Whoa. Where has this summer run off to? (Honestly, I have been complaining about the record-breaking heat for a month and a half, so fall is more than welcome to get here and stay… if you ask me.)

ANYWAY… I just looked at my calendar.

It’s September 9.

Do you know what that means? That means you only have 4 more days to pre-order Disciple’s new album “Horseshoes & Handgrenades” and get SEVEN unreleased bonus tracks. That’s practically an extra album!!

If you’re like me, you like to hear most of an album before you buy it. I get it. Luckily, our friends over at GodTube are streaming the ENTIRE “Horseshoes & Handgrenades” album right now. For FREE. Listen. Like it. Buy it. (And, you’ll love it. I have been listening to it for days now – it’s currently on repeat here at my desk.)

If you don’t like my opinion, I have two things to say:

1. Shame on you. (Just kidding… kinda).
2. Listen to what some of our readers have to say about the album:

Throughout the album, two things in particular become especially clear: First, that Disciple continues to be focused solely on Christ. Something meaningful can be taken from each and every song on the record, and it’s clear that the hearts of each of the five members of the band are in the right place. Secondly, Disciple continues to rock just as hard as they always have. The crunching guitars are the perfect compliment to Young’s soaring vocals, and the album sounds superb throughout. If you’re looking for a hard rocking album that is just as solid spiritually as it is musically, than Disciple’s Horseshoes and Hand Grenades is definitely for you.  – Daniel W.

Simply amazing. Disciple’s latest offering combines the heavy style they used to be known for (Back Again) with the southern stylings fans enjoyed (Southern Hospitality) while throwing in lots of melody (Scars Remain, Self Titled) for good measure. The result, however, doesn’t sound like Disciple just took stuff they’ve done and recycled it. This album is unique, both to Disciple, and Hard Rock.                                              – Kevin L.

So, there you have it. Go listen for yourself and then come on over back here and tell me what you think! Happy Thursday!

Rachel

Hey friends, Intern Mikaela here.

I’m not from Nashville and I must say, ya’ll have some confusing weather around here. I mean, it will be a scorching 99 degrees outside and then start pouring rain within a 5 minute span. Weird.

Anyways, Nashville makes up for it by having some pretty awesome sunsets.  Recently, every time I’ve seen a sunset, or the unfortunate times when I’ve been awake early enough to catch the sunrise, I’ve thought of The After’s new song, Light Up The Sky. The chorus says “light, light, light up the sky, You light up the sky to show me You are with me.” I think it’s a great reminder that just like God faithfully provides a sunrise and sunset everyday, He is faithfully with us always, through good times and bad.

As a major photography lover, I try to take as many pictures of sunsets as possible.  After all, not one is the same, right?  Here are a couple of my favorite sunsets:

The first picture I took on an airplane from Peru, the second picture is off of my deck at my house in Austin, Texas, and the third picture is on a beach in Peru. All of this being said, I want to see your best pictures of a sunset or sunrise and the place where you took it! Email them to me at FreeCCMcontest@gmail.com.

In fact I’ll even randomly choose 5 people to win The Afters’ new album, “Light Up The Sky” before it hits stores! Not a photographer? That’s ok- you can still enter to win by simply leaving a comment on this blog post about your favorite song from the band. Sound good?

Don’t forget to go get The Afters’ new “EP on iTunes today!

-Mikaela

(Winners will be chosen on Aug. 18, and will be contacted via email)

Sara Groves stopped by our offices yesterday to say hello before heading off for a bike tour to benefit the International Justice Mission. She and her husband Troy joined up with the “5 Weeks for Freedom” tour today, and rode 65 miles into Nashville. Check out some pics below that they took along their way.  The tour is scheduled to run 1800 miles retracing the Underground Railroad to raise money and awareness about modern day slavery. It’s meant to remind us that change happens when ordinary people do what they can to stop injustice, and that the evil of slavery has been defeated once, and that, together, we can do it again.

I have to be honest. Sara is a big inspiration to me, and someone I admire very much for the way she puts her faith into action. I even had a dream a couple weeks back that I was hanging out with her and she got into a rocket and asked me to fly to the moon. I was like “are you sure this is a good idea? What if we never come back, or crash and die?” Sounds crazy, I know, but I felt like God was trying to tell me something through that. And what do you know- The next day I randomly stumbled across a podcast featuring Sara herself, explaining her current endeavors and how she became so impassioned to fight injustice, and pursue the ministry she’s currently living out. I felt confirmation that God, in fact, was speaking to me through that- somewhat comical now that I think about it- dream. You might be wondering, “Well then what was the point?”

