Plus One’s five handsome young men
arrive in a world already smitten with boy
bands, and a cynic might dismiss them
as just another attempt to jump on the
teen-phenom bandwagon. Ah, but here’s
the rub: These guys are good. Really
good.
In fact, The Promise’s 12 tracks are
stamped with the maturity one would
expect of a veteran singing group. Give no small credit to a parade
of A-list producers and songwriters—starting with Grammy winner
David Foster—for building a memorable debut that will likely eat up
the airwaves. Nate Cole, Jason Perry, Jeremy Mhire, Gabe Combs
and Nathan Walters blend and harmonize exceptionally well,
smoothly trading leads on this collection of mostly radio-friendly pop
with hints of R&B.
Lyrically, the writers occasionally address the generic "you" rather
than naming God, which positions the group for crossover success,
but might not satisfy Christians who prefer more direct declarations.
But that’s a minor note in what is an excellent debut.
Remember the scene from That Thing You Do when fictional band The Wonders first hears their song on the radio? It was pandemonium as the guys ran around screaming, "We’re on the radio! We’re on the radio!" Well, diners at the Nashville Cooker were treated to a similar scene recently when the members of the new group Plus One first heard their voices carried across the airwaves.
"We heard our song had been on the Battle of the Bands on [Nashville Christian radio station] WAY-FM and it won, like, four nights in a row, but we never got to hear it because we were in dance rehearsal," explained Plus One member Nate Cole during a recent visit to the CCM offices. "Then one night we got a late break for dinner and we were eating at The Cooker. We got done eating and I was like, 'we should go out to the car. I bet our song’s gonna be on soon.' So we ran out to the car and [Plus One member] Gabe [Combs] put the key in the ignition and right when he turned it on it’s like, 'Your love is written on…' and we were like, 'That’s it!' So we freaked out," Cole adds.
But what exactly does he mean by "freaked out?" Well, according to another Plus Oner, Jason Perry, "Nate jumped on top of the car —on the roof of the car!—and he was going, 'Our song’s on the radio! Our song’s on the radio!' Yelling to people in the parking lot."
So was the owner of the car equally excited or did jumping on the roof of the car cause a little friction between Cole and the group member in possession of said auto’s pink slip?"Nah," Cole says dismissively, then pauses before adding, "it was a rental."
Plus One's debut disc, The Promise, released last week. -CCM Magazine
Atlantic/143 Records' new artist Plus
One recently finished the pop single
"Last Flight Out," which will release to
mainstream radio this summer. Plus
One's debut, The Promise, streets
May 23. Pictured at Nashville's Sound
Kitchen are (standing, l-r) Nathan
Walters, Gabe Combs and Jeremy
Mhire, Plus One; Mitchell Solarek,
manager; Barry Landis, vice
president/general manager, Atlantic
Records' Christian Music Division;
(sitting, l-r) Jason Perry, Plus One;
Chris Farren, producer; and Nate
Cole, Plus One. -CCM Magazine
Want to get to know the five newest guys in Christian
music? Well, here's your opportunity.
Musicforce.com spent a day recently with Plus One as
they moved into their new apartment in Nashville, TN. We
also took them around to visit some of the top attractions
in Music City and snagged some great video footage that
you won't see anywhere else!
So, if you're a fan or even if you've just discovered Plus
One, you don't want to miss out on getting to know
Jeremy, Nate, Gabe, Jason, and Nathan.
To view interview, click here.
Join Musicforce.com in a LIVE CHAT with Plus One!
June 27, 2000 from 8:00pm(CST) to 8:45pm(CST)
To view chat information on Yahoo! Click Here.
OUT OF THE STUDIO...
...and onto the radio! Yes, kids, the first single from new Christian boy band, Plus One, has hit the airwaves. Listen for "Written on My Heart" to heat up the charts on a Christian radio station near you. And be the first to pre-order the CD, The Promise, right here at Musicforce.com later this month. (Pictured here *to see the pic go here* with producer Chris Farrin on the last day of recording, Plus One is now busily rehearsing for a summer tour.)
“The Promise”
By Plus One (Atlantic/143, 45 minutes)
The surprise here is that Plus One’s not a watered-down Christian knock off of the mainstream trend: teen pop acts. Guru David Foster hooked these five guys (ages 17-22) up with hot producers (Eric Foster White, Rodney Jerkins and Foster himself) and out came an album that should be big in both markets. Lush pop such as God Is in This Place, the irresistible harmonies of The Promise , upbeat material such as My Life and the familiar teen love ballad Last Flight Out make the disc’s “most likely to succeed” list. The Promise probably won’t knock Wayne Kirkpatrick permanently off my CD player, but for what it is, it’s pretty darn good.
