Nashville, TN – October 15, 2009 – They’re on a successful tour, their new project’s debut radio single, “Arise” is already at #3, they are obtaining steady record sales, and are garnering amazing project reviews. Yes, it’s Avalon, one of Christian music’s premier and award-winning vocal groups, who continue to feel Reborn with their latest project, just released September 15th on E1 Entertainment. Avalon, along with tour mates Selah, are halfway through their extremely successful tour, “An Evening with Selah & Avalon,” with most nights being performed in front of a sell-out crowd! Then, turn on the radio and you’re bound to hear “Arise,” the quartet’s first single off of Reborn. “Arise” is already at #3 on Billboard’s Soft AC/INSP Chart and continues to climb the charts every week.
Since its mid-September release to much acclaim, stellar reviews continue to roll in about Reborn:
“With pulsing keyboards, wall-to-wall guitars, palpitating bass lines, and authoritative vocal arrangements, each track cleanly advances from one to the next, casting the aggressive vision from the title track’s first downbeat to the final mega-worship strains of ‘Holy.’…You’d be hard pressed to find four finer vocals channeled in such a cutting edge musical atmosphere in Christian music today…Avalon’s first thirteen years in the biz will forever be in the CCM history books. Reborn is a good beginning to the next thirteen-plus years of Avalon history making.” - ChristianMusicToday.com
“The new album is a refreshing new rendition of a time-honored vocal group. It’s like the group has recharged their musical batteries. Reborn is more progressive than their usual style with a much bigger sound, but still with their familiar uplifting lyrics and spectacular harmonies. I imagine that when Avalon takes this on the road it’s going to be impressive…The group has certainly stepped outside of their comfort zone..” - AlphaOmegaNews.org
“Avalon has delivered a new project that gives its audience much more by way of the lush harmonies that we were first introduced to coupled with a lot of musical chances for an Avalon album…True to form, the Avalon harmonies are ever present, but a nice surprise is the use of overlapping the harmonies in the songs “Free”, “California” and “Alive”. Just take a listen to the song “Angels” and try to remember that you are listening to Avalon…Reborn re-introduces its audience to the re-invigorated, re-imagining of this quartet, and it is simply REFRESHING!” - TitleTrakk.com
Comments2 responsesWant to see your face in Avalon’s upcoming music video? Fill out this form and upload a photo of you at an Avalon concert or dressed up as an Avalon member or even just rocking out to Avalon’s new album “Reborn ” and your photo could be chosen to be edited into the music video! After you upload your photo, check out our brand new videos on HearItFirst.com/Avalon!
Who Is Avalon?
Listen to one track from the new Avalon album and get ready to throw any preconceived notions out the window! For a group with 21 chart topping singles, 6 Dove Awards, 3 Grammy nominations and even an American Music Award, it would be easy for Avalon to rest on their laurels and continue cranking out their slick brand of vocal pop. While the critically acclaimed foursome is certainly proud of the past, their first proper studio CD in over three years, Reborn, truly lives up to its title in both spiritual outlook and overall stylistic composition. Sure, you’ll still be listening to Christian music’s premiere vocal group, but the similarity between any previous Avalon albums and their most recent release ends right there thanks to this completely new, cutting edge, enthralling and unequivocally original record.
KEY:
JL> Janna Long
GL> Greg Long
AR> Amy Richardson
JR> Jeremi Richardson
C> Chris
C> So, this is very much a new season for you – all of you. Lots of different things happening. So, let’s talk about the new record, and then we go from there about everything else that has been happening with the group.
JL> I think this is our 13th studio record – at least that’s what they tell us. It’s called Reborn, and it released in August. I think it’s a little bit of a departure for those that are familiar with Avalon. Not so much of a departure that I think it is unrecognizable. But, we teamed up with a new producer and we dabbled in some new sounds. I think the lyrics on this record are some of the most in depth that we’ve ever heard – or at least certainly had in a long while – and I think that’s just a reflection of four people that have lived life a little bit, gotten married and started families, weathered some hardships, and seen over and over again God’s faithfulness in our life. Hopefully, our music reflects that.
