KZIONradio

Inspirational Music Icon Celebrates 20 Years with First Album in Three Years

An icon in inspirational music, Kenneth Cope has blazed a legacy of excellence throughout his extensive career. Such a legacy is now intimately captured on his first album in three years, Face To Face, Kenneth Cope Collection.

Face to Face includes two new songs as well as favorites from each of Cope’s previous best-selling albums. These include such classics as “His Hands,” “Face To Face,” “Brothers,” and “Never a Better Hero.”

In the three year’s since his last album, Cope took time to mentor and produce new artist, Mindy Gledhill and her debut album, The Sum of All Grace. He also ventured into the world of film scoring, by writing and producing an original score for Joseph Smith, The Seer, an interactive CD-ROM that explores and examines the life of the prophet. Currently, Kenneth is collaborating with author Susan Easton Black and artist Liz Lemon Swindle on the much anticipated multimedia chronicle of the life of Christ, titled Son of Man.

Few musicians have impacted a culture or genre as acutely and intensely as this composer, producer, performer, songwriter, and singer. Beginning his career in 1986 by recording the theme song for a Christian youth album, Cope went on to compose numerous songs for seven more youth compilations. His first solo album, Heaven—Don’t Miss It For The World (1987), was followed by the best-selling and critically acclaimed, Greater Than Us All (1989). Cope demonstrated his songwriting prowess and contemplative nature by producing two thematic albums: My Servant Joseph (1993) and Women at the Well (1995) before recording Eden’s Garden (1998), A Prayer unto Thee (1999) and Hear My Praise (2002).

“I strongly believe if we are doing the things God wants us to do with our lives, He will open the way for us to continue in our path and consistently bring about more good,” Cope said.

For more information, please visit www.kennethcope.com.

Media Contact: Krista Q. Maurer

Director of Publicity and Media Relations

Shadow Mountain Music Group

phone: 801.517.3371

kmaurer at shadowmountain.com

I’m looking to begin collecting LDS music in other languages besides English. Spanish would be a good one to begin with. I would like to create foreign language channels featuring music similar to what is currently heard on KZION but in other languages. I don’t even know what’s out there as far as foreign language LDS music. I do have two Japanese LDS cd’s and one or two Spanish CD’s. Hardly enough to create a channel but if I can get 30-40 CD’s in a particular language I could than create a channel.

If you can help with any language that would be great. There is a submission link on the KZION website.

Cherie Call reaches beyond the skies with Beneath These Stars

Local folk singer, Cherie Call reaches beyond the skies in her latest release, Beneath These Stars. With an acoustic realism unmatched by many in inspirational music, Call brings the experiences of life, both difficult and joyous, to a place where understanding prevails.

Whether the moment is as simple as noticing the moonlight or as difficult as divorce, Call creates musical stories filled with faith that listeners can relate to. Beneath These Stars (in stores March 2005) offers Cherie’s hopeful outlook in a musical blend that feels more like a conversation between old friends.

“Life is always going to throw some craziness your way,” Call says. “Sometimes you have every right to feel frustrated, but you also have every right to move on and be happy. Eventually you just have to pick one or the other. When I take a good look I always notice there’s so much to be thankful for in this world.”

Speaking of the individuality of each song, producer Tyler Castleton says, “Cherie covers a wide range of topics, sometimes gritty, in a way that helps people wherever they are, with whatever questions they may have, come to a place of understanding.”

Call, a native of Mesa, Arizona, graduated in music from Brigham Young University in 1997 and immediately began a recording career. In 2001 she joined the Deseret Book artist line-up and released He Gives Flowers To Everyone (2001) and The Ocean In Me (2002) in addition to being featured on numerous compilation albums and soundtracks. Her music has garnered several Pearl Awards from the Faith Centered Music Association including Contemporary Album of the Year, Inspirational Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. In the summer of 2004, Cherie was a finalist in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk songwriting competition and is a regular performer in Nashville at the legendary Bluebird Café. She currently lives in Springville, Utah.

Media Contact: Krista Q. Maurer

Shadow Mountain Music Group

801.517.3371

kmaurer at shadowmountain.com

Right now I could be enjoying dinner and a concert at the Historic Wheeler Farm in SLC in celebration of Cherie Call’s newly released CD, Beneath These Stars. I just couldn’t make the trip up north this weekend. I sent someone else to represent KZION and get pictures to post later.

I’m sorry I couldn’t make it Cherie. You’ll be awesome, as always!

KZION is now back online.

I am unable to connect to my stream server so KZION is currently down. I will keep you updated.

