The highly anticipated, annual Christian metal and hardcore powerhouse tour, Scream The Prayer, has been announced for 2012. The tour with be headlined by Demon Hunter (on select dates), along with Emery, Sleeping Giant, Mychildren Mybride, Close Your Eyes, Hundredth, The Great Commission, Gideon, A Bullet For Pretty Boy, and Your Memorial. The current dates can be viewed below, and more are in the process of being announced. For more info on Scream The Prayer 2012, visit the tour's Facebook page.

06/22/12 - Nashville, TN @ Rocketown
06/23/12 - Douglasville, GA @ The 7 Venue
06/24/12 - Jacksonville, FL @ Murray Hill Theatre
06/26/12 - Charlotte, NC @ Amos Southend
06/27/12 - Richmond, VA @ Kingdom
06/28/12 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
06/30/12 - Dayton, OH @ The Attic Club
07/01/12 - Joliet, IL @ Mojoe's

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer BRYCE AVARY, known as THE ROCKET SUMMER, is gearing up to release his first independent full-length album LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS, available Tuesday, June 5 via his own AVIATE RECORDS. THE ROCKET SUMMER is currently out on the road supporting Switchfoot and playing select headlining dates along the way (dates below). Also in the works is a headlining run in support of the album release, with more info to come in the coming weeks.

Following two successful albums on Island/DefJam--2007’s Do You Feel and 2010’s Of Men And Angels--AVARY choose to return to his self-releasing, self-producing roots.  As with his debut breakout self-titled EP in 2001 and album Calendar Days in 2003--when he was 16 and 19 years old, respectively--LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS draws not only AVARY’s undeniably talents as a songwriter, musician and producer, but adds the heft of a young man with a tremendous pool of experience for someone still in his 20’s.

“I really wanted to push myself musically and lyrically with this album, searching to pull out the stories within and around me,” explains AVARY.  “I like to write songs that are an honest reflection of what’s going on in my life and in my mind while I observe and attempt to learn more about myself and this beautiful, intense world we live in."

As with previous albums from THE ROCKET SUMMER, AVARY wrote and performed every note on LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS.  Between sellout acoustic tour dates in the USA and numerous headlining and festival touring abroad, 2011 saw AVARY experimenting with numerous new sounds in the studio, sounds including mandolin, a banjo, some trashcans and even a typewriter.  His songwriting likewise stretched to a broader scope, examining the human existence with the advantage of both a strikingly personal eye experience and the experiential outlook of writers many years older. The result is a 12-track multi-dimensional collection that further establishes AVARY as a modern-day Renaissance man with the engaging outlook embodied in the album’s title LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS.

"To me, that phrase in a sense captures a bit of the human experience. I believe there's a song in everything,” AVARY says. “Literally everything you look at, you can pull a song out of it. We all have a song, we all have a story.”

With high-energy, bouncy moments on “Revival” and “Run And Don’t Stop,” sensitive and endearing sentiments felt on “Old Love,” the charming “200,000,” and the album’s emotional bedrocks “Soldiers” and “Just For A Moment Forget Who You Are,” AVARY is ready to share his story with the world.

For those attending THE ROCKET SUMMER/Switchfoot dates, AVARY is offering up a sneak-peek of the LP with an exclusive, free mp3 of the album’s lead-off track, “Run And Don’t Stop.” If that’s not enough, fans awaiting the new music can download a free live acoustic album Bryce Avary, His Instruments and Your Voices, now available at www.therocketsummer.com.


Catch THE ROCKET SUMMER on tour:

DATE

CITY
VENUE
Headlining shows

Sat
4/28
Wichita, KS
Groundzero
Sun
4/29
Bixby, OK
The Compound
Tue
5/1
Memphis, TN
Newby's
Wed
5/2
Nashville, TN
12th and Porter
w/ Switchfoot


Thu
5/3
Birmingham, AL
Samford University
Fri
5/4
Springfield, MO
Gillioz Theatre
Sat
5/5
Greenville, IL
Bond County Fairgrounds
Mon
5/7
Asheville, NC
The Orange Peel
Tue
5/8
Athens, GA
Georgia Theatre
Thu
5/10
York, PA
Pullo Family Performing Arts Center
Fri
5/11
Chattanooga, TN
Track 29
w/ Switchfoot


Wed
5/16
Selma, TX
Blue Bonnet Palace
Thu
5/17
New Orleans, LA
Tipitina's
Headlining show

Sun
5/20
Madison, WI
The Loft
w/ Switchfoot


Tue
5/22
Winnipeg, MB
The Garrick
Thu
5/24
Saskatoon, SAS
Louis' Pub - Univ of Saskatchewan
Sat
5/26
Calgary, AB
MacEwan Ballroom
Sun
5/27
Vancouver, BC
Commodore Ballroom

Track listing for LIFE WILL WRITE THE WORDS:

1.     Run and Don’t Stop
2.     Revival
3.     Prove It
4.     Old Love
5.     200,000
6.     Just for A Moment Forget Who You Are
7.     Circa 46
8.     Underrated
9.     Soldiers
10.  The Rescuing Type
11.  Scrapbook
12.  Ashes Made of Spades

www.therocketsummer.com
www.facebook.com/TheRocketSummer
www.twitter.com/#!/therocketsummer
www.youtube.com/RocketSummerChannel

Heath McNease is quite an interesting artist. His music is a split spectrum, one side hip-hop and the other singer-songwriter, which blend together for quite an eclectic result. McNease can be checked out on BandCamp, and his two newest releases, Thrift Store Jesus and The Nintendo Thumb Mixtape, are available as pay what you want (including free) download options right here.