The point is, the moon is a scary place that I’ve never been before and I’d have no idea what to expect if I were to just drop everything and fly there. It’s a foreign land that I know nothing about, and may not even be able to survive. Sometimes God calls us to new places (spiritually, physically, etc.) that we’ve never been before, and we can’t let that fear keep us from saying yes to him, and stepping out in faith. Seeing someone like Sara who is consistently doing that in real life (as opposed to a dream life I guess…?) is inspiring. She and her family are serious about fighting against injustice, and you can read all about it on her blog. Click here to go there now and get up to ‘speed’ on her latest bike ride and other awesome endeavors she’s involved with.

Laura

P.S. Go get Sara’s album “Fireflies And Songs”- you won’t regret it.

Breakfast of champions. Toasted Honey Spins

Here we go!

15 miles down! Fruit break at shell station

Hanging by I-40

We made without losing anyone.

Follow Sara on Twitter

saragrovesofficial.blogspot.com

www.5weeksforfreedom.org

I know I’m speaking for most people in Nashville when I say we were incredibly ready for summer to come along this year. Winter felt SUPER long, and I began to get stir crazy from being stuck inside by the snow, rain, floods, etc. and am thoroughly enjoying this sunshine we have today. Along with summer come lots and lots of great summer concerts and tours. In fact, Rachel and I are taking a road trip to Memphis on Tuesday to see a very special worship leader play (cough…Jeremy Horn…cough) and we’ll keep you updated on that!

All that to say, we love concerts and—

(#1) We wanted to share some good ones with you to keep on your radar this summer! Check out our list of totally awesome bands, and click on each to see when they’ll be coming through your town this summer

33Miles

Addison Road

Building 429

Chasen

Decyfer Down

Disciple

Jonny Diaz

MercyMe

Phil Wickham

Skillet

Stellar Kart

The Afters

Todd Agnew

(#2) We wanted to find out about the best concert experience you’ve ever had! Tell us about it in the comments section,  and we’ll randomly choose 5 winners to get 5 free CDs of their choice from our closet. (See the Artist section on our website for what we’ve got to choose from)

Have a happy 4^th of July weekend!

Laura

For Addison Road To Answer Your Questions.

Hello fellow Addison Road fans! Thanks so much for all of your great questions, it was hard to choose just 5 for the band to answer!  Addison Road’s responses are here:

katiealley15 says: What is the story, if there is one, behind the band name?

We started the band in college and couldn’t agree on a good band name.  Jenny wanted all really girly names and the guys all wanted really awesome names  Just kidding, they weren’t THAT good in retrospect!  We were playing a concert at our college and offered $50 to whoever could submit the best band name . . . all those band names were horrible.  So at that concert the guy running sound said he just had a daughter and named her Addison and we should name our band after her.  So we did and added Road on the end just for kicks.  No spiritual meaning, no clever story, but that’s how it happened!

SunriseinHim says: What is the best and worst part of touring?

The best part is it’s so fun to go from city to city playing music with your friends . . . to show up in a town you’ve never been to and have people singing along to words you wrote at your house back home, there’s nothing like that.  You really have to make an effort to change things up though, I try and call family and friends a ton when we’re gone and to always be reading something new.  Oh, and you can always carve out time to fit in “Back to the Future” as often as you want!

Michelle says: with all the influences out there in the music business, what are some of the things you do as a group or as individuals to keep your faith strong among the group and your families?

For Jenny and me, it has been about keeping our relationships going with people back home and our home church.  These are the people that help keep us focused and keep our priorities straight.  Couldn’t do it without them. Also, the band itself has been together now for 9 years, so we are really like a family.  We go through the high and lows together and really love each other. –Ryan Simmons

I think for me a big part is just making time with God a priority.  That can get really hard when you’re traveling and there’s no consistent schedule but it makes all the difference in the world.  Not only in how you feel inside but how you treat people around you, your family, etc.  It’s when things are the busiest and you don’t see how you could make time to spend with God that you really need it the most-and benefit so much from taking time to pray, read, and talk to him. –Ryan Gregg

Sarah says: How do you devote focus, attention and energy into marriage, being a mother, and being a band at the same time? Does your baby come with you always on tour? I guess I just want some behind the scenes info do you and your hubby get some date nights once in a while? It’s cool seeing couples being in a band. Really inspiring!

