Whole Notes

Last week, the nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards (February 10, 2013) were announced including several Christian music categories. Check out list to see what artists made the cut and look for links to Whole Notes interviews with some of these nominees including Casting Crowns, TobyMac, Kari Jobe, Lecrae and Matt Redman:

Grammy nominee Casting Crowns

Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance

“Jesus, Friend of Sinners” – Casting Crowns

“Take Me To The King” – Tamela Mann

“Go Get It” – Mary Mary

“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” – Matt Redman

“My Testimony” – Marvin Sapp

Best Gospel Song

“Go Get It” – Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell and Warryn Campbell, songwriters (performed by Mary Mary)

“Hold On” – Cheryl Fortune, James Fortune and Terence Vaughn, songwriters (performed by James Fortune & FIYA, Monica, and Fred Hammond)

“I Feel Good” – Phillip Feaster, Fred Hammond, Jonathan Miller and Calvin Rodgers, songwriters (performed by Fred Hammond)

“My Testimony” – Aaron Lindsey & Marvin Sapp, songwriters (performed by Marvin Sapp)

“Released” – Donald Lawrence, songwriter (performed by Bill Winston & Living Word featuring Donald Lawrence)

Grammy nominee Matt Redman

Best Contemporary Christian Music Song

“Jesus, Friend Of Sinners” – Mark Hall and Matthew West, songwriters (performed by Casting Crowns)

“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” - Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman, songwriters (performed by Matt Redman)

“When Mercy Found Me” – Jeff Pardo and Rhett Walker, songwriters (performed by Rhett Walker Band)

“White Flag” – Jason Ingram, Matt Maher, Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin, songwriters (performed by Passion and Chris Tomlin)

“Your Presence Is Heaven” – Israel Houghton and Micah Massey, songwriters (performed by Israel & New Breed)

Best Gospel Album

Identity – James Fortune & FIYA

Jesus At The Center Live – Israel & New Breed

Gravity – Lecrae

I Win - Marvin Sapp

Worship Soul – Anita Wilson

Grammy nominee TobyMac

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album

Come To The Well - Casting Crowns

Where I Find You – Kari Jobe

Gold – Britt Nicole

Eye On It – TobyMac

Into The Light – Matthew West

BEC Recordings’ Kutless has announced the Kutless Military Mission Project. This is a partnership with Operation Heal Our Patriots, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, that ministers to service members of all U.S. military branches.

“We have gotten to meet and interact with service members stationed everywhere from Alaska to Germany, and we are grateful for the stories they have shared with us,” frontman Jon Micah Sumrall said in a press statement. “Hearing their struggles and stories of sacrifice has both inspired and encouraged us. We hope that our music continues to be a blessing and an encouragement to all of our countries’ service members, but we desired to do more to try and help and impact those who have sacrificed so much for all of us. That is why we created the Kutless Military Mission.”

The Kutless Military Mission Project includes a program to give away free concert tickets for active and retired military members and their spouses. Kutless will also be donating a portion of all merchandise proceeds to Operation Heal Our Patriots.

For more information on how to obtain military tickets for a Kutless show as well as more information on the project, visit http://www.kutless.com/kmmp.

It’s hard to believe, but until this past weekend, TobyMac had never won an American Music Award for Favorite Contemporary/Inspirational Artist. Having won numerous Dove Awards and GRAMMY Awards, it was one of the key pieces of hardware he was finally able to cross off his list as a solo artist.

Here’s what TobyMac had to say about it via his official website:

TobyMac reacts to first career AMA win

And for more from TobyMac, check out these past Whole Notes interviews including one about his most recent Christmas album and some of his holiday traditions:

A conversation with TobyMac

TobyMac talks Christmas album, traditions

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Last year, Whole Notes released this story about how 9/11 personally impacted P.O.D., and how the band’s album Satellite (and more specifically the song “Alive”) inspired the country during this difficult time. Here’s a flashback to that interview:

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 – - September 11, 2001 was supposed to be the biggest day of P.O.D.’s career. After grinding it out on the road for nearly a decade—playing tiny clubs, churches, storefront youth groups, and (trust me on this one) Wal-Mart parking lots—it was finally time for the breakout album that would change everything.

Even before its release, Satellite had already yielded the mega hit “Alive” and was expected to be a Christian crossover success like nothing the music industry had ever seen. P.O.D., would go on to sell over three million copies of Satellite in the U.S., alone and become an international touring phenomenon.

But not before the hard rock band would be forced to stop in its tracks along with the rest of the country.

“At that point, we had worked so hard and we were excited about the record,” Sandoval recalls. “We did a Midnight signing in our hometown of San Diego. We were going to play a big show up in L.A., that day. So we had all these plans but I woke up that morning to a phone call from my mother-in-law (saying), “Turn on the TV.” I turned it on and at that point, nothing else mattered.”

Sandoval, like millions of Americans, vicariously experienced the horror that is now etched in the English lexicon as “9/11.” The sight of two planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan followed by the reports of a plane crashing into the Pentagon and another plane crashing in a Pennsylvania field (averted away from Washington D.C., by its brave passengers) took precedent for the next several days and weeks.

The same certainly held true for Sandoval who says it was a time of intense spiritual reflection.

Sonny Sandoval (second from left) and P.O.D.

“It wasn’t about music,” he says. “We couldn’t care less about P.O.D. It was about what was happening to our world. We kind of kept that same mentality going through it. I just wanted to be home with my family. I wanted to get on my hands and knees and make sure I was right with God. ‘What’s going on Lord?’”

As life slowly got back to some semblance of normal, P.O.D., found itself in a unique position. The media had caught on to the irony of the band’s now infamous release date but was also interested in how many people were being inspired by the positive rock anthem “Alive.”

“It was one of those few songs that, before 9/11, was positive,” Sandoval says. “It was uplifting. It offered hope. At the time, all of the sudden people didn’t care about the sex, drugs and rock and roll industry or Hollywood. Everybody was looking to the meaning of life and searching for God in those desperate times.”

And according to Sandoval, it was the aftermath of an American tragedy that allowed them to stand out even more so in an environment that had previously been littered with anti-faith messages.

Sonny Sandoval (second from right) and P.O.D.

“A lot of bands kind of jumped on that (positive) bandwagon,” Sandoval says. “The Slipknots of the world weren’t selling records because their music was negative. We were just honored to have a voice at that time.”

While P.O.D., has yet to duplicate Satellite’s commercial success, there’s no question the band has remained a positive force within the rock scene. It’s that opportunity to tell a unique audience about their faith in Christ that keeps Sandoval and his band mates moving forward some 20 years after they first came together as a hardcore garage band.

“That’s what inspires us,” he says. “It’s the power of God that keeps us rolling on. When you know it to be real and true, that’s when you have to share it with whoever will listen.”

Read the full transcript of our interview with Sandoval by clicking on these links:

P.O.D. interview Part One

P.O.D. interview Part Two

And you can keep up with the latest P.O.D., news by visiting the band’s official website HERE.