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Katie and Brian Rowden, a brother-and-sister duo from West Olive, jump-started City Jam, a Christian music contest based in Largo, Fla. It came to light after Brian, Katie and fellow musician Bobby Tinsley decided they wanted to create their own vocal competition.

“We just went for it like everything we do,” Katie said.

The Rowdens returned to West Michigan this month after traveling with this season’s winner, Aaron Unthank, to Nashville, Tenn. There they wrote and recorded Unthank’s single and set him up with record producers.

Katie said she and Brian are planning the competition’s third season and are hoping to take the contest nationwide.

“We plan to have City Jams across the country,” she said.

And why not? In the past two and a half years, Katie said she has been home for six months at most because of City Jam and touring with her brother for their band, Three Sixteen.

Katie said the best way to describe Three Sixteen’s music is pop and R&B with a flavor of hip hop.

“A lot of people don’t know it’s Christian music,” she said, despite the Christian-themed lyrics found in many of Three Sixteen’s songs.

Katie said she and Brian created the band as a way to combat the “trashy pop” of a few years ago.

“We wanted to create edgy, mainstream music with love in it,” she said.

Their journey to becoming Three Sixteen began as part of a different ensemble that opened for Christian boy-band Plus One at Muskegon’s Unity Christian Music Festival in 2001. At the festival, Katie and Brian attracted the attention of another artist who asked them to join his band. The arrangement lasted for about six months.

“We tried to change them, they tried to change us,” Katie said. “Brian and I thought we should start our own group.”

While on a family boat outing, the siblings’ mother suggested the name Three Sixteen for the band, based on the Biblical passage John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

“I remember saying, ‘Yes, that’s it. That’s perfect,’” Katie said.

In 2003, Three Sixteen got its big break. Plus One asked Katie and Brian to be an opening act again in Memphis, Tenn. In the course of two and a half weeks, Katie and Brian finished four songs, did a photo shoot and hired back-up dancers to prepare for the occasion.

“It was crazy,” Katie said. “It was the first time we were singing originals.”

Though Katie was a professional dancer at the time and Brian was starting his own company, both decided to take on the band full time — and within months, they had created an hour-long live show and 12 songs.

After recording two albums and one concert DVD, their third album, “At the Gate,” was released nationally in August 2005.

The next year, they performed at Youth Explosion in Ohio, an event Katie said she really enjoyed because she and Brian held gender-specific seminars to discuss personal identity and self-image questions.

“I have a passion for people to be comfortable in their own skin because God made us just the way we are,” she said. “The little quirks that you may not like about yourself make you who you are.”

To Katie, the band isn’t just about the music — it’s about the message.

“Our mission is to reach people and hope that it touches them in some way,” she said.

Those that have met them and heard their music have first-hand experience with that mission.

“They’re really great kids,” said Kevin Newton, director of Unity Festival. “Not only do they have good music, but also high energy.”

Newton said he first met them in 2001 at Unity Festival’s debut, then brought them back on stage at last year’s festival.

“They’re really dedicated to doing their best and I really enjoyed having them,” he said.

Jared Henderson, worship pastor at Lakeshore Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Holland, said he was also struck by the pair’s enthusiasm.

“They’re excellent musicians and love the Lord,” he said.

Henderson said the two have performed at the church’s youth group and Sunday morning service.

“They’re both just super nice people,” he said. “They’re really mature individuals, and they seem to have a really good family life. They love each other. They love their parents.”

With such close familial ties, Katie said the past two and a half years away from home have been difficult. She said she and Brian are planning on staying in West Michigan for the summer to catch up with family. The two graduated from Jenison High School in the late 1990s and still have relatives in the area.

“Family’s very important to us and we’ve sacrificed it for so long,” Katie said.

They will hit a local stage Sunday when Three Sixteen performs at the Taste of Wellspring Outreach Festival in Hudsonville. The festival runs from noon to 3 p.m. at the Wellspring Community Church, 4466 Bauer Road in Hudsonville. There is an admission charge of $8 for adults and $5 for children.

And after that?

“We’re just trying to juggle all that we do,” Katie said. “We’re always just really excited to get new music out there.”

Everywhere you turn, it seems the Clark Sisters are putting in an appearance.

There they are splashed across newspapers touting their first joint CD since 1994, Live: One Last Time.

Then they’re in Washington, D.C., being honored in the Grammys alongside Bobby Jones and contemporary Christian artist Michael W. Smith.

And in October the famed Detroit-based quartet, who began singing as teenagers three decades ago under their influential mother’s tutelage, will launch a 25-city tour from Nashville.

The sisters, who sing solely for the glory of God but have influenced both gospel and secular artists for years, simply shrug at the notion that this is a “reunion.”

“We never stopped singing,” sister Jacky Clark Chisholm says just before rehearsal in Washington’s Lincoln Theater, where she and her sisters picked up the Recording Academy’s President’s Merit Award on June 8.

