SUNDAY MORNING CHRISTIAN ARTIST TESTIMONIES

Nate Philips' Testimony
I was born in Glenwood Springs, CO on April 5th, 1981. I lived in a little mountain town called Carbondale for 10 years until my family moved to Aurora, CO in 1991. I spent my middle school years trying to fit in get in good with the “cool” kids. By the end of 8th grade, I was in with a cool group of guys that enjoyed music and having a good time(partying). Several of the guys in the group and I decided to start a band to “party and get chicks.” By God’s grace, He allowed me to stay free from a lot of pain by messing up with girls, but I started partying. At first, it was a casual, social, weekend-party experience. Our behavior continued and grew in strength for 2 years. By the end of my sophomore year of high school I was heavily involved in drugs--smoking marijuana everyday, several times a day to “get through the day.” I was drinking a lot, and experimenting with other drugs as well. I was pretty irritable and unhappy. I knew what I was involved with wasn’t God’s best for my life, but I was in a powerful downward spiral that I wasn’t able to beat. My wakeup call from the Lord came on July 3rd, 1997. I woke up that morning in an uncontrollable seizure that lasted almost 10 minutes. I was in a daze as I heard my mom in a panic on the phone with 911. Within a few minutes the ambulance took me to the emergency room for testing and follow up. After sitting in the emergency room all day, the doctor came in with the news, “you have a small, quarter-size tumor growing on your brain.” In shock we discussed the process of removing the tumor. We decided to operate as soon as possible, and scheduled a surgery for 5 days later. Although the surgery had a relatively small percentage for disaster, the five days prior to surgery gave me time to think about life--”what if I die?” I started questioning my life. What had I been living for, who is God to me, where would I go if I died in a couple days. I realized God wasn’t promising me tomorrow, and that He’s in control. On July 8th, the doctors removed the tumor in an 8 hour surgery. The surgery went good, and the rest of the summer I was in recovery mode--bed and rest. I spent more time thinking about life and God, and in the fall I started going to youth group. In youth group, I met us with all the guys in Foolish Things, and started learning more and more about God. On a fall retreat with the youth group, I asked God to forgive me for my sinful life, and I made Jesus Christ the Lord of my life.                                     Click on join and become a part of the AMP TEAM

Do not read this totally stupid

REALLY

One can’t really know about music without being obsessed with meaningless trivia. When I’m not too busy gracing NASA with my brilliant engineering innovations or educating the gravel-brained web-rabble with my refreshingly biting and funny-because-they’re-true satirical columns, I’m usually either listening to or reading about music. Sometimes I even do both at once, if I’m feeling particularly frisky. My mind is like a steel trap lined with buzzing joke-nodes, so I’m always catching information and remembering it and stuff. I figured it’s time to share a little bit of the music knowledge I’ve picked up over the years with my readers, since I’m basically the only connection a lot of people have to the world of knowing stuff.

 The band ZZ Top is named after the largest available size of top hats. Size ZZ top hats are made to fit hydro cephalic children in order to make them look more comical and less tragic. The band’s beards are representative of their Islamic faith.

 The Beatles have failed to die in their contractually agreed-upon order, leaving their heirs with the burden of costly contract lawsuits. Ringo was supposed to die first, no later than 1998. He was to be followed by Paul, then George, then John. After John Lennon’s murder, Yoko Ono filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ringo; she claimed that Ringo had John killed in order to breach the contract, allowing Ringo to live past 1998 semi-legally. The suit was settled out of court, a move which Ono’s lawyer James Gould called “tantamount to an admission of guilt.”

 Hip hop producer Just Blaze is not a person. Just Blaze is a supercomputer created by IBM to test whether machines could create fresher beats than humans. Gary Kasparov went head-to-head with the machine in 1999, but the computer’s production efforts were deemed superior.

 From 1973 to 1978, soul icon Marvin Gaye played Grimace, the phallic purple bell creature in McDonalds commercials. He was courted for the role because advertising executives believed he would lend the character a “lusty swagger.” He was dismissed after audiences complained of the creature’s strange sexual menace.

 Weezer is named in honor of Rivers Cuomo’s father, who is in an iron lung.

 In 1994, NWA rapper Ice Cube bashfully admitted that he had been unaware of the meaning of the word “nigga” when he was in the group. “I just thought it was a funny word,” he told Esquire magazine. “I thought Eazy made it up.”

 When played backward, the Creed song “My Sacrifice” reveals the message “I Amish, I heave Samsonite for you.” This alludes to Scott Stapp’s Amish upbringing and his former job as a baggage handler for United Airlines. Need proof? Click here for a sample.

