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ApologetiX in NY Saturday - New CD This Tuesday
Sat., Nov. 18. 2000 2:26am EST
Greetings!
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) here!
Well, just a couple more days till the official release date of our new CD, "Spoofernatural." We did a ton of radio interviews this past week, and it was so encouraging to talk to so many DJs and hear so many encouraging words about "Spoofernatural." Everyone seems to think it's our best work yet!
Before "Spoofernatural" is officially released this coming Tuesday, we have one final concert in Watertown, NY, this weekend. If you're in the area, we'd love for you to come on out and see us in person. It's your last chance for a sneak preview of the songs on the new CD!
Sat., Nov. 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Liberty Christian Center
210 Count St.
Watertown NY 13601
Contact: Ron Whiting 315-786-9957
*****
WHAT'S ON THE NEW CD?
The fifth ApologetiX CD, "Spoofernatural," will be available in stores on Tuesday, November 21. Many, many stores have preordered, and their orders have been shipped in time to be there for Tuesday. Thanks to all of you who prayed that we would be able to complete this project. Through God's gracious provision, we've been able to do it! Praise the Lord!
"Spoofernatural" contains 19 biblical parodies of rock hits from the 1950's-2000, including four songs that have been hits in two separate eras ... everything from the Beach Boys to the Backstreet Boys, from Ritchie Valens to Ricky Martin, from classic rock to Kid Rock.
I know we've been driving some of you crazy by not telling you exactly what songs are spoofed on the new CD but telling you what the parodies are about and giving you clues to the songs we spoofed. Well, do you love us or not? Love is patient, right? Well, in this e-mail, we'll tell you about the final two songs. But don't worry; we'll send you another e-mail at the beginning of the week with the full song list and the stores that are now stocking ApologetiX CDs.
Track #18
Song Title: "Rock This Tower"
Genesis 11 tells the story of the Tower of Babel and the origin of the various languages of mankind. Bible scholars have noticed an incredible connection between what happened at the Tower of Babel and what happened at the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. At Babel, the people were trying to reach to Heaven. At Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven upon the people. At Babel, the people's languages were confused so they couldn't understand each other. At Pentecost, God enabled the Apostles to speak in foreign languages so nobody would be confused and everybody would understand the message. At Babel, the city of man, the people were scattered all over the world. At Pentecost, people had come from all over the world to Jerusalem, the city of God, and they left from there united in Christ. Pretty cool, huh? Well, enough of my babbling. What about the song? In 1987, the new wave band Squeeze had a hit album called "Babylon and on." But it's another new wave band five years earlier that performed the original song that we spoofed here. This new wave band played a very old style of music. Ironically, they were from America, but they had to go to England to get famous before they could "invade" the United States with other bands like Duran Duran, Men at Work, A Flock of Seagulls and Culture Club in the winter of 1982-83. This was their first top 10 hit, although they had two others, including one that had the band's name in the title. Although this band has long since broken up, their lead singer has achieved fame with teenagers and old folks alike for being a pioneer in the modern swing revolution that paved the way for Christian bands like the W's.
Track #19
Song Title: "Genny 22"
Most people have heard the story of Abraham and Isaac, and we often comment on Abraham's faith. But what about Isaac? He wasn't just a baby; he was old enough that he was able to ask his father an intelligent question: "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" (Gen: 22:7b) The fact that Isaac allowed his father to bind him and lay him on the wood is pretty amazing. Although this last song on the CD starts out with a story from Genesis, it's actually about something that would be revealed in the New Testament: Abraham had only one true beloved son (Ishmael had been disinherited and was not the son of the promise, and Hebrews 11:17 calls Isaac Abraham's "only begotten son"; God had only one true beloved son, and John 3:16 calls Jesus God's only begotten son. Abraham knew he had to sacrifice his son. God knew he had to sacrifice His son. For three days, while on the journey to the mountain of sacrifice, Abraham's son was as good as dead to him. For three days, while in the tomb, God's son, Jesus was dead to this world. Isaac was spared and a male sheep was sacrificed in his place. Jesus is the lamb of God who was sacrificed in Isaac's place and in the place of all of us. The last lines of this song are the last lines of the CD, and they state plainly "To make it to Heaven find Jesus Christ." We may sound like a broken record with the way we keep saying that on our CDs, but if I'm going to break a record, I'd prefer to break a record for the most times of spreading that message of the Gospel. Our last CD was called "Biblical Graffiti." The song we spoofed for "Genny 22" was about some very UNbiblical graffiti. A huge hit (and the only huge hit for this band) back in 1982.
