Recently in Christian indie music Category

The 3rd annual Feedback Conference has announced an unprecedented line up of speakers, presenters and performers for its 2009 event, which will be held September 3-6 at The Factory in Franklin, TN, just outside Nashville.

Industry veterans will cover all aspects of being an artist; from technique and artistry to faith and ministry. Speakers and presenters for the conference include Erwin McManus (author, pastor of Mosaic Los Angeles), Phil Vischer (founder of Big Idea, Veggie Tales and Jellyfish Labs), Tom Jackson (performance consultant for Taylor Swift, Jars of Clay), Brett Manning (vocal coach for Keith Urban, Paramore, Leeland) and Matthew Paul Turner (author, speaker), as well as an impressive list of record label executives, marketing gurus and music industry experts. Carlos Whittaker, worship pastor and web 2.0 junkie, will lead worship each day and will also be speaking on blogging and social networking.

"Our whole team is excited about this years Feedback Conference coming to Nashville, in our own backyard," says the event co-founder, Terry Weaver. "Our lineup of speakers, teachers, and judges is better than its ever been. We are poised to connect artists with the tool, resources and relationships that can help them live out their calling in this exciting time to be an artist!"

More than just four days of seminars and teaching, Feedback also allows attendees the opportunity to showcase their talents and receive creative analysis from a panel of industry experts. While not the main focus of the event, showcase winners will be chosen and will receive a substantial prize from conference sponsors. (Information about Feedback's 2009 sponsors and prize package will be forthcoming.)

"Going from bad to good is easy - going from good to great takes a lot more work," explains live music producer, Tom Jackson. "Artists need to always have the attitude of wanting to learn, wanting to improve their ministry. And attending events like Feedback is one of the things that can help set an artist apart from the crowd, help get their message out there, and make their mission more effective."

For more information, visit the Feedback Conference website.

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Welcome to the new feature on the Gospel Soundcheck blog, Cooking With Christian Music! While I was at GMA this past April, I got to talking to a couple of artists about recipes and cooking, and thought it would be fun to offer my readers something a little different. So every week I'll share a new recipe from an artist, publicist, manager, booking agent, radio promoter or other Christian music professional. (And if you're involved in Christian music and would like to share a recipe, just drop me an email at joanne@joannebrokaw.com!)

So for our debut recipe, here's indie artist Mariah Secrest's recipe for Peanut-Butter Banana Protein Smoothie:

This weekend, I volunteered at a youth event called Youth Extreme that brought together hundreds of junior and senior high students for an evening of games, extreme sports events and music, as well as a message about Jesus. It was a great time, and almost 40 students decided to pursue relationships with Jesus. (I say that because I hate the number counting about who "got saved;" instead, I like to think that students were awakened to God's spirit and conciously began to pursue a relationship with Him.)

I'm always interested in local Christian bands, what bands are new, what bands are still around after years, and why these musicians do what they do. And I was reminded this weekend about how important your local Christian band can be to your ministry.

A lot of times, churches and ministries are looking to do big events and try to bring in big name bands. There's the thought, sometimes correct, that a bigger name band will draw more people to an event. But if you're looking to really impact the lives of your students, here are three reasons why you should bring in the unknown band that's right in your backyard.

Let's have an indie Friday, with not only a free download of an indie music CD, but a guest blog post from indie artist Mariah Secrest.

One of the great things about the internet is that you get to connect with people you might not meet otherwise. I met Mariah when I stumbled upon her really great blog post on Wrecked For The Ordinary, about making money off of Jesus. Regular readers of this blog know that I'm constantly musing (ranting) about the commercialization of Christianity, so it was an instant connection.

Mariah Secrest is an indie artist with a new EP called Green Light. She recently finished her philosophy degree from the University of Arizona and, in her own words, now busies herself "as a recording artist, editor for Wrecked for the Ordinary magazine, and acute observer of life."

An indie artist has a unique perspective on the music industry, so I asked her to pen a guest blog post on any topic she wanted. So today, Mariah shares her thoughts on an often overlooked component of an artist's music: you, the listener.

ConversantLife.com has teamed up with C28 stores to offer a free sampler CD of Christian music from indie artists. A new sampler CD will be released quarterly.

Just head over to the Undiscovered website and download the current free music sampler, which includes music from Sleep for Strangers, Caleb and Sol, Scott Tyler, CJ Bergmen (pictured), Joel Hasemeyer, Soulshine, Deep, Aaron Hofman, and Andrew Steven.

And you know the best part?