(Courtesy Photo Via Strong Tower Productions)
RETURNING TO THEIR ROOTS: Mercy Me returns to their Texas roots on April 7 in Longview. The band has appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and written up in the New York Times, USA Today and Entertainment Weekly.
By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor
Before turning their love of music "over to God" four East Texas men loved to attend live rock music venues. Now they've formed their own nonprofit corporation to bring their love of contemporary Christian music to East Texas.
The result of their efforts will feature the "Coming Up To Breathe" tour showcasing the national-level musicmakers Mercy Me and Audio Adrenaline live at Lobo Coliseum, Loop 281 and Airline Avenue, at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The concert is presented in cooperation with LeTourneau University. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
"Years ago, I went to see shows like the Eagles, Kansas, the Doobie Brothers, Van Halen, Boston and Pink Floyd," said attorney Brian Bunt, president of Strong Tower Productions based in Longview. "It's true that, comparatively, some contemporary Christian music wasn't played so well, not well-produced or presented. That's why we decided to form Strong Tower."
And those not-so-good times are changing, said Bunt.
"We have four music lovers on our nonprofit board we established about four years ago," said Bunt. "Our desire is to see the best of the Christian music culture, the best productions, make it to our area."
To that end, they checked out Mercy Me and Audio Adrenaline before trying to book them.
"We all went to see Mercy Me in Louisiana and said 'we have to get these guys over to Texas.' It's like nothing a lot of Christian people may have seen before. It was that good. It's certainly nothing you'll ever see in a church."
And Mercy Me is drawing national "secular" attention. They will be televised by the FOX network on April 15 as they sing the national anthem at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
The four music lovers at StrongTower, Dr. Jeff Jones, building supplier Chuck Dowden, chemical engineer Jeff Sutton and Bunt produce about four concerts a year.
"We don't want to make a living promoting Christian concerts. I'm not even sure we could do that. We're a nonprofit organization, and we'll stay that way."
At pre-sale ticket prices that range from $23 to $45, Bunt acknowledged that may out of range for some. But he expects Strong Tower will only "break-even" from ticket sales.
"Be assured that we've cut our ticket prices as far as we can," he said. "We don't have a venue near us that can seat as many people as these concerts must have to finance them. It costs the same to do a show at LeTourneau as it does in Dallas, and you can't sell as many tickets.
Bunt anticipates the show will be sold out quickly.
"People should get tickets now, there just isn't that much seating," he said. "There will be some tickets available at the door as the bands make them available, but we don't know how many there will be."
Bunt and his friends have produced several concerts already.
"It's a challenge with every show, but we pray as it all depends on God and work as if it all depends on us," he said. "Somehow it all works."
Tickets will be $25 at the door and are available at the Scroll Christian Bookstore in Tyler, the LeTourneau University bookstore or by phone at 1-800-965-9324 or online at iTickets.com
Visit the Web at
www.strongtowermusic.org for information about Strong Tower and the concert or
www.letu.edu/mercyme.
For the latest on Mercy Me's album releases and audio samples visit mercyme.org.
