Cross Driven Radio » Blog

Detour for Cross Driven Radio

Charley — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:50:18 +0000

It was the Spring of 2005 and I realized a long standing goal to be on the radio. I remember as a kid listening to Jim Elliott, Don Geronimo and Dan Steele and other DJ’s on WPGC thinking that was the coolest thing ever. In 6th grade I went on a field trip to the University Of Maryland and took a tour of the college TV and radio stations, and I was walking on cloud 9. While others in my class were learning and acting on the tv set doing some fictional tv show, I was 1 of 3 kids that was in the radio station. ( We toured both, but had our choice of which to do hands on.)

I was in the studio and I saw how to play music and commercials through cart machines and spinning actual records. I got to go on air and talk up the KC and The Sunshine Band song Get Down Tonight… yeah, I’m showing my age. From that point I was hooked. I was known to talk up songs on the radio and get on peoples nerves..

Fast forward to 2005 and realizing the dream that had become Cross Driven Radio. I was on the air every week and doing the show live from the studio to a small, but very devoted audience. Thursday afternoons haven’t been the same since. I started this blog to post playlists and to further promote the show. I soon graduated to Friday nights, did some voice tracking for a station in Reno Nevada. For a while I was on the air in DC and Reno at the same time.

I left radio after I saw the podcast audience had grown substantially. While the podcasting experience was a good one, it is with regret that I say that I am shutting down the Cross Driven Radio podcast indefinitely.

I am shutting it down for multiple reasons, the main one being that it just isn’t fun anymore. While I have great support from some record labels like Nightmare and Ulterium, and radio promoters like Seth Holloway, podcasting music is not an easy job. You have to find music, negotiate clearances,report playlists, in addition to finding the time in a busy life to record and produce the show. As a music podcaster, you almost never get any positive feedback outside of close friends because the music doesn’t build dialogue in the same way as a talk show.

I had thought about changing up the format or doing things a different way, but I think it is right to just end it. I am a card carrying adult ADHD member, and one thing someone with ADHD almost never does is complete something they started. At least 3 or 4 times during the run I was making commitments to change the show, podcast regularly, or whatever. I really did that with the best of intentions. I saw through looking at the stats of the show that listeners didn’t like that too much as in a span of 3 months nearly 2/3′s of the audience jumped ship and I started getting bad reviews and negative feedback via email. I know you can’t please everyone, but when something isn’t fun, and the feedback isn’t good its just time to call it a day.

I had alot of fun, met some great people, did some great interviews (at least I think so), and introduced the world to some amazing artists that otherwise would not have gotten airplay , or podcast airplay.

If you are a subscriber to the feed, I will be occasionally putting out shows, but the days of producing on a regular schedule are done.

Thanks again for your support over the years and we will see you again some day.

GODSPEED!

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 77: Golden Resurrection, The Great Transparency On the show this week we have brand new music...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Charley — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:11:19 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Ressurrection Singers

Charley — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:31:00 +0000

Last weekend we were blessed at my church to be visited by The Ressurrection Singers from Voronezh Russia. They participated in Worship and also did a concert after the Saturday night celebration. On today's Compassion 365, I shared a little about the experience and played 3 songs from the cd's that I purchased.

Pastor Irina also shared her testimony and took us on a musical trip to Russia. I can't wait to visit with our mission team in January!

Music In This Episode:

Wake Up And Celebrate ( Part English, Part Russian)

Psalm 23 (In Russian)

Amazing Grace (In Russian)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Interview Confirmed: Kristine Rommel

Charley — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:53:01 +0000

Kristine Rommel had the number one song on Indie Heaven for the month of May, and when I played her song Choose To Fly on episode 42, I received alot of immediate positive feedback. So tune in on July 6 for an interview with Kristine.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Interview Confirmed : Jimmy Needham

Charley — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:24:17 +0000

Inpop Recording Artist Jimmy Needham has just released his second record, Night Lights. Look for this interview on June 29th

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Challenge and updates..

Charley — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:14:24 +0000

I wanted to let you know that I am dropping out of the 30 day blogging challenge. I am doing this because over the last week things have been so busy and I haven’t been able to give it my best. I am going to make the commitment to blog more often than I was before I accepted the challenge, I just can’t do it every day.

After church on Saturday night there was a Missions event and the presentations were about the church’s involvement in missions, testimonies from members of the most recent trip to Kenya, and the past trips to Russia. I was excited to hear about what was going on and that there were firm plans to return to Kenya and Russia.

I have always thought that Russia would be a cool place to go. I have the support of my family, so I am going to Russia in January. As you might expect, that is a pretty expensive trip so what I am going to do is find a couple of strategic ways to monetize the blog and podcast. I assure you that it will not be gawdy, overwhelming, or over the top. I am searching for ways to monetize and still fit in with this brand. After the trip, I’ll just take that money and support a ministry.

I will be sure to let you know more about the Russia trip as I get more details, but for now, I just wanted to let you know that if you see an ad or a post that doesn’t necessarily fit in with the rest of my blog, you will know what is going on and why its there.

Thanks so much for your support!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Challenge: Some things I’m Struggling With

Charley — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 03:25:49 +0000

I'm 10 days into the 30 Day Blog Challenge and for the most part I am doing pretty good with it. I have posted every day with one exception, which is good considering all of the activities going on.

I must admit that there are a couple of things that I am struggling with in regards to blogging.

When I look at the blogs of other participants I realize that although I know quite a bit about the web, when I see some of the expertise of other participants I tend to feel like what I am blogging about is quite a bit different and that I don't have the "smarts" that most of the other bloggers have.

While I am a pretty technical person, I just don't seem to be able to gather enough logical thoughts to write a technical blog post. Also, I'm just not so sure what to blog about music that some of the other music blogs are not already doing.

Blogging, podcasting, or really anything online costs money. So far the associated costs to running this blog and podcast has been out of my pocket. I don't mind one bit because I see this as a ministry and a labour of love. However, it would be nice to be able to recover some of the cost to pay for expenses. Most importantly though, I don't want to alienate my audience in the name of making a buck.

There you have it. 3 things I am struggling with. I would love to hear your feedback and what you think about my struggles.

Do I really have enough knowledge to contribute?
Is what I blog about even relevant, and will people get anything from my posts?
When, if ever is it OK to monetize>

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I’m Hooked on the Stanley Cup Playoffs..

Charley — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:06:08 +0000

I’m a hockey nut…. I admit it. Hockey is a game of immense skill and conditioning and I am always amazed at some of the things these athletes can do. The goalie is probably the most under rated position in all of sports. Not only do these guys stop a frozen puck winging at them at speeds of over 100 miles per hour, often while they are in some sort of compromising position with some other big guys around them blocking their view.

This year’s Stanley Cup Finals this year are between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers. The goalies in this series are Anti Niemi for Chicago and Michael Leighton for Philadelphia. Both of these guys have been incredible in this series making some incredible stops.

I am a die hard Washington Capitals fan, but since the Caps are out of it, I am pulling for the Blackhawks. They have always been my second favorite team, and besides, they have not won the cup since 1961. Besides, being a Caps fan it would just be wrong to pull for the Flyers. As I write this Game 6 is going into overtime, it just doesn’t get better than this! Go HAWKS!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Why I Choose To Podcast

Charley — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:24:26 +0000

Today I conclude my series titled Stepping Out And Moving On for the 30 Day Blog Challenge.

In this series of posts I tried to share with you a little about where I have been and now its time to talk a little about where I am going. I decided to walk away from radio and start podcasting for a couple of reasons.

Listeners don’t need to be tied to a radio or computer to hear the show
Podcasts reach a worldwide audience, while radio only reaches a local audience
Listeners have a variety of ways to listen to the show

While I was doing the radio show, I noticed that the listener numbers I could track were somewhat stagnant, and on a slight decline. In the beginning, I didn’t produce the podcasts consistently and had a somewhat nominal amount of subscribers. I noticed that when I started producing more consistently, the subscribers started to increase by 300% over last year and had a reach of over 18 countries around the world. In May 2010, my listeners totally blessed me by accounting for over 1/3 of the total amount of downloads since I started podcasting.

I must say that my decision was not totally based on the numbers. I prayed about it and I totally believe that podcasting is the path that I am being led down, and I am so excited about what the future holds..

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Radio Show Interviews

Charley — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:21:49 +0000

Today I continue my series titled Stepping Out And Moving On for the 30 Day Blog Challenge. One of the things I really loved doing that will continue on with the podcast is doing interviews.

During the run of the radio show I was very fortunate to interview guests on the show. As a music show, I had alot of different artists on the show, but I did one series of interviews that I really enjoyed doing, the 40 Day Fast.

The 40 Day Fast was a series of posts where a blogger would fast for 1 day and blog about a ministry of their choosing. It was fascinating to talk with people like P.D. Ross and how a simple t shirt can make such a powerful statement and make a positive change in the world. Another favorite from that series was Kat, a stay at home Mom who had the inspiration to start the 40 Day Fast and it was interesting to learn about the inspiration for the series, as well as her thoughts on blogging, family, and privacy.

Tomorrow’s post concludes the series, and I will be talking about why I am leaving radio in favor of podcasting.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Favorite Radio Moments Part 2

Charley — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:07:22 +0000

Today I continue Friday’s post about some of my favorite moments while I was doing radio, as part of my series titled Stepping Out And Moving On for the 30 Day Blog Challenge.

One of my favorite thing about doing radio was being “in the know” about all of the new music before it hits the streets. I was very eager to learn and I made some connections at the record labels and was thrilled to be able to get the latest singles for free. I was also able to connect with lots of radio programmers on a couple of list serves and was able to find out lots of different ways to improve the show.

I am going to talk more about this in tomorrow’s post, but I was able to use some of my radio connections and research to secure interviews with some of today’s top artists. I remember my first interview with the band Farewell June. They were going to be in concert nearby and I talked with their radio promoter Shannon Becker and we got an interview scheduled. Man, I was so nervous! Being my first time interviewing an artist, I took lots of time in prep and I know I sounded really nervous, in fact I was so nervous that I stuck to my outline and didn’t ask any follow up questions. All in all it was a great experience.

Tomorrow I will talk more about some of the interviews I had on the show..