 Jon Bon Jovi is deaf.

 Before finding fame as a musician, Neil Young recorded television laugh tracks. Most of the laughter heard on the third season of The Dick Van Dyke Show is Young’s. He overdubbed his laughter, sometimes as many as two hundred times, to create the effect of an audience laughing.

 Justin Timberlake has an honorary doctorate in English Literature from Rutgers University. It was awarded in the wake of his literary and musical success with “Cry Me a River,” an adaptation/deconstruction of the John Keats poem “Ode to a Nightingale.”

 David Bowie has a bit part in The Godfather Part II. He plays the infant Fredo Corleone in the sequences that depict Vito Corleone’s beginnings in New York.

 Guns ‘N’ Roses cancelled their reunion tour in 2002 due to a pregnancy scare involving lead singer Axl Rose. “Men can’t get pregnant,” said Rose, months later. “I wish somebody would have told me that.”

 Investigators assigned to the Notorious B.I.G.’s murder case concluded that, contrary to reports of his violent slaying, he actually died in the process of trying to cultivate an immunity to rat poison. He got the idea from “The Princess Bride.”

 Tori Amos, like all girls, has a weakness for sweets and wants a man to protect her.

 Every member of the independent rock band Pavement is, to this day, a virgin. While most of the band members just haven’t had the opportunity to lose their virginity, singer Stephen Malkmus and bassist Mark Ibold are celibate by choice. Malkmus claims that he is “just waiting for the right person to come along.” Other virginal pop stars include Zakk Wylde, Lou Barlow, Michael Jackson, Morrissey, Master P, David Crosby, and Willie Nelson.

 The late Johnny Cash was reportedly quite surprised with the success of his cover of the Nine Inch Nails ballad “Hurt.” “I recorded the song as a joke,” he told Spin magazine.

 In 2003, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees wandered into the Nevada desert and hasn’t been seen since. Careful observers might notice the colorful “Where’s Barry” signs posted on telephone poles throughout the state. Gibb is feared dead, but his friends and family hold out hope that he’s “stayin’ alive” out there.

 Joe Walsh (famed for her guitar work in The James Gang and The Eagles as well as her solo career) was a woman. She often performed wearing a fake mustache in order to sustain the illusion of maleness, since she feared that she would not be taken seriously if people knew she were female. She turned male in 1992, after being exposed to magic spores.

 Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was arrested in 1996 on the charge that he violently raped a sixteen-year-old fan. The charges were dropped days later, after the victim “walked it off.

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IS AM AND FM RADIO GOING AWAY?

Weekly Online Radio Audience Jumps More Than 30 Percent In Past Year

IS AM & FM RADIO GOING AWAY?

The answer is we don't know. We do know it's changing and changing fast. We at AMP believe it's going to become a very small part of the listeners world. It's not long before the web hits the automobile. When this happens , I hope Radio is ready, because they will be hearing a lot of static.

Mobile web is fixing to kick butt. We at AMP are getting ready to provide you with everything you need to catch the wave. Come join us at AMP and watch the future unfold before your very eyes.

The weekly audience of all forms of online radio is now at an estimated 76 million Americans age 12 and older, reaching 29 percent of the population and representing an increase of more than 30 percent from one year ago according to the new national survey from Arbitron Inc. and Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2012: Navigating Digital Platforms.

The study, released today, is the 20th in a series of studies dating back to 1998. Among the many other findings:

* Forty-four percent of all Americans age 12 and over own a smartphone, representing half of all cell phone owners
* Six in ten (61 percent) own a portable digital media device such as a smartphone, portable MP3 player or tablet; 40 percent own an Apple device (iPod/iPhone/iPad)
* Americans age 45 and older represent the largest percentage increase in social media usage in the past year, now up to 38 percent (from 31 percent in 2011)
* Seventeen percent of all cell phone owners have listened to online radio streamed in their cars by connecting their phones to their car stereo system; this is an increase of more than 50% in the past year when only 11 percent had ever done so
* Fifteen percent are registered users of daily deals services such as Groupon and LivingSocial

"We've been tracking the usage of online radio in this series since 1998, and this year's increase in weekly usage is the largest year-over-year jump we've ever recorded. The increased demand for online audio content, and the ever-expanding variety of that content, shows that online radio continues to be a resilient, adaptive media for the changing needs of today's consumer," said Bill Rose, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Arbitron Inc.

