Recently in Christian Music guest blogger Category

Nineteen-year-old Paige Armstrong's debut CD Wake Up hit stores this month, but her journey to the music industry has had more twists and turns than most artists.

At age 11, she was diagnosed with cancer, and it was an opportunity from the Make-A-Wish foundation that allowed her to travel to Nashville to fulfill her dream: to record a professional CD.

Her early music also found its way onto the Bath & Body Works 2005 Holiday album, alongside such notables as Martina McBride. Armstrong appeared on "Today" and "Extra," sharing her story and the new Christmas music.

Now cancer free, Armstrong has a new album and a message about her dedication to reaching teens and young adults to find their own story and not waste their life.

Here is a special message from Paige about her own journey with cancer, and a challenge to you: how will you spend your life?

I'm away at Gospel Music Week in Nashville, so in my place I'd thrilled to share a guest blog from filmmaker Dan Millican.

Dan is the filmmaker behind the movie "The Imposter," starring Christian music artist Kevin Max. The film is a journey of self-discovery, and also a realistic behind-the-scenes look at Christian music and celebrity-ism.

In this blog post, Dan talks about the cheesy Christian movies and the problem with Christian art.

Critically-acclaimed, multiple-Dove nominee Matthew West became a mainstay at Christian radio with memorable hits like "You Are Everything" and "More." He's penned songs for Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, Natalie Grant and Mandisa, among others. His latest album, Something To Say, debuted on Nielsen SoundScan's Christian Retail Chart at #10 and spawned two more radio hits.

In this guest post, Matthew West steps outside of the popular singer/songwriter role to share a story about his beloved grandmother, and to talk about the importance of making an effort to tell people how much you care, and not just go through the motions.

UPDATE 4/14/09: Wesley Sleep Program Puts Me To Sleep - That's A Good Thing!

Last week, I did a post about a new Biblically based sleep program developed by Billy Wilkins, one of the original members of Third Day. I added a disclaimer in the post - "Snark Alert" - because I know some of you freak out when I get a little snarky in my posts.

I don't have a problem using Christian products - I often play the audio Bible read by Alexander Scourby when my brain is wound up and I can't sleep. But I think we've become a culture that relies on products instead of God, with Christian everything from books and music to energy drinks and sneakers. Or, as I said in my post, "Why, why, why are we constantly looking to other people to read the Bible for us, learn from it and then regurgitate it for us in tiny, digestible pieces?"

No surprise, I heard from Billy Wilkins, who was obviously not happy that I'd used his product to launch a vent about Christian commerce. I completely understand, so we started chatting on email. He's a good sport, and I found out that his sleep CD has been used by nurses in military trauma units to help soldiers find sleep relief.

Anyone who knows me even a little knows I bleed red, white and blue. My brother-in-law is in the military. I often write to the sons and daughters of friends serving overseas and I've told you a few times about the Any Soldier website, where you can write to soldiers who might not receive mail or care packages from home.

So I decided to give Billy Wilkins a chance to tell you a little more about his Wesley Sleep program and how you can help provide sleep CDs to soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Here is a response to my post, from Billy Wilkins (you might want to read the original post first, so you know what he's referring to):

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.