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"SPOOFERNATURAL" RADIO TOUR CURRENT INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
Sat., Nov. 18 between 6-8 p.m. CST (Pre-recorded)
WBSN
New Orleans LA justin@lifesongs.com
Mon., Nov. 20 at 8:30 a.m. EST
WWNL
1080 AM
Pittsburgh PA e-mail
Mon., Nov. 20 at 8:00 a.m. CST
KGMS
Tucson AZ john@kvoi.com
Tue., Nov. 21 at 7:30 a.m. CST
WBGL
Champaign, IL
Tue., Nov. 21 at 9 a.m. EST
WGWG-FM
Boiling Sprgs, NC ntmanning@gardner-webb.edu
Tue., Nov. 21 at 7:30 a.m. PST
KYIX
Chico CA randy@y105.net AND matt@y105.net
Tue., Nov. 21 at 12:30 p.m. EST
WRMB
Boynton FL dshelton@moody.edu
Tue., Nov. 21 at 9:45 p.m. EST
Thee Rock
Worcester MA thunderstation@juno.com
Tue., Nov. 21 at 3:30 p.m. CST
WEMI
Appleton WI sjuve@christianfamilyradio.net
Wed., Nov. 211 at 7:15 a.m. CST
KOKF
Oklahoma City OK vmarks@kokf.com
Wed., Nov. 22 at 7:30 a.m. CST
KNGM-FM
Emporia KS kngm@osprey.net
Wed., Nov. 22 at 7:50 a.m. CST
WCFL
Morris IL chris@wcfl.com
Wed., Nov. 22 at 8:10 a.m. CST
WORQ Q-90 FM
Green Bay WI kid@q90fm.com
APOLOGETIX ON YOUR RADIO STATION
If you're a DJ, and you'd like to set up an interview with ApologetiX, please contact Kathleen Burke at:
Kathleen Burke Burke Communications kjburke@apc.net (949) 770-3001
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HOT OFF THE PRESS!
Here's an early review of "Spoofernatural," printed Friday, November 18, in the Beaver County Times, a Pittsburgh-area newspaper:
By Scott Tady
They rock like Santana, preach like a Baptist minister and make you smile like your favorite comedian. ApologetiX, "that Christian parody band," is remarkable. The Pittsburgh-based quartet might be relatively unknown in its home area. But radio stations from Honolulu to Toledo are lining up to interview the lads and play their dead-on accurate rock 'n' roll parodies, filled with biblical tales and teachings.
ApologetiX recently wrapped up work on its fifth CD, "Spoofernatural." That title plays off "Supernatural," the 1999 Grammy-winning disc from Santana, one of 19 bands ApologetiX expertly mimics on its disc.
ApologetiX will throw a CD release party at 2 p.m. Nov. 25 at the Family Christian Store in Robinson Town Centre, Robinson Township. Spectators at that show will be treated to the group's biblical reworkings of Kid Rock, Pearl Jam, Bon Jovi and Smash Mouth songs, among others.
We're talking about a band that turns Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible" into "Sin Can Be Resistible," while matching Def Leppard - syllable-for-syllable - on "Pour Some Sugar on Me," which becomes "Learn Some Deuteronomy." Stop for a minute and think of the spoken-word intro to that Def Leppard song: "Step inside. Walk this way. You and me, babe. Hey, hey." ApologetiX singer-lyricist J. Jackson altered those words to: "Get with Christ. Walk in faith. You and me need ... His grace."
Jackson, of Pittsburgh, has an uncanny ability to ape the quirks and nuances of popular songs. He's backed by sharp musicians, like Karl Vaughn Messner of Economy, who duplicates the biting guitar notes of Great White's version of "Once Bitten Twice Shy," which through the ApologetiX lens, becomes "Once Livin' Twice Died," inspired by Romans 7:6. Bass player Keith Haynie of Ellwood City and drummer Fred Behanna of Donora competently lay down the beats that let first-time listeners easily recognize each parodied song.
Young fans will appreciate the band's parody of Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" and Kid Rock's "Cowboy," while oldies fans will dig the classic boy-meets-whale tale "Jonah, Jonah," which sounds an awful lot like Tommy James' "Mony, Mony." And for you country fans, there's "El-ijah," set to the tune of the Oak Ridge Boys' "Elvira."