-Beau Black. Dallas Morning News
(NASHVILLE, TN)- Atlantic/143 Records' pop vocal group Plus One are one of 90 artists who will
be included in Pepsi's national summer promotion, Choose Your Music, which will run May 15
through July 23.
Consumers who purchase Pepsi products this summer will earn points toward creating their own
custom CD, with more than 150 songs from over 90 artists from which to choose. Fifty points will
earn them a 5-song CD, while 100 points will earn a 10-song CD with an additional bonus song. A
complete song list is featured online at www.Pepsi.com, as well as further directions on how to
create and receive a free CD from Pepsi.
Plus One's "My Life" and "Be" from their debut album The Promise are featured in the promotion.
Other artists participating in Choose Your Summer Sounds include Brandy, Faith Hill, Hootie & the
Blowfish, Jewel, George Jones, Kid Rock, P.O.D., Edwin McCain, Tim McGraw, Stone Temple
Pilots, Sugar Ray and Vitamin C. Plus One and P.O.D. are the only two Christian acts included in
the promotion.
Plus One's debut, The Promise, hits stores on May 23, as the group tours the country visiting radio
stations and retail outlets. In addition to performing at various festivals this summer, Plus One will
spend early fall doing back-to-school events for Macy's department stores, followed by a fall tour
with Word/Sony Discos' artist Jaci Velasquez.
Long before Plus One's 143/Atlantic Records
debut, The Promise, was in the can, or before
one note of their music had been heard on a radio
station, a veritable "who's who" of pop music
insiders was eager to work with these five
talented young men.
Not that Plus One is looking to ride on coattails to
fame. They've just learned early on what too many artists take an
entire career to discover - that success, of any kind, is never a
simple function of individual effort, but is first and always a product
of collaboration. Plus One realized that no one succeeds alone - in
life, in music, and certainly not in faith - and therefore the quality of
their success would depend on the kind of people they surrounded
themselves with. So, from the beginning, they've sought nothing but
the best, including co-producer of The Promise, 143 Records CEO
and 14-time Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer David
Foster (Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Toni Braxton).
The all-star production team also includes Buster & Shavoni (Kirk
Franklin, Prince of Egypt soundtrack), Dow and Brad (LFO), Chris
Farren (Deana Carter, Kevin Sharp), Rodney Jerkins (Whitney
Houston, Brian McKnight, Brandy and Monica), Robbie Nevil (Jessica
Simpson, Brandy, Monica), Joe P. (Tatyana Ali, Zoe Girl), Phil Sillas
(Melrose Place, Party of Five), Bradley Spalter (k-ci & jojo,
Babyface) and Eric Foster White (Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys).
If, as the saying goes, we are known by the company we keep, Plus
One already has a brilliant reputation.
"Guys with good voices are a dime a dozen in LA," says Florida
native Nathan Walters, the oldest member of Plus One at the ripe
age of 22. "But chemistry… that's another story. Plus One works
because we are not just five guys singing next to each other -
we've worked our socks off from the beginning to connect, to click."
"Exactly," adds 18-year-old Sacramento native Nate Cole. "We have
to become more than just five good singers. Our job is to become
one great group, to find that path through hard work and lots of
time together to those moments when we're genuinely together
when we sing."
To reach that goal, the guys have committed to nearly a year of
non-stop preparation, rehearsing, researching, recording, serving,
praying and even living together. Since then, their life has become a
veritable mobile college dorm-first in San Francisco, then LA, and
now in Nashville - except that no one ever gets to cut class, they
don't get weekends off, and when they jump on a plane to Nashville
for the weekend, it's not for Spring Break. This fall, when everyone
will be heading back to school, these five guys will be heading off to
a different kind of classroom - a 60-city tour with Myrrh
Records/Sony Discos artist Jaci Velasquez.
"I knew making this record would be hard work," says 20-year-old
Gabe Combs, Plus One's instrumental and songwriting Renaissance
man, "As we got into this, we realized that what we were doing -
what we had been called together to do - would take everything we
have. I guess that's why we know it's worth doing."
In the process, the guys have learned to play off each other's
strengths, and balance each other's weaknesses, as they worked
together to grow as a group and as men.
