CARMAN, GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame Member, Iconic CCM Trailblazer, Dies at Las Vegas Hospital
Feb 18, 2021 Artist Updates
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (February 16, 2021) – GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame member, CARMAN, passed away Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at a Las Vegas, Nevada hospital, after fighting a series of complications resulting from surgery to repair a hiatal hernia. Carman Dominic Licciardello, known to fans worldwide as “Carman,” was 65. Born January 19, 1956 in Trenton, New Jersey, Carman began his musical career playing drums in his mother’s band at the age of 15. Carman holds the world record for having the largest audience to see a single Christian artist. He set the record for the largest concert at Texas Stadium with more than 71,000 fans and led more than 80,000 fans in worship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Among his many awards, Carman received the House of Hope of Humanitarian Award for his positive influence in the lives of American youth in 2006, other noted recipients of this award include Ronald & Nancy Reagan and Billy Graham. The Gospel Music Association honored Carman with induction into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2018. Billboard named Carman “Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year” in 1992 and 1995, and in 1993, his album, Addicted to Jesus, earned the distinction of Contemporary Christian Album of the Year. Carman was Grammy-nominated multiple times as the Best Pop Contemporary Gospel Artist. His recording, “A Long Time Ago in a Land Called Bethlehem” was nominated for “Album of the Year” by the Recording Academy in 1986. In 1985, the release of his first #1 song, “The Champion,” solidified his place in music history and defined his soul-winning career as one of endurance, grit, dedication, and pure talent. Anyone who knew Carman knows that he counted only this as his greatest lifetime achievement – winning millions of souls to Christ. Matt Felts, Carman’s manager, states: “When Carman resumed touring again a few years ago, he was concerned that no one would care that he was back. He was wrong. Every night fans packed out venues and his ministry was as powerful as it ever was. This world has lost a light in the darkness but today Carman saw first hand the fruit of his labors. Carman was planning to embark on a 60-city tour later this month. For more information, visit CarmanOnTour.com.
ALTERNATIVE PHENOM ALEX HENRY FOSTER RELEASES
Feb 12, 2021 Artist Updates
“THE SON OF HANNAH” VIDEO
BrooklynVegan, Prog Magazine Both Premiere Video
Loudwire, Best Of Rock, Post Rock, Progressive, More Spotify Playlists
Feature Single From Live Triple-Vinyl / Double-CD, Concert Film
Standing Under Bright Lights Releasing April 16
Alternative phenom Alex Henry Foster (AHF) releases today (Feb. 12) the first video, “The Son of Hannah,” from his live triple-vinyl / double-CD and concert film Standing Under Bright Lights that is set to release April 16 and is available to preorder now from Hopeful Tragedy Records.
Premiered yesterday by both BrooklynVegan and Prog Magazine, “The Son of Hannah” video was recorded live in front of a sold out Club Soda (July 2019) while AHF headlined the Montreal International Jazz Festival. The concert was named one of the top five events not to be missed by Canada’s national TV/Radio broadcaster CBC.
Premiering the Standing Under Bright Lights lead single last week, American Songwriter reveals that “‘The Son of Hannah’ is an intimate reflection on keeping faith in moments of great despair…Propelled by a deeper turmoil, Foster maneuvers from his delicately sinister oration into something more captivatingly honest, and raw, sorely declaring He left me with nothing / No words, no direction to set myself in / But he gave me everything I’ve ever needed…Taught me to feed a spirit of my own / To carry my voice beyond morning views / And to leave the past behind.”
“The Son of Hannah” is also featured on multiple Spotify Playlists, including Loudwire’s “Weekly Wire-This Week’s Best Songs,” “Best Of Rock” (along with Foo Fighters, Five Finger Death Punch, Adelitas Way, Breaking Benjamin and more), plus Post Rock, Dark Folk, Progressive, Noise Rock, Sad songs for hopeful nights and others.
From Montreal and now residing in the highlands of Virginia, Foster’s full production, 11-piece band concert, Standing Under Bright Lights, was originally set to release October 8, 2020, which would have been his late father’s birthday. Instead, Foster decided to utilize the extra time the worldwide pandemic would give him to produce the recording and concert film.
The resulting project features “The Son of Hannah” along with every song from AHF’s debut solo album, Windows in the Sky, which hit No. 1 multiple times on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, staying in the Top 40 on the chart for a full year after its release. The songs from this celebrated album were re-invented for the live recording as the band performed along with a movie projection produced by Foster. Almost 2 hours and 30 minutes long, the concert at which Standing Under Bright Lights was recorded is now considered among the best concerts throughout the 40 years of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Following the release of the album, Foster and his band are preparing to tour internationally with 23 dates in Europe set to begin in May, pandemic allowing.
The full Standing Under Bright Lights track listing follows:
1) The Son of Hannah
2) The Pain That Bonds (The Beginning Is the End)
3) Winter Is Coming In
4) Shadows of Our Evening Tides
5) The Hunter (By the Seaside Window)
6) Snowflakes in July
7) Summertime Departures
8) Lavender Sky
9) The Love That Moves (The End Is Beginning)
For all the latest Alex Henry Foster tour, music news and more, go to http://alexhenryfoster.com/, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and Hopeful Tragedy Records Store.