After years of recording individual albums, the sisters - Jacky, Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark-Terrell, Karen Clark-Sheard and Dorinda Clark-Cole - came together for One Last Time last July in Houston.

“I believe that God has hooked us up for such a time as this because we are getting older and we all have our own individual ministries and careers,” Dorinda says. “But my mother has always said to us, ‘Y’all stick together.’ “

BORN TO SING

The Clark Sisters grew up singing in Detroit with a pioneer of gospel music - their mother, Mattie Moss Clark, a revered choir director, writer, and musician who recorded more than 35 albums during her career and is credited with being the first person to teach three-part harmony to choirs.

“I guess the girls get it honest because it’s in the blood,” gospel singer Richard Smallwood says. “The whole family has been trailblazers and pioneers.”

The sisters “sang in front of thousands on top of thousands of people around the world before it was popular,” says a singer and long-time family friend, Donnie McClurkin. “Each of them play organ, they sing, they write their own songs, they preach. The true depth of what they do hasn’t even been touched.”

Often touted as the biggest-selling female gospel group in history, their 1980 album, Is My Living In Vain, remained on the top of the Billboard charts for more than a year.

And their 1981 smash, You Brought the Sunshine, crossed over to the R&B black singles chart in 1983, peaking at No. 16.

Twinkie says when she penned the song, with a “reggae” beat from a Stevie Wonder tune in mind, she never imagined it would take off like it did. That was just God in the details.

“The message in the song appealed to so many people that don’t go to church and that were in clubs,” she says.

A MAJOR INFLUENCE

The sisters always have strived to use music to reach people wherever they are in their lives, even if that place isn’t church.

“We’re responsible for bringing people to Christ, singing songs that will stir up the spirit in people,” says Karen, whose guest roster for her solo albums has included hip-hop and rap artists such as Missy Elliott.

Fellow gospel artists such as McClurkin, Jones, Crystal Lewis and Yolanda Adams agree the sisters’ influence has been far reaching.

“They’ve influenced everybody from gospel to mainstream, Faith Evans, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Price,” says Donald Lawrence, who helped produce One Last Time. “Twinkie was just an ultimate musician, she influenced most of the way people play organ in church today.”

“I sang everything they sang because I wanted to sound like them, I wanted to dress like them, I wanted to look like them,” Yolanda Adams says. “They were groundbreaking and really didn’t know they were groundbreaking when they were teenagers.”

While flattering, such praise doesn’t faze the sisters, who take it all in modest stride. And, even though the title of their live album suggests finality, they hesitate when asked whether they’ll record together again.

Says Karen: “We’re just in a holding pattern.

It’s a big weekend for Christian music fans — Third Day, Point of Grace and others bands will all be in town performing as part of the NYPENN Franklin Graham Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Binghamton University Events Center. All concerts and events related to the festival are free.

* Dove Award-winning Third Day was formed during the 1990s in Marietta, Ga., by Mac Powell and Mark Lee. Lead singer Powell, guitarist Lee, bass player Tai Anderson, drummer David Carr and guitarist Brad Avery released their eighth album, “Wherever You Are,” last fall. Two of their previous albums received Grammys for Best Rock Gospel Album: “Come Together”(2003) and “Live Wire” (2005).

* Point of Grace has sold 5 million albums, has won eight Dove Awards, had two Grammy nods and garnered two platinum and five gold records as well as 24 consecutive No. 1 singles. The four women — Shelley Breen, Heather Payne, Denise Jones and Leigh Cappillino (with Dana Cappillino on guitar and Tommy McGee on bass) — are known as one of the top contemporary Christian bands in the nation.

* SONICFLOOd, known for its modern worship music, started in 1999 with a self-titled debut album. The group has been nominated for a Grammy, earned two Dove Awards and has sold more than 1.5 million records, as well as produced the top hits “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever,” “I Want to Know You,” “Your Love Goes on Forever,” “Shelter” and “Holy Cry.”

* Tree63 is a Christian rock band from Durban, South Africa. Tree63’s recording of Matt Redman’s “Blessed Be Your Name” was featured on the 2005 edition of WOW Hits. On a Feb. 2 broadcast of 20, The Countdown Magazine, Tree63’s rendition of “Blessed Be Your Name” was described as “… the definitive recording of one of the most all-encompassing songs in the entire world of Christian music.” The song was then announced as the No. 3 Praise and Worship song of all time.

* Christian rock band Building 429 was the Gospel Music Association’s 2005 New Artist of the Year. The group headlined one tour and were joined by TAIT, the solo project of dc Talk member Michael Tait. Building 429 joined another dc Talk member, tobyMac, for his “Portable Sounds Tour” this spring

David Rashed’s interest in contemporary Christian music has led him to be the driving force behind a new praise band at St. Dunstan’s Basilica that will open for Robin Mark

David Rashed has carved out a fine reputation as a musician over the past two decades.