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Blog Challenge: I Missed A Day

Charley — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:21:30 +0000

This is my post for Day 5 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge. I will resume the series of posts about my venture into radio and why I am going to produce podcasts in the next post.

OK, I knew this was going to happen eventually, I just didn’t expect that it would happen in the first week. I missed a day in the 30 Day Blog Challenge. This, my friends, this is what I struggle with the most when it comes to blogging, and to some extent podcasting. These are things I really enjoy doing, but I sometimes struggle to find the time to do them consistently when life gets in the way.

I work a full time job, I am married to the most wonderful woman in the world and together we have a great daughter and I want to spend as much time with them as I can, plus we have a house and a yard that seems to always need work somewhere. I know that there are other bloggers out there that have jobs and families, but never miss a scheduled post. How do they do it?

If you have read my previous posts about my plans to podcast Monday – Friday. I am struggling with this as well because once I start promoting this in the fall, I need to keep it going, so I have developed a gameplan for how I am going to tackle this from a podcasting perspective.

Since most of the podcasts are music based, I am going to take a page from the tv playbook and record a week’s worth of music shows in one setting and I will have them scheduled to post on the appropriate day. For the other content, I will have to work that out somehow. I have read about people doing that with their blogs, but I’m not sure about how that would work.

Maybe that is the answer. What do you do to maintain a consistent publishing schedule?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Favorite Radio Moments

Charley — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:48:19 +0000

This is my post for Day 4 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge and is the first in a series of posts titled Stepping Out And Moving On.

In yesterday's post, I talked a little about starting the show. When I started doing the radio show, I never imagined some of the things that would happen to me.

One of the first, and best memories I have was going to GMA Music Week in Nashville for the first time. That was a big eye opening experience for me because I was able to see the Christian music industry up close and personal. I was really pretty dazed and confused for a good part of the week because when you hang in the lobby you would see all kind of well known artists hanging out and chatting. I actually got run over by Steven Curtis Chapman and his entourage in the lobby one morning. I met alot of people and I am so proud to still call some of them my friends today. You can read my blog posts about GMA week Here and Here.

Steven, Charley, Gerald, Sandra

Another thing that was really cool was getting my name in the liner notes of a cd. I had an opportunity from my good friend Ben (yes, we met at my first GMA) to bring a band called Over Ashes for a concert at my church. It was the first time in a long while that I had promoted a concert. Everything at that show went great and I really connected with the band and their manager, Matt. The week after the concert, Over Ashes was playing at a showcase at Rocketown at GMA week. I got to hang out with them a little bit and saw them a couple more times during the week. When I bought the CD that August, in the credits, the band added me to the list of people that received special thanks.

I will continue with part 2 tomorrow.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Birth Of The Radioman!

Charley — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:20:43 +0000

This is my post for Day 3 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge and is the first in a series of posts titled Stepping Out And Moving On.

I am starting out this blog challenge by sharing the journey of my radio career and why I am switching to producing podcasts.

In the last post I mentioned the public access station, and that's where it all began. I got the whole inspiration to do this show based on 2 shows, True Story and the Shock Jock Hair Rock Show.

I listened to those shows and after hearing the spots saying that I could host my own show, I joined the organization and took the 6 week radio class and in June 2005 I started my first show. My spot was on Thursday's from 2-3 right before True Story.

I know I was pretty bad at first, but what made that time so special was the group over at Shaun Groves message boards on his old site. When Thursday's would come, I would go to the boards and there was a great community there with Nancy, (The Host of True Story), Cristy, Thomas, Kristen.

We would get together and chat about the shows, and also would support each other. One highlight of those days was the year we surprised Nancy on her birthday with flowers sent to her home. Another highlight was when I promoted a Shaun Groves concert at my church. Nancy was there as my helper and Thomas came all the way from Wisconsin. That was also the first time I met Brody Harper. It was on those message boards where I got my title as "Radioman!"

Tomorrow's post is all about the accomplishments.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Why I got into radio

Charley — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:53:09 +0000

This is my post for Day 2 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge and is the first in a series of posts titled Stepping Out And Moving On.

Stepping Out And Moving On: Why I Got Into Radio

It started in 6th grade. We went on a field trip to the University Of Maryland and we toured the TV and radio stations on campus, and I actually got to do some hands on radio voice work and production, well, as much as a 6th grader can before the modern age of computers. I was so awe struck by the equipment that I knew that I wanted to be in Radio.

After missing out on my first chance to learn radio in the Navy after High School, it was in 2005 when I got my chance to make my radio dream a reality. The local public access station has a free form radio station, where pretty much every show is different. I am a long time fan of rock music, especially Christian rock. At the time the only way I could find my favorite music was through an online station, and I knew that I could program a show. I knew that I had a pretty good ear and could tell which songs could be hits.

The series will continue tomorrow with a post titled Birth Of The Radioman!

Image Courtesy of FLICKR

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The 30 Blog Challenge: Day 1

Charley — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:12:27 +0000

I was searching the web for something a couple of weeks ago and saw the graphic on the left and I found it very interesting.

When I first started this site a couple of years ago I thought that I would be able to use the site to promote the radio show and to get involved with the blogging community. The ad reminded me that the whole concept of Cross Driven Radio is to reach out and connect with people across different media avenues, radio, web, blog, and whatever other methods become available. I was a pretty active blogger for a while, until something broke my routine.

Being an adult with ADHD, I have become famous for starting something and not finishing it. I was surprised that I continued with the radio show for over 5 years without quitting, although there were certainly times that I felt like it.

Now that the radio show is over and I am transitioning into podcasting 5 days per week starting in September, I want to get back to where I was with blogging to supplement the content on the site, and make it a site where people can come and listen to and chat about great independent artists, the music field, and whatever else comes up. I know it won't happen by itself , so it all starts with this challenge.

This challenge is great because it is a great way to:

Build Community among bloggers
Establish a consistent blogging rhythm
Gain confidence that I can actually do this

I'm not totally sure what all of the topics are going to be yet, but I know it is going to be a fun learning experience, so please check in and see what's going on!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

STRYPER To host Holy Land tour for fans in 2011

Charley — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:39:43 +0000

Nashville TN (via Nashville Publicity) Platinum-selling rock band Stryper announced today that they will be hosting a 10-day tour of the Holy Land February 12-21, 2011.
The once-in-a-lifetime VIP tour will be limited to 150 people. Stryper fans will be able to spend time with the band during this unique travel opportunity, with portions of the trip being filmed for an upcoming DVD. "Oz, Robert, Tim and I are excited to go to Israel and see first-hand the birthplace of Christianity," says lead vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet. "And to be able to share this experience with some of our fans makes this even more incredible." The tour will visit the following locations in Israel:

Caesarea: A city built by King Herod the Great
Mount Carmel: Where the prophet Elijah defeated the false prophets of Baal
Galilee Boat Ride: Where Jesus walked on the water
Caesarea Philippi: Where the disciple Peter first confessed Jesus as the Messiah
Nazareth Village: A recreation of a village at the time of Jesus
Jordan River Baptism: An opportunity for those who wish to be baptized in the Jordan River
Masada: Where the final Jewish revolt against the Romans took place
The Dead Sea: A chance to float in the most therapeutic waters in the world
Pools of Bethesda: Where Jesus healed the man who was lame for 37 years
Garden Tomb: The place of Jesus crucifixion and Resurrection
Yad Vashem: Memorial to the Holocaust
Western Wall Tunnels: 60 feet below the modern city of Jerusalem
Jerusalem: The City of God
Mount of Olives: Where Jesus rode the donkey through the Eastern Gate
Garden of Gethsemane: Where Jesus prayed before He was betrayed by Judas
Western Wall: Holiest site in Judaism

The cost for this unique travel opportunity is $3,299.00 per person, which includes airfare out of Los Angeles, New York or Toronto; hotel accomodations; all buffet breakfasts and dinners; air-conditioned transportation; an English-speaking tour guide and entrance fees to all of the sites. Price is based on double-occupancy and does not include airport tax, tip fee or lunch meals. Due to limited availability, this trip will sell out quickly. Reservations can be secured for only $300. To register, please contact ari@ihtours.com or 1-877-999-8868 ext 415. For more information, please contact joe@amaral.tv or 1-877-628-2800.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Episode 39: The True Witness Interview Part 1

Charley — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:06:13 +0000

Today is the first of a 2 part podcast featuring the New York based Pop/Rock band True Witness. In the interview, we talk a little bit about the beginnings of the band's ministry, the meaning behind the name True Witness, and about the band's first cd, Origins.

Music in this episode:

So Loud – The Homecoming (They are appearing on Cross Driven Radio Friday night)
Faded Colors – True Witness

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Concert Review: Disciple with Kronicles and The Great Transparency

Charley — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:47:46 +0000

On Saturday night, I went to see Disciple along with Kronicles and The Great Transparency in concert at the 7:30 club in Mechanicsville Maryland. I have been a fan of Disciple for a long time now, and have recently become familiar with the 2 opening bands and I have featured both on the radio show in recent weeks.
The 7:30 club is a really cool place. It appears to be the original building for the Immaculate Conception Church, and is now used as a multi purpose room for various activities as I noticed banners on the walls for Scouts and the Knights Of Columbus. It is a really good size room for concerts and the sound is pretty good. I grew up not far from there and really wish I would have had a place like this when I was growing up. But I digress, now to the concert review.

The first band up was The Great Transparency from Columbus Ohio. Sometimes when you hear a single song or two from a record you think you have a pretty good feel for the band. I was wrong in this case, because as good as they sound on record, the band came alive on stage. The rhythm section was tight and precise and the guitars filled out the sound nicely. They played music from their new EP If Worse Comes To Worst including the current radio hits "Run For It" and "Don't You Ever". The Great Transparency rocks and you should snag the cd now while its on sale.

While the bands changed gear, Kevin from Disciple came onstage and talked about Compassion International and mentioned how he selected his child, meeting his sponsored child in Indonesia, and how the letters and pictures sponsors send impact the children and their families.