About Alex Henry Foster:
Rolling Stone, Paste, 2021 Montreal Gazette cover-featured Alex Henry Foster launched his debut solo album Windows in the Sky Nov. 9, 2018. The album’s critical and mass success would once again propel Foster to the forefront of the Canadian music scene where he stood for about a decade as the lead singer for Juno Awards-nominated, post-rock band Your Favorite Enemies before going on hiatus the moment he left for Tangier to mourn his father’s passing. This grieving period, which would last two years, became a journey to the end of his sorrowful desperation and is what would ultimately inspire and give life to the No. 1-selling Windows in the Sky. From Montreal and currently living in Virginia, Foster is using his music and lyrics to bring something greater than ourselves, and shares from personal experiences about depression, dreams, grief and hope. Along with the live album and concert film Standing Under Bright Lights releasing April 16, Foster is preparing to release his book If Only the Voices In My Head Couldn’t Lie later this year.
LACEY STURM RELEASES “STATE OF ME” GLOBALLY
Feb 12, 2021 Artist Updates
Written With Skillet, Single From Upcoming Album
Extends An Aggressive, Musically Violent Lifeline
SiriusXM Octane Adds Single, Loudwire Features Video
Making history as the first female solo artist to top the Hard Rock Albums chart with her five-star acclaimed Life Screams (2016), Lacey Sturm returns today (Feb. 12) with her second single, “State of Me,” from her highly-anticipated sophomore project slated to release this summer. The Platinum-selling, GRAMMY-nominated frontwoman of Flyleaf (through 2012) wrote the new song with Skillet’s John and Korey Cooper. The single is available now at digital and streaming outlets everywhere from FOLLOWSPOT Records / The Fuel Music.
Marking a continued return to her hard-rock roots, Lacey’s “State of Me” extends an aggressive, musically violent lifeline to herself, and to those hanging over the precipice; those drowning under a crushing weight.
“Choosing life is violent in that we reject every subtle form of suicide, every eternal death choice that would try to disorient, distract and seduce us away,” says Lacey, who lost someone close to her in this season and has herself narrowly escaped suicide twice in her life. “Eternal life starts in our soul. So look at the state of it. And if you see eternal death, be violent against it, cut off every temporary thing that would bring that into your heart and reach out and cling to eternal life, even if it costs you this temporary one.”
Produced, recorded and mixed by her husband, Josh Sturm, “State of Me” follows the release of Lacey’s SiriusXM Octane and Loudwire-featured track “The Decree,” and remains uncommonly true to the artist’s experience.
“During times of loss it’s obvious that what we see is temporary. We have to accept that. But what lingers after loss is what we can’t see. That is eternal,” continues Lacey. “What really matters is love, faith, the spirit. The soul. When I focus there, on the eternal things, I find a tremendous resolve to protect what matters most.”
Along with “State of Me” being added to rotation on SiriusXM Octane, Loudwire also features Lacey’s companion “State of Me” video today at Noon EST.
Performing live with Skillet before the pandemic shut down arena tours, Lacey has since been writing new music and finding creative ways to connect with fans. Singing on Breaking Benjamin’s 2020 single “Dear Agony (Aurora Version),” which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 after 20 weeks on the chart while racking up well over 10 million views on YouTube alone, Lacey has also performed with Shinedown and others on drive-in theater stages and has hit virtual stages along with Metallica, Three Days Grace, Seether and others during the Recording Academy-sponsored Octane Home Invasion Festival.
Continuing to inspire others to strive for better ways to live and love, all the latest Lacey Sturm news, tour details and more can be found at laceysturm.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
About Lacey Sturm:
Performing on rock music’s largest festival stages and at sold out gigs across the U.S. alongside iconic bands, Lacey has also rocked Jimmy Kimmel Live audiences as well as the United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan. She has further collaborated on recordings with artists like Breaking Benjamin, Skillet, Geno Lenardo, Apocalyptica, Orianthi, Resident Hero and Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction) while earning a GRAMMY nomination for a recording with Third Day. Gracing covers as a LOVEsick model for Hot Topic and writing award winning books, she has also gathered numerous movie, television, soundtrack and video game placements with Flyleaf, such as Underworld: Awakening Soundtrack, Nightmare Before Christmas: Cover Album, Live Free or Die Hard, Rock Band and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, The Sims 2, Resident Evil: Extinction, Underworld: Evolution, MTV New Year’s Eve, and many more.
About The Fuel Music:
Established in 2008, The Fuel Music & Management, LLC, is a leading artist management and artist solutions company that independently distributes music internationally. Based in Nashville, TN, the Fuel team brings nearly 70 years of combined music industry experience in record label operations, major label distribution and marketing, and artist management for artists ranging from upstart bands to GRAMMY Award-winning, multi-Platinum artists. More information on the company can be found at www.thefuelmusic.com.
