RED is a GRAMMY-nominated rock quartet that releases its highly anticipated sophomore album Feb. 10, and is perhaps the hardest-working band in Christian music.

The members answer all fan e-mails themselves and play about 250 shows per year—a staggering number for any band, but especially so for one with married men in their late 20s, two with children.

The Sonflowerz—a Colorado-based sibling duo—has been playing music for nearly 10 years, but only recently signed a record deal. The pair’s debut, All Over the World (8-94228-00172-3, Avista Records), which was independently financed prior to signing the deal, will be distributed by Provident-Integrity beginning this month.

But the dominoes really started to fall after the duo won awards at the Gospel Music Association’s “Music in the Rockies” competition last summer, taking home trophies for best vocal duo and overall vocal group. Since then, the pair has recorded its first serious album, scored a record deal and has seen several singles show up on the Christian radio charts.

San Antonio progressive rockers' debut album offers 'grace' message

Josh Engler grew up in an RV with missionary parents, traveling the country, building and repairing churches. These days, the 25-year-old San Antonio resident occasionally works for a homebuilder and still travels as a missionary of sorts. Engler fronts Abandon, a five-piece progressive rock band that makes its major label debut Jan. 27 with Searchlights.

Abandon’s members—with the exception of Josh’s brother, Justin—met while leading worship at a church in San Antonio, but their career outside the church got a boost when a ministry stumbled across the band’s MySpace page.

The ministry that contacted the band was The Seven Project, a moral education program for public schools that’s affiliated with the Assemblies of God. The Seven Project puts on public school assemblies that address six big issues teens face, including drugs and sex. The seventh—students’ need for Jesus—is addressed at an off-site, non-school-sponsored assembly that features music by Abandon.

Sixpence None the Richer, which called it quits in 2004, is re-entering the music world with its first new full-length album in six years. Fans of Leigh Nash and the band may find it surprising that, after such a long hiatus, the first project is a Christmas album, The Dawn of Grace (0-67003-08152-8, Nettwerk Music Group/Provident-Integrity), which released Oct. 14.

“We’ve got to re-introduce ourselves, and we’ve never really done a holiday record before,” Nash said. “Once we got into the swing of (making the album), we enjoyed ourselves so much. … We also didn’t have to...

Popular artist's new album emphasizes doing and truth telling

"A lot of it for me really got started in my heart. I got on my face. And that's where everything starts. You get distracted building your own kingdom." —Jeremy Camp

Jeremy Camp is crackling with Scripture references and is eager to talk about his new album, Speaking Louder Than Before, which releases in late November. He is a multi-Dove-Award-winning artist who has four previous albums to his name, but Camp talks about this new record as if it's his first.