First order of business: yes, they are now known simply as ‘newsboys,’ not ‘The’ newsboys - and no capital ‘N.’ Somebody at Inpop must hate grammar checkers. Grammatical awkwardness aside, newsboys have always been a band out to please their target audience, and their newest project is a bumper-crop of newsboys, to be sure. Newsboys [...]

It can reasonably be argued that, in the wake of their stunning 1988 debut, Take 6 was primarily responsible for the revival of interest in a cappella music that carried through into the nineties and beyond. Coming out of nowhere, these six young men not only created complex, soulful jazz vocalizations, but they put those [...]

All That We’ll Ever Need is an enjoyable near-half -hour musical detour to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, compliments of Jake Smith, Joe Causey, Josiah Bashta, and Darren Phipps. From the first notes plucked on Phipps’ acoustic bass, All That We’ll Ever Need has the ambiance of an intimate club where the audience and band members have [...]

Chances are, you’ve heard this man before. Brian “Head” Welch, founding member and former guitarist of KoRn, is no stranger to the heavier side of rock music and, as a member of that band, is partially responsible for the rise of what some have dubbed the New Metal movement. Welch was, however a stranger to [...]

When you’re looking for something bluesy, with a dose of funk on the side, one of the places you check out would be Texas. Well, here comes a blue-eyed soul man from Texas, by the name of Jimmy Needham. Not Without Love is a decidedly Christian album which has, for the most part, escaped the [...]

At The Living Room, NYC - August 4, 2008

Brooke Fraser is a name that might be new to most of you – it certainly was to me. Honestly, I didn’t know quite what to expect as I observed the somewhat sultry-looking singer pictured on the cover art of this Wood & Bone release. “Hmm. Probably some shallow, over-produced, commercial, big-studio clone,” I thought. [...]

At Bellerose Assembly of God Church – NYC, July 20, 2008

If you meet Amy Courts walking down the street, don’t ask her how she’s doing unless you don’t mind getting a bit depressed: her own press sheet says that her album, These Cold and Rusted Lungs, “illustrates the realities of weariness within the inner person.” No, this is not a ‘party’ album …which is not [...]

You can take the girl to Nashville, but you can’t take New York out of the girl. Sure, Francesca Battistelli is actually ‘from’ Florida, but she was born in New York and still sounds (to these ears) like a northeasterner, in the tradition of Kathy Troccoli or Margaret Becker. According to her MySpace bio, Francesca [...]