You know, it’s an exciting time, we have two couples touring as the group now. Greg and I are married, and Jeremi and Amy are married, and we all have kids that travel with us. There are a lot of similarities right now, not that there hasn’t been in the past, but there is so much understanding between us because we’re in such similar places in our lives. I think it’s going to end up being, I think one of my favorite records, and from what we’ve already heard from our fans, one of theirs as well. I think our fans were ready for something new from us as it had been a couple of years since we had a full-length studio record. The lyrics are very powerful and have reflected some of what we have weathered over the last couple of years.
C> Well obviously it is a departure – but the one thing I noticed when I listened to the record was that, yes, while this is a bit of a different sound for you guys, there are still those key Avalon elements that people have grown to love from you guys in the record as well. You used a new producer, Ian Eskelin, who has a much heavier background in rock music than the flavor of Avalon’s pop music. How did he approach the record, and how did he help shape the way things progressed?
GL> Well I think those first initial meetings were very difficult. Jeremi was in Orlando and was a part of the meetings on speaker phone…
JR> And I kept hanging up…
GL> Right, it was just a very difficult time and we were trying to get a reading on him [Ian] through all of it. We had discussed about getting together with Ian – but we didn’t really know what to think at first.
JL> There was definitely a feeling of “let’s proceed with caution” – from both sides. He didn’t quite know what to do with us, and we didn’t quite know what to do with him. But, ultimately when we discussed where we wanted to go and some of the creative process of the album with Ian, he was in a sense relieved that we weren’t trying to make the same record that we have made over the last several years – that we wanted something new and fresh. I think the great about being an artist that stays around this long. It’s a great blessing and we’re fortunate – but at the same time it’s a big challenge to constantly reinvent yourself and make yourself current and not abandon the people who grew to love you in the beginning. But after those first few meetings, he caught the vision.
GL> And I think as far as the new production feel and the songs on the album, he and Barry [Weeks], another producer on the record, brought that to the table. They wrote most of the songs and took ownership of the project. They spent endless hours on this project. We have to really give them credit for it.
As far as how did we keep those key Avalon elements in the record – well – that’s easy. It’s Avalon. We’re going to hear things a certain way. Thankfully, we feel that that hybrid work. Unfortunately, not everyone is going to agree with that. I’ve already read somewhere where someone said that if you’re a staunch Avalon fan – you’re not going to like this record. I can kind of see that – but if I go back to some of these older records like A Maze of Grace – there was a lot of weird and cool stuff happening musically. So, I’m thinking if you’re just talking about stuff like the big Janna ballad – it’s not going to be found on this record. So, if that’s what they mean – then yes I’d agree with them.
But, you know, we experimented in the studio a lot with this record. Ian and Barry would just be like “Jeremi, why don’t you try a pass on this spot” or “Amy, you want to try out something here?” – which was fun. We just had fun making this record.
AR> I just thought it was so much fun – because you really had these two different worlds coming together. They were both very great, and very mindful of keeping it Avalon – but giving it some edge and some flair. It was great working with them.
C> Well, if the fan was like me, who started listening to the group in 1997 when A Maze of Grace released, then their tastes have probably evolved over time. So, when this record hit, it should be able to hit where they are now musically. If the fans are like me and their tastes have changed over the years – then this record should be a breath of fresh air for Avalon fans.
GL> I think that too.
AR> Christian music is changing and evolving. Now you’re got Casting Crowns, and bands and worship music. And that is one thing that I’m so proud of when making this record is that we were allowed to kind of incorporate that sound – especially on the last track on the record “Holy.” It’s very worshipful and comes straight out of the Bible. It’s a very very strong message and very easy on the ears. Crowds at the shows can be very involved.
C> I’m so glad that you guys brought up Barry Weeks, because I didn’t exactly know how involved he was in this record. I am a huge Weeks fan – and I think he is a vocal arranging genius. He’s an amazing songwriter too, and I’m glad you guys got to work with him.