Taking its name from "apologetics," a branch of theology dealing with the defense and proofs of Christianity, ApologetiX hopes "Spoofernatural" will take the band to the next level. Mainly, the band hopes the CD will make a splash on the Contemporary Christian Music charts, upon arriving in Christian bookstores next Tuesday. As Jackson tells fans in the band's e-mail newsletter, appearing on the CCM charts "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."
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CD RELEASE PARTY
We now have an official date and time for our Pittsburgh CD release party for "Spoofernatural": Saturday, November 25 (two days after Thanksgiving) at 2 p.m. It'll be held at the brand new Family Christian Store in Robinson Town Centre in Pittsburgh, PA, and the band will be on hand to sign the CDs and chat. There may be some "live" performances, too. More info to come.
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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 two weeks, but you will eventually be able to order it on the Internet. But why wait. ApologetiX CDs are now stocked in over 500 stores in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa. And many other stores order our CDs directly from the major distributors who now carry us: Riverside, Ingram Spring Arbor and New Day. Watch for our full-page color ad on the inside cover of the December issue of CCM Magazine, which hits the newstands (i.e. Christian bookstores) on Tuesday, November 28.
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HOW YOU CAN HELP
1) Please pray for us -- that we do all things for the glory of God and to the best of our ability.
2) Find the Christian bookstore near you and go see if they stock 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) Go to your neighborhood Christian bookstore this coming Tuesday, November 21, and ask for your copy of "Spoofernatural."
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NOVEMBER & DECEMBER SCHEDULE
Tue., Nov. 21 ApologetiX New CD, "Spoofernatural" is Released!
Sat., Nov. 25 at 2:00 p.m. Spoofernatural Release Party
Family Christian Store
Robinson Town Centre
Pittsburgh, PA
Contact: Ben Rome fcs144@juno.com
Sat., Dec. 9 at 8:00 p.m.
Cornerstone CafÈ
Elizabethtown, PA
Contact: Jim Schreiber CafÈ Number (717) 367-5326
717-653-6439 (Night) Jim@pa.net
Thu., Dec. 28 at 9:30 p.m.
Youth Rally, Worship Center
Lancaster, PA
Contact: John Staffieri 717-656-4271 (Sorry, this concert is closed to the public!)
Sun., Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
New Years Eve Party
Chelten Baptist Church
1601 Limekiln Pike
Dresher, PA 19025
Contact: Ken Hunkins 215-646-5557 (Church)
215-957-3268 (Home)
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APOLOGETIX AT CREATION EAST AND WEST IN 2001?
Hey, Karl Messner, lead guitarist and producer for ApologetiX here!
Did you get to go to Creation, the nation's largest Christian music festival, in 2000? Well, thanks to our friends and fans, we did! We'd love to play there again in 2001, and we'd love for you to be there too! And there's a way you can help both yourself and us to get there. Thanks to all the heartfelt letters Creation received in 1999 encouraging them to invite ApologetiX, they invited us to play there in 2000. (They even asked us to stop the letters!) And we ended up on the main stage right after Plus One, the hottest new CCM group.
YOU COULD WIN FREE TICKETS FOR CREATION
This year the folks at Creation are doing a survey on their website to help them choose. You get to pick your top ten favorite bands you'd like to see at Creation 2001. If you leave your name they'll enter you in a drawing for free tickets, too. Now, before I give you the address and you run and put us in all ten slots, realize this: we want to give them real feedback that they can use -- and besides, we don't want them to think that we stuffed the ballot box! So please, got to the site below and pick your favorite ten bands you'd like to see live and please DO pick us as ONE of them. And please fill out all the info. (Please only do it once, but please get others to fill it out -- everyone you know will be fine!) The only thing harder than getting invited to Creation is getting invited back. And this year we'd love to play BOTH Creation East AND West.
Here's the address of the survey: http://www.gospelcom.net/creation/c2001_surv.php3
*****
Again, we thank you for your prayers! In early July, we gave the band members practice CDs with about 40 potential songs on them. Just four months later, the final 19 songs are already being played on the radio and getting great response. With our producer, Karl Messner, leading the charge, we set a very aggressive schedule for having the CDs in the stores November 21, and we miraculously have achieved that goal. We thank God, we thank our families, and we thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!
Apologetically,
J.
-- J. Jackson ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) www.apologetix.com j@apologetix.com
James 5:19
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
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