Anderson, IN
Jan 20 – Southgate, MI
Jan 21 – Mansfield, OH
Jan 22 – Crofton, MD
Jan 23 – Lynchburg, VA
Jan 24 – Burlington, NC

HILLSONG UNITED TO ENCOUNTER AMERICA

MOBILE, Ala. – December 5, 2008 – Hillsong United, one of the world’s most popular worship bands, will “encounter” the United States in 2009 during their most extensive visit to America to date.

Their American journey starts with the 2009 Hillsong United Encounter event April 17-18 in Miami and will also include a worship tour in May and June and a final Encounter event in Los Angeles in August.

Produced by Integrity Live Events, Hillsong United Encounter will be held April 17-18 – at the Miami Bank United Center on the University of Miami campus in Coral Cables, Fla. The event features two days of speaker presentations, teaching and concerts. The conference will focus on the subjects of worship and justice and equipping young people to bring both to their local communities.

The Miami Encounter conference, which is designed for pastors, youth leaders, worship leaders, musicians and students, and will feature guest speakers including Hillsong United’s Joel Houston and Hillsong Church’s senior pastor Brian Houston among others. Seminars will demonstrate how young people can transform churches and communities. Some of the breakout sessions will teach the art of worship songwriting; building great worship teams and youth ministry programs; and building the next generation of worshippers.

Of course, the Hillsong United band will provide plenty of music throughout the weekend, leading music at the worship events and ending with a concert on Saturday night.

Pre-registration for the Hillsong United Encounter Miami has already begun online at www.integritylive.com. Until December 31, the registration fee is $69 per person which is 50 percent off the full door registration price. Space will be limited for this event and United’s previous Florida visit in 2007 sold out and included registrants from 43 states.

Details about Hillsong United’s additional U.S. appearances May through August will be announced in the coming months.

Australia’s Hillsong United, which was the Gospel Music Association’s International Impact award-recipient in 2007, is one of the most popular young modern worship bands in the world. The various conferences they have hosted around the world have drawn thousands of young people and their church leaders looking to immerse themselves in worship and gain a better understanding of how to bring a lifestyle of worship to everyday life.

Hillsong United’s latest project, the With Hearts as One DVD, captures the sounds and sights of global worship as United traveled the globe from Rwanda to Capetown, Buenos Aires to Mexico City; Los Angeles to Toronto; London to Budapest; Shanghai to Sydney.  The end result is the sound of a generation worshipping God with one voice.

When the DVD released in October, Relevant and Integrity Music promoted a world premiere of With Hearts as One at RELEVANT TV. The premiere of the DVD produced the highest 3 viewership day total in the history of RELEVANT TV.  The DVD is the visual companion to the band’s previous With Hearts as One CD which released in April.

For more information about Hillsong United, visit: http://www.hillsongunited.com/ and www.myspace.com/hillsongunited.

CUSTOM SONG FOR VALENTINES?!

I was at the gym today and my buddy Frank asked me what I’ve been up to. I told him about the custom songs I’ve been writing and when he asked me if I actually wrote and recorded each song specifically for that person his eyes got real big and he said, “wow that would cover me for two years!” Ha!

I started writing custom songs last Valentines day and so I am offering them again and it gets even better. Jeff Frankenstein of the Newsboys will be mixing each song! So you will essentially be getting a custom song from Paul Wright and 1/4 of The Newsboys

To order a song click HERE!

DONDE ESTA EL PABLO?

You can find me here:
iTunes!
MySpace
My Blog
Facebook Music Page
Facebook Personal Page
Online Store (CDs, Shirts)

Happy 09,
Paul Wright

On January 4th, 2009, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle (KCFCC) chose the winners of the 2008 Loutzenhiser Awards. This is the 42nd year of annual voting and the KCFCC is the second oldest voting film critics circle in the United States, comprised of 25 members in print, radio, television and Internet.

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire

Robert Altman Award for Best Director: Darren Aronofsky - The Wrestler

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Actress: Meryl Streep - Doubt

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Original Screenplay: Robert Siegel - The Wrestler

Best Adapted Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Foreign Language Film: Let the Right One In (Sweden)

Best Documentary: Man on Wire

Best Animated Film: WALL*E

Vince Koehler Award for Best Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror Film: The Dark Knight

Submitted by Marie Asner

Secretary, KCFCC

The Phantom Tollbooth
January 2009 Press Release

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January 2009. A fresh month in a fresh year, full of hope and change and promise. For some, the most important task of the month is to learn a new way to write the date. For others, it is a month that offers plenty of indoor time to tackle those expansive resolutions that closed out 2008. Our writers are coming through on THEIR resolutions to share with you the best of music and more from a Christian perspective. Check it out:

January Features:

Christian Kane of TNT’s Leverage
Kelly Joe Phelps: The Phantom Monk of Folk-Blues
Taj Mahal: 40 Years of the Rainbow Blues
Marie Asner’s Best and Worst Films of 2008
Grandfather Rock’s 2008 Random Thoughts
(Look for more writer’s picks as the month rolls on.)
First Rake Thoughts of ‘09
Ask the Rock Doc
The Crossing

January Book Review:
James David Jordan - Forsaken

January Movie Reviews:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Marley & Me
Milk
The Reader
The Rutles - All You Need is Cash
Slumdog Millionaire
Twilight
The Wrestler

Our writers aren’t shy about sharing their opinions. Their Picks of the Month are:

Danielson - Trying Hartz:First Fruits ‘94-’04
Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs
Starflyer 59 - Dial M

January Music Reviews:
Anberlin - New Surrender
Bloomsday - The Day the Colours Died
British Columbians - s/t
Ryan Calhoun - Everything That I’m Not
CompassionArt - Creating Freedom From Poverty
Danielson - Trying Hartz:First Fruits ‘94-’04
Jean- Paul De Roover - …Dichotomy…
Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs
Dave Fields - All Wound Up
Staci Frenes - Meteor Shower
Richie Furay - Alive
Bill Gaither - 12 All-Time Favorite Homecoming Hymns
Glass Hammer - Live At the Tivoli
Brian Houston - Three Feet from Gold
Mike Janzen Trio & Friends - Mombacho
Daniel Kirkley - As Tomorrow Comes
L.S.U. - Grace Shaker
Mayall Live at Iowa State University
Conor Oberst - s/t
Paris Oroborus - I Am Iconoclast… (EP)
PureNRG - A Pure NRG Christmas
Quimi - s/t
Mavis Staples - Hope Live at the Hideout
Starflyer 59 - Dial M
The Urban Hillbilly Quartet - Bring in the Sails
Various - Bolt Soundtrack 2008
Various - Wall-E Soundtrack 2008
Various - Your Name
White Zebra - Empty Your Pockets/Give Us Your Souls
Johnny Winter: Live Through the 70’s
Wishbone Ash - Argus “Then Again” Live
Kerri Woelke - Where We Were

Don’t let all this freshness go to waste, dive in!

Shari Lloyd
Linda J. T. LaFianza
Co-publishers
The Phantom Tollbooth
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective

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Slow down as you approach and have your change ready.
Copyright © 2009 The Phantom Tollbooth