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ApologetiX Hit Michigan - New CD Almost Finished
Fri., Oct. 13. 2000 2:22am EDT
Hey!
This is J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) here!
We've been very busy putting the finishing touches on our new CD, "Spoofernatural," these days, but that won't keep us from hitting the road for a concert in Muskegon, MI, this weekend and two concerts in Green Bay, WI, next weekend.
Here's some more info on this weekend's concert plus the progress on "Spoofernatural": (For the rest of the October/November schedule, see the bottom of this email.)
CONCERT THIS WEEKEND
Sat., Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.
Frauenthal Center (Sponsored by Dalton Baptist Church)
25 W. Western Ave.
Muskegon MI 49440
Contact: Kyle Segar 231-766-2008 Kseg24@email.msn.com
NOTE:
Before the concert, we will be making a special appearance at the local Muskegon Christian book store, Hages Christian Supply, to meet any friends or fans and sign autographs and chat. We'll only be there for a little while before we have to head out for a sound check, but if you have the time, please come out and visit us! We'll also have special $2 Off coupons for people who plan to purchase the Spoofernatural CD at Hages.
Sat., Oct. 14 at 3:30 p.m.
Hages Christian Supply
888 Terrace,
Muskegon, MI
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SPOOFERNATURAL UPDATE
This week, we finished all the backing vocals on our new CD, "Spoofernatural." In case you didn't know, backing vocals always seem to take about four times as long as lead vocals, because there are often four times as many backing vocals, and they are often strange harmonies that you never noticed when you heard the original song. Now, I won't let the cat out of the bag about what songs we did or what groups we spoofed, but let's just say, somebody please put a muzzle on me the next time I suggest ApologetiX do a song by one of those burger-hawking boy bands or by one of those "hang 10-part harmony" surf bands from the 1960's!
The vocals on this CD took longer than any previous CD; I pulled more "all nighters" on "Spoofernatural" in the past two weeks than I did in four years of college! But it was well worth it. And our producer (and lead guitarist) Karl "I'll Sleep When I'm Done" Messner has been doing the "all nighter" routine now for a couple months.
Here's the latest "Spoofernatural" update, straight from the horse's mouth:
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KARL'S KORNER
Well the new ApologetiX CD, "Spoofernatural" is progressing well- after SEVERAL all night mixing sessions until 4 in the morning at the awesome Studiophonix, New Stanton, Pa., we have 13 of 19 done and they all sound wonderful. We literally spent hours on each song just crafting the mix.
Then J. and I have been pulling all-nighters one after the other in the studio to wrap up the fifty-some vocal parts on the CD. Last Friday we were there from early Friday evening until Saturday morning, then J. went home, and I took the stuff to New Stanton and mixed all day Saturday until late.
Wednesday night we were there with our friends/recruited engineers Bob and Steve until 5:30 a.m., and we finally finished J's vocals.
Also, The CD booklets and tray cards are all printed and look awesome.
Look for a full-page ApologetiX ad in the inside cover of the December CCM Magazine.
"Spoofernatural" will be available November 21 in stores everywhere. And the band members will be signing the first copies at Family Bookstores, Robinson Town Center near Pittsburgh at a special release party the same week. See upcoming e-mails for more details about what day and what time.
Thanks for your prayers and let's knock 'em dead on Tuesday November 21st!
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WHAT'S ON THE NEW CD?
As most of you know by now, "Spoofernatural," is due to hit the stores on Tuesday, November 21. The CD contains 19 parodies. Like "Biblical Graffiti," it's a mix of parodies of classic rock and songs from the past year or so. There's plenty of variety for everybody -- 50's, 60's, 70's, and a LOT of 80's, which is our main focus on this CD.
If you've read our previous three newsletters, you know that rather than giving you a complete song list, we're giving you the lowdown on two songs per week (the theme of the song plus clues as to what it's a parody of), to make it more exciting. Here are the two tracks featured this week:
Track #8
SongTitle: "I Want in That Place"
This is a song about getting into Heaven, and the original version was done by a group that many of today's teenage girls think are heavenly. Too many of us spend our lives with a "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" mentality. We think that our salvation is all up to us and that we just have to knock loud enough to get God's attention. We look up to Heaven and shout, "I want in that place!" Unfortunately, many people are so busy knocking that they don't hear the knock at their own door - the door of their heart. Jesus stands outside of that door saying, "I want in THAT place." As he says in Revelation 3:20, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." An amazing thing happens when we answer God's knock and open the door to our place; He answers our knock and opens the door to HIS place.
