This is from the Kentucky Herald-Leader newspaper.
christian lyrics, squeal appeal
By Rich Copley
HERALD-LEADER ARTS WRITER
LOUISVILLE It's a new sound in contemporary Christian music. The squeal.
A high-pitched, sustained, pervasive shriek from thousands of fawning teen and pre-teen girls.
Christian music fans have cheered for Michael W. Smith. They've roared for dc Talk.
But the squeal that greets Plus One when it takes the stage at the Kentucky State Fair is straight out of Beatlemania or, for a present-day reference, Backstreet Boy fever.
And that's appropriate because Plus One, which plays Lexington's Immanuel Baptist Church on Thursday night, is taking chapters out of the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync's playbooks to give
contemporary Christian music its very own boy band.
Like the ultra-popular secular boy bands, whose record sales have raised the bar for pop-music blockbusters, Plus One is made up of five good-looking, musically talented young men. Their sound is a mix of classic five-part harmonies and hip-hop performed with snappy choreography.
And, like its mainstream counterparts, Plus One is burning up the sales charts. The band's debut album, The Promise, broke the record for top-selling maiden effort by a contemporary Christian artist. The album has since hovered at or near the top of Soundscan's Christian album chart for most of the summer.
``They're what Christian music needs,'' Savannah Craddock, 14, of Louisville said after Plus One's state fair concert Monday. ``People will learn more about Jesus through their music.
``I like Backstreet Boys' music, but I can relate to these guys and what they believe.''
From the heart
While a few members of each of the pop boy bands have done things like quoting Bible verses in album notes, some Christians have taken exception to their lyrics.
One of those people was artist manager Mitchell Solarek, who was shocked to hear his 5-year-old daughter singing along to Backstreet Boys' Everybody (Backstreet's Back), which contains the lyric, ``Am I sexual.'' He set out to find Christian music with the boy band sound but couldn't. So he and Atlantic Records' Barry Landis decided to create it.
Through auditions and a few chance meetings, the Plus One lineup was formed: Nathan Walters, 22; Gabe Combs, 20; Jeremy Mhire, 20; Nate Cole, 19; and Jason Perry, 18.
After the lineup was formed, the band went through a year of everything from singing at chic Hollywood parties to working on homes for Habitat for Humanity to recording its debut album.
``At first we didn't really think we were going to get a lot of say, and we were actually fine with that,'' Mhire said of The Promise. ``We said, `This is God's will, and we'll trust that the songs will be great songs.'
``It ended up that every song they thought about they brought to us, and we listened to each one and said, `Is this a song we think would come from our hearts?' ''
A hit with parents
At the Louisville concert, each member of Plus One stepped to the front of the stage to talk from the heart to the delighted squeals of their fans.
They talked about things from the band's name, which means God is always with you, to God's will to the problems with today's pop music.
The five guys, three of whom are preachers' sons, feel as if they're in a good place to talk about spirituality. That's because, far from disrupting their own spiritual lives, they say being in Plus One has enhanced their faith.
``There's even more time to share our spirituality and read our Bibles because we spend so much time on buses and waiting in airports,'' Mhire said. ``At any time, there's someone else around to talk about spirituality.''
Walters added, ``Being in this group has made us think more, `why do we believe what we believe?' ''
``It makes me want to be the best Christian I can be,'' Mhire said.
That's what a lot of their fans' parents want to hear.
``They really seem to have a heart for God,'' Cheryl Stafford, 57, of Charlestown, Ind., said after the state fair concert. ``I really liked what they had to say. They represent young people very well.''
Good balance
Still, the guys in Plus One have to deal with the fact that a big part of their appeal is being physically attractive to those squealing teen-age girls.
``You really can't control what they're thinking or how they react toward you,'' Walters said. ``But what happens after the show is girls will come up and hug you and stuff, and we try to keep a balance and not be flirty with them and make them react that way even more. We try to say, `Hey, this is what we do' and tell them what our message is instead of saying, `Bring it on, girl.' That makes them think, `Well, these guys are a little different.'
``Even on stage we totally tell them why we're here and that our beliefs are in God. But it's OK if girls want to have someone to, if not idolize, at least look up to, because we'll speak truth to them.''
People will learn more about Jesus through their music. I like Backstreet Boys' music, but I can relate to these guys and what they believe.
Plus one Fan Savannah Craddock
