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Audio Adrenaline
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Audio Adrenaline was a Grammy Award-winning Christian rock band that formed in the late 1980s at Kentucky Christian College in Grayson, Kentucky. During the band's 17-year existence, they were awarded two Grammy awards, multiple Dove Awards and they released 17 number one singles. They were regular performers at the annual Creation Festival, Spirit West Coast festival and Agape Music Festival. Audio Adrenaline also performed at the Alive Festival every year up to their last performance in June 2006.
o Adrenaline, along with other Christian music acts like dc Talk and Newsboys, helped fuel a revolution in the "alternative" Christian music genre.
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Encyclopedia
Audio Adrenaline was a Grammy Award-winning Christian rock band that formed in the late 1980s at Kentucky Christian College in Grayson, Kentucky. During the band's 17-year existence, they were awarded two Grammy awards, multiple Dove Awards and they released 17 number one singles. They were regular performers at the annual Creation Festival, Spirit West Coast festival and Agape Music Festival. Audio Adrenaline also performed at the Alive Festival every year up to their last performance in June 2006.
History
Audio Adrenaline, along with other Christian music acts like dc Talk and Newsboys, helped fuel a revolution in the "alternative" Christian music genre. This was started by bands like Sincerely Paul, Under Midnight, Mortal, Circle of Dust and the indie labels Blonde Vinyl, Frontline/Myx, Tooth & Nail, and 5 Minute Walk.
Over the course of the band's career, several other Christian artists have been influenced by Audio Adrenaline. The interviews with these bands are available at the Audio Adrenaline website. These bands include MercyMe, Sanctus Real, and Hawk Nelson.
Early history
The band was formed in 1986 under the name of A-180 by Mark Stuart, Barry Blair, Will McGinniss, David Stuart, and Phil Vaughan (As of 2007, Stuart and McGinniss are the only remaining original members.) The guys all attended Kentucky Christian (College) University. The next year, 1987 the band temporarily disbanned when Mark went to Haiti for a semester. Upon Mark's return to Kentucky, the band reformed with Ron Gibson on drums. Mark, Barry, and Will, along with Ron Gibson (drummer 1988 - 1991) and Mark's brother, David (keyboards and vocals), became a popular local band, booked by the school nearly every weekend; traveling as far west as Texas, north to Chicago, south to Florida and most points between. The band did over 100 shows during this time and recorded two independent releases under the name A-180. The first was "You Turn" in 1989 and "Reaper's Train" in 1990. Reaper's Train featured the original version of the song DC-10, also found on the first Audio Adrenaline release.
The band's big break would come in the form of Bob Herdman. Bob went up to Audio Adrenaline (A-180 at the time) with two songs he had written, "My God" and "DC-10". After "My God" was recorded at Landmark Recording Studio(www.landmarkrecording.com);under the band name Herdman had created, "Audio Adrenaline";it was sent to radio stations and scaled the charts quickly. ForeFront Records decided to offer a record deal to A-180 but had them change their name to Audio Adrenaline. The name "Audio Adrenaline" comes from an incident in which Bob Herdman had been listening to some rather loud and fast secular music, he was so enthralled by it that he apparently exclaimed "This is like... Audio Adrenaline!" while jumping wildly. Bob then joined the band as songwriter and sound man. Late in 1991, David Stuart left the band to focus more on his family. Ron Gibson left in December 1991 as Forefront Records was guiding the band into hip-hop and away from the band's rock roots.
1990s
Their first album under Forefront, the self-titled Audio Adrenaline, was released in 1992 and contained the only track from the original A-180 recordings. That being the song "DC-10". The follow-up album, Don't Censor Me, came the next year and featured one of the biggest hit songs in Christian music history - "Big House". In 1996, their third album, bloom, was released. Bloom put Audio A back into it's rock roots, which they continued with from then on. It marked guitarist Barry Blair's final album with the band, although Barry appeared on "Some Kind of Zombie". Barry became and is a successful music producer.
With Blair gone, Audio Adrenaline needed a new guitarist. They found a temporary fill in Brian McSweeney (Seven Day Jesus / Matthew) who decided to stay with his fulltime act. From there, they turned the guitars over to Tyler Burkum, who joined the band at only 17 years old, in time to record some guitars on the 1997 Some Kind of Zombie album. This was also the first album to feature Ben Cissell as the band's full-time drummer, though Cissell had played on percussion the record bloOm as well. In 1999, the band released Underdog, its fifth studio album.
2000s
Audio Adrenaline greeted the new millennium by releasing their first greatest hits compilation, Hit Parade, in 2001. In the winter of that same year, they released a new studio album, Lift. In the time between the releases of those two albums, Bob Herdman left the band to become president of a new record label, Flicker Records, which he founded along with Stuart and McGinniss. In 2003, the band released its ninth album, Worldwide. It was a more worship-based effort that emphasized their style of ministry and love of mission trips. The band's "Hands and Feet Project" and "The Go Show" tour also served to encourage missionary work. Worldwide, like Lift before it, wasn't as 'rocking' in the traditional sense as their previous efforts, mostly because of the focus on softer and more praise-oriented material. Worldwide went on to win a Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album in 2004 which would be the first of two Grammys for the band. In 2004, the band, along with former member Bob Herdman, founded a project in Haiti called the Hands and Feet Project, in which the band built an orphanage for children.