Sarah, thanks so much for the questions! Having a baby has changed everything, that’s for sure. I love my job, I love my ministry, and I love my husband and my daughter but they all require so much of my time and energy! Sometimes it’s really hard to juggle so many hats and I’ll be the first to admit that I make a lot of mistakes along the way. But I feel like God has given me so many tools to be able to do what I do.  First of all, a very gracious and encouraging husband who both believes in my calling and believes in our family makes what I do possible. Without his support (and his occasional reminders that I’ve forgotten to bathe our baby), friendship, and passion for our music and ministry- there are many days I would totally give up because I’m a baby.  I have an uncanny ability to compartmentalize and was raised by a mom and dad who very rarely lived “stressed out” lives. We didn’t always have enough money to pay the bills but my sisters and I would have never known that. My parents showed me what it looks like to be relaxed, calm, content in the moment, and free of worry or stress. Because of their example, I grew up pretty carefree. So when I look at a schedule with 40 concerts over the short stretch of 50 short days, instead of getting ulcers, I get excited. Let tomorrow be tomorrow. Finally, through a lot of time in counseling, I’ve learned how to set healthy boundaries for myself. Like… I’m pretty late turning in the answers to these questions but… I’ve been out on the road for 14 days straight and was physically and emotionally exhausted so I made the best decision for myself, my marriage, and my daughter. And that decision meant I would have to put off these questions for a few days so I could catch my breath. Respecting boundaries and being able to prioritize in a way that takes care of my family before my fans is a huge part of making life on the road work. Sometimes that means handing Annie off and going on a date and sometimes it means skipping out on autograph sessions to put her to bed… not easy decisions to make, but you pick your priorities and trust that God will give you the wisdom and strength to honor those commitments. And yes- Annie comes with us almost every trip! In fact, she just had her 95th plane ride and she’s only 14 months old! 95 planes rides, five tour buses, lots of vans, and a boat! She is a trooper- a little road warrior- and she absolutely loves people. She brings so much joy to our little group. She has “3 uncles” and a dad with her almost all the time… and those boys love her well. So that’s how we make it work. With the love and support of friends, family and our home churches, some good boundaries, letting go of the worry for tomorrow, and the occasional cry session followed by a chocolate cupcake recovery… I’m learning how to make this crazy life and ministry work. -Jenny

Its an amazing journey to not only be in Addison Road, but to also do that as a family.  It is incredible hard, and we have really had to work hard at learning how to be parents and maintaining our relationship all while being on the road and with the guys.  Its unlike anything else, but we wouldnt change it for the world. –Ryan Simmons

I can’t answer this for Jenny but I can say it’s been really incredible to see her be such an amazing mom with Anniston the past fourteen months.  My wife and I just have a three-week old baby and I can’t imagine trying to travel with her and be on the road.  But Jenny just goes out of her way, even when we’re so packed busy and traveling to play with her daughter and constantly try to teach her new things.  That little girl brings so much happiness to us all on the road!  She’s so cute too!  I know it’s probably incredibly hard to be a mom and a wife on the road but Jenny and Ryan are just a great team. -Ryan Gregg

Marley says: Hey guys! I’m just wondering how you were able to see God amongst all your hardships – were there any verses in particular that you seemed to cling to?

Yeah, we’ve had a pretty crazy year filled with challenges but we’ve definitely seen God’s hand pull us through each and every one.  I guess if I was going to pinpoint some verses it would be Psalm 139, it’s kind of become the band Psalm this year.  It talks about how God knows everything, there’s nowhere we can hide from God, that even dark is as light to him.  He’s known us from the start and accepts us as we are.  I think with our year of thefts, fires, accidents, etc it’s become such a promise to hold onto. That no matter what we’re going through it’s not too big for God. God isn’t surprised we’re facing tough times.  He’s up to the challenge of pulling us through and he does it every single time.  Even though we’ve had a hard year I wouldn’t trade it for anything, we’ve gotten to see God pick us up and carry us in the most incredible ways.  When you look at it that way it’s been a really great year! Thanks for the questions!

As you all know, their amazing new cd “Stories” released on June 22.  Not only should you buy this ASAP and listen to it on repeat like I have, but we have another contest for ya’ll!

There’s no denying that the band has had their fair share of funny, difficult, and crazy stories happen over the past year, whether it’s getting their equipment stolen (twice) or how God has given them the strength to fight another day.  Now we want to hear yours!  Comment back on this post in a short paragraph of about 200 words or less with one of your favorite stories!  It can be funny, scary, crazy, or inspirational.

We will randomly choose 5 contestants to win their new album “Stories!”

Don’t forget to buy Addison Road’s new album!  Seriously, do it.

Mikaela

FreeCCM Summer Intern

Hey guys!

The Afters’ amazing new single “Light Up the Sky” is hitting radio airwaves this week, but you can go listen to it now on their site.

Watch the video, and hear more from Josh about the song