GL> Yes, he is all those things. And you know, that was all Ian’s doing. He’s known Barry for a long time, so he brought him into the picture, and I daresay that we are all thrilled that he got to be a part of this record. He was a huge blessing to it.
JL> Well, and I think too, he kind of helped bridge the two worlds together (between Ian and us) and made it a beautiful fit. It helped stretch Ian in some ways, and definitely stretched us.
GL> I think as an artist at some point – you need to creatively feel happy and proud and excited with the record – artistically. We’re excited about doing these new songs on this tour. That’s a good sign for us and this record. If you make something that is just purely commercial and you aren’t excited about the music then that doesn’t bode well for you as an artist.
We were given complete creative freedom on this record. Hats off to the label for that. Jim Sturgeon over at E1 just kind of told us to go do what we do. He would come in every couple of weeks just to see how things were going, but otherwise he really gave Ian and Avalon free reign.
C> Which is cool – cause that helps me bring up another part of the new season – which is the new label – E1. What has it been like leaving your longtime label home (Sparrow/EMI Christian Music Group) and coming to this new label?
JL> You know, it’s been great. I’m coming more and more to believe that life is made up of chapters and seasons – and we had an incredible run at EMI. We are very grateful for that time in Avalon’s life. But, it came to a point when we both felt like our journey together had come to an end. God opened this door, and we picked up where we left off to continue this journey that Avalon is on. You know – they have both served us well – and that’s really the best way that I can put it. The 12 years we had there were great – and we’re excited about this new relationship. E1 has been great – and it’s very much the way that Greg described it – they gave us the reigns and let us make the record that we wanted to make! We gave us total creative freedom with this record, and it was another great time.
We feel very blessed at this point. How many artists get to make this many records and tour as long as Avalon has? We just feel extremely blessed and fortunate that God would allow us some more time out here. We had a show last night – a lot of people showed up – and for me it’s just very humbling that people still come and still by the records after all the time. It’s just such a blessing.
JR> There’s been such a huge shift in Christian music since the time that Avalon debuted to where we are now. It was very performance driven, and I’m not negating that any artist now aren’t performers because they are, but it was just a different time. Then it was very much a time of “let’s entertain the body of Christ with positive music”. Then, praise and worship became popular and was much more an engaging and platform driven music about God. And, I think it’s very difficult to venture outside of being a performer to being a worshipper. I think that’s what we did to the best of our ability with this record. I mean, we are still performers, and there are times when we just want to go out and sing. It’s about the music. But bigger than that, it’s about God and the things he’s brought us through. Christian music has changed – and we’re trying to go with that. That’s one of the big things I noticed about the label – they were so willing and wanted us to venture into and tap into “what’s God done in you” and put that into music.
C> Yeah, and I think that is even reflected in who you are on the tour with now – Selah. That is a group that has managed to walk the line between being a performance driven artist and worshipper very well. They are amazing vocalists and amazing singers and have tapped into this audience that loves and appreciates the hymns and worship style that they do. I think it’s great that you’ve partnered with them for this tour. Now you can show a little bit of yourselves in that as well.
GL> Yeah, and we are so excited about this tour. Selah has had some extremely big success over the last couple of years and we’re excited about teaming up with them. They recently joined the same management company as us so that’s how that all came together.
By the way, hats off to Proper Management. Throughout this transition, everyone at Proper has been the constant. From moving from EMI to E1 they have been great to us and helped us through these moments. And, now they manage Selah – so we’re excited about hitting the road with them. The night is going to be pretty back-and-forth – we’ll all be out on the stage together the whole time and perform some together. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
C> Why don’t we talk to Amy a little bit about joining this group who’s been around a long time and becoming a part of such a brand like Avalon. You’re the new blood here – share you views.
AR> It’s a very exciting time in my life – in our family and our marriage – that we get to travel together and take our girls. I’ve been an Avalon fan since the very beginning – and I’ve always felt a connection to the group and to the music. The style of things that I listen to – I grew up listening to all the albums. This is definitely a new season in my life.