Next up was Kronicles from New Jersey. Kronicles was definitely a harder sounding band, but the guitarist was incredible. Sometimes when a band has only 1 guitarist, the sound isn't as full. That is not the case with Kronicles. He has a really full sounding crunchy guitar sound that reminds you of Skillet. They played alot of music from their debut CD Reset. I am not a fan of screaming, but Kronicles mixes it in subtly into their songs. Overall, it was a good high energy rock and roll set.

After a lengthy set change, Disciple took the stage by storm and really brought the rock. They launched into Whispering So Loud from their latest CD Southern Hospitality. They played alot of their big hits including Regime Change, The Wait Is Over, 321 and After The World. Having seen Disciple a couple of times before on bigger stages, it was cool to see them in a smaller room and the band really seemed to feed off of the relatively small but energetic crowd. Everyone had a great night of rock and worship for THE ROCK. I know that I am looking forward to the next show at the 7:30 club.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Thoughts on the I Pad

Charley — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:40:39 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Dave Barnes: God Gave Me You

Charley — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:10:24 +0000

One of the cool things about doing what I do is that every once in a while I get an advance copy of new music before it releases. I got the new Dave Barnes Cd, What We Want, What We Get from my friends and Razor & Tie Records. This is a fantastic CD and I'm hoping to get Dave on the air soon.

The video for the first single, God Gave Me You was released today, and I'm going to share it with you now. After you watch the video, go on over to iTunes or wherever you by great music and get this CD. You will thank me later…

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 33: Kronicles, Alakrity

Charley — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:18:23 +0000

Starting with episode 33, we are changing the format just a touch. It’s still going to be the same great music you have come to expect here at Cross Driven Radio, but it will be 2 shorter episodes per week. I will also insert the occasional interview into the feed as well.

I would love to hear your feedback on this change, fil out the contact form and let me know what you think. We are always accepting new submissions for our playlists, so if you know of a band you would like to hear on the show, please toss me an email.

Today’s Playlist:

Switch – Kronicles
Beyond Belief – Alakrity
Drive On – Submission Red
We Are Taking – Twentyfour64

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: True Witness Rocks!

Charley — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:18:08 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 32: April Fools!

Charley — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:00:19 +0000

A group of podcasters planned a couple of weeks ago to “hijack one anothers feeds” and do an April Fools show. It was really fun for me as I did The Ramen Noodle podcast with Justin Lowmaster. One of the things that made it fun was doing a podcast that is totally different from what I normally do.

The host(s) of Today’s show is Winston Crutchfield from Critical Press Media. Like me, his podcast is a different format. You couldn’t tell because he really brought the rock and did a great interview. Be sure to stop by his site and tell him how awesome of a job he did.

“God is in the Music” – Kole – http://myspace.com/kolekruger
“Kingdom” – CCC Westside Band – http://www.myspace.com/cccwestside “Broadgate”
Covenant – http://www.covenantrock.net/ “House of Prayer”
Greg Graham – http://greggraham.org/ “Dream On”
Carrie Pettit – http://www.whiplashrecords.com/
“There is Power in the Blood” – Greg Graham – http://greggraham.org/

Winston Crutchfield, Critical Mass Podcast, and Critical Press Media http://criticalpressmedia.com
John Wilkerson, the Jesus Geek http://jesusgeek.info
Daniel Lewis, The Ramen Noodle http://theramennoodle.com
Compassion 365 http://compassion365.com

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Compassion 365 Interview Today with Brad Ruggles

Charley — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:53:23 +0000

Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview Brad Ruggles for the Compassion 365 podcast I do on Wednesday’s. I had first met Brad online when I was covering the 40 Day Fast a couple of years ago.

When I first started reading and getting into the blogging thing, Brad’s blog was among the first I started reading. His posts cover a wide variety of topics including the Church, Family, and Authenticity. Brad was recently on a Compassion Blogger’s trip to Kenya and he shared some amazing stories from his trip.

So could you do me a favor? Actually 2 favors. First, go HERE and listen to today’s podcast interview with Brad, and while you’re listening, go on over to Brad’s blog and you can see why I like his blog so much, you can even read the series of posts about the Kenya trip. While you’re there, leave him a comment saying you heard him on Cross Driven Radio and Compassion 365.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 31: A Full Radio Show

Charley — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:27:48 +0000

I’ve noticed lately that there are alot of new listeners to the podcast, THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! I do a radio show every Friday night, and last week I did an entire show of independent artists so I could make it available on the podcast feed.

If you know of any bands that I am not playing on the podcast, fill out our contact form or send me an email at crossdrivenradio@cox.net and I will do my best to get them on.

Consuming Fire – Lastawake
Alien – Forevertree
Stories Of Redemption – I’m OK, You’re OK
Beyond Belief – Alakrity
She’s Got You – Amaradio
Light Of That Day – Mission 5:16
How Love Lit The Full Moon – True Witness
Goin All Out – Dan Evans
Just Can’t Hide – Indigenous
Losing Ground – Blood And Water
Winded – Andrew Witt (formerly Rough Draft)
Party Song – I’m OK, You’re OK (By Request)
Kings Will Come – Narnia

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Clutter?

Charley — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:13:50 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I don’t blog on Politics, BUT, this is an exception. A letter to Hon. Gerry Connolly

Charley — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:54:54 +0000

In the time I have been blogging, I have only done 1 post about politics, but that was because I was so mad at them for not honoring my wishes to stop calling me multiple times every day.

If you live in the US, you have undoubtedly heard about about the new health care bill the president is going to sign into law tomorrow. I don’t know which disappoints me more, that the president thinks he can single handedly create and pass laws by himself using his stellar creative speaking/story bending skills or that the House and Senate probably would not have voted for this if they actually read it.

Nevertheless, for the first time in my life, I wrote an email to my congressman, Gerry Connolly. When he was the Chairman of the County Board Of Directors, I thought he did a great job which is why I voted for him, even though I don’t normally vote democratic. This vote ticked me off so bad I wrote a letter today and I am sharing it here as well. I doubt it will get read, but it does feel good to get it off my chest..

Mr. Connolly,
I have never written to you, or another Congressman before, but today I feel the need to write you because I can’t rest about this until I feel I’m heard. (I’m going to add this to my blog as well)

When you were running for Congress this term, that marked the first time in my voting career that I voted for a Democratic candidate. I’m not a staunch Republican, but my feelings lean more in that direction and there wasn’t a Democratic candidate that I felt good about voting for until you ran.

While I don’t live in the district you represented in Fairfax County, I was impressed with what did did as Chairman of the Board Of Supervisors, and especially what you did to help make the South County Middle School a reality in just a couple of years.

While I was not necessarily a fan of your platform, like I said I was impressed with your record of service within the County and some of the things you did to improve the quality life in our area.

That was until the vote on the health care bill. While I do agree that something needs to be done about health care as it is out of control and costs are totally out of control. As out of pocket costs rise every year, and people get dropped, or not picked up do to pre existing conditions. From what I have read online, this bill does absolutely nothing to correct that, and some of the things it is going to make mandatory tells me THAT THIS IS A TERRIBLE BILL.

I also feel it is terrible on many levels including being forced to participate and government funded abortions. Even though the President created an executive order, that can not supercede a law. It is unconstitutional and is proof that we are moving more toward a socialist government than ever before. Its bad news. There are going to be multiple lawsuits and states are already talking about taking legal action as well. Its awful because this is going to divide our nation and I feel that is so very dangerous at a time when enemies want to destroy us.

“a house divided against itself cannot stand,” Abraham Lincoln

I also believe that the government is going in the wrong direction. In just the last 5 years the government has bailed out and has a viable stake in the insurance, banking, (auto) manufacturing, and now health care industries. Those are among the United States top financial industries and I think it is wrong for the government to have that much control over peoples lives. What’s next, Freedom of the press?

I am also so very disappointed in the massive amounts of debt this administration has voted for. Granted, the debt your term inherited was huge and was built over many years of Democrats and Republican administrations and congresses. Its a tragedy that we are burying our children and grand children with this debt. Its embarassing.

Thanks for the opportunity to send this to you, although I doubt that you will ever read it. Just know that I feel disappointed and let down and you will most likely not be getting my vote this fall.

Charley Hays

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: 2 CD’s you should get right now!

Charley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:20:24 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Podcamp Nashville – Part 2

Charley — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:26:34 +0000

In Part 1, I wrote about my flight to Nashville and hanging on Friday afternoon with my good friend Ben.

I got up early on Saturday and caught a cab down to the Cadillac Ranch for Podcamp Nashville. This is the third year for the podcamp and from talking to some of the organizers it has gotten bigger each year. The organizers also hold a Bar Camp in the fall which has gotten bigger every time.

The day started with taking a cab from my hotel to the Cadillac Ranch in downtown Nashville. The Cadillac Ranch is a huge club in the center of the 2 story buildng, but there are also at least 5 or 6 smaller clubs off of the main room. The sessions were in the smaller rooms.

Since I am from DC, and this is in Nashville, I have to admit that I was a little concerned about how I would be received because I went in not knowing anyone. I didn’t think I would end up dead in a ditch or anything, but it was very apparent walking through the door that the Nashville tech community was tight. My initial concern was quickly disproven as I was greeted very warmly by the registration team and was given my ”swag bag” by a helpful, friendly, and adorable young lady.

I got prepared for the first session which to my dismay was cancelled because the presenter was sick. It was then that I met someone that totally made me feel like a rockstar and worthy of living up to the first rule of podcamp: “that everyone is a rockstar!” Lucas is one of the organizers and was MC of the day. He, and the many other people I met during the day made me feel very welcome. It was pretty interesting that when I told people I was from DC, almost everyone made mention of the massive amount of snow we had this winter.

I really learned alot at most of the sessions I went to. There were sessions on WordPress, SEO, Newsletters and social media. I met Cliff from Podcast Answerman and attended his session. His session was good, but because I have listened to his podcast for so long, I pretty much knew everything he was talking about.

One really cool thing that happened was meeting Mike and Brian from the Concert Blast podcast. I have been listening to them for years, actually they were among the first podcasts I listened to. When you listen to Concert Blast, you can tell that these guys have lots of fun and love what they do. I’ll tell you, I just met them for the first time and after talking for a couple of minutes, it felt like I’ve known them forever. That is probably the biggest lesson I learned from the podcamp.

