Audio Adrenaline and Kutless

BY DAWN M GARCIA
GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING BAND AUDIO
ADRENALINE AND TOP-SELLING MODERN
ROCK/WORSHIP BAND KUTLESS BRING THEIR
“CHANGE A LIFE TOUR” TO LINCOLN BEREAN
CHURCH ON APRIL 25 AT 7:00 P.M. The “Change A
Life Tour” will also feature special guests Finding
Favour and Shine Bright Baby.
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audio adrenaline/
kutless join forces
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to fight hunger
Always a high-energy crowd favorite, Audio
Adrenaline will be touring in support of its current
album, Kings & Queens, treating concertgoers to the
band’s latest singles, “Kings & Queens” and “Believer,”
along with a long list of crowd favorites, some of the
old mixed with the new. Kutless will be touring on the
heels of its brand new studio album release, Glory
(released in February), performing the group’s longtime hits as well as the new album’s debut single, “You
Alone,” already a huge radio success.
Audio Adrenaline became a band in the
mid-1990s and has sold over 3 million records, garnered two Grammy awards, and has multiple Dove
awards. The band has 17 #1 singles, including the
Single of the Decade with “Big House.” Unfortunately, in 2007, due to a medical condition with lead
singer Mark Stuart’s voice the group disbanded.
In 2012, the band reformed with original members
Mark Stuart (guitar) and Will McGinnis (bass guitar) adding former DC Talk vocalist, Kevin Max, as
lead vocalist. Bleach drummer Jared Byers, Jason
Walker (keys, vocals), and Dave Ghazarian (guitar)
complete the band, which has the same passion,
heart, and musical prowess as ever before with a
new album that showcases Max’s incredible voice.
In 2012, the new Audio Adrenaline (also
known as Audio 2.0) released their first single “Kings
& Queens”, off their album of the same title. And since
that release, “all kinds of things, really,” have been
going on with the band, says Audio Adrenaline drummer Jared Byers. “We made the singer change in the
last few years and things have been going great. We
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put out Kings & Queens and it has just been phenomenal. It’s been accepted by everyone. God
formed our band around that single.”
The single, “Kings & Queens”, was created to raise awareness of “The Hands and
Feet Project,” a nonprofit organization founded
by Audio Adrenaline in 2004 as a result of fan
reaction to the song “Hands and Feet”. The
organization is dedicated to providing longterm, family style care for orphaned and abandoned children. The organization broke ground
on their first Children’s village in Cyvadier, a
small town on the Southern coast, and began
their journey of serving the forgotten children of
the impoverished Caribbean nation. Now, the
Project has grown to include multiple locations across the southern
peninsula and sets its sights on caring for one thousand orphaned children by the year 2016.
“The music and band here
gives us the ability to do what we do
over there,” says Byers. “The Hands
and Feet Project is a big reason
we wanted to use Audio Adrenaline
when the band reformed and a big
reason why we are so successful.
Kings and Queens gave us a great
platform to begin with. We couldn’t
have captured it more perfectly.”
Byers, who began his music
career in drums because of a suggestion from his older brother so
they could play together, played in
a few bands making only $500 a
month and then drumming for the
band, Bleach before signing on with
Audio Adrenaline. “I traveled a lot
with Audio Adrenaline and we would
see each other at festivals,” says
Byers. “Then these guys started
calling me back and saying the band
was getting back together. God kind
of aligned it in all of our lives.
“It’s kind of in your blood, a huge blessing, a dream
come true, a lot of people want to do what we do,” continues Byers. “God can use us and play through us through
our music. I wake up in the morning and have to remember
that this is not a normal job. I am nothing special. We are
all screw-ups but we can share the music with the world. I
don’t take it for granted.”
In 2003, Kutless had their touring debut when they
opened up for Audio Adrenaline and MercyMe. Kutless,
named so because “Christ took our beating and paid the
wages of our sin. Romans 6:23. He took our cuts for us,
leaving us...Kutless”, will co-host the “Change A Life Tour”
with Audio Adrenaline this time around.
“It’s been an awesome tour so far,” says Nick de Partee, guitarist for Kutless. “It is cool for us to be back out on the
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comingup
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F U S E W E E K L Y. C O M V O L . 2 . 2 1
in
in
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road with Audio Adrenaline. It’s been
a lot of fun. We have seen so many
Audio Adrenaline
lives changed on this tour, people
and Kutless at
Lincoln Berean
getting saved and hearing testimoChurch, April 25
nies and so many amazing stories,
at 7:00 p.m. Tickhow God is moving in these cities
ets are on sale at
and these people.”
lincolnberean.
It’s not just the tour’s auditix.com. Tickets
ence who are being moved to
are $25 and $30
each and seats are change, but hundreds of children’s
reserved. There
lives are being changed through
is also an optional
the tour, as well. “We partnered
preshow VIP expewith food for the hungry, helping
rience with Audio
Adrenaline and Kut- children in need,” says de Partee.
“We are sharing the kids’ stories
less that is being
and hundreds and hundreds of kids
offered for $25/
person as an extra
get sponsored during this tour. It
cost. This experifeeds them and gives them hope.”
ence is limited to
Although a great part of the
100 persons. The
“Change A Life Tour” is focused on
tickets for the VIP
feeding hungry children through
experience are
the “Hands and Feet Project”, the
offered only with a
concert ticket purtour will promote Kutless’ latest
chase at the above
studio album, Glory. The album
web address.
features “You Alone,” which is currently charting at AC Indicator and
Hot AC/CHR. “We will be playing a
lot of new stuff, a lot of new songs,” says de Partee. “We
bring the songs to life.”
With over 1.7 million units in career sales, an RIAA
Gold Certified album (Strong Tower), and an RIAA Gold
Certified Longform Video (Live From Portland), Kutless
continues their streak in making a big impact. Their 2009
hit song “What Faith Can Do” topped the 2010 MediaBase Christian AC Song of the Year and was the #2 Billboard Hot Christian Song of the Year. In 2012, Believer
continued the band’s success with hit singles “Carry Me
To The Cross,” “Even If,” and “Need.”
Kutless consists of lead singer Jon Micah Sumrall,
guitarists James Mead and Nick de Partee, and drummer
Kyle Peek.
de Partee wasn’t always a drummer. In fact, before
he joined Kutless he was a graphic designer. “It’s actually
in
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a funny story,” says de Partee. “I’ve known the guys for
about 11 years and in 2008 they asked if I would do some
guitar teching for them, which I did for about a year. I
wasn’t sure what a guitar tech did but it sounded fun. The
day before I was going to quit, James [Mead], the guitarist
called and asked if I would want to play the guitar.”
Playing the guitar for a popular Christian rock
band was far from de Partee’s idea of a career when
he was growing up. He had wanted to be a pro baseball
player for the Angels, which a few years ago he played
music, not baseball, on the Angels baseball field. At the
age of 10, de Partee’s dad taught him how to play the
guitar and by 13, he was writing songs. Music became
more interesting than baseball and he joined a band at
the age of 14, playing in coffee shops every weekend,
all leading up to where he is now.
“You just play as much as you can,” says de
Partee. “You follow what you want to do, follow that
passion God has given you. You just keep chasing it
with God as the focus of it.”
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