Subscribe to Christianity Today
Subscribe to Christianity Today
Donate to Christianity Today
November 22, 2009
Free Newsletters:
RSS Feeds | Audio | Twitter

Home > Music > News > 2009 |  
THE SCOOP
Myriad Returns; Drummer Battles Cancer
Randy Miller will return to chemo after fall tour. Plus: Hillsong United hits the silver screen; FFH returns; Chynna Phillips on Oprah; and more.



Last year, The Myriad crossed over from the Christian scene to the mainstream when the band beat 4,000 other entrants to win the "MTV2 Dew Circuit Breakout" competition. Their videos were spun in regular rotation, they scored a series of "Discover and Download" and "Artist of the Week" segments, and they earned a soundtrack slot on Xbox's Rock Band.

But the band got some bad news when drummer Randy Miller was diagnosed with cancer. They took the last eight months off, and while Miller is still fighting stage four of the disease, his doctors just him clearance to return to the road this fall, touring with Tyrone Wells and Matt Hires to benefit The Humane Society's "All Creatures Great and Small" campaign. The group also hopes the dates will give Miller (who returns to chemotherapy treatments the day after the tour) a new lease on life while inspiring fans.

"We had no idea that Randy would actually prove to be a better drummer than we had ever seen in the past," frontman Jeremy Edwardson blogged about the rehearsal sessions. "He was secretly immersing himself in drummer videos and practicing at least an hour a day. He later told us his fight, his battle, was more than beating cancer. He wanted to come out a better husband, father, drummer, and ultimately a better man of God."

Hillsong United hits the silver screen

Hillsong United fans can do "Wednesday night church" on Nov. 4 when the Australian worship group hits 500 movie theaters in a live telecast. The program includes a screening of Hillsong's social justice documentary We're All in This Together, plus a live introduction by Hillsong United's lead singer Joel Houston, along with taped concert footage from the group's home church Sydney. For a trailer click here; for a list of participating theaters, click here.

FFH returns

Three years since its last studio CD, pop group FFH returns with Wide Open Spaces on November 10. The project follows a sabbatical when frontman Jeromy Deibler and his wife and fellow group member Jennifer moved to South Africa to mentor worship leaders. Their recent journey is all chronicled on the album. "The time away has been anything but routine," said Deibler in a press release. "Since our departure in 2006, Jennifer and I have moved to Africa and back, welcomed our second child, and dealt with my MS (Multiple Sclerosis) diagnosis. … The waiting has been hard, but the Lord knew we needed a break to deal with some deeper issues, both physical and spiritual, that just couldn't be dealt with while on the road. We now feel like it's time to renew our connection with our audience and start telling them about this chapter in our story."

Chynna Phillips on Oprah

Attention continues to mount behind Chynna Phillips' upcoming Christian debut. The 10 million-album selling member of Wilson Phillips recently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to plug her new duo, Chynna & Vaughan, and their CD One Reason, which streets October 5. Groupmate Vaughan Penn is also known for her soundtrack contributions to The Hills and Grey's Anatomy, plus extensive mainstream touring.

Songwriter turned solo star

His songwriting credits include Point of Grace, 4Him and Avalon (to name a few), resulting in six gold records and two Dove nominations. But these days John Mandeville is going the solo artist route, releasing the CD We Belong To Heaven and finding additional success at radio. The album's lead single "Glorify" is No. 5 on Billboard's Soft AC/Inspirational chart, its fourth consecutive week in the top 10.




E-mail this pageWrite CTPrint this articlePost a comment





  


Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only.

If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.


Click here for international orders2-for-1 Gifts!

[Reader Reviews]
Average User Rating: Not rated

The allotted time for commenting has ended.

sponsors 








[Browse More Christianity Today]

Search






















Search by Name
Or use Advanced Search to search by program, region, cost, affiliation, enrollment, more!

Search by:





Books & Culture
Christianity Today
Church Law & Tax Report
Church Finance Today
Leadership Journal
Men of Integrity
Outcomes
Kyria.com
Your Church
ChristianityTodayLibrary.com
PreachingToday.com