04/11/2008
Sarah Kelly Featured on CMCentral.com!
Not only is Sarah Kelly a great rocker, she’s also a lot of fun to talk with. The passion and excitement that come across in her music flow abundantly from her very honest and engaging personality. Anyway, CMCentral caught up with her just a few days after the Oscars in February.

CMCentral (Kevan Breitinger): So Sarah, I read on your blog that you just played an after-Oscars party?

Sarah Kelly: Yeah, for Billboard. It’s so crazy, isn’t it?

That sounds like fun, was it?

It was awesome. Cirque du Soleil was there and they did a lot of great stuff, and there were a lot of people contributing to United Way, so it was a great thing to be a part of. And it was completely star-studded, a lot of people there, so it was an incredible opportunity for me to play.

I’m glad they got a chance to hear your music.

It was amazing, so great, and they really liked it.

Well, of course!

(Laughing) Thank you. People were so supportive; I was surprised how much they really liked it. You’re used to that kind of support in a church, but out there you never know if they’re gonna love you or hate you.

You can find the whole article here:

http://www.cmcentral.com/interview/7751.html
03/31/2008
GOTEE RECORDS NOW FULLY INDEPENDENT COMPANY
(Nashville, Tenn.) March 31st, 2008 – Gotee Records, known for their boutique approach to finding and nurturing musical talent, is now a fully independent company after purchasing the minority stake back from EMI Christian Music Group.

Begun in 1994, Gotee Records is positioned to re-focus on artist development, while also becoming a hybrid publishing company via EMack Music.

“Gotee Records and Emack Music are moving forward in a proactive and strategic fashion, and we plan to re-calibrate ourselves for the new consumer we’re now encountering in this business,” says co-founder and label President Joey Elwood, “Our next phase will obviously be heavily weighted on the digital market and how to engage that consumer.”

Label co-founder and CEO Toby McKeehan, a hugely successful artist in his own right (dcTalk, TobyMac) adds, “Gotee was born of an artist heart, so we will continue to be an entity focused on arts and artists. Since our beginning with acts like Out of Eden, GRITS, Jennifer Knapp, SonicFlood; into the years of Relient K, Ayiesha Woods, and Family Force 5, we feel confident in our ability to bring relevant and moving art to the people. EMI CMG played a very strategic role in our company’s history and they will always be part of our roots as we move forward.”

TobyMac and dcTalk will remain on EMI CMG’s Forefront roster as recording artists and EMI CMG Publishing will continue to administer their publishing catalogs. In addition, the two Relient K albums released on Gotee/Capitol Records, MMHMM and Five Score and Seven Years Ago, will remain as part of EMI’s catalog.

One key element of this transition is a shift from configuration-based contracts to content-based contracts. The talent signed to the label will be constantly creating and releasing music, and in return the marketing will be ongoing. The family-oriented label has reached more than 70 million dollars in gross sales, selling nearly 8 million albums to date. Gotee Records has also racked up five albums as certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as well as garnering four GRAMMY nods, 12 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and over 60 Dove Award nominations.

Moving forward in 2008 fans can anticipate new music from GRAMMY-nominated songstress Sarah Kelly (4/1), debut act Stephanie Smith, digital campaigns for rapper-extraordinaire John Reuben and House of Heroes (spring/summer), and music from both breakout artist Ayiesha Woods (July) and Family Force 5 (August).

Gotee Records touts one of the most diverse artist rosters in the Christian music industry today. Launched in 1994 with their first signing, the sister-trio Out of Eden, Gotee is now home to Family Force 5, John Reuben, Sarah Kelly, Ayiesha Woods, Stephanie Smith, B.Reith, and Relient K.
03/20/2008
FF5 begins the "Skeletour"!
Family Force 5 will hit the road for their 14-city Skeletour and the Rock-n-Roll Champions of the Universe tour. The Maine (Fearless Records) and Ivoryline (Tooth & Nail) will join them on the club circuit that kicks off on April 3rd in Dallas, TX and continues throughout the West coast ending in Portland, OR on April 20th. Full tour date listings and tickets can be found online at http://ymamusicgroup.com/familyforce5/skeletour2b.php

Following on the heels of their smash-success debut Business Up Front, Party In The Back, the next Family Force 5 album is slated for a late summer release. Fans can anticipate a preview of the new songs on the April tour run.

Guitarist Chap Stique says, “We used to always say, ‘if theTransformers became a rock band, it would be Family Force 5.’ But the second record turns it up to 11. Now, we're more like the Delorean from Back to the Future...but the Delorean became a Transformer that slays dragons, travels through time, and kills monsters with mullets!”