"In some ways we're very different," adds 19 year old Jeremy Mhire,
of Springfield, MO. "but it's our differences that make us interesting
- as friends and as a group. I'm learning how we each bring
something special to everything we do, and that it's the ways we
differ that allows us to be more than just ordinary."
The connection - and commitment - between the guys is clear on
The Promise. There's a playfulness and attentiveness in Plus One's
vocal interplay that simply can't be manufactured in a studio. Songs
like "My Life," with its funky backbeat, and the first single, "Written
On My Heart," showcase the group's intricate harmonies and
youthful take on life.
"These guys really hear each other, really listen to each other when
they sing," says producer David Foster, who signed the group to 143
Records/Atlantic Records literally days after their first auditions.
"Individually, they're all incredibly talented, but they've learned that
as vocalists, they're even better together. There's wisdom there."
There's more to a band than just camaraderie. There has to be
substance to the songs to justify the audience's time. Plus One
knew this too, and set out from their first moment together on a
dual quest to find the perfect songs and to stretch themselves as
people.
For this reason the songs on Plus One's debut, (eventually culled
from a roster of a who's who list of songwriters including Phil Sillas,
Stephanie Lewis, Dan Muckala, Ty Lacey, Eric Foster White and
Reed Vertelney), cover the gamut of everything that you might
expect from a bunch of friends at the edge of adulthood. Songs full
of fun and romance, hopes, dreams and the highest yearnings and
ambitions find their way on the disc. There are songs about
friendship and faithfulness, like "My Friend," and mostly, there are
songs such as "Run to You" and the melodic title cut, "The Promise,"
In the past year, Backstreet Boys made headlines by selling one
million records in a week, and NSync made absolute history by
selling one million records in one day. The phenomenon of
pre-fabricated singing boy bands is so strong that it has become
the topic of a recurring prime time television show on ABC. Under
the watchful eye of a fathering entertainment industry agent, the
fresh-faced subjects of Making the Band hustle their best vocal
licks, dance routines, and hairstyles for a shot at a record deal.
This, too, is the story of Plus One, a five-member all-star act whose
debut album, The Promise, may sound suspiciously familiar to the
world at large, but is nevertheless a comparatively new and highly
palatable offering for the Christian consumer to whom it is targeted.
At the top of the pros list, The Promise boasts an eager team of
songwriters and producers all graced with the executive approval of
14-time Grammy winner David Foster (Celine Dion, Chicago, Faith
Hill), who is also the CEO of 143 Records, Plus One’s music label
home. As such, the combination of top songs, pristine
arrangements, and the group’s seamless voices creates a listening
experience that radio listening music fans will surely enjoy.
First song and lead single “Written on My Heart” is predictably
bouncy, instantly catchy, and smacks of Backstreet Boys production
qualities in the vein of their breakthrough hit, “As Long As You Love
Me.” Next up, “God Is in This Place” presents more impressive
signs of artistic soul and signature. Driven by a nylon-stringed
guitar groove reminiscent of dc Talk’s “Just between You and Me,”
the song showcases Plus One’s important vocal fluidity and
confidence. Likewise, the album’s mid-tempo title track presents
the group’s outspoken spiritual testimony and a charming harmonic
breakdown that other up and comer vocal outfits may aspire to.
After a somewhat mellow start, The Promise, kicks into groove
mode with “My Life,” a song that champions good clean fun and
stirs up musical comparisons to Michael Jackson and Montell
Jordan in its harmless metallic guitar bravado and vocal enunciation
respectively. “Soul Tattoo,” a runaway hit, is absolutely playful pop
in the modern tradition of LFO, but with stronger vocal bite and
lyrical depth.
Interestingly, Plus One’s strongest moments on The Promise come
later in the album track listing, after the hits have splashed and the
consumer appetite is duly whet. “When the Spirit Gets too Weak”
mixes stark social commentary with passionate gospel answers and
a classic church choir. “Last Flight Out” re-emphasizes the
emotional power of the group’s vocal unity and its comfortable
attitude in the presence of a great song--a trait that could and
probably will take Plus One very far.
Overall, The Promise more than ably delivers what people have
come to expect from an album that doubles as a fashion show,
even if the formulaic nature of the entire process does eventually
catch up with itself when some of the songs start sounding the
same. However, mass appeal youth-driven pop music has rarely
been about perfect one-hour statements, rather the surefire bursts
of three-minute instant musical gratification that keep the scene
exciting and the radio pumping. And in that setting, Plus One is a
winner.
--David Schrader
