Redeemed ‘musician’s musician’ Bryn Haworth focuses on those often forgotten

Guitar hero Bryn Haworth feels free in prison. But the well-known British singer-songwriter isn’t serving time. He’s sharing his faith—and giving away copies of an album made for inmates.

Called Inside Out, the CD is a unique compilation of 16 tracks from Haworth’s long and successful career in gospel and blues. More than 2,000 copies have been distributed to prisoners. 

Haworth also is planning a new prison CD, Time Out, along with “a mostly acoustic, blues-style album for general release,” he said.

Haworth’s ministry commands respect among Christian store managers.

“He’s been a real mainstay of Christian music through its formation,”  said Melanie Carroll, manager at Unicorn Tree Books & Crafts in Lincoln.

Indeed, Haworth is celebrated as a “musician’s musician” who has played for mainstream acts like The Velvet Undergound’s John Cale and Gerry Rafferty of “Baker Street” fame. His career saw him rubbing shoulders with Jimi Hendrix, The Moody Blues and Isaac Hayes.

Supported by Music in Ministry Trust, Haworth has been visiting prisons for more than 20 years. Taking time for prayer, he has seen physical healings. 

As for the future, Haworth said he wants “to be as effective and as useful as possible in kingdom terms, because there’s nothing else.”

Dutch Christian trade organization hosts Silver Dove Awards

Dutch Christian trade organization BCB presented its second annual Silver Dove Awards (Zilveren Duif Awards) in November. The organization hosted a gala dinner during its Christian Music Week to honor the winning artists.

In 2012, BCB organized a gala concert, but this year held a dinner for 300 guests, during which the awards were presented. Awards were given in the following categories: Best Album, Best Album Devotional Music, Best Instrumental Album, Best Children’s Album, Best Song, Silver Dove Incentive Prize and Oeuvre Prize, a lifetime achievement award. Wim Pols won the Oeuvre Prize because of his honors in Christian music for more than 40 years.

Nominated artists performed at the event, which was broadcast live by commercial radio station Groot Nieuws Radio (Great News Radio). 

“The night concluded with an after-party that had a great atmosphere and the chance to meet one another, to network and to listen to some more live music,” the BCB said.

The awards are operated through Christian bookstores. Every customer who spends a sum of at least 12,50 euros (the equivalent of $17.16 at press time) on CDs in one of the shops received a free promotional CD.

In May and June, a nominations committee judged the CDs that have been submitted, and selected a certain number of them for nomination. Toward the end of August, nominees were announced and voting began. Voting was conducted by jury, a select group of music experts and the general public. 

In preparing for the week, BCB offered retailers the opportunity to attend a free workshop. This year a music critic discussed the history of Christian music, and a company called Small Stone Media offered instruction on music rights. 

BCB said the primary goal of Christian Music Week is to increase interest in the gospel. A secondary goal is to draw people to the Christian bookshops. 

For a complete list of nominees and winners, visit www.zilverenduif.nl.

Christian Resources Exhibition took on indigenous flavor

National independence, the Commonwealth Games and a new TV series based on Scripture were just some of the significant issues highlighted at the Christian Resources Exhibition (CRE) Scotland.

Around 1,600 visitors and exhibitors converged on Scotland’s biggest outdoor- indoor venue—the Royal Highland Center, Edinburgh—for the two-day event.

CRE Scotland ran the Nov. 27-28 event as a stand-alone exhibition in Scotland for the first time in six years. It was also its first time under the ownership of Bible Society (England and Wales).

As visitors entered the venue, they were offered free church resources from Damaris Trust to make the most of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s The Bible.The epic 10-hour series of scriptural stories started its U.K. screening later that week on Channel 5. 

Many CRE visitors packed out a seminar on “Scotland’s Future.” It was standing room only for the  lunchtime discussion, which examined biblical values in the context of a forthcoming referendum on Scottish independence. Scottish Bible Society Chief Executive Elaine Duncan led a panel of experts from the world of politics, business and the public sector to provide their viewpoint.

With the Commonwealth Games also coming to Scotland next summer, CRE hosted a major zone dedicated to the work of outreach agency More than Gold, supported by the Scottish Bible Society. 

Scotland’s ecumenical movement ACTS (Action of Churches Together in Scotland) also ran a major exhibition space, reflecting the cross-denominational flavor of the event. 

CRE also was strongly indigenous with “quite a few exhibitors who were Scottish-based,” Allen said.

Among them was Cambron Software of East Kilbride, which introduced its product Power Music, through which songs can be accessed instantly by church organists on their iPads—with hands-free page-turning.

Celebrating an “alternative Advent” was another theme at the exhibition. Gifts ranged from Indian spices to Christmas crackers, and from fair trade advent calendars to holy socks. Singing their praises was a puppet choirboy, courtesy of children’s ministry One Way UK.

Most visitors said the event was “exceptional” and “better than expected.” 