I will be shutting down my server Sunday evening at 8:00 PM MST so it can be moved to a new data center. All KZION related websites should be back online by Monday morning. Also, email will be down so I will not be able to answer any email until Monday morning. The radio will not be affected by this move but you will need to connect prior to 8:00 PM Sunday.

Book, piano suite explore diverse LDS experience

LDS music is more than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Janice Kapp Perry and Jon Schmidt.

Mormoniana, a coffee-table book and companion piano suite pairing composers and visual artists who share LDS roots, defies expectations with its diversity of styles. Hymn settings and travelogues by “old guard” composers such as Robert Cundick and Crawford Gates are nestled among avant-garde works by the likes of Christian Asplund, co-founder of the Seattle Experimental Opera, and a jazz-influenced piece by Lisa DeSpain.

We had another power outage today I don’t know what the problem is with our power company but my PC barely started up when I got home this afternoon. The hard drive just clicked and spun for the first few minutes. Then I got an error that some file needed to be reinstalled because it was corrupted. I then tried restarting again and this time the hard drive would get to a certain spot and make a clicking noise, then restart again. Third time was a charm and she fired right up but it’s time to try to get a new hard drive.

Dixie Escalante? My computers cannot handle too many more of these power surges/outages.

In case you were wondering…There was a power outage at the studio this afternoon which shut down KZION for about five hours.

I will be out of town until Saturday night, the 19th of February. I will answer support requests and other email when I return. KZION should be good to go until I get back.

I added some discussion forums to the KZION website. I used to have some before the redesign and not much ever happened on them. We’ll give it another shot.

You’ll see them linked from the top of every KZION web page or from the community links sidebar.

Part of my KZION business plan is creating a better experience for the listener. I receive quite a few emails wondering when KZION will be available via satellite or in some other form besides the Internet. Satellite is probably not going to happen for some time. I got to thinking that there are alternative ways to deliver KZION other then through the stream.

Podcasting is becoming quite popular. If you’re not familiar with Podcasting Wikipedia has a nice description which in part says:

A podcast is much like an audio magazine subscription: a subscriber receives regular audio programs delivered via the Internet, and she or he can listen to them at her or his leisure.

KZION could easily supply 2, 4, or 6 hour segments of music available for Podcasting. I could even deliver specialized segments like the top 100 songs of the week, month or year.

How cool would it be for a family who is traveling by car to download a segment and burn it to CD then listen to KZION while in the car. Or maybe someone wants to listen to KZION at the gym and so downloads a segment to their iPod or MP3 player. KZION could make segments available on a regular basis, perhaps weekly.

I’m almost positive that audio segments would only be available to paying members or sponsors. It would take time to create these segments and provide technical support. There would also be an additional cost in bandwidth charges. I suppose I could attract advertisers to sponsor the segments and make them available to everyone.

But I think it’s a solid idea that would be of benefit to KZION listeners. I think I’ll pursue this a little further.

Carmen Rasmusen, local American Idol finalist and rapidly chart climbing country singer, will perform for the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, the largest and most prestigious convention for country radio broadcasters nationwide.

Carmen was been invited to sign autographs at the BMI booth in addition a performance for BMI executives and guests as well as two other performances open to the entire convention.

After a successful reign on American Idol and a gold album under her belt for the 2003 American Idol love song collection, Carmen released her first solo album in January, simply titled “Carmen.”

A “country rock album with a little bit of bluegrass,” as Carmen calls it, “Carmen” features her original composition “Photograph,” which has begun a buzz among country executives and radio personalities alike. In the album’s first week of release, Carmen’s single, “Photograph” had become the most quickly added song to radio rotations nationwide and was also listed on Billboard chart expert, Fred Bronson’s list of top-10 singles.

Carmen will leave for Nashville after beginning her tour throughout the western United States but will quickly jump back into touring after the convention. The Country Radio Seminar runs March 2 – 4, 2005.

I don’t have all the specifics together yet but I wanted to give some advanced notice. I am looking for an investor/business partner for KZION. I have been treating KZION as a hobby for over four years, and I’ve finally decided that I want to work KZION for a living but I can’t do it by myself.

If you’re interested you can contact me at john at kzion dot com. Please don’t write me and say, I am interested. Let me know your background, what you see for the future of KZION, where you would like to take KZION, what you have to offer, etc.

I will be posting an official job posting but for now I can tell you I am looking for someone who lives in the states, preferably in northern Utah. I need someone who can meet with recording company executives and other potential partners. I prefer someone who has extensive Internet experience and ideally has programming and design experience. My partner also needs to be intimately familiar with KZION.

I am going to require some form of buy-in for two reasons. I have spent thousands of dollars to create and operate KZION over the years. There is value in the KZION brand including a detailed database of over 5,500 LDS tracks, custom software applications, hardware, customers, etc. I also want a partner that is serious about this relationship. Being financially vested in this partnership weeds out those that are not serious or unwilling to make a long term commitment.

