[Duffany]

Recently, I was talking to a friend who is the leader of this online group I am with. We were discussing forming a project to create a site or a blog for people to download rare CCM albums legally. These would be independant debuts by artists who were eventually signed to a major label and had some influence in the scene. From what I understand, most of these recordings were self-released/self-produced in the pre-iTunes era (1994-2004 being the peak point for the ones in question). Back then people only sold them in local venues, so they not only had small production numbers but little exposure. Also, the rights were generally kept by the artists themselves since they weren't published under contract to an actual, formal label, which means there is more likelihood in obtaining them. What I had in mind is asking the artists to share these albums with their fans. So in other words, they'll be contributing copies of them under consent online, provided they have the rights to do so. Most of this stuff hasn't been re-released for several reasons. Sometimes, the material is just rough recordings of songs they later redid. Other times, it's because they feel this material is inferior to their later work. Lastly, it could be the fact that they don't have the masters to remix/remaster a new version for release. Still, being that physical copies were made, there is still a chance that they can share rips from their own copies for us. The only downside is that most CCM fans are a fickle bunch and don't have the interest to hear a lot of this stuff. Whenever I tell someone about this who is a dedicated CCM fan, they usually give me a lukewarm response and ask me why the heck someone would do this or what am I even doing to begin with because they really don't understand the subject in question.

First of all, thanks to JesusFreakHideout's database, we have compiled a timeline of independant early releases from notable CCM bands. This is not entirely complete, of course, but it includes some of the more interesting ones:

1988 - DC Talk - Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm
1988 - Hokus Pick - Hokus Pick Maneuver
1989 - Hokus Pick - Hey Man!
1991 - Dakoda (Dakoda Motor Co.) - Into the Son
1994 - Ghoti Hook - No Date EP
1994 - Jars of Clay - Frail
1995 - Ghoti Hook - Boca Grande EP
1995 - MercyMe - Pleased to Meet Me
1996 - Ace Troubleshooter - Back in the Shootin' Match
1996 - Blindside - Demo '96
1996 - Blindside - Empty Box
1996 - MercyMe - Traces of Rain
1997 - John Reuben - Monuments EP
1997 - MercyMe - Traces of Rain: Volume 2
1998 - All Together Separate - Release
1998 - Dogwood - Dogwood
1998 - Earthsuit - Earthsuit EP
1998 - Earthsuit - Noise For Your Eyes EP
1998 - MercyMe - The Need
1998 - Relient K - All Work No Play
1998 - Sanctus Real - All This Talk of Aliens
1998 - Thousand Foot Krutch - That's What People Do
1999 - Ace Troubleshooter - Don't Stop A Rockin'
1999 - Blyss (pre-Lifehouse) - Diff's Lucky Day
1999 - Downhere - Downhere
1999 - MercyMe - The Worship Project
1999 - Pillar - Metamorphosis
1999 - Sanctus Real - Message for the Masses
2000 - All Star United - Let's Get Crazy EP
2000 - MercyMe - Look
2000 - Pillar - Original Superman
2000 - SWISH (pre-Hawk Nelson) - Riding Around the Park
2000 - Superchic[k] - Superchick
2001 - Everyday Sunday - Sleeper
2001 - LA Symphony - Baloney EP
2001 - Sanctus Real - Nothing to Lose
2002 - Kids in the Way - Kids in the Way EP
2002 - Passerby (pre-Flyleaf) - Broken Wings: Special Edition EP
2002 - Sonburn (Stellar Kart) - New Life
2003 - Earthsuit - The Rise of Modern Simulation
2003 - Hawk Nelson - Saturday Rock Action
2003 - Passerby (pre-Flyleaf) - Broken Wings EP
2003 - Passerby (pre-Flyleaf) - Passerby EP
2004 - Sonburn (Stellar Kart) - Sonburn EP

I don't know about you, but I really want to hear the first three Sanctus Real albums listed and also that album Sleeper by Everyday Sunday. Also curious about Pillar's early stuff.

We've got a blog under wraps that is catering to this project but we're still skeptical of whether there will be any support for it. Of course, it's not too hard to contact the artists we want to speak to for copies of these works, but I am not sure if anyone here shares our enthusiasm. Let us know.

[Leboman]

You can also add these:


1989 - A-180 - You Turn (Audio Adrenaline's first line up)
1990 - A-180 - Reaper's Train

1993 - Third Day - Long Time Forgotten
1994 - Third Day - Contagious


Good luck.

[Duffany]

Note taken. We've already begun the campaign to fetch these albums for the archive from the artists via Twitter. We'll see what we can salvage. We were intending to get FLAC copies but whatever the artists gives will do for now. Wish us luck.