With an escalating fan popularity since their 2006 debut Business Up Front, Party In The Back, Family Force 5 has been catapulted onto the music scene with a performance on CBS TV’s The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, two performances on DIRECTV’s CD USA, music video play on MTVU.com, and a win as Yahoo! Music’s “Who’s Next” contest. The band’s freshmen effort has sold over 110,000 copies while racking up two #1 rock radio hits, “Replace Me” and “Love Addict” at Christian radio. The band tours over 200 dates a year including 2006’s Journeys Backyard BBQ Tour, 2007’s Van’s Warped Tour and their Dance, Rawr, Dance Tour where they played 16 sold-out shows and awed over 16,000 people. 2007 was also punctuated with an online Family Force 5 surge including 1,200,000 views of the band’s “Really Real” shows on You Tube, over 200,000 person community on the Family Force 5 MySpace site, and 10,000,000 online music plays. Led by front man and guitarist Solomon Olds (aka Soul Glow Activator), Family Force 5 includes Solomon’s two brothers Jacob Olds (aka Crouton) on drums/vocal, and his twin Joshua Olds (aka Fatty) on bass/vocals. The force of five is rounded out by Nathan Currin (aka Nadaddy) on keyboard and Derek Mount (aka Chap Stique) on guitar.

Check out the band at www.myspace.com/familyforce5
10/02/2007
Pre-Order RELIENT K's Chirstmas album, "Let it Snow Baby...Let it Reindeer," and get a free Relient K Christams stencil.
If you love free stuff and great deals, then you have come to the right news section. You can get a free Relient K Christmas stencil when you pre-order the new Relient K Christmas record. Your cost is only $9.97, and you will be sent an amazing collection of Christmas tunes, as well as a stencil to fill your Trapper Keepers with holiday magic. To take advantage of this merry deal go to Gotee.com
08/27/2007
HIP HOPE 2008 RELEASES AUGUST 28TH ON GOTEE RECORDS Compilation Series Showcases The Top Hip-Hop Artists On The Scene
(Nashville, Tenn.) July 26th, 2007 – Hip Hope 2008, the only industry-wide compilation of hip-hop music, releases on Gotee this August 28th and will spotlight the top artists on the scene and include three exclusive tracks as well. This fourth installment of the Hip Hope compilation series will include 16 tracks from hip-hop best-sellers such as TobyMac, GRITS, KJ-52 and career pioneers like John Reuben, LA Symphony, DJ Maj and Mars ILL. The album will also showcase up-and-comers Group 1 Crew, Soul P, Just Live, 116 Clique, Lyrycyst. As a bonus, there are three exclusive songs on Hip Hope 2008 including one from crunk rockers Family Force 5 with debut recordings from both Diverse City (TobyMac’s band), and GabeReal (of TobyMac’s band). “I can’t underscore the significance of the Hip Hope series in the CBA marketplace” says Joey Elwood, president of Gotee Records. “Not only are we trying to provide a platform for a very influential and important genre of music for today’s youth, but also convince the gatekeepers of this industry that a market does indeed exist for hip hop consumers that are Christians. Hip Hope is meant to serve as a catalyst to expose artists who would not have the opportunity to be on a commercial release, as well as aggregate the “best’ in Christian hip hop so a clear look at the size of the buying audience can be viewed from year to year as the brand is developing.” In support of the Hip Hope series, Gotee Records has partnered with TVU Music Television to produce a one-hour Hip Hope special featuring John Reuben as guest VJ. TVU, owned by Spirit Communications, is a 24-hour music video television network that targets 12-24 year olds with a message of hope and encouragement. The network can be found on SkyAngel’s direct-to-home DSB satellite system and online at RADIOU.COM. and TVULIVE.com. The Hip Hope TV special will air late August and into September. TRACK LISTING 1. BOOMIN’ - TOBYMAC 2. WHATCHA GONNA DO WITH IT - FAMILY FORCE 5 (unreleased) 3. OPEN BAR – GRITS 4. MAKE MONEY MONEY – JOHN REUBEN 5. ALL MY PEOPLE – GABEREAL (unreleased) 6. DO YO THANG – KJ-52 7. LET IT ROLL - GROUP 1 CREW 8. BOUNCE – MANAFEST 9. HEAR MY CRY – SOUL P 10. BACK TO CENTER – DJ MAJ 11. RISE – LA SYMPHONY 12. PARTY (CITIZENS COME OUT) - DIVERSE CITIZENS (unreleased) 13. BOLLA ATCH HOY – JUST.LIVE 14. SHOWBIZ – LYRYCYST 15. MOVE SOMETHIN – WILLIE WILL 16. WHEN HEAVEN SCRAPES THE PAVEMENT – MARS ILL