Allen was pleased that “all the exhibitors are asking us to come back again.”

Christian recording artists Scott Stapp, Jars of Clay offer aid to storm victims in the Central Philippines

The Tacloban City location of the Philippines Christian Book Store chain was seriously damaged in the wake of super typhoon Haiyan on Nov. 8. 

The store, on the island of Leyte in the Central Philippines, “was badly hit by the typhoon,” a representative of the retail chain told Christian Retailing.

The death toll from the typhoon—called Yolanda in the Philippines—had risen to 5,759 at press time, according to a report Dec. 5 from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the Philippines. More than 26,000 people were injured, and nearly 1,800 were still missing. Entire towns and cities, including Tacloban City, were left in ruins.

Some Christian recording artists have stepped up to help. Scott Stapp is donating 10% of all online merchandise sales through his store to Music for Relief, an organization founded by the band Linkin Park after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck South Asia. 

GRAMMY-winning band Jars of Clay is giving away “Fall Asleep,” a song from the album Inland (Gray Matters) through a special NoiseTrade offering to raise money for Philippine relief efforts. All of the proceeds from the single will be donated through the Red Cross, and the group hopes to raise $50,000.

The official music video for “Fall Asleep” was created in Manila, the Philippines’ capital. Directed by Filipino Luis Tabuena, it stars Filipina supermodel-actress Rhian Ramos.

“The video was done for us entirely for free, as a gift,” said Jars of Clay lead vocalist Dan Haseltine. “We are so grateful for the gift of such a stunningly beautiful music video. By using the video and the song as a means to raise funds to help in the cleanup and restoration efforts currently taking place in the Philippines, we felt it would be a wonderful way to respond in kind.”

Viewers are encouraged to watch the video, then download the song at NoiseTrade, leaving a tip for relief efforts.

“We are hoping to raise $50,000 to help serve the amazing people of the Philippines and will be working with the Red Cross to insure the funds are used properly and efficiently,” he said.

Don Pape will join NavPress as publisher Jan. 6. In his new role, Pape will lead the publishing team acquiring and developing new NavPress resources that will be brought to market by the company’s alliance partner, Tyndale House Publishers. Pape has served as vice president of trade books and multimedia at David C Cook for the past seven years.

“We are celebrating the addition of Don Pape to the Navigator family,” said Doug Nuenke, U.S. director of The Navigators. “We are excited for this next season with NavPress and increasing its important role in fulfilling our calling here in the U.S. and around the world.”

GRAMMY-nominated pop/rock group Superchick has said farewell to fans, releasing the band’s final project, Recollection (Inpop Records/Capitol Christian Distribution), in October. 

The CD/DVD combines five new songs with 11 of the band’s hits. One of the singles, “This Is The Time,” is to be featured in the Pure Flix film God’s Not Dead.

“The fans made us real,” Superchick’s founder and band member Max Hsu wrote on Facebook. “We stage-dived into the dark unknown and they caught us and carried us on their shoulders, record after record. Without them, we would have been gone years ago. These final songs are our love letter to everyone who carried us. They are some of our best songs, and I know as a band we’d all be crushed if no one got to hear them.”

Superchick has had a difficult year, suffering the loss of the band’s drummer, Chase Lovelace, who died of cancer. While many of the lyrics were written in hospital waiting rooms, the songs are still a celebration of life and hope.

“When he first started chemo, Chase called me to say, ‘Don’t finish the record without me; I’m coming back in the fall,’” Hsu recalled. “Some of Chase’s rhythmic creativity lives on in these songs. These new songs are dedicated to his fighting optimism and I hope they honor his memory.”

Recollection also takes listeners on a journey from the first Superchick song through to the present day. Having begun in the Chicago area, the band has been together for a decade.

Paul Brandt, The City Harmonic also have strong showings at the 35th annual event

Love & the Outcome took home four awards as GMA Canada presented its 35th Annual Covenant Awards in Burlington, Ontario on Nov. 6. The Canadian duo, whose self-titled debut album (Word Records/Word Distribution) was released in August, won New Artist of the Year and were presented with three awards for the group’s hit single “He Is With Us”—Song of the Year, Recorded Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year.

“We are blown away by the love and support of the Canadian Christian music industry and all of our friends and family who have walked this road with us,” said Love & The Outcome’s Jodi King. “We toured this beautiful country living out of our Jetta for two years, which is where the song ‘He Is With Us’ came from. We are so amazed by how God is using our story!”

Paul Brandt and The City Harmonic also received multiple awards in key categories. Brandt won Album of the Year and Country/Bluegrass Album of the Year for his Just As I Am (Brand-T Records/Universal) as well as Artist of the Year. The City Harmonic won for Group of the Year, while the group’s “Holy (Wedding Day)” was awarded Praise and Worship Song of the Year.

The Covenant Awards are presented annually as a part of GMA Canada Week. For a full list of this year’s winners, visit www.gmacanada.ca.