Based on this experience, I am going to start talking around am see if it would be possible to do our own Podcamp DC. From talking to Lucas and some of the other Podcamp Nashville organizer’s, I know that help is only a phone call away.

On the way home, on the plane I sat behind the band Selah, and sat next to their Tour Manager. It was really cool talking to him. I had met Selah before at GMA, but they meet so many people I’m sure they didn’t remember me. It was fun to meet them all over again though..

GMA Music Week as I used to know it may be history, but that’s just fine with me. I now have Podcamp Nashville to look forward to. I do love going to Nashville and Podcamp Nashville is going to be my annual trip to the Music City Mecca. Even though I live 12 hours away by car, and I’m not an everyday member of the Nashville tech community, everyone I met there made me feel like I was a part of it, and that what I had to say counted, and THAT was more connected than I ever felt at GMA, with a couple of exceptions being my great friends from Canada.

Oh, and my session was about Using Music In Your Podcast. I had about 25-30 people and we had a great time. I’m in touch with a couple of people that sat in on my session, which is awesome. Hopefully, next year I’m not scheduled the same time as Mitch..

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Podcamp Nashville

Charley — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:04:22 +0000

Yesterday morning I left home for the weekend to head to one of my favorite places Nashville Tennessee to attend Podcamp Nashville. Podcamp is a usually free unconference with the theme being anything podcasting, blogging, new media social media. I’m really excited about it. I am going to be speaking about, what else but using music in your podcast.

On the first flight coming here yesterday, I was just getting settled on the plane when the flight attendent asked me if I would be willing to move so a parent could sit with her child. Of course, I said yes and was moved to the 4th row. The US Air flight attendants were pretty cool, and even offered me some perks that first class people get. I declined the special treatment because I know that if I was in the mother’s situation, I would appreciate someone doing that for me.

Once I got checked in, I was able to hang out with one of my favorite people, Ben. We did an interview for next weeks Compassion 365 where we talked about his upcoming trip to Haiti. Afterwords, we went to Office Depot because I forgot to bring my business cards and then went to dinner at this place called Caney Fork Fish Camp which was a really cool place. It was just what you would expect from a homestyle place in Nashville, very friendly people, incredible food, and a 3 piece bluegrass band. After that, i went back to the hotel to finish up my presentation for Saturday. More about that in my next post.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: No longer a coke addict (coca cola of course!)

Charley — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:27:41 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 29: Dear Future, Burning Yesterday

Charley — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:47:22 +0000

On episode 29 of the Cross Driven Radio Podcast, we talk a little bit about Compassion 365, upcoming interviews, and announce next weeks interview with Melissa Brock from Superchick about the new cd, Reinvention which comes out in April, and her recent trip to Uganda with Compassion International. The interview will also be included in the Compassion 365 feed.

Here is today’s playlist:

Born – Dear Future
Don’t Give Up – I’m OK, You’re OK
Dear Jesus – 3 Nailz
Beautiful Day – London Calling
Won’t Back Down – Burning Yesterday
In God We Trust - Cynthia Odom

Links Mentioned:

Conduit Mission

Ben Holeton

Podcamp Nashville

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This Week On Cross Driven Radio: Melissa from Superchick!

Charley — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:15:34 +0000

This week on Cross Driven Radio, we chat with members of Superchick about Reinvention, their upcoming CD and their recent trip to Uganda with Compassion International. Since 2004, over 2000 children have been sponsored through the bands partnership with Compassion.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Bazinga!

Charley — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:34:16 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Mt Rushmore: 4 Drummers you should know

Charley — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:19:10 +0000

One of my favorite radio shows has a feature they call Mt. Rushmore. Mt. Rushmore is a monument carved into a mountain in South Dakota with 4 Presidents faces. On the radio show though, they have a weekly topic and discuss their top 4. I thought that it would be something that could work well in a blog format, so here it goes.

This Weeks Topic: 4 Drummers You Should Know

In most bands, the drummer is either the wildman, (Tommy Lee) or the cool guy (Neil Peart). Once upon a time I played the drums, umm, I attempted to play the drums. I wasn’t very good, but I did manage to play in a band for a short period of time and played 2 gigs. The band broke up after that and the drummer became a drum roadie / light guy / electrician /manager. I have always loved the drums and in this weeks Mt. Rushmore I want to share with you some of the drummers I really like along with a youtube video of them doing their thing. This is by no means my favorite drummers, as there are quite a few of them that don’t have solo’s of them on youtube. Besides, it would be nearly impossible for me to narrow it down to 4. This is just a list of 4 of the drummers you should know in no particular order.

1. Seth Hostetter – Children 18:3

I have only seen him play live once at a GMA showcase, and not only does this band rock and put on a great show, but Seth puts on a show all by himself. He keeps great time and does all of the visual razzle dazzle that kept my attention the whole time. He definitely is a visual timekeeper.

2. Shawn Benson – Theocracy

Theocracy is a band that is hard to put a label on, except to say that they rock, and rock hard, and rock well. Their Mirror Of Souls cd is just a musical masterpiece and Shawn Benson’s drumming skills shine throughout the record. The pieces tend to be a little long so I didn’t want to put up a long video (Although I encourage looking at them), so to give you a taste of Shawn’s mad drumming skills, here is a solo from Theocracy’s 2009 European tour.

3. Andy Campbell – Down From Up

I’m not quite sure how I first found out about this band, but I am sure happy I did. Andy is a regional winner in Guitar center’s national drum off, and on Down From Up’s first record, it’s easy to see why he got so far in the contest. His drumming is outstanding, and this song showcases his skills.

4. Nate Morton – ROCKSTAR, The Bonnie Hunt Show, Cher

A couple of years ago, CBS had a show called Rockstar that aired during the summer. The premise of the show was a 8 (or 10, I don’t remember) week audition to be the singer of INXS. The second season was to be the singer of Supernova, a band featuring Tommy Lee from Motley Crue and some other famous guys. For the most part, the show was aweful, but the house band the singers played with was pretty good, except for the drummer. Nate Morton was the drummer for that band and he was incredible. In fact, I really only watched the show to watch Nate groove. He has done some pretty impressive gigs and has his own series of videos about drumming. He’s incredible, check this out…

That is my Mt. Rushmore. There are some others that I would love to add, but there’s only room for 4. Who is your Mt. Rushmore for drummers? Leave a comment and let me know.

P.S. If you like the movie Drumline, check this out!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Monday Weigh In: Week 3

Charley — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:03:29 +0000

I started this post over on the other blog and I am going to continue it here. I am on a mission this year to average losing 1-2 pounds per week until I get to my target.

Total for week 3: 2 lbs Total to date: 13 lbs

I didn’t really do much different this week. I think the biggest thing so far is that I have cut down on sodas. I admit it, I’m a coke addict. Thats right, I am addicted to the carbonated sweetness of coca cola. I was at the point of having multiple cokes a day, sometimes as many as 4 or 5. I have cut them down to 1 and some days none. That is my eventual goal, totally soda free! I have substituted soda with Gatorade G2 and water. I am also doing the Jillian Michaels fitness game on the Wii. I’ll tell you, that game is a pretty good workout

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: January 15, 2010

Charley — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:02:00 +0000

On the show this week, Keith from Cistern called in and hung out for a while and we did the world premiere of Not A Mistake, the first single from Cistern’s forthcoming CD.

Party Song – I’m OK, You’re OK
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme)
Fatalism – Templar
Lately – Day Of Fire
Due His Name – Covenant (Now Cistern)
Not A Mistake – Cistern
Single Vision – Lou Gramm Band
Chasm – Flyleaf
You – The Afters
You’re The One – Chris And Conrad
Truth In Secrets – Amaradio
Losing Ground – Blood And Water

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Time to get Back To Business

Charley — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:55:24 +0000

I posted a couple of weeks ago about new changes with the blog. I had the idea about separating my personal blog from the site. It turned out to not be such a great idea. The problem was that I was feeling overwhelmed about what to put on each site, and I ended up not posting anything at all, which is not good since I have put 3 years into building this site.

So, starting today it is back to business as usual. The other website is going to redirect here, so if you were subscribed to charleyhays.com, welcome to Cross Driven Radio, the site that started it all.

I am still working on my second site, so you will see an announcement here NEXT Friday, for sure!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

My newest podcast: Podcasting For Compassion

Charley — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:00:32 +0000

My friend John Wilkerson from the Jesus Geek Podcast has started a new series of podcasts. The series is called Podcasting For Compassion. Each day throughout 2010 there will be a new podcast from a different podcaster providing unique content for the cause. Each day could be a different format, talk one day, comedy the next, and maybe an original audio drama or music show added to the mix.

Starting on January 13, I will be producing a new podcast every Wednesday. I am envisioning doing my usual music and mix in some interviews as well.

Be sure to check it out

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Replay this week, back in studio Friday January 15

Charley — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:13:58 +0000

Hey folks, I just wanted to let you know that I will not be in studio this Friday, January 8, 2010. I am going to be out of town at a funeral, so I will be replaying the Acoustic Show that was recorded in February of 2009. (Arguably one of my best shows).

Coming up on the Show

I hope to have G. Kishore Carey live in studio to hang out and play some songs from his new cd Contagious.

Still not confirmed yet, but my friends Cistern have a new cd coming out next week. I hope to have them call in and chat about the new cd and premiere a couple of new songs.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

New Year: New Changes at Cross Driven Radio

Charley — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:56:34 +0000

Well, It is 2010 and since it is a new year, I am going to be making some changes on this website. Some of these changes have been a long time coming, and 1 is a new venture.

I am now going to be operating 3 different sites:

Cross Driven Radio

Nothing is changing on the radio and podcasting side, just changes to the website. Some of the changes to this site are that this site is going to be dedicated to the radio show, the podcast, reviews, and other music related items. Regular posts like Wordless Wednesday are going to be moving to the next site on the list.

The posting schedule is going to be Podcast on Wednesday and Playlists on Friday or Saturday. I am going to mix in additional content as it becomes available, but you can count on at least those 2 posts on a consistent basis.

Charleyhays.com

Charleyhays.com is a site I started a while back when I first started thinking of seperating my personal blog from the radio and podcast related content. Until recently, I have been using it as a sandbox to test out new designs for Cross driven Radio and some of the other sites I have helped design.