Best known as the lead singer for Haywire, a popular 1980s P.E.I. rock band that recently re-issued its albums on CD through Unidisc Music, Rashed is also a record producer, recording and producing groups like Chamberlane and Ninth Hour.

And lately he’s becoming known for his interest in contemporary Christian music.

Rashed has penned 20 praise songs and is the leader of a worship band at St. Dunstan’s Basilica in Charlottetown.

For the soft-spoken musician, it’s a leap of faith.

“Music is very important in my life. And church is another thing I’ve done all my life. However, my earliest memory of church music wasn’t a happy thing. They always sang the same old songs and they always sounded dark and dreary,” says Rashed.

His tune changed when he moved to Burlington, Ont., in the 1990s and was introduced to contemporary Christian music. The upbeat, expressive music struck a positive chord with him, and shortly afterwards he became involved in a worship band at church.

“When I returned to P.E.I. in 2002, I decided to approach Father Danny Wilson (to see) if I might do a similar thing at St. Dunstan’s. But before I met with him I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to do this, then open the doors.’

“At the meeting Father Danny was excited. He said that he had been praying for this kind of music in the church, too. So we started the group, which plays during mass on Sundays,” says Rashed whose reputation for contemporary Christian music has earned his band an invitation to open for Robin Mark at the Charlottetown Civic Centre on June 17.

“I’m very excited about sharing the stage with this Christian singer- songwriter. At church we sing a lot of his songs.

“As far as the actual songs that we’re doing for the concert we have a list of 20 that we’re piecing together right now,” says Rashed, as he leads band members Anne Marie Valois, Kayla Dunsford, Nora Chandler, Neal Gillis and Kenny Vail through Better is One Day during a practice earlier this week.

Band members are also looking forward to the event.

“I’m very honoured that we were asked to sing. Robin’s music really touches people’s hearts,” says Valois who first heard the popular singer from Northern Ireland when he performed on P.E.I. last year.

It’s also exciting for Roger MacPhee, who is pastor at St. John’s

Presbyterian Church in Belfast who has organized Mark’s visit to P.E.I. for the past three years.

“The first year we thought why not bring a world-class performer right to P.E.I. for others to hear. It really paid off.

“Being from Belfast, Robin understood the culture. And the people here loved his music,” says MacPhee, who is thrilled to have the St. Dunstan’s worship band open the ecumenical concert.

“After hearing David’s group I knew he would be perfect. His music is filled with emotion. It’s so soft, but it draws you in,” says MacPhee.

Rashed is happy that his music is having a positive affect on people.

“With our Catholic ties, it (the music) creates unity and that’s what it’s all about. We all come together because we share the same boss,” he says.

At a glance

‰ Who: Robin Mark, a Christian singer from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who performs music in the Celtic style with

pipes, whistles, guitar and drums.

‰ Music: Best known for the song Days of Elijah, his CD His Revival In Belfast is one of the biggest selling Christian albums in Canadian Christian music history certified Gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

‰ When: Sunday, June 17, 7 p.m.

‰ Where: Charlottetown Civic Centre

‰ Tickets: $10 and available from Canadian Bible Society and Maritime Christian Bookstore in Charlottetown, Beck’s Home Furniture in Montague or by calling 659-2703.

Two young men from Utah are breaking ground in Christian music where others have feared to tread. The world of Christian music has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, but inside that world are a composer and singer from different denominations who are now working together to say the same thing.

Music makers Paul Cardall and Steele Croswhite, both successful professionals, crossed paths often when they were using the same recording studio.

LDS recording artist Paul Cardall says, “I was figuring out a way to work with this guy…And a pianist who does solo piano albums doesn’t just call up a rock star.”

Steele Croswhite has toured with Sheryl Crow, Maroon 5 and Foo Fighters, to name a few.

Christian Rock singer-songwriter Steele Croswhite says, “Paul is so kind, so easy to work with, and we’ve been in the studio before so, it was so neat to be able to put this album out.”

The new CD, titled “Songs of Praise,” reflects the talents and beliefs of both men, a Latter-day Saint and Evangelical rock star.

Cardall and Croswhite are both friends and partners and they say they are, most importantly, building bridges.

Croswhite says, “I was excited to show the community that Paul and I, as friends, we recognize that there are differences in our faith. We have differences, different understandings of the gospel of grace, but we can be friends.”

Cardall says, “It’s a celebration of family, of my new daughter and of God and everything God has done for all of us. It’s not just one faith or another, but for all of us, he’s been so good.”

Paul Cardall and Steele Croswhite will perform together this summer on August 30 at the Sandy City Amphitheatre at 7:30 p.m. They call it “bridging a community of faith through the power of music