Four national Christian bands Christian Music

Four national Christian bands

July 25, 2009 – 1:18 pm

When hundreds of people gather at Camp Albemarle in Newport on Saturday, they will be celebrating more than just another pretty summer day on the Crystal Coast. They will be celebrating their faith through music.

Four national Christian bands will take the stage during the Bojangles Bigfish FM Summer Soundfest, a daylong event increasingly being hailed as one of the biggest Christian events this summer in Eastern North Carolina.

One of the region’s newest radio stations, Bigfish FM, is behind the project with sponsorship from Bojangles, Pepsi and a half dozen other local businesses. Performing acts include contemporary Christian rock and pop acts, such as Jimmy Needham, Chasen, Decyfer Down and Grammy-nominated SONICFLOOd.

Originally from Morehead City but performing on some of the most successful national tours, Decyfer Down is a local favorite that always draws large crowds anytime they come home to play.

Based in New Bern and hitting airwaves throughout eastern North Carolina in early 2009, Bigfish FM 92.7 is a contemporary Christian radio station with a simple message it hopes to continue to spread with positive music.

After swelling support from the community during the first six months on the air, the station decided to give back. The station is putting on Soundfest, and it is offering sharply discounted tickets, a gesture likely to be noticed in the current economy.

“It happens in all formats of music but particularly with artists that we play, if you want to see a good concert, you have to go to Raleigh or Myrtle Beach and that’s tough for a lot of people,” said Blake Larson, Bigfish FM manager.

For Larson, who has been a popular personality on several local radio stations for years, the new station is an opportunity to blend his professional experience and aspirations with his personal faith.

“It was about four or five years ago that I decided to take my faith a little more seriously,” Larson said. “This was a great opportunity to take the radio experience that I had and build on that in a ministry capacity. And that’s really just the vision. There are so many churches in eastern Carolina and we just want to be a way that the churches can work together a little bit.”

Nevertheless, the bands heard on Bigfish FM don’t tend to fit previous stereotypes for Christian music.

“The music is our ministry,” said Larson. “It’s Christian Top 40. It’s just like a pop station would be, but the message in our music is different. And we have some artists that cross over like The Fray. We play Jordin Sparks, Switchfoot, Mat Kearney and Flyleaf. If it fits the message that we’re trying to project out, then it works.”

“It’s just supposed to be a positive message that uplifts you throughout the week,” Larson said. “A lot of people go to church on Sundays, but it’s kind of hard to walk it out throughout the rest of the week.

“You feel good when you leave church and you’re all charged up from what your pastor is talking about, but it’s a different story on Tuesday when everything seems to be going wrong.

“And it’s for people who don’t go to church, too. There certainly is a lot of negative stuff out there. It’s not a bad idea to have music that is there designed to lift you up.”

Doors open at noon Saturday, and the show starts at 2 p.m. at Camp Albemarle, located off N.C. 24 in Newport.

Preferred seating tickets are $32 with second-tier tickets at $18. Discounts are available for groups, military and children.

Tickets can be purchased at www.bigfishfm.com, the Bigfish FM station, or by calling 636-3333.

Coolers are permitted but no alcohol or glass.

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