Going back to the album – it couldn’t have been a better time for me to go in and sing the lyrics that are in these songs. They’re very appropriate for where my life is at this moment. There’s a line in the new single, “Arise” – grace will reach your lowest low and never let you go.” And then there’s the very last line in the song says “In Jesus Name” – and to me that just seals it. It’s really very appropriate – very great for the season I’m in right now.
C> That’s awesome. And Jeremi, what’s it been like traveling with your wife and having her a part of your ministry?
JR> We were talking about it the other day – I didn’t realize how much stress I was under leaving my family at home until she joined the group. First of all, it was a year and a half before she joined that I traveled with Avalon. I’ve always been amazed at the level of grace that Amy has. You know, there are some people who love you and some who hate you – but Amy has always had such grace even under the most extreme circumstances. When I would have to leave for the weekend – it was never “ugh – you have to leave again”. I don’t know if it was the Holy Spirit preparing her or if it was just the way Amy is made. The minute she joined the group – the transformation in our homelife and with our children just changed. When God does something – He does it right. That was just another example of it in our lives.
AR> I’ll say something else as well. I’ve always known that God had a calling on my life ever since I was a child – and I knew that it was in music ministry somehow. And it was last summer that I was really even doing anything in the ministry – but I felt like in my spirit that I was ready. I began to fill in for Melissa as she was working on her solo album and while she was pregnant and I became her sub. It just felt right – so when everything transpired this past May – it was this automatic thing of “they’re going to ask me” – because I never felt like that. But when they finally did ask me to be a part of the group – I had that feeling all over again of “this is it.” And, I’ve never shared that with the rest of the group before now. I felt like God had been preparing for me – even though I didn’t know what it was.
C> That’s really cool. Well I thank you guys for spending some time with me! It was great to finally interview you guys!
JL> Thanks so much!
GL> We enjoyed it!
Commentsone responseAvalon has been Reborn. It’s in the press, the song title, the album cover and the conversation Soul-Audio recently had with longtime band member Greg Long. It’s also in the personnel as Greg and Janna are not the only married couple involved with the group anymore, with Jeremi Richardson’s wife, Amy, joining the group as the latest vocalist of the four.
But perhaps no aspect of this Reborn Avalon surprises as much as the recent producer collaboration – Ian Eskelin. Because of time constraints, Avalon had to abandon their usual routine of working with Brown Bannister. In the process, a newer, edgier vibe inhabits the radio pop of Avalon and gives the four-piece a youthful feel. It’s exciting for Long and the rest of Avalon, even if some fans don’t enjoy it. But for the most part, all is still well in the world of the vocal legends.
Soul-Audio: Tell me about the genesis of this entire Reborn concept. What’s behind the changes?
Greg Long: The funny part is that I’m always very cautious on the “God inspired this” thing or “God said this.” I’m not a hyper-spiritual guy at all. So with that said, I do believe that if we’re believers, then God will ordain our steps. So the timing of everything and the way it worked out was interesting. I could go on for years about this, but I’ll try not to. [Laughs] We’ve worked with one producer for most of the last decade. There’s one other producer we’ve worked with on two records, but overall we have a comfort level with these guys. We know them. We love them. They’re amazing. One of them is always nominated for Producer of the Year it seems like. So they’re great.
Well, once this tour came in place with Selah, they wanted the record done in time for that tour. We knew right away that Brown Bannister can’t do it. We were sure of it. This would be needed within about a month or 40 days and sure enough, Brown said he was backed up to six months to a year. We needed to plan ahead. [Laughs] So it became, ‘What are we going to do because we’ve worked with him for so long?’ Ian’s name came up and there was a slight laugh. I mean, Ian is someone I’ve known for forever. I’ve written songs with him and all of that, but that’s not what you picture – Ian Eskelin with Avalon. But we had a couple meetings with him and label people and management and Avalon. The first meeting was like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know.’ But in the second meeting, the light came on. It was like, ‘Let’s do this. Away we go.’
SA: What about the idea of Reborn?