The band's tenth album, Until My Heart Caves In, was released on August 30, 2005. It received a Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album in 2006. "Clap Your Hands" was also played on ESPN with highlights of the football games.
Among Audio Adrenaline's most notable performances are three of their most popular songs, "Big House", "Hands and Feet", and the live staple "We're A Band", as well as a duet with The O.C. Supertones, "Blitz", from the album Some Kind of Zombie.
On January 18, 2006, Audio Adrenaline announced that they were retiring from active music ministry. The band cited Mark Stuart's "ongoing vocal challenges" stemming from vocal cord damage after years of performing as the primary factor. On July 27, 2006, the band played at the popular Christian music festival Creation West for the last time. They had performed at Creation West every year since it began. On August 1, 2006, they released their final album, Adios, a farewell album containing two new tracks as well as the band's greatest hits. For their final national tour in February until April 2007, Audio Adrenaline opened for MercyMe on the "Coming Up To Breathe Tour". The band performed their last live concert on April 28, 2007, at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii. Their final project, which was released on August 28th, 2007, is a live CD/DVD combo entited "Live From Hawaii: The Farewell Concert".
On March 21, 2008, Australian festival Easterfest announced that Audio Adrenaline would be getting back together for a world exclusive concert at Easterfest '09 in Queens Park, Toowoomba.
Books
September 1, 2003, the band released its first book Dirty Faith: Becoming the Hands and Feet of Jesus, with Think Books. Co-written with Mark Matlock, the book discusses reaching out to the needy and features an organization called Mission Year.
On September 5, 2006, the band released Hands & Feet: Inspiring Stories and Firsthand Accounts of God Changing Lives, with Regal Books. It takes the reader on a journey to Haiti with the band as they build houses for the children there. The reader also meets Drex and Jo Stuart, the parents of frontman Mark Stuart. The book gives an explanation of life in one of the poorest nations on earth. It also tells of the band's building of The Hands and Feet Project (an orphanage for poor, hungry children).
Band members
- Mark Stuart - vocals, guitar Founding Member
- Will McGinniss - vocals, bass guitar Founding Member
- [Bob Herdman] - keyboard, guitar Founding Member
- Barry Blair - guitar, vocals (1989-1996) Founding Member
- Tyler Burkum - guitar, vocals, keyboard (1997-2007)
- Ben Cissell - drums (1995-2007)
- Dave Stuart - keyboards, vocals (1986-1991) Founding Member
- Ron Gibson - drums (March, 1988 - Dec, 1991)Founding Member
Touring Musicians
- Brian Hayes - drums (1993-1995)
- Brian Whitman - guitar, vocals (2005-2007)
- David Stuart - keyboard, vocals (1986-1991 "You Turn" and "Reaper's Train")
- Ron Gibson - drums (1988 - 1991: "You Turn" and "Reaper's Train")
- Jonathan Schneck - backup guitar, backing vocals (2003-2005, Now with Relient K)
- Brian McSweeney - guitar, vocals (1996-97, replacing Barry Blair; 2007, filled in for Tyler Burkum for final shows)
- Jared Byers - drums (2007, filled in for Ben Cissell for final shows
Side projects
Mark Stuart was recently involved in !Hero the Rock Opera, playing as Petrov. !Hero was a modern adaption of the story of Christ performed along with dc Talk band member Michael Tait, presently the frontman of one of dc Talk's solo projects, Tait. Also involved in this production was popular CCM pop vocalist Rebecca St. James, playing the part of Maggie.
Mark Stuart and Will McGinniss have launched a post-retirement speaking venture titled "Audio Talks". They are available "for a night of encouragement, testimonies, Audio A classics and worship."
Discography
Tapes (A-180)
Albums
Live albums
DVDs
Compilations
Singles
- "Some Kind of Zombie" (1997)
- "Big House (Live)" (1997)
- "Underdog" (1999)
- "Dirty/Ocean Floor" (2003)
- "Miracle" (2004)
- "King" (2005)
- "Melody (Lost In Wonder)" (2005)
- "Get Down" (2006)
- "Goodbye" (2006)
Awards
Grammy Awards
- 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album of the Year for Worldwide
- 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album of the Year for Until My Heart Caves In
Dove Awards
- 1996 Long Form Music Video of the Year - "Big House" (Don't Censor Me)
- 1998 Modern Rock Recorded Song of the Year - "Some Kind of Zombie" (Some Kind of Zombie)
- 2000 Rock Recorded Song of the Year - "Get Down" (Underdog)
- 2003 Rock Album of the Year - "Lift"
Further reading
External links
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- Interview of Will McGinniss on Beliefnet.com
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