"The jump in weekly online radio usage is remarkable, but really a trailing variable to the rise in smartphone penetration, which has enabled much of that growth," said Tom Webster, Vice President of Strategy and Marketing, Edison Research. "The increasing ubiquity of the mobile web is profoundly altering the face of the world.

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AMY WINEHOUSE ELVIS PRESLEY SUCCESS

Amy Winehouse at the Eurockéennes festival in F

THEY HAD IT ALL.  OR DID THEY?

Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz.  Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

In 2007 she won a Brit Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times: once in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", once in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and once in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game".

Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July 2011. Her album Back to Black subsequently became the UK's best selling album.

Elvis Presley (1935–1977) Elvis Aaron Presley was born on Tuesday, January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi. In September 1948 when Elvis was 13, he and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After graduating from Humes High School in Memphis, Elvis took odd jobs working as a movie theater usher and a truck driver for Crown Electric Company... Born:  Elvis Aron Presley January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA Died:  August 16, 1977 (age 42) in Memphis, Tennessee, USA    What went wrong? They had it all, or did they? If they did, I don't want it. Success, what is your definition? Mine is simple. It is to use the gift God has given you to benefit others. That was not always my definition. At one time it was to get to the top of the music industry. I got very close  and when I got there I was miserable. I'm not going to give you some kind of magic solution. You need to find your own answer. I urge you to think long and hard before pursuing your career any further . However I will pose a few questions to get you started. 1. What if you made it to the top and your record deal was pulled out from under you? It happens every day! 2. What if you lost your voice?  It happens every day! 3. What if your musical talent was stripped from you due to  a physical illness? It happens every day! 4. What if your fans forget about you? It happens every day! Need I go on? I think not! Come join us as we find success together. Click on join and become part of the AMP TEAM.

Think about it!