Greg: Well, the story behind Reborn is this: our manager, Norman Miller – who also does Selah, Leeland, Casting Crowns – said the title should be Reborn. Earlier that day, Amy, the newest member of the group, was talking to her sister and her sister said, ‘This is like a whole new period for you guys. It’s like Avalon has been reborn. There’s this two couple thing going on and a lot of different nuances that makes it the first time like this.’ Now she didn’t know all of this, but we are working with this new guy, you have two couples and all of this. Within three hours was the meeting with Norman where he came in and said the word ‘reborn’ and that was the same word Amy’s sister had used and it’s not a word you use a lot.
So Norman says this in that meeting and we thought, ‘Weird.’ We weren’t all catching it to be honest with you, but then Ian comes in and says they’re writing a song at the eleventh hour called “Reborn.” We fell in love with it and the graphic design guy who we love came up with this concept cover of sunflowers in the middle of a desert. It’s all one of those things where Janna said yesterday in an interview that she’d never been a part of a record where things happened so quickly and you actually liked it. Normally you think it’s terrible, but you have to get them done. [Laughs]
But things kept jumping into place and so what do you do? There it is. It’s odd but we all love it. And it seems a lot of our fans are. Then again, some of them aren’t. If you read the e-mail that people send you, you kind of go through some of those and find people saying, ‘This is not the Avalon I know’ or stuff like that.
SA: Really?
Greg: Oh, my goodness. I mean, you have to laugh in some way. I’m a big believer in not reading the press about yourself. You’re not as good as the good press says and you’re not as bad as the worst ones. If they’re saying you’re great, then you’re not that great. And if they say you stink, then you probably don’t stink that bad. You can ride a roller coaster ride if you let it. But I will say this, it’s 10-1 or 20 to 1 good that they like it. But you definitely have those fans who hate it. I read some last night where you wonder why there’s so much anger. You think, ‘Wow, you’re spending your time to tell me how much you dislike me.’
But I guess that’s what it means to be a public personality and you put out a piece of product. You open yourself up for people to tell you how they don’t like you. I believe as an artist, you need to feel good about what you’re doing. And as a Christian artist, you want to feel good about what you’re saying. You want to take pride in the way you’re saying it. We take pride in what we’re doing. We feel good about it. So at night, you can rest your head on your pillow and feel good about how hard we’ve worked and about what it says and we’re anxious to take it on the road, which we’ll do with Selah this fall.
SA: So whose specific idea was it to work with Ian?
Greg: I think I would give that first nod to Norman Miller. I may be wrong about that, but I believe he’s the one that brought it up first. But again, that might not be right. [Laughs]
SA: What’s the very first thought in your head when you hear that idea?
Greg: Well, I liked it, but again I’m the most rock guy in the group. I’m definitely a rock guy. If Avalon was the Spice Girls, I would be Rock Spice. Janna is Posh. Or Janna is Shoe Spice. [Laughs] So for me, I’m thinking it’s cool. But overall, even being the rock guy, I’m careful because Avalon is a pop group. And you don’t want to do anything that’s too weird. But then we listened to some of his stuff and he’s able to say, ‘Hey, I’m not an alien to pop.’ Even in his earlier days, his solo stuff was kind of this techno-pop thing. He said, ‘Hey guys, I can do pop and I love vocals. I do all of these bands, but I love to work with singers.’ There’s not that many singers out now. It’s mostly bands, so he thought he could do it.
So at first, you’re thinking, ‘Really?’ And both sides are thinking that. But as we talked more and more, it all went well and we had a really good time. I would say hats off to Jim Sturgeon and the guys at Koch E1 because he really just said to go make a record and he let us have creative control to a huge extent. You can hang yourself there, but at the same time, you enjoy it and you’re having a good time making the record and you like the songs. So that makes for a good album. It was a fun time that ended up being, what I think, is a really fun record.
SA: Was it the most fun you’ve had making an Avalon record?
Greg: [Pause] That’s hard to say. I need to say this: we love Brown Bannister. Brown is one of the nicest guys in the world and he’s so incredibly talented, so I don’t know what I would say. We’ve had a lot of fun with him. But we did have a lot of fun here and we had a lot of fun having the creative control that we did.