KZION is a pioneer in LDS music and LDS radio and I believe now is the time to build on the foundation that exists. More and more money is being spent on Internet advertising and KZION could be the perfect vehicle for advertisers. There are also vertical markets that can be explored that could be easily adopted into a KZION business model.

Salt Lake City – For years, award-winning singer/songwriter, Julie de Azevedo has offered musical glimpses into life’s defining and often changing moments. Now in her seventh album, appropriately titled, Home, Julie offers that place where life rests and comfort resides.

With lyrics that speak hope infused realness, Home, in stores February 8, undoubtedly hits the mark [and the heart]. Piano driven and organically raw, Julie presents life as it is for her by drawing from recent experiences with a new baby, new opportunities and a new home. Her ability to artistically create images through music opens the door for the full emotional experience available in examining life.

“Life isn’t simple,” Julie says. “It’s complex. But for where I am right now, for the first time in a long time, I feel a newness all the way around – musically, personally, spiritually – at every level I am at home.”

In a release concert Friday, February 11, 2005, at Wheeler Farm at 6:30 p.m. Julie will present her latest, where media and special guests are invited to come “Home.” Tickets for the event have been sent with press kits.

A 10-day musical Revue including national and local music artists

WHAT: Exclusive performances and signings with favorite music artists. Deseret Book hosts a Mid-Winter Music Revue—noon performances from February 4th through the 14th. It is Salt Lake’s chance to get up close and personal with living legends and rising stars.

WHY: A way to beat the winter doldrums! The Revue kicks off with TV host and entertainer Donny Osmond, celebrating the release of his new album “What I Meant to Say.” It is his only scheduled appearance in Utah for 2005. Gladys Knight then wraps up the 10-day extravaganza, whose latest album One Voice debuted on the Billboard gospel charts … a Valentine’s Day performance and signing not to be missed!

WHEN: February 4 – 14 at 12 noon in the ZCMI Deseret Book store. (NOTE: Gladys Knight will perform at 12:30 p.m.) All performances are free and open to the public. The full schedule of performances follows.

Schedule:

Friday, February 4: Donny Osmond (www.donny.com)
Saturday, February 5: Mindy Gledhill (www.mindygledhill.com)
Monday, February 7: Jenny Phillips (www.jennyphillips.com)
Tuesday, February 8: Carmen Rasmusen (www.carmenrasmusen.com)
Wednesday, February 9: Julie de Azevedo (www.juliedeazevedo.com)
Thursday, February 10: Providence (www.providencethegroup.com)
Friday, February 11: Cherie Call (www.cheriecall.com)
Saturday, February 12: Alex Boye (www.alexboye.com)
Monday, February 14: Gladys Knight (www.SUVchoir.org)

The URL to the MP3 feed changed so be sure to in with KZION to get the new address if you use the MP3 stream.

You’ve seen the ads and emails floating around the Internet about referring a few friends and receiving a free Ipod. Well, it’s true. I know several people who have actually received their Ipods in the mail.

Basically this is a marketing program where freeipods.com gets paid by how many people they can get to complete offer requests from companies such as Citibank, BMG, Blockbuster, etc. Apparently getting six people to complete these offers pays more then it costs to purchase Ipods as incentives.

I have completed my offer and need a few more people to sign-up and complete offers to receive my free Ipod. Here’s what you do.

First, open up a new email account at one of the free web based email services such as Hotmail, Yahoo or even Google’s Gmail. I’ll even send you an invite. You’re going to use this email address for signing up with the Free Ipods site. Now if you get a bunch of spam it’s no big deal.

Now go here and sign-up. Complete one offer. I signed up for the Columbia House DVD offer. There are some really easy ones like completing a credit card application. Some of the offers will allow you to sign up for a trial offer for $1. You can then cancel before your trial period ends.

Now go and get five people to do the same thing. Within a few months you will receive your free Ipod.

I recently added the first LDS album, One Voice, by Gladys Knight and her new choir, The Saints Unified Voices. The Saints Unified Voices is a 100-member choir created and directed by Gladys Knight. Not your typical LDS Choir, the group performs a mix of multicultural gospel songs that celebrate the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and embrace the rich cultural diversity found within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The 100 voices of the SUV Choir, as they affectionately call themselves, are men and women from many different backgrounds and cultures. All are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most live in the greater Las Vegas area, but a few commute from Utah and California. In addition, some of Gladys Knight’s professional crew from her show at the Flamingo Hotel volunteer their assistance in creating the music so unique to this choir. They join together to share their love for music and their faith in Jesus Christ.