Track #9
Song Title: "Crowd of Foreign Girls"
Some people think that if God would just give them everything they wanted, they wouldn't have so many temptations to sin. Solomon's story disproves that theory. He was the wisest, richest, most powerful man in the world. God had appeared to him twice, and he had no enemies Ö and at least 1,000 wives, counting concubines. And that's where his troubles started. Solomon allowed the women in his life to turn his heart away from God, and he started serving other gods. On our last CD, Solomon recounted the story of his rise to fame and fortune in the song "Smart Blest Man." On this CD, Solomon recounts his fall, attributing it mainly to a big "Crowd of Foreign Girls." Everybody's heard the original version of this song, which crested at the number 3 spot on the charts in the mid-1960's when the band that performed it was experiencing a huge wave of popularity. I confess that the very first time I heard it was as a parody in a hair shampoo commercial on T.V. when I was a kid, in the 1970's. But it was also a hit in the mid-1980's (both versions of the song went to #3 on the charts) for another "wise guy" who had plenty of fame, fortune and women ... and later took a big fall (or was it a jump) ... right off the pop charts.
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OUR PLAN FOR THE NEW CD
Our current plan is to make the "Spoofernatural" CD available only to stores for the first week or two, because we want to encourage people to buy it in the stores, for two main reasons:
1. We want the stores to realize how many of you are out there (If your store doesn't stock us, ask them to order it), and
2. If all of our fans buy the CD when it is released there is a chance that we will hit the national album sales charts, because when you purchase a CD at a Christian bookstore, that sale is recorded and sent to the record-keeping publications that chart records. "Biblical Graffiti" has sold thousands and thousands of copies, but that was over the past nine months. If we sell a large amount in the first week of the CD's release, it will definitely draw the attention of DJs, concert promoters, stores and others in CCM music and the music industry in general.
I've seen some CCM ads lately and I've noticed that we're not alone in this strategy: Carman and the Newsboys are doing the same thing with their greatest hits packages that come out later this month because they'd like to make a splash on the secular charts. I presume that's because they want to make people outside of the church aware of their music, because they want to reach more people with their message. And that's why we're doing it, too.
If "Spoofernatural" hits the CCM or secular charts, it will draw more attention to ApologetiX, even though we are an independent band that is not on a major label. Why would that be good? Well, it would open up the doors for more concerts and more CDs and getting the message in our music into the hands of more people ... both Christians and non-Christians. Our music is specifically designed to reach certain types of people, and we want to get it into their hands. But many of them have to find out about us first. First and foremost, God is in charge of that. But we're also trying to do trying to be faithful servants in getting the message out, because we really believe that God is leading us in this area.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1) Please pray for us -- that we complete the CD on time and that we do all things for the glory of God and to the best of our ability. Please pray for wisdom and strength for us, particularly for Karl.
2) Find the Christian bookstore near you and go see if they have ApologetiX. If they don't, please tip them off that hundreds of stores around the world are carrying ApologetiX. (Maybe find the name of another store in the area from http://www.apologetix.com/stores.html and tell your store that the other store is already stocking us.)
3) Tell your local store that they can order through their major distributors, Ingram/Spring Arbor, Riverside or New Day.
4) Give your local store the phone number of our retail relationship manager, Tim Hetchler. Tim personally takes care of all the stores who carry ApologetiX. He makes sure they have everything they need and they get the best deal. Tim is a great guy and also represents Billy Graham, so they may already know him.
Tim Hetchler Wesscott Marketing 1.800.788.0442
5) Mark your calendar and try to be at your neighborhood store on Tue., Nov. 21, 2000, in your ApologetiX T-shirt (still available at http://www.apologetix.com/cds.html). You can pick up your copy of "Spoofernatural, and help show support for your favorite Christian parody band. (If you're feeling particularly obnoxious and giddy, you can ask out loud, "Excuse me, do you have "Spoofernatural," the new CD from ApologetiX, That Christian Parody Band!?"
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OCTOBER & NOVEMBER SCHEDULE
Sat., Oct. 21 (Two Shows)
6:30-8:00 p.m. 8:45-10:15 p.m.
Cup O' Joy Coffee House
232 South Broadway
Green Bay, WI
Contact: Jan Oettinger Cup Phone (open hours only): 920-435-3269
Jan's phone: 920-437-6694 jocoj@aol.com www.cupojoy.com
Sunday, Oct. 29 at 10:45 a.m.
Ladbroke At The Meadows
Racetrack Roads
Meadow Lands, PA
Contact: Pastor Joe Di Donato
Home 412-257-8687
Cell 412-576-9210
Sat., Nov. 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Liberty Christian Center
210 Count St.
Watertown NY 13601
Contact: Ron Whiting 315-786-9957
Sun., Nov. 19, 6:00 p.m.
Life Center Ministries International
951 S. 13th St.
Harrisburg PA 17104
Contact: Donn Polson 717-367-8865 (Home) 717-232-9006 (Church)
Tue., Nov. 21 ApologetiX New CD, "Spoofernatural" is Released!
Please pray for strength for us all as we head into the homestretch, and, as always, keep us in prayer that we keep our minds and hearts focused on the reason why we do this - Jesus Christ. Please keep in touch! God bless you all!
Apologetically,
J.
-- J. Jackson ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) www.apologetix.com j@apologetix.com
Philippians 1:6
... being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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