Artist Spotlight - Salvador

For Nashville-based jam band, Salvador, great music was incubated in the blistering Texas sun, birthed on the road for umpteen days a year, and nurtured by an unwavering commitment to the collective creative process. The eleven songs on their sixth studio album, Aware, amply demonstrate the virtue of the American work ethic in producing fresh expressions of worship that are at once culturally relevant, original, and actually sound effortless, seamless, spontaneous.

He points to the album’s title cut, “Aware,” as an example of the band’s new mindset. “Our fast-paced lifestyle often causes us to blow past the basics,” Nic Gonzales muses. “I think most Christian songs express thanksgiving for the things God gives us. But we wanted to take a different approach to thankfulness. Our heart’s cry is that we would be aware of what is going on around us, that God would create a fundamental change in me so that I would realize that everything that I am is not just about me.”

While the band’s approach to crafting songs continues to evolve, one that thing has remained steadfast is the marriage of their personal devotion to God with their dedication to the craft of live performance. Their inspired improvisational skills have translated into an enthusiastic word-of-mouth reputation for emotionally-charged live shows, but it is their heart for worship, their insistence on promoting God rather than themselves, that infuses Salvador and continues to electrify crowds whenever they perform.

“Salvador is an ever evolving jam band,” Nic explains. “Every show is different. There is no set list. The guys don’t even know what is coming next. They just hear the chord that sets up the next song, and then off we go. When you can do that it’s magic.”

Salvador is an amalgam of talent from across the Western Hemisphere. Drummer Ben Cordonero hails from Nicaragua by way of Miami. Keyboardist Chris Bevins, who also handles some of the co-writing chores calls Nashville home. Josh Gonzales on the Bass still resides in Austin, and Nic relocated to Music City after his marriage to superstar, Jaci Velasquez last year.

Whether rattling the rafters with thundering, anthemic rock ‘n’ roll or soothing the soul with a gently meandering ballad, Salvador creates music that scratches an indelible groove in your grey matter. Aware nails that rare synthesis of spontaneity and expertise with an inspired collection of uptempo, pop-rock worship songs. Many in the industry have declared Aware to be the best that Salvador has ever recorded. Nic says simply, “This is what I have to offer. It is the accumulation of the best that I am right now.”

Discography

• Live in Austin - Release Date: 1999, Label: (independent)
• Salvador - Release Date: 2000, Label: [Myrrh/Sony]
• Into Motion - Release Date: 2002, Label: [Word]
• Worship Live - Release Date: 2003, Label: [Word]
• Con Poder - Release Date: 2003, Label: [Word]
• So Natural - Release Date: 2004, Label: [Word]
• Que Tan Lejos Esta El Cielo - Release Date: 2005, Label: [Word]
• Dismiss the Mystery - Release Date: 2006, Label: [Word]
• Aware - Release Date: 2008, Label: [Word]
• How Far is Heaven: The Best of Salvador - Release Date: 2009, Label: [Word]

Check out Salvador at Amazon.com

Info taken from http://salvadorlive.com/about/

Artist Spotlight - Kierra "KiKi" Sheard

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Sheard spent her formative years surrounded by the strong influences of her family, their faith, and their music. At age 6, she began singing in the choir at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ, pastored by her father Superintendent J. Drew Sheard. Even at a young age, Sheard had a preternatural grip on the signature "Clark sound" pioneered by her mother and aunts.

Sheard made her stage debut at the age of 10 duetting with her mother on the Twinkie Clark-penned "The Will Of God", the standout closing track from her mother's debut solo album Finally Karen in 1997. The song won a Stellar Award for Best Children's Performance the following year. In the years following, she honed her skills as a performer accompanying her mother on stage. By 2003, EMI Gospel sign[ed] Kierra to her first recording contract.

Kierra is currently a freshman at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan where she is studying entertainment law. Though originally a criminal justice major, the decision to switch to entertainment law was definitely influenced by her growing career in the gospel music industry.[5] Though her touring schedule has been curbed to accommodate her academic goals, Sheard did embark on a Japanese tour with her mother Karen Clark-Sheard in August 2006.

In addition to performing at the 2007 Stellar Awards, ("Why Me?"), Sheard appeared on BET's Celebration of Gospel standing in for Faith Evans in "Endow Me" (as popularized by Sheard's aunts) along with Coko, Lil' Mo, and Fantasia. Sheard also sang with her mother for A Tribute to Aretha Franklin.


Discography

•  I Owe You - Release Date: 8/10/2004, Tracks: 10, Label: EMI Gospel
• Just Until... - Release Date: 8/2/2005, Tracks: 9, Label: EMI Gospel
• This Is Me - Release Date: 6/27/2006, Tracks: 13, Label: EMI Gospel
• Bold Right Life - Release Date: 10/28/2008, Tracks: 10, Label: EMI Distribution

Check Kierra out on Amazon.com.

Info from http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/artistdetail.php?artist_id=579