This is the posting schedule and descriptions.

Monday Weigh In – A journal / accountability post about my journey to lose 1-2 lbs per week until I reach my target.
Wordless Wednesday – A funny or thought provoking picture or video
Free Form Friday – Basically I will post on a certain topic and try to start a conversation through comments

A New Site Starting Next Week

I am starting a new blog and podcast next week. All I will say at this point is that it is Tech related and should prove to be pretty interesting. I will give more detail next Monday, January 11.

Charley

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Brand new music from Cistern… It Rocks!

Charley — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:20:57 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFQCW8Y15Cs] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 26: Relient K Part 2-By Grace

Charley — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:36:20 +0000

Neither website crash, nor loss of voice will keep me from releasing episode 26 of the Cross Driven Radio Podcast. This week we finish up our interview with Matt Thiessen from Relient K as well as play some Christmas music that’s sure to get you in the Christmas spirit!

Jingle Bells – Joel Bodker
It’s Christmas – Eight Days Later
Interview Segment 1
Wait – By Grace
Christmas Time – Chris And Conrad
Jesus Geek Promo
Interview Segment 2
Bethlehem – Theocracy

Its the Christmas season and if you’re looking for that special gift for the person that has everything, head on over to Bold 4 God and take a look at the custom dog tags. I love mine, and I’m sure that after you see the quality and detail of these dog tags, you will want one for yourself. Tell Tammy I said Hello!

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Merry Christmas To You: – A 10 Song Sampler For Free Download

Charley — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:36:24 +0000

I love INO Records. In a time where record labels are struggling to find a way to reconnect with the record buying public, they are bold and continually think outside of the box for different ways to connect the fans of their artists. How many record labels do you know that would allow one of their artists to give away a live record for free? INO records did that last year with Phil Wickham and the Singalong cd.

In the spirit of Christmas, the elves at INO have partnered with iTunes to offer a 10 song sampler for free. The songs on the sampler are:

Jonny Diaz – Stand For You
Decyfer Down – Crash (They are nominated for a Grammy, how cool!)
Disciple – Whatever Reason
MercyMe – Goodbye Ordinary
Phillips, Craig, & Dean – Spirit Of God Is Here
VOTA – Love’s Taken Over
Derek Webb – Black Eye
Addison Road – Start Over Again
Building 429 – Always
Todd Agnew – Joy Unspeakable

Wow! That is some great music. click on the banner above, or here. There is no catch, and you can even opt out of providing your email address.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Another new design…

Charley — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:13:20 +0000

Well, I thought that I had a design and layout that I could live with for a while now that premiered a couple weeks ago. It turns out that after I had been trying to do some work behind the scenes, I somehow did something and it broke my wordpress rendering the site down for a couple of days.

I went back to the company that designed the framework of the old site, and they just released a brand new design. I’m really liking it so far. I have some work to do to get it the way I want it, but so far I am very pleased. I have a couple of things coming up in January, so stay tuned.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: December 4, 2009

Charley — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:45:31 +0000

With only 3 more live shows for the rest of 2009, we brought out the rawk for sure, and also got down with some Christmas Music.

Party Song – I’m OK, You’re OK
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme Music)
Eternity In Fire – Grand Lux
O Come O Come Emmanuel – House Of Heroes
Jingle Bells – Joel Bodker
God Bless Us – Echoing Angels
Troubled Heart – Kutless
Be My Escape – Relient K
Stop Me Now – Silverline
Glory Hallelujah – Milton Zapata with Brian Greene
Who You Are – Karen Elgin
Santa Claus – Apologetix
O Holy Night – Barlow Girl
Winter Wonderland – Stryper
Noel – Gary Hoey

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

2010 Grammy Nominations- Gospel

Charley — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:48:25 +0000

Last night, the nominees for the 2010 Grammy Awards were announced. Last year, they started doing a special tv show/concert to announce the nominees and some of the better known artists perform their hits. (At least that is what they did last year, I didn’t watch last night).

The Nominees

Best Gospel Performance
(For solo, duo, group as collaborative performances. Singles or tracks with vocal containing Gospel lyrics. All genres of Gospel music are eligible.)

Free To Be Me
Francesca Battistelli
[Fervent Records/ Word Entertainment]
Jesus Is Love
Heather Headley Featuring Smokie Norful
Track from: Audience Of One
[EMI Gospel]
I Believe
Jonny Lang With Fisk Jubilee Singers
Track from: Oh Happy Day
[Vector Recordings/EMI Gospel]
Wait On The Lord
Donnie McClurkin Featuring Karen Clark Sheard
Track from: We All Are One (Live In Detroit)
[Verity]
Born Again
Third Day
Track from: Revelation
[Essential Records]

Best Gospel Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)

Born Again
Tai Anderson, David Carr, Mark Lee & Mac Powell, songwriters (Third Day)
Track from: Revelation
[Essential Records; Publisher: Consuming Fire Music.]
City On Our Knees
Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan & Jaime Moore, songwriters (TobyMac)
[Forefront Records; Publishers: Achtober Songs, Emack Music, Jamnu Music, Castle Bound, Bummerman Music.]
Every Prayer
Dayna Caddell, Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey & Ricardo Sanchez, songwriters (Israel Houghton & Mary Mary)
Track from: The Power Of One
[Integrity Music; Publishers: Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, Aaron Lindsey Publishing, Integrity's Praise! Music, Sound of the New Breed, gnidybab music, Ricardo Music Dot Com.]
God In Me
Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary Featuring Kierra “KiKi” Sheard)
Track from: The Sound
[Columbia Records; Publishers: EMI April Music, Wet Ink Red Music, That's Plum Song, It's Tea Tyme.]
The Motions
Jason Houser, Sam Mizell & Matthew West, songwriters (Matthew West)
Track from: Something To Say
[Sparrow Records; Publishers: Word Music/Songs For Lulu/Simple Tense Songs/Wyzell Music/Songs of Extreme/Cedar Sides.]

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

The Big Picture
Da’ T.R.U.T.H.
[Cross Movement Records]
Crash
Decyfer Down
[INO Records]
Innocence & Instinct
Red
[Essential Records]
Live Revelations
Third Day
[Essential Records]
The Dash
John Wells-The Tonic
[Cross Movement Records]

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

Speaking Louder Than Before
Jeremy Camp
[BEC Recordings]
The Power Of One
Israel Houghton
[Integrity Music]
The Long Fall Back To Earth
Jars Of Clay
[Gray Matters/Essential Records]
Love Is On The Move
Leeland
[Essential Records]
Freedom
Mandisa
[Sparrow Records]

(Source: Grammy.com)

While I think there are some good choices, I also believe that there are some records that have been completely overlooked. Skillet, TFK, and Tenth Avenue North are among the artists I feel were totally robbed. Who do you think should have been nominated?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 25: I’m OK, You’re O-Relient K

Charley — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:22:31 +0000

On Episode 25 of the Cross Driven Radio Podcast, we go back to where the podcast actually started, with artist interviews. I had the opportunity to interview Matt Thiessen from Relient K a couple of days before his tour stop here in the Washington DC area. The interview aired on the radio show last week, and I am going to break it into 2 sections with the next half coming next week. It is my hope to have more artist interviews next year. Here is the playlist:

Party Song – I’m OK, You’re OK
Fallen – Justpassingthru
Interview Segment 1
Control – Tracing Days
School Of Podcasting Promo
Here I Am – Mission 5:16
Interview Segment 2
All I Want Is You – Toby Walters

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Nice Goal, Bad Teammate

Charley — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:40:13 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Something I have always wondered about Christmas music

Charley — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:16:25 +0000

Well, we are past Thanksgiving and are quickly headed into the first week of Advent. Here in the Washington DC area, we have 2 radio stations that are playing all Christmas music, all the time, and other stations are adding Christmas music into their playlists.

Christmas Music

When you listen to Christmas music there are generally 2 types of songs,

The ones that talk about the birth of Jesus ( Silent Night, O Come Emmanuel, Joy To The World …)
The ones that talk about winter ( Jingle Bells, Sleigh Ride, Frosty The Snowman ….)
OK, How can I forget the infamous Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer

My Disconnect

Maybe I am experiencing a disconnect because I live in the Washington DC area and we hardly get any snow here. If we do, it is usually in January or February and when I sing to myself about going on a Sleigh ride with you, ( yes, I sing to myself so I don’t create an avalanche, or noise pollution, or whatever you want to call it.. LOL!) The point is, by Christmas, most of the lower United States has not seen snow yet this season, but yet we hear about snow, snow snow.. maybe it has to do with the first day of winter falling during the Christmas season.

My Belief

My belief as a Christian is that this is a time to celebrate. Celebrate the birth of the coming Saviour and the eternal gift he brings us all. This year has gone by so fast, we should take time to Celebrate all that we have accomplished and all of our thoughts and dreams for the coming year. Celebrate the coming of winter, and in February, the Winter Olympics.

In the end, I still don’t understand what going on a Sleigh Ride with Jingle Bells has to do with the birth of the coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Can you explain it to me? What do you think?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

New Season – New Design

Charley — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:27:19 +0000

It seems that as seasons change, so does the design here at Cross Driven Radio. I believe that part of being a creative type of person is that you are never really satisfied with a project. You can always do it better. What if I tried this… or that.. what if I …..?

As you may have noticed, I did make some changes to the color scheme going with a Brown/Yellow color scheme and also will be adding some drop down navigation. I also added an easier way to get to the podcasts. The one problem with the old design was that podcasts, especially previous episodes were hard to locate from the site, that has all changed now with the podcasts being accessible from the navigation menu.

There is still some work to do, like get the header image above the navigation menu and a couple of other minor tweaks I have in mind.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: November 20, 2009

Charley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:08:34 +0000

Party Song – I’m OK, You’re OK
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme)
Lately – Day Of Fire
Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful – Seabird
Interview with Matt from Relient K segment 1
Forget and Not Slow Down – Relient K
We Shine – Stellar Kart
Interview with Matt from Relient K segment 2
Sleigh Ride – Relient K
Out Of Control – Capital Lights
Interview with Matt from Relient K segment 3
Fireflies – Owl City
Something Made To Last – Remedy Drive
I Love You Lord – Petra
Creativity – Jamie Laritz (Closing Theme)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Music Review: Jeremy Camp Live

Charley — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:37:20 +0000

Some of my favorite records have always been live records. Sometimes it was because a live record would be the closest I could come to see an artist perform. Other times, the album would be a snapshot in time, an everlasting reminder of a night captured with an artist.