SUNDAY MORNING CHRISTIAN RECORDING ARTIST TESTIMONY

Melissa Brock - Superchick Melissa Brock - Superchick Superchick is a contemporary Christian band that combines punk, pop, rock, rap and R&B to create their own  unique sound. The group debuted in 1999, fronted by sisters Tricia and Melissa Brock, who were both trained as opera singers.  They’ve recorded five albums, including their latest release, “Beauty from Pain” in 2005. This band takes their job seriously and believes that God has given them a platform for a reason.  They are on a mission – a mission to encourage youth to find their identities in God, not in the latest trend. To learn more go to: www.superchickonline.com I thought when I was all grown up and done with high school that I wouldn’t feel those emotions any more.  But it’s all kind of the same – we’re always looking for acceptance and for people to say, “We like you, come be our friend.”  It’s taken me a while, but I finally understand that the only true acceptance comes from God.  He accepts me just as I am, and because of that, I’m able to accept myself. When I was four years old we moved to Indiana.  My parents hadn’t been raised in Christianity, so church was not something that was part of our lives.  To them, Sunday was one of their only days off and going to church wasn’t something they were thinking about. My mom had a friend in the neighborhood named Carol, who really wanted me to go to Sunday school.  I think selling me on the idea was her discrete way of getting my parents into church.  She started telling me about how much fun I would have there with the other kids... there were stories and playtime ... and treats!  So I started bugging mom and dad about going. One day, my mom and I were driving to my grandpa’s house to celebrate his birthday and she needed to stop at her seamstress’ house on the way.  When we arrived, my mom parked the car in the driveway, which was at an upward incline.  She said she’d be just a second and told me to just sit there and wait.  Well, being four years old, I didn’t really just wait. I decided to mess with things in the car... until the car started rolling backwards. It rolled down the driveway, across a major road and should have continued rolling off a 30 foot embankment.  But instead, it went across the road and suddenly made a 90 degree turn and stopped when it hit a parked car. My mom came running out of the house freaking out, but the whole time I was calm, acting like there wasn’t anything wrong.  She said, “Melissa, how in the world did you know to turn the wheel just in time?”  And I look at her and replied, “Mommy, the angel turned the wheel, not me.”  Needless to say, my mom called my dad and said, “Okay, we’re going to church next Sunday.” To this day, I don’t remember seeing a physical presence in the car with me, but I  definitely remember feeling a sense of safety and security, like there was something there that protected me. What is amazing is that I had never been taught about Jesus or about angels, and I didn’t watch much television.  It just shows you that children do know things, and can see and feel things that most adults shut out. When I think about this incident, it always reminds me that very early on in my life, God desired to have me.  And now, regardless of what place I’m at, and regardless of what I’m going through – whether I’m in His presence or not – I can always remember that for some reason when I was four years old, God used me  and wanted me.  So when all else fails, I know that He does have a plan for me. When I was 12 years old I went forward at a church service, got baptized, and asked Jesus into my heart.  As the years have gone by and I’ve gone in and out of hard times in my life, I’ve realized that my salvation wasn’t just a one time thing.  There are so many times when I feel far away from God, you know, I feel like I haven’t spent time with him and I feel like I don’t even know Him any more.  For me, salvation is an every day choice when I wake up in the morning.  Every day I need to say, “God, I’m yours.  Today, I accept you and want to be your child and live my life for you.”  If I didn’t approach it that way, I’d become very relaxed in my faith, and not have a seeker’s heart.  Faith just doesn’t seem as fresh and new if you become too comfortable with it.  And I don’t want that - I want something that feels like it did when I was a brand new Christian. I went to a small Christian school my whole life.  When I was about 12 or 13 I started realizing that there was this whole acceptance thing that starts being demanded of you. I started worrying about the way I looked and thinking I wasn’t good enough.  I was always looking for something that would make people love me. And I remember not wanting to go to school because I didn’t think anybody would like me. Then one day a boy that I liked a lot told me I had chubby ankles.   If he thought my ankles were chubby I guess the rest of me must be too.  That weird, random comment started me on the road to the eating disorder, anorexia. I remember looking at things in the media that the world thought were beautiful and vowed I would do whatever was necessary to look like that too.  It was a gradual thing, it was like I talked myself into not feeling well.  As a result, I was eventually feeling sick to my stomach all the time and ended up not eating anything.  A couple of months went by and I was eating next to nothing – I lost 20 pounds and was unhealthy both physically and psychologically. I think people in my life noticed the changes in me, but they didn’t know what to do.  For parents, it’s scary to admit that their child has a problem that needs to be dealt with.  I thought being thinner would make me happy, but I just became more and more unhappy and got to the point of not knowing what to do.  My best friend at the time had just gone through an eating disorders program for bulimia, and I called her up one day and told her I thought I had a problem.  She referred me to some counselors and I talked with them, but she was really the key ingredient in my recovery.  I knew she loved me, and it helped so much to hear about how she dealt with her own eating disorder and what she went through.  Most importantly, she would tell me that the beauty we find in the world is not true beauty.  She told me I would only be happy when I saw myself as beautiful in God’s eyes and in the way that He created me.  I wanted to believe that, but I just didn’t feel it at all.  All I saw was ugliness. But one day, the way I viewed myself changed in a miraculous way.  Normally, I avoided looking at myself in the mirror because I didn’t like anything I saw there.  But one morning I got up to get ready for school and I did look in that mirror.  The only way I can explain it is that I had a “God moment.”   At that moment I felt like God said, “Okay, Melissa, you asked for it and now I’m going to show you.  The rest is up to you.”  I saw myself in a whole new light – not as an ugly, chubby teenager, but as a beautiful young woman in the image of God.  He gave me a vision of being His child and being His creation.  And I remember feeling that this was the acceptance and love that was going to be with me for the rest of my life – not what the world had to show me.  It was a real turning point in my life.  I was able to cling to that moment of truth and honesty and see myself as I truly was, a perfect creation. This encounter with God made me feel so much better about myself.  I think He knew I needed something like that to start on the road to being healthy again.  But it wasn’t like everything was perfect after that – it was a slow process of my family having to remind me to eat. There’s a song on our recording, Beauty from Pain, called Courage that’s specifically about my experience with anorexia.  When I started writing it, I thought it would be helpful to share my story for the kids who might be struggling with issues of acceptance.  Yet when the whole thing was done, I sat and listened to it  and started crying.  I realized that I’d left the bulk of my problems back in high school, but that this is something I still deal with every day.  I still struggle with feeling like I’m not good enough or pretty enough. Many people struggle with the same feelings of inadequacy, and the one thing I want you to understand is that you don’t have to feel like you need to tackle it all at once and then it will be better.  Because it’s a gradual process... it’s waking up every day saying, “God said I was beautiful today and I accept that.  And I’m going to choose to live this way.”  But the truth of the matter is, some days you don’t.  Some days, everything gets the better of me and I feel horrible about  myself. It’s really just Satan worming his way into my life, trying to convince me that I’m not good enough.   But I can grab hold of the truth and fight back with the knowledge that God loves me just exactly as I am ... chubby ankles and all  CLICK ON JOIN AND BECOME A PART OF THE  AMP TEAM