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Grace Notes
By Victoria Moon

Hello again, dear friends. As we enter in to the valley of the shadow of August, my prayer is that the air conditioning holds out until October. By that time, the welcome cool of autumn will have hopefully set in. Fortunately, we have lots of cool Christian music happenings to discuss this month, which will maybe take our minds off of this sweltering heat.

In and Around Louisville

Edenside Christian Church is looking for Christian bands to play for their "Concerts On the Lawn" this summer. This is an excellent opportunity to reach out to folks in the Highlands area of Bardstown Road. If you're in a band and would like to play, contact Berry or Gayle Overstreet at 239-5560.

I got this next one off the WJIE Community Events board (www.wjie.org): On August 8, the 3rd Annual Bluegrass Gospel Jubilee will be held at 6 p.m. in Locust Grove Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, KY. Bring your instrument along with family & friends for an evening of bluegrass praise and worship. Admission is one canned food item or a money donation. Jam fellowship will follow the Jubilee. If you're interested in participating in the service or need more info, call (502) 737-5867

Coming In Concert

The 14th annual Newsong Festival '99 will be held at the beautiful Camp Loucon Training and Retreat Center in Leitchfield, KY the weekend of August 13-15. Featured acts include the Newsboys, Smalltown Poets, Supertones, Skillet, Louisville boys Bleach, Jeff Calhoun and more. Ticket prices are cheaper before August 6: Friday only - $15, Saturday only - $25, both Friday and Saturday - $30. For more info, call (502) 425-3884.

Bride and All Access will perform Saturday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Club J, located off Minors Lane, near Evangel Christian Life Center. Tickets are $8 in advance. For more info, call (270) 862-9007

Lastly, the FREE Christian concert at this year's Kentucky State Fair features the lovely and talented Jaci Velasquez, with the not-quite-as-lovely-but-definitely-talented Audio Adrenaline opening. This is an exciting improvement over recent years' shows, so get out there and enjoy it! The concert is on Monday August 23, 8 p.m., in Cardinal Stadium. Get there early and eat a corn dog.

Advance Notice

One super-hot show in September you need to know about is Phil Keaggy's concert on Saturday, September 11 at Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Tickets will cost $12 advance, $15 day of show and are currently available at Family Christian Store and both locations of The Wellspring. Phil Keaggy is a true guitar hero, a legendary performer who puts on a great show with or without a band. I was fortunate to catch a surprise jam by Phil at last month's Promise Keepers event in Indy, and it was smokin'! You do not want to miss this! For more info, call (502) 937-6660.

Calling It Quits

Punk trio (and BEC Recording artist) Value Pac is packing it in after two moderately successful albums. Also disbanding after just two albums is Tattoo recording artists Common Children. C.C. frontman Mark Byrd is shopping a solo demo around. The good news, however, is that Luxury is back together with an incredible new album on Bulletproof Records. Check it out!

Coming Down the Chute

Third Day releases their third album, Time, on August 24. The band will tour extensively to promote this record, so look for them in concert near here soon - they put on a killer show. For those of you still reeling from the loss of Grammatrain, a live album arrives as consolation this month. Also on the way is new stuff from Aleixa, Twila Paris, Russ Taff and Cindy Morgan, among others.

News Form the Net

Sarah Masen and her husband David Dark are celebrating the birth of their first child, born June 26. Dorothy Day Dark entered the world at 6 lb., 3 oz. and was named to honor Christian social activist Dorothy Day. Look for an October re-issue of Masen's classic indie album, The Holding, on BEC Recordings.

Charlie Peacock is going into the ministry and plans to attend seminary this fall. Though he says he won't totally give up music, he won't be recording or producing in the near future. He does have a new album, Kingdom Come, in stores right now, which features noted banjo-guy Bela Fleck.

Jackson Rubio Recordings (home of Havalina Rail Co., Scaterd-Few, and others) has reduced CD prices from an already low $12.00 to $10.00 (with free shipping) until September 15. You can mouse-handle the merchandise at www.jacksonrubio.com, or write to: Jackson/Rubio Recordings, P.O. Box 8609, Long Beach, CA, 96808.

Switchfoot Goes to Hollywood

According to Christianrock.net, Re:think recording artists Switchfoot will make their dramatic television debut in "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye," a Fox network made-for-TV movie directed by and starring Jason Priestley (formerly known as Brandon Walsh on Beverly Hills 90210. Priestly chose Switchfoot for the part after seeing their current "New Way To Be Human" music video. Their image and sound prompted an offer, landing the band in an on-location shoot at Hollywood's Martini Lounge. Priestley will play an independent filmmaker who is looking for his big career break and discovers an up-and-coming band,. played by Switchfoot. Although there were no speaking parts for the band, a performance scene featuring the song "Chem 6A" was taped. Other Switchfoot tunes will play throughout the movie, along with dialogue references made to the band using their actual name. Look for "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" to air sometime this November.