Jeremy Camp Live, his sixth offering on BEC Records captures concert experiences from his recently concluded year-long tour in support of the Speaking Louder Than Before CD.

The record features many of his hits including “Tonight”, “Let It Fade”, and “Take You Back” along with newer songs like “Speaking Louder Than Before” and “Give Me Jesus”

One thing about a Jeremy Camp performance is that it is a worship experience. After a touching performance of “Walk By Faith”, he adds a beautiful chorus of Hallelujah adding a spiritual depth to the moment.

With the proliferation of live worship records flooding the market these days, the most important aspect never makes it to the record, the sharing of the Gospel, that is where this record is different. Jeremy shared an intimate talk about what was on his heart about being distracted in this generation, and that we are in need of a Saviour to deliver us from building up our own kingdoms. Instead, we should be serving other and building up God’s kingdom. He also used his song “Speaking Louder Than Before” as a challenge to live boldly for God.

The production, while very sound throughout is superb, and in some ways it was hard to tell that you were listening to a live album. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, it did sound a bit awkward when he was trying to engage the crowd, it was difficult to feel that energy.

Overall, this record will put you in the front row of the Jeremy Camp concert experience and will appeal to fans and is also the perfect records to introduce Jeremy’s music to new fans this Christmas season.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Interview Confirmed: Relient K

Charley — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:57:33 +0000

I just confirmed an interview for this weeks radio show with Matt from Relient K. They start out on Toby Mac’s Winter Wonder Slam Tour this week and will be at the Patriot Center Saturday night.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: November 6, 2009

Charley — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:11:17 +0000

With all of the activity going on lately, I completely forgot to post last weeks playlist.

Majestic – Lincoln Brewster
We Shine – Stellar Kart
Not Afraid – Stephanie Smith
Sleigh Ride – Relient K
Daylight – Remedy Drive
Awakening – Switchfoot
Everyday – Bread Of Stone
The Stand – Hillsong United
You Are My King – OC Supertones
Bless The Lord – Shaun Groves
Everything About You – Sanctus Real
You Are Here – NEEDTOBREATHE
Sandals – Kris Lager Band

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 24: Seabird!

Charley — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:02:43 +0000

Yesterday I posted episode 23 of the Cross driven Radio Podcast. I broke what is probably the cardinal sin of podcasting, listen to the podcast before you post it. By not listening, I completely ignored a software glitch which resulted in a 4 minute spot of dead air.

There was some good news to come from this though. Thanks to my friends at EMI, I am able to play the brand new Seabird single on the podcast. If you like what you hear, you can get the single for free here.

Watch The Sky – Toby Walters
Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful – Seabird
My King – Seven Stories Up (Courtesy VSR Music)
Chord Of Three – Blood And Water
Two Blind Squirrels promo
Nobody – Submission Red ( Produced by Ben Kasica of Skillet)
I Want – Bread Of Stone
Burning Bush – Harvest Bloom (Get the EP for free HERE)
The Truth In Secrets – AMARADIO
JT Indie Promo

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Bustin A Move

Charley — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:49:18 +0000

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 23: Submission Red, Bread Of Stone

Charley — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:48:36 +0000

Today on episode 23 of the Cross Driven Radio Podcast, we play some music from some new bands as well as a couple of Cross Driven Radio favorites.

My King – Seven Stories Up (Courtesy VSR Music)
Chord Of Three – Blood And Water
Two Blind Squirrels promo
Nobody – Submission Red ( Produced by Ben Kasica of Skillet)
I Want – Bread Of Stone
Burning Bush – Harvest Bloom (Get the EP for free HERE)
The Truth In Secrets – AMARADIO
JT Indie Promo

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Free Download: Seabird – “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful”

Charley — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:10:44 +0000

Seabird is back with a new single entitled Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful which hit all digital outlets this past Tuesday, November 3. The track is pulled off of their sophomore album, Rocks Into Rivers, which releases on December 15.

A follow up to Seabird’s 2008 critically acclaimed label debut, ‘Til We See The Shore, Rocks Into Rivers features top-notch production by Paul Moak (Mat Kearney, Sixpence None The Richer) and Matt Hales from Aqualung. The band split its time between Ocean Studios in Los Angeles and The Smoakstack in Nashville, honing what brothers Aaron and Ryan Morgan are calling their most exciting project to date.

Cincinnati-based Seabird comprises brothers Aaron (vocals/keys) and Ryan (guitar) Morgan as well as Preston Lane (drums). The band signed with Credential Recordings in late 2007 and released its debut label project,‘Til We See The Shore, June 24, 2008. A collaborative effort with producers Jacquire King (Modest Mouse, Kings Of Leon, Tom Waits, Switchfoot) and Allen Salmon (Mute Math), the album received phenomenal national publicity, featured on episodes of “Numb3rs,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and promos for ABC’s 12-time Emmy-nominated series, “Pushing Daisies.” The band was also recognized by its hometown as “Artist of the Year” at the 2008 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards and toured with artists including Barcelona, Meese, and Jars of Clay throughout the spring and summer of 2009.

Because our friends at EMI are SO COOL, I am able to offer you a free download of the first single, “Don’t You Know Your Beautiful” . Be sure to check the site in the coming days for a review of the full CD.

Seabird on Myspace

Seabird on Facebook

Seabird on iTunes

Seabird on Amazon MP3

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Why I didn’t vote for Greg Werkheiser

Charley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:26:27 +0000

Yesterday was election day in the great state of Virginia. The main race was for the Virginia House Of Delegates with the incumbent Dave Albo being challenged by Greg Werkheiser.

I do not usually talk about politics here, but I had to blog about this. In the months preceeding the election, in addition to all of the mail you get from the candidates, and the organizations supporting either candidate, one candidate’s campaign took it upon themselves to not only call my house via IVR 4-5 times a week, they also had staffers call, pollsters trying to get a sense on which way I was going to vote. I was also inundated by knocks on the door by staffers and others backing him.

I had asked all of them to take me off the call list, which they said they would do, but it never got changed. When during dinner Monday night, I told the person calling that she had just lost a vote for her candidate. We got it passed for telemarketers not to call, what about those seeking office?

I understand, and appreciate grass roots marketing, and see its value. But inundating me with your literature didn;t work for me, and ultimately I decided a vote for you, would be my way of saying I approve of your campaign publicity policy, which I don’t.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Turkey In the Straw

Charley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:10:22 +0000

Sorry if you saw the first video, I didn’t quite get it the first time I saw it..

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Bold4God.com

Charley — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:27:45 +0000

One of the coolest things about being active in new media / social networking is the people you meet. One of the first people I met was Tammy from Visionsxpressed. She is a graphic design wizard and creates custom jewelry. She is also one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet, so go over to her site and look around. While you’re there, be sure to tell I said hello. Here is a pretty cool video showcasing some of her awesome jewelry.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: October 30, 2009

Charley — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:05:33 +0000

The gremlins sure did come out on the All Saints episode of Cross Driven Radio as we featured music from bands that have either retired, gone on hiatus, broken up, or broken up and made a comeback.

Not Far Away – Rough Draft
All I Need – Forever Changed
Blinded – Memphis Belle
King – Audio Adrenaline
The Real – Nevertheless
Jekyll And Hyde – Petra
Consume Me – DC Talk
Be Still – Story Side B
Everything And More – Story Side B
Resolution – Story Side B
Always There For You – Stryper
Soundtrack To A Revolution – The Insyderz
Every New Day – Five Iron Frenzy

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: When Good Pumpkins Go Bad

Charley — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:09:46 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

CD Review: Kutless – It Is Well

Charley — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:24:23 +0000

Driven by a calling to do something different from and to build upon their other projects, Kutless also wanted to put out a record that reflected where they are as a band and more importantly, a project that reflects their hearts. The Portland Oregon based Rock/Worship band is back with It Is Well, their 6th studio cd on BEC Records. In 2005, the band released the worship cd, Strong Tower which offered a blend of traditional hymns, mixed with modern praise songs and originals.

Can the band capture some of the Gold record success from the Strong Tower cd? Could the band answer the challenge of taking a hymn written in the 1800’s and make it a Kutless song without changing the worshipful adoration from within? The answer is a resounding yes.

Being a band that has built a solid reputation as a high energy rock band, worship has always been at the core of Kutless and that really comes out in this record. It starts with a mix of building sound effects mixed with some electronica to invite you into a time of worship with the band with “It Is Well”. The disc also features several modern praise and worship songs including the Chris Tomlin favorite “Give Us Clean Hands” and perennial favorite “God Of Wonders” and also the rock oriented “You Save Me” will please the die hard Kutless rock fan.

Where Kutless really makes a difference with this disc is the original offerings, from the first radio single “What Faith Can Do” which encourages the listener that God’s power is real and engages the listener to worship with them. “I’m Still Yours” is a beautifully written song of adoration which features acoustic guitars and string arrangements mixed with powerful melodies which could very well emerge as a corporate worship favorite.

As contemporary worship music has evolved over the last couple of years, there is now a plethora of new worship oriented bands bringing pop infused music mixed , or others that just take classic hymns and modern praise songs and add a different arrangement with loud guitars. What sets Kutless apart from the rest is that it is clearly all about worship. While there is a variety of sounds and styles, it all blends together like a choir where all voices are one, and sing praises to our God in heaven, as it should be.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: October 16, 2009

Charley — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:12:54 +0000

So Far – Sum Of One
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme Music)
All The While Having Fun – The Elms
What Faith Can Do – Kutless
Obvious – Manic Drive
I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever – The Insyderz
A Flowery Song – Five Iron Frenzy
Jesus, The Great I Am – Milton Zapata (From the Better Vision CD)
All For You – Jonah 33
Praise And Adore – Wavorly
Miracle – Story Side B
The Words I Would Say – Sidewalk Prophets
Sandals – Kris Lager Band ( Closing Theme Music)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: October 9, 2009

Charley — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:07:20 +0000

I’m a little behind on posting these, but here is the playlist for October 9, 2009.

