1 of 1

Five Iron Frenzy, one of Christian music's funnest (and funniest!) bands, is calling it quits … but not before giving fans a couple more CDs and a farewell tour.

The band, featured on our cover a few years ago at the height of "ska mania," made the announcement on its website (fiveironfrenzy.com).

"After 2003, FIF will not be recording more songs or playing any more shows," the announcement said. "After meeting with our pastor and spending several days in prayer and meetings, we have decided that it is time for us to move on."

But FIF plans to go out in style with:

• An April CD of funny songs and B-sides, tentatively titled Cheeses of Nazareth.
• A summer CD, their final studio album, initially available only at FIF concerts. (It'll be in stores in '04.)
• A number of summer music festival gigs.
• A farewell tour from September to November, ending in FIF's hometown of Denver.

"God used FIF as a vehicle to change many people's lives (ours included)," the band said. "Our message has always been that God is an unchanging constant, and that through Christ one can receive peace, love, hope and faith. We hope you will come and see us on our farewell tour so we can say goodbye."

Christian rock band Skillet is making a difference. They recently received an e-mail from a 16-year-old girl who was into drugs and alcohol and had a baby by the time she was 15. The girl was depressed and had planned to commit suicide the night of a Skillet concert—but not until after the show. She wrote: "My life changed completely at that concert." Recalling frontman John Cooper's words from the stage, she said they "hit me like a lightning bolt, and suddenly I wanted to live, and to live only for God. That night I prayed with someone at the church and became a Christian."

Skillet recently recorded its first DVD, Alien Youth: The Unplugged Invasion (Ardent), before a live studio audience (shown above). The video includes acoustic versions of the band's best songs, plus photos, a Bible study, and a Q&A with John on hot topics. Check it out: alienyouth.com.

The guys in the hip-hop duo GRITS are disgusted by the shake-your-booty videos on MTV. So they wrote "Video Girl"—on their latest CD, The Art of Translation (Gotee)—as a response. "So many young girls are sent the wrong message," they say. "As men of God, we must take on the responsibility to fight against this. We have sons and we don't want them to have to battle the stronghold of lust." grits7.com.

So you, your brother and a friend form a band. You've got everything covered but the keyboards. So you ask. … Dad?!? That's just what One Cross did. The Canadian hard-rock band includes three teens—brothers Shawn (drums, vocals) and Michael Cavallo (guitar), and friend Lucas Wright (bass)—plus the "old guy," Mike Cavallo on the keys. Meanwhile, Mom Dianne is the band's manager.

One Cross has shared the stage with P.O.D., Audio Adrenaline, Skillet and others. More: onecross.net.

Jennifer Deibler of FFH was window-shopping in New York recently when a photographer asked to take her picture for an ad. Jennifer posed in Furla—an Italian purse shop—while holding two bags up high. Two months later, the image appeared in a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal and then in Time magazine. More on Jennifer and the band at ffh.net.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.

 1 of 1

share this page

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address 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.