SA: Was there ever a point, even in the studio, where you wondered if it would work or not?
Greg: The first track he sent us, we heard them and we were like, ‘Yes.’ He got it. It was that instant. I think for a while we were talking about ideas and I brought up this techno-pop, up-tempo number. We really wanted to have a lot of up-feeling things. He thought my idea was kind of cheesy, so I thought, ‘Okay, well, he doesn’t like mine.’ But once we heard his track, we knew it was good. One thing I like about him as well, for example with the song “Alive,” the opening line says, ‘I don’t want to be broke anymore/Living life in a million pieces.’ Well, a lot of songs that have depth are almost depressing. [Whiny voice] ‘Oh, I’m so broken. I’m a mess.’ And that’s the truth that we’re all broken and miserable and we’re all a mess.
But the message of the gospel is not Debbie Downer. God came to save us. If you look at the album cover, it’s a desert. That’s us. Then God comes into our desert and makes some fantastic growth and creates something beautiful out of it. Being in Christian music, that’s what we get to sing about. So even though these songs are up-tempo and all that, the messages are authentic and I feel like they have some depth, but it’s not depressing. It’s messages that say, ‘Look at what God can do. They can take our brokenness and make something a whole lot better.’
SA: So the feeling by the end of your studio sessions?
Greg: By the end, we were all anxious to take this stuff on the road. That’s a good sign. I like making records, but I love being in front of people and delivering the songs that you’re supposed to bring. So you hope the radio likes it and the media likes it. But what I look forward to is being in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on a Friday night delivering the songs to your fans, or wherever you are. We just finished a couple of warm-up dates. We’ve done “Reborn” and “Destined” and just doing these songs a couple times, the audience is already responded to them. I love singing these live and that’s what it’s about to me. The albums are the means to the end.
Comments2 responsesAvalon
“Reborn”
E1 Entertainment
Grade – A
The title “Reborn” can mean many things in this instance it’s the rebirth of our faith or the rebirth of a passion. For Avalon, it could also be the groups passion for great music. The new Avalon album is a refreshing new rendition of a time-honored vocal group. It’s like the group has recharged their musical batteries.
“Reborn” is more progressive than their usual style with a much bigger sound, but still with their familiar uplifting lyrics and spectacular harmonies. I also noticed that the sound is more authentic and band orientated. A lot less strings that soften up a song (to the point of weakening it) and make it harder to reproduce in a concert venue. I imagine that when Avalon takes this on the road it’s going to be impressive.
Having more of a leaning towards the rock genre, I was truly impressed with the reborn Avalon. The group has certainly stepped outside of their comfort zone and you can read about it all on their official web site http://avalonlive.com. While you’re there take in a few samples of the new music.
- Ken W.
Commentsone responseWhat a great time we are having on the road. In case you don’t know… Avalon is in tour this fall with another vocal group, Selah. We are so excited! They are so talented and fun to be around. Check out our tour dates (www.avalonlive.com) to see when we are coming near you. Trust me this is a tour that you don’t want to miss. (don’t tell anyone but I am hoping that this tour gets extended and possible even booked for a west coast and Canada run. we can all hope and pray together, right?)
Another exciting aspect in the world of Avalon is our new project, Reborn. Every night we are hearing stories of how this music is challenging you and helping you through certain events in your lives. That is our prayer that these songs will remind you of the hope we have in Christ. If you dont have the album you should get it and if you have the album thanks for your support and remember, Reborn, makes a great gift.
On a personal note our oldest daughter Ariah turns three this next week. Happy Birthday baby… To anyone else celebrating a birthday this month, happy birthday to you as well
Keep listening for our latest radio single, Arise.
You all rock!
Jeremi
So we are in the middle of the longest run of tour and Janna and I are missing our girls like crazy.
The tour is going well and Avalon is having a great time doing the REBORN songs for the audiences.
We believe that the message of the songs is perfect for what so many are going through in their lives.
We feel this way because they are blessing us as well.
Hope to see you out here soon.
Greg