Get It Right – Silverline
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme Music)
On And On – Chasen
God Is Alive – Fee
The Sound Of The Resistance – The Wrecking
King – Audio Adrenaline
Inside – Clemency
Soldiers Under Command – Stryper
In God We Trust – Cynthia Odom
Brand New Day (unplugged) – Fireflight
Word Of Advice – Nine Lashes
Bethlehem – Theocracy
Daylight – Remedy Drive
Sandals – Kris Lager Band (Closing Theme)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday .. part 2: Deer On The Run!

Charley — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:50:17 +0000

(Courtesy: People of Walmart)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkin House

Charley — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:36:08 +0000

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 22: Better Vision

Charley — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:04:55 +0000

Today on the podcast we change things up a bit. I recently did a radio show built around a Cd / Mission Project called Better Vision that was brought to life by my good friend Brian Greene at Christ Church. The show features music from the CD, as well as interviews with Brian and Pastor John Speight as we talk about the music and the mission. It is one of the shows I am most proud of, so you get to hear it in its entirety.

Here is the playlist:

Big Enough – Dave Pettigrew
Oh Love Divine – Aaron Ivey
Brian Greene Interview Segment 1
In The Meantime – Keith Elgin (From The 1st Christ Church Originals CD and his self titled debut)
Shelter – Destination 7
Brian Greene Interview Segment 2
Glory Hallelujah (unplugged version from the Better Vision CD) – Brian Greene, Milton Zapata, Keith Elgin
In God We Trust – Cynthia Odom (from the Better Vision CD)
Compassion – Andrew Witt (formerly Rough Draft)
Pastor John Interview Segment 1
I Can Still Hear Them – re:Zound
Pastor John Interview Segment 2
Who You Are – Karen Elgin (from the Better Vision CD)

You can learn more about the Better Vision CD. 100% of the proceeds go to Hope Africa Ministries in Sakwa Kenya

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Easy To Assemble

Charley — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:56:37 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZq9lua1wwc] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Awakeningfest Recap

Charley — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:51:06 +0000

This past weekend was one that I always look forward to, it was the 6th annual Awakening Music Festival. I have been a volunteer for this festival for 4 years now in the tech area. In previous years, I would go on Friday night and help with the setup and rigging of the sound and lights, which is something I used to do alot of in my younger days.

It started at about 7:00 when we unloaded the headliner’s equipment. ( won’t mention him by name for multiple reasons..). The one cool thing about being on the tech crew is unloading and setting up all of the equipment. The equipment seems to either get heavier every year, or I lose strength every year, I can’t really tell which it is either way I feel like I have been through bootcamp.

In what has become an Awakeningfest tradition, it rained. Only this time it rained.. and rained … and rained.. all day. The remarkable thing is that alot of people showed up, I would imagine it was about 10,000, maybe more. The bands were all great, here are some of the pictures I tweeted during the day.

My new friends Remedy Drive

Stellar Kart

Hawk Nelson

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: September 18, 2009

Charley — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:12:30 +0000

Sierra and I were back live in the studio this week with a new show, until she met some friends her age. I also plugged the October 2 show which is going to be a special show about the Better Vision CD. The show will be pre recorded as I will be at a wedding in North Carolina that weekend.

Rooftops – Desperation
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme)
Majestic – Lincoln Brewster
Mock The Music – Children 18:3
Who You Are – Karen Elgin (From the Better Vision CD)
God Of My Life – Jonah 33
Forward Motion – TFK
Not Far Away – Rough Draft
Alive – Pocket Full Of Rocks
Let You Glory Reign – Keith Elgin Band
Praise Adonai – Justpassingthru
These Hard Times – NEEDTOBREATHE
We’re Not The Losers – Lifetone
Sandals – Kris Lager Band

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Jurassic Park?

Charley — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:03:03 +0000

(Courtesy: people of walmart)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Charley — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:02:31 +0000

On Thursday, I will be catching a 5:30 am train to New York City to audition and perhaps interview for the syndicated daily edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with Meredith Vierra.

I am so excited about this because this is the one game show I have always wanted to be on. Its the perfect game for someone like me that has tons of facts about music and memorabilia stuck in my brain, but yet I still can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning…. wait, did I have breakfast this morning? Oh, what does it matter, it’s almost dinner time.

So, when I first found out that I am going to audition, the first 2 questions I started stressing about is, who are my phone a friends going to be? and what am I going to do once I win the million. Now that is an interesting dilemma. I know lots of smart people, so how do you go about picking your 3 phone a friends? These are some of my ideas:

Get a couple of people in a room and have them put the phone on speaker with 1 person listed as the “friend” THE PROBLEM: People have to work and I can’t ask people to take the day off so I can possibly win a million
Go and find Ben Stein and beg and plead for him to be my phone a friend THE PROBLEM: I don’t know him and since he was an Ask The Expert, he probably couldn’t do it anyway

The other question is, what am I going to do with the money after a potentially huge payday. That is the easy part, but my Mom always said not to spend money you don’t have, so I’m not saying anything about that.

I was thinking, did you know that starting Cross Driven Radio was pretty similar in that I had an opportunity to do something I always wanted to do ( Radio ) and walked through the door of opportunity and 5 years later it is still going stronger than ever. I know that there is a pretty small chance that I may actually get on the show, and an even smaller chance that I will win the million, but I’m just thankful for the opportunity to try.

What would you want to do if the door of opportunity opened for you?

P.S. Be sure to follow my twitter feed on Thursday because I hope to be able to tweet often.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: September 11, 2009

Charley — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Beating last weeks post by almost a whole week, welcome to another timely edition of the Cross Driven Radio Playlist for September 11, 2009.

Filled With Your Glory – Starfield
Funhouse – Danny Gatton
Remind Me I’m Alive – Ivoryline
Strong Tower – Kutless
Fight Inside – RED
Forward Motion – TFK
Hero – Skillet
Out Of Control – Capital Lights
Welcome To The Masquerade – TFK
Mock The Music – Children 18:3
Wherever We Go – Newsboys
These Hard Times – NEEDTOBREATHE
We’re Not The Losers – Lifetone
Table – Decemberadio
Sandals – Kris Lager Band

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: September 4, 2009

Charley — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:07:26 +0000

Part laziness, part web and computer problems and another part of _________, all leads to being a week late in posting this playlist at roughly 2 hours until showtime. At any rate, here it is:

Madmen – Wavorly
Funhouse Danny Gatton
Get It Right – Silverline
Girl Named Tennessee – NEEDTOBREATHE
Remind Me I’m Alive – Ivoryline
Step It Up – Maylene and The Sons Of Disaster
Satisfy Me – Decemberadio
Monster – Skillet
Enthos – Skillet
Shine Like The Stars – Stellar Kart
Something Beautiful – NEEDTOBREATHE
The Flame In All Of Us – TFK
Resolution – OC Supertones
Shelter – Destination 7
Set Me Free – Big Daddy Weave
Zee Blues – Phil Keaggy

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 21: Podcasting For Water

Charley — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:25:11 +0000

Recently I have become connected with some fellow Christian Podcasters in the Christian New Media Group, and one of the members of the group, John Wilkerson of The Jesus Geek podcast has felt it on his heart to raise money for clean water. There is a contest you can enter, and I am offering up a couple of the cool prizes you can win by donating to the cause.

Music played in this episode includes:

Get It Right – Silverline
Love Invinceable – Angel Dean
Destined To Survive – Soul Sister Sally
I Won’t Fail You – Sum Of One
Don’t Be Afraid – Justpassingthru
World Changer – 7th Time Down
Was It All A Dream – True Witness

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Music Monday: Silverline

Charley — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:15:10 +0000

I’m back from vacation and I am going to make a more dedicated effort to blog more frequently. Check back later this week for a review of the new cd from Silverline. Until then, here is a video of their first single that has been featured on Cross driven Radio..

Sliverline “GET IT RIGHT” Music Video from Jonathan Ward on Vimeo.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist August 21, 2009

Charley — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:50:48 +0000

This was a rockin show for sure, I don’t think being pumped for vacation had anything to do with it. : )

Satisfy Me – Decemberadio
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme)
Rescue Me – Inhabited
Brand New Day – Fireflight
Forget and Not Slow Down – Relient K
Give Me Amazing Grace – Jackson Waters
More Than A Man – Stryper
Blue – Manic Drive
Monster – Skillet
Mock The Music – Children 18:3
Phenomenon – TFK
Undefeated – Audio Adrenaline
Hole In My Hand – Day Of Fire
Suspension – Mae
Hummingbird – Shaun Groves
Sandals – Kris Lager Band (Closing Theme)

Next week is a rebroadcast of the Twitter show that originally aired on April 20, 2009.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: 8/14/09

Charley — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:51:22 +0000

Here is the playlist for 8/14/09 which is being reported to the Christian Music weekly and CRW charts.

You’re The One – Chris And Conrad
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme Music)
Winded – Rough Draft
Beautiful Day – Sanctus Real
Comatose – Skillet
Forget and Not Slow Down – Relient K
I Wonder If Its Me – Abandon Kansas
Memories – Manic Drive
The Words I Would Say – Sidewalk Prophets
Those Nights – Skillet
Step To Me – TFK
Mock The Music – Children 18:3
Atmosphere – Toby Mac
Sandals – Kris Lager Band (Closing Theme)

Congratulations to Thomas from Wisconsin and Bette Anne from Stafford VA for being the latest winners in the Skillet Win It Before You Can Buy It contest. 2 more chances on this weeks show

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Chivalry Must Be Dead, at least on Cash Cab

Charley — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:57:48 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ynA9TjYKIU] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 20 – Soul Sister Sally, LASTAWAKE

Charley — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:00:57 +0000

After a brief summer respite, we are back with episode 20 of the Cross Driven Radio Podcast. Here is today’s playlist:

Til The Walls Fall Down – Thieves & Liars
Sorry – Stereotrap
How Love Lit The Moon – True Witness
Head On Your Platter – The Orphan Project
Destined To Survive – Soul Sister Sally
Control – Clemency
Consuming Fire – LASTAWAKE

Get this song FREE!

