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Sonicflood
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SONICFLOOd ('sä-nik 'flud): noun - 1. refers to the cleansing
flood that God washes over us as He gets rid of the old in
us and creates the new; 2. modern rock praise and worship
band, continuing to remain on the cutting edge of the youth
praise and worship movement in the United States.
SONICFLOOd
isn't your typical modern rock Christian music band. Not that
you can tell from their music-their edgy-pop melodies rival
any top selling bands on the market. Nor can you tell from
media coverage-having been featured in and on the covers of
today's top Christian magazines (Release Magazine, CCM Magazine,
New Man Magazine, Campus Life and Breakaway Magazine) as well
as main-stream publications (Billboard and Keyboard magazines).
There record sales have resulted in an RIAA certified Gold
Album (over 500,000 units sold) and they will travel to over
120 cities playing before over 400,000 people in the year
2001 alone. But they are not typical...they are leaders in
the Christian music industry and are redefining the face of
Christian music today. In fact in just 18 months SONICFLOOd
has redefined the roll of praise and worship not only within
Christian music, but also within America. With a vision and
calling that has "always been about worship and joining
God in His will and purposes," the short life of SONICFLOOd
has truly been about praising God for his works of renewal
and challenging others to do the same. Praise and worship
music is where it all began with this band of worship leaders,
and is where the focus continues to stay. While there has
been a notable growth in modern praise and worship music internationally
for the last several years, SONICFLOOd has taken its place
on the frontline of the worship movement developing in the
United States. For the last year SONICFLOOd has captured both
critical and popular acclaim with their progressive and original
stylings of popular and original worship songs, solidifying
the role of not only SONICFLOOd, but also of praise and worship,
in contemporary Christian music today. And it's no wonder.
In just one year SONICFLOOd has seen success that has traditionally
been reserved for veteran acts in Christian music. Nabbing
three of the Gospel Music Association's respected Dove Award
nominations (New Artist Of The Year, Rock Recorded Song Of
The Year, and Praise and Worship Album Of The Year), SONICFLOOd
took home the award for Praise and Worship Album Of The Year.
Radio has honored them with two No. 1 singles ("I Could
Sing Of Your Love Forever" and "I Want To Know You"),
and their debut album, also titled SONICFLOOd, quickly flew
up the sales charts. Since it's release in March of 1999,
SONICFLOOd (the album) has consistently remained in the Top
10 of Billboards Christian music sales charts, having sold
over 500,000 units, thereby receiving certified gold status.
All honors for which SONICFLOOd is grateful, and accomplishments
that they cherish. But the bottom line remains bold and clear.
Amidst all the accolades and recognition, if SONICFLOOd isn't
central to its mission of ushering it's audiences into the
presence of God, it is missing the mark. One of the ways that
SONICFLOOd is walking out this mission began as a one-time
event in their hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Designed
to bring together believers to worship and pray for their
city, these events quickly became monthly meetings in Nashville
becoming known as SONICPRAISe. SONICPRAISe ('sä-nik 'prAz):
noun - 1. the meeting to either of believers to worship and
pray for their city; verb- 2. joining with fellow believers
within one's community while praising and crying out to God
for your city. The very first SONICPRAISe events were housed
at The Church, a former Nashville church turned urban nightclub.
The gathering was soon so large that it was moved into the
Ryman Auditorium, meeting the capacity of 1,700, and still
grew until finally housed in the Municipal Auditorium with
attendance reaching 4,500 people. As SONICPRAISe continued,
a monthly meeting of local pastors, church leaders and members
of SONICFLOOd ensued in an effort to pray for the city and
work toward involving their individual communities in the
vision of SONICPRAISe. In Fall 2000, SONICPRAISe hit the road
as a 32-city concert tour but with a different twist.
The mission
of the national tour was not simply to entertain. In each
city the mission was the same as in Nashville - to promote
unity and healing and to bring God's people together to change
the nation one community at a time. Said Rick Heil, bandleader
and spokesperson; "It is really an honor to tour and
see people around the country and the world that share our
passion for worship and a concern for their community. Each
night our mission is to challenge our audiences to pray for
their cities and ignite them to be worshipers of God."
In addition to SONICPRAISe, SONICFLOOd has participated in
many other organized worship events internationally. Last
summer they traveled to Europe to participate in the Flevo
Festival and to Nepal for a mission trip. Last May, the band
performed to over 30,000 at Passion One Day 2000 worship event
in Memphis, Tennessee, and in the same month SONICPRAISe was
made an official Billy Graham Association event in conjunction
with the Nashville Crusade. SONICFLOOd also traveled on the
spring leg of the Newsboys 72-city "Love, Liberty, and
Disco Tour." SONICFLOOd has a busy schedule this spring
that includes trips to the Phillipines and Canada and concerts
in more than 15 festivals and theme parks this summer. SONICFLOOd
is also currently working on music for a future studio album
with a yet to be confirmed release date. But one thing is
certain - that SONICFLOOd will remain true to the calling
that God has placed on the band, and will continue to lead
anyone within the radius of it's SONICPRAISe into a place
of worship and intercession for their communities.
 _.:Sonicflood
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