To Speak of Wolves have posted the second song from their upcoming sophomore release, Find Your Worth, Come Home, titled "Je Suis Fini." The song can currently be streamed right here from AbsolutePunk.net. Find Your Worth, Come Home will be available in stores and online on May 22nd through Solid State Records.

Ascend The Hill have posted a new video, teasing their upcoming album, O Ransomed Son, which can be viewed below. The video contains a clip of the song "Even When I'm At My Darkest," featuring guest vocals from Thrice's Dustin Kensrue. O Ransomed Son will be available as a free download on Tuesday, April 17th, through Come&Live!.


O Ransomed Son - Teaser 1 from Ascend The Hill on Vimeo.

Gotee Records' rockers House of Heroes have posted a video previewing their upcoming album, Cold Hard Want, which can be viewed below. Cold Hard Want is out July 10th, and was produced by Paul Moak (Mat Kearney, Lovedrug, Seabird). The album's first single, "Touch This Light," will be on iTunes and AmazonMP3 on April 24th, but until then, visit ColdHardWant.com for more info.

Aradhna are quite an interesting duo, made up of Peter Hicks on guitar and Chris Hale on sitar, both doing their own sets of vocals as well. Aradhna make music with a passion, to provide a type of catharsis through their music, with the hope of the listener meeting God as a result. The music is certainly something to be marveled at, creating an atmosphere of joy and praise. The band have just released a new song, "Dharti," off their upcoming album, Sapna, which can be found at their Facebook, as well as tour dates. If you are going to Cornerstone Festival this summer, you can also be sure to catch Aradhna there as well.

Tallhart (formerly Marksmen), the latest edition to the Equal Vision Records/Rory Records family, are currently streaming their new EP, Bloodlines, over at Purevolume. Bloodlines will be out on Tuesday, April 10th, and can currently be pre-ordered from Merchnow for a limited time. Tallhart will be out on tour with Say Anything, across the US, starting on April 13th.

Often around Easter, I wonder why "Easter music" isn't as prevalent as, say, Christmas music. After much thought about this, I was blown away last April when Cool Hand Luke (aka Mark Nicks) released what would be their final album, Of Man. It only took a listen to determine what the album was about: the last days of Jesus' life on the Earth. With over 30 guest contributions to the album, Of Man is certainly something special. The music is cinematic, in an indie rock meets classical sense, and flows strongly along with the lyrics, from the somber, string and piano-laden moments of "The Last Supper" and "The Silver," to the climatic "His Eyes," documenting the crucifixion of Christ, in tense, angsty gang vocals, and even pain-filled screams. The whole album provides for a thought provoking listen, perfect for reflection on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, and is full of beautiful artistry. Of Man is highly recommended, and can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and AmazonMP3.

The past few years of the music industry have seen a rather vast emergence of independent music. Behind the decisions of the largely increasing independent artists lies a very empowering, vital tool; Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a site that allows artists to raise support for new albums, music videos, transportation, etc., and with each tier of donation, the fan can get a unique reward in return. In most cases, with new albums that need funding, Kickstarter serves as a pre-order platform, with rewards ranging from advanced downloads to autographed posters and limited edition, one of a kind merch. Using Kickstarter does come with a risk however: it is an all or nothing cause, meaning if the band doesn't raise their specified goal by a specific date, the artist doesn't make a penny, and those who pledged are not charged. Right now, a collection of band's that we've covered, and a few we haven't, are in the process of running Kickstarters, and they are in need of all the support they can get.

Showbread - Cancer: Everyone's favorite raw rockers are in the process of writing their upcoming album Cancer, and are raising money to release the album as a 100% free album download through Come&Live!, along with a feature film to accompany the release.

The Glorious Unseen - Lovesick: After a brief hiatus, indie worship band The Glorious Unseen will be recording and releasing their first new album in three years, without their former label, BEC Recordings. The album is titled Lovesick and has a tentative September 2012 release.

The OC Supertones - New Album: Like their other ska counterparts Five Iron Frenzy and The Insyderz, who reunited and used Kickstarter over the past year, The OC Supertones are taking a try at it, and are in the process of funding their first new album in seven years. Also, the band have released a new single titled "On The Downbeat," which can currently be downloaded for free at Noisetrade.

The Current - New Colors: One of the first bands we covered at CRR years ago were a great alternative rock band by the name of A Current Affair. Now, the band are back, simply named The Current, and are trying to reach their goal to release a new EP, with a new musical direction, named New Colors.

Silverline - New Album: Some may know Silverline from their high energy singles that have graced rock radio over the past three years, but the band are finally heading into the studio to record their first full length effort, after a series of EPs.

Spoken - New Album: Spoken are starting a new chapter of their career, with an apparent new direction, still fronted by Matt Baird. This will be their first new release in quite some time, and in only a day, the band have already raised over 60% of their needed goal.