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: August 7, 2009

Charley — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:01:49 +0000

Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme)
Makes Me Wanna Sing – Stryper
Let’s Go Back – Everyday Sunday
Mystery Of You – RED
Bring Me To Life – TFK
The Words I Would Say – The Sidewalk Prophets
Get It Right – Silverline
Keep The Faith – Jon Bon Jovi
Take Everything – Beekin
Lay em Down – NEEDTOBREATHE
Resolution – Supertones
Treason – Kutless
This Moment In Time – Cross Culture
Sandals – Kris Lager Band ( Closing Theme )

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: July 31, 2009

Charley — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:30:29 +0000

Get It Right – Silverline
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme)
Destined To Survive – Soul Sister Sally
Psychadelic Runaway – House Of Guardian
Tennessee Boys/ You Take Me There Mashup – Grits/Switchfoot
Caroline – Seventh Day Slumber
The Meaning Of Life – Hawk Nelson
Consuming Fire – Third Day
Over And Over – Hearts Of Saints
Wait – By Grace

** Thanks for the plug! **

Good As Gold – Bleach
The Real – Nevertheless
Praise – Mission 5:16
Supernatural – DC Talk
Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been – Relient K
Sandals – Kris Lager Band (Closing Theme)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 19: Justpassingthru, Under Command

Charley — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:46:46 +0000

After a couple week break, we are back with another episode of the Cross Driven Radio Podcast. Be sure to let these artists know you heard them on the show. Here’s this weeks playlist:

Seperated – Ashes Remain
Farewell To Goodbye – The Opposed
Majesty Of You – Under Command
Overtake Me – Justpassingthru
Martyr – Theocracy
Sweet Sensation – Harvest Bloom

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: July 24, 2009

Charley — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:55:10 +0000

The third live installment of Cross Driven Radio live featured my daughter live in studio. Here is the playlist:

Activate – Stellar Kart
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme)
Beautiful Love – The Afters
Pure – Superchick
Praise Adonai – Scandanavian Metal Praise
Consuming Fire – LASTAWAKE
Wait – By Grace ** World Premiere!**
Over And Over – Hearts Of Saints
No Ordinary Love / J Train – Toby Mac
Everything You Have Ever Wanted – Hawk Nelson
Love Addict – Family Force 5
Never Alone – Barlow Girl
Sandals – Kris Lager Band

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

WEBR showing Cross Driven Radio (and other shows) some love

Charley — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:25:36 +0000

I was catching up on some of my mailing list emails from the radio station, and found out that the station has been doing some print advertising. Its really a pretty cool ad that tells what the station is all about. Check it out.

Since I am the only show in the Christian Rock genre, I am grateful to the FPA/ WEBR staff for placing my genre into the add.

So, How was your weekend?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: July 17, 2009

Charley — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:18:25 +0000

Here is the playlist from Friday July 17:

Searching For A Saviour – Building 429
Funhouse ( Opening Theme) – Danny Gatton
Reflecting Light – Mammuth
Surrender – Seventh Day Slumber
Meet Him In The Air – Hyper Static Union
Victim – Down From Up
Hero – Skillet
You’re The One – Chris And Conrad
How Amazing Are You – re:zound
Love Addict – Family Force 5
Life Is Good – Stellar Kart
Lay My Burdens – Disciple
Satisfy Me – Decemberadio
All For You – Jonah 33
Sandals ( Closing Theme) – Kris Lager Band

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Kris Lager Band..

Charley — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:23:07 +0000

At the end of every show, I always close with a song called Sandals by The Kris Lager Band. I just love their music. They have a new CD out now called The Mighty Quinn. Here is the video for the song Sprinkle My Ashes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Playlist: 7/10/09

Charley — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:12:56 +0000

It was a bit rough at the start and I had to shake loose some of my cobwebs with the new studio layout, but being back live in the studio was awesome. I had a couple of phone calls from a person that was randomly listening to the station, and my good friend, Nancy Tyler called in as well.

Special Thanks to Thomas and Nancy for hanging out on live.crossdrivenradio.com. It was fun, lets do it again next week!

Here is tonights playlist:

Solid Rock – New Life Worship
Funhouse – Danny Gatton (Opening Theme Music)
Live Life Loud – Hawk Nelson
Become Who You Are – Mainstay
The Difference – Philmont
Chorus Of The Saints – Revive
Shelter – Destination 7
On High – True Witness
Loved Ones – Toby Walters
Unite – Worth Dying For
Back To You – Rough Draft
Really Free – Sevenglory
Outrage – Capital Lights
The Wait Is Over – Disciple
Sandals – Kris Lager Band (Closing Theme Music)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The time is near…

Charley — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:02:18 +0000

As I write this, it is less than 27 hours until the start of the new timeslot. In alot of ways it feels like I am going to be doing the show for the first time, and in some ways it is. I last did a live broadcast from the studios in late 2005, since then I have been recording the shows from my home studio and uploading to the station.

Since I have left, the station has installed a new console, a new phone system as well as new cd players. I am fairly confident that I can handle all of the new equipment as it shouldn’t be much different than the equipment I learned on. Its the no retakes part that is a little scary. In recording from the home studio, if I mumbled, or and, or uhh or umm I could edit them out, take 2…. take 3….

The show is going to be really cool because now I can do some stuff I couldn’t do at home, in studio visits, phone calls..

It should be fun. Check out the live page to interact with the other listeners, or even call in and goof on me…

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 18

Charley — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:58:02 +0000

On episode 18 of the Cross Driven Radio Podcast, we feature some new artists as well as a couple of our favorites.

Today’s playlist:

The Jesus Rock Show – 3 Chord Wonder
Your Everlasting Love – 38 Acres
I Wanna Go – Air 5
We’re Not The Losers – Lifetone
Outside Your Window – Kessler
Victory in Jesus – Glenn Nasso
Who Is This Man – Mission 5:16
Due His Name – Cistern (formerly Covenant)
Love On The Radio – Alabaster Box

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s official, Cross Driven Radio is changing time slots

Charley — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:38:20 +0000

Cross Driven Radio Logo

After over 3 years producing Cross Driven Radio from my home studio, I am very pleased to announce that I am going to be changing timeslots to Friday nights at 8:00 Eastern. This change will take effect in July with the first live show airing on Friday July 10.

By changing days and times the show will be more accessibile to more people and will also allow for more creativity and increased opportunities to interact with listeners through phone calls and twitter.

Stay tuned for at least 1 more announcement about Cross Driven Radio in the coming days..

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: A Redneck Fashion Statement?

Charley — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:19:59 +0000

Redneck Tanktop..

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Mt. Rushmore Monday : 4 Smokin’ Guitar Solos

Charley — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:10:55 +0000

At long last, I am back with another post in the Mt. Rushmore series. One of my favorite things about rock music is the guitar solo. When executed properly, they can take a song to a higher level of connection between artist and listener. When it doesn’t fit, it can leave you wondering what in the world just happened.

The premise of Mt. Rushmore is to pick my top 4 in a given subject with a brief explanation, and for you the blog reader to reply back with your thoughts, or better yet, your own Mt. Rushmore. These are my top 4 in no particular order:

1. Lay My Burdens – Disciple Brad Noah on Guitar
This is one of my favorites because the solo in this song is so powerful and really has a unique way of blending in with Kevin Young’s vocal.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rScdVXqnzyk]

2. Rex Carroll – White Cross
I have blogged before about witnessing a White Cross reunion at GMA a couple of years ago. I met him on the street and he is one of the most humble musicians I’ve ever met. What he can do with 6 strings and an amp is beyond words, watch for yourself from 1991…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrtBhHuSwjc&feature=related]

3. Tony Palacios – Guardian / Solo Artist / Producer
Tony Palacios is the guitarist for Guardian (now House Of Guardian) and they were an 80′s rock powerhouse. Along with Stryper, they were one of the first Christian artists to cross over into the general market and sign with a general market label. Tony has released a solo cd showcasing his guitar mastery and has produced some excellent cd’s including High Flight Society.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0LtyTwASnk&feature=related]

4. Oz Fox – Stryper
What can I say? It was watching Stryper on an after school special back in 1979 that changed my life and let me know that Christian music was not all hymns and Amy Grant and Debby Boone. (Not that the music was bad, I was/am a rocker and that was all I heard during that time ) Like all of us, they had there share of hard times, but they are back now and better than ever with a new record coming out this summer. Check this out!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z5xaIAMcwk]

There you have this weeks Mt. Rushmore. Who would you add? Who is on your Guitar Solo Mt. Rushmore?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wordless Wednesday: Where I want to be..

Charley — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:35:08 +0000

Virginia Beach Fishing Pier

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The times, they are a changin…

Charley — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:55:50 +0000

Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who That it’s namin’.
For the loser now Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.
Bob Dylan

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about change being on the horizon. That change is now starting to come clear. In the very near future, Cross Driven Radio will once again be broadcast live from the Fairfax studios of WEBR.

As many of you know, I have been producing the show from my home studio since 2006. Although I don’t have specific details yet, I can tell you that Cross Driven Radio will be heard on Friday nights. This is a great thing because I am planning on adding some things that I could never have done producing the show from my home studio.

Also on the change front, I am presently in design of the new Cross Driven Radio website. I have started to get really interested in doing web design and have already launched my first blog for a customer… exciting! Are there any changes going on in your life?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cross Driven Radio Podcast 17

Charley — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:40:03 +0000

On episode 17 of Cross Driven Radio, we feature an artist from down under (Lifetone) and an artist produced by a rising Christian music superstar and American Idol Alumnus (Rough Draft) and hear a blast from his past (Half Past Forever).

Today’s music includes:

Streetlights An Roads – Erika Soto
We’re Not The Losers – Lifetone
When I Am Lost – My Second Chance
Give It All - Praise Out Loud
Pressing On – The Access
Winded – Rough Draft
Hero – Half Past Forever
The Forecast – Bracing For Downpour

Theme music is Fakeout by Derek K. Miller

We welcome your feedback. You can contact us via email, toll free at 1-888-634-1147. If you get a chance, please give us a review on iTunes.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.