“WINTER JAM 2009” DRAWS RECORD-BREAKING CROWDS
GREENSBORO, NC AUDIENCE SURPASSES 20,000
OVERALL TOUR ATTENDANCE UP MORE THAN 4 PERCENT

NASHVILLE, TN—March 3, 2009—“The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular,” well established as Christian music’s largest annual musical tour, is defying today’s challenging economy by notching yet another record-breaking year. Still in progress, Winter Jam 2009’s average nightly attendance increase of more than 4 percent over last year’s record-setting pace is highlighted by the recent stop in Greensboro, NC which boasted an unprecedented Winter Jam turnout of more than 20,000 people.

Despite escalating prices due to the current economic climate, Winter Jam has continued it’s commitment to the unique “no tickets” policy, which allows fans to pay $10 at the door for admission. Hosted for the 14^th consecutive year by Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning artist NewSong, Winter Jam 2009’s headliner is reigning “GMA Artist of the Year” tobyMac. The Spectacular also welcomes special guests Hawk Nelson, current “GMA New Artist of the Year” Brandon Heath, Francesca Battistelli, Stephanie Smith, pureNRG and featured speaker Tony Nolan. The Afters, BarlowGirl and Family Force 5 are also performing at select Winter Jam dates. The 35-city tour, which launched in early January, will conclude at the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN on March 15.
 
Winter Jam’s total paid attendance last year surpassed 311,000 people with an average nightly turnout of more than 9,100 fans. As a result, Winter Jam was the fourth ranked tour in the world on Pollstar’s 2008 First Quarter Attendance Chart.

“Winter Jam’s success happens because a team of ordinary people who have been given extraordinary gifts by God, serve together for Gods glory,” says speaker Tony Nolan. “Each night the crowds roar and clap for the artist in the spotlight. But we are careful to never take God’s place at center stage, and at the end of the day, we applaud God for the attendance, babies sponsored and all the decisions that were made for His glory alone!”

During last year’s tour, more than 53,000 Winter Jam attendees made either a first-time commitment to follow Christ or rededicated their lives to Him. This year, the tour is on pace to see that number surpassed by almost 25 percent. Winter Jam 2008 also resulted in the sponsorship of more than 4,300 orphaned children through Holt International. As a world-leader in adoption and child welfare around the globe, Holt International returns as a sponsor of Winter Jam 2009 and is on pace to surpass the WJ08’s total.

Says Kim Brown, CEO of Holt International Children’s Services, “These compassionate child sponsors are providing food, shelter, clothing, medical treatment and care for children in Holt programs around the world. Since 2006 when Winter Jam began sharing the needs of Holt programs, over 17,000 sponsors have volunteered to provide monthly support for orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children. The sponsors' support enables many of these children to be placed with permanent, loving adoptive families. In many other cases, this help will enable birth families to provide the care their children need, and those children won’t have to endure the heartache and hardship of being abandoned.”

In addition to Holt International, corporate sponsors for Winter Jam 2009 include Tangle.com, Precious Girls Club, HearItFirst.com, Stuph Clothing, Creation Fest, Camp Electric and Premier Christian Cruises. HearItFirst.com hosts the official Winter Jam site, which can be visited at JamTour.com.

Here are Winter Jam 2009’s seven remaining dates:

3/6/09               Knoxville, TN                         Thompson-Boling Arena
3/7/09                         Lexington, KY                         Rupp Arena
3/8/09                         Tupelo, MS                         BancorpSouth Arena
3/12/09                         Grand Rapids, MI             Van Andel Arena
3/13/09                         Ft. Wayne, IN                        Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
3/14/09                         Ypsilanti, MI                         EMU Convocation Center
3/15/09                         Nashville, TN                         Sommet Center

# # #

January 29, 2009

Note from Winter Jam Attendee: Bobbi Adams

I have to share with you our latest experience at Winter Jam. A very good friend of mine first introduced me to the Winter Jam concerts about 4 years ago. We both have daughters about the same age and she had invited me and my youngest daughter to come with. I had never really listened to "Christian music" before (I always aquainted it with slow, boring music~boy was I ever wrong!) and we have been hooked ever since! 

This is our 4th year coming to the Winter Jam and as usual, we were not disappointed! My oldest daughter (17yrs old) had never come with us to any of the concerts and really didn't listen to the music, but she decided to come along this year and even bring a friend. Well, I have to say the music connected with her and her friend. We are very active in our church, but I could never get her to understand that music can have such a strong influence in us. You have made a huge difference, not only in her, but in her friend...so to hear them praying with Tony, singing with all of the artists, and really making a connection to God was amazing!

Needless to say, most of my cd's are now "missing" and can be found in her room. Her younger sister and her now fight over who has what cd...but I guess I should be greatful for that kind of arguing (although remind me of that later tonight!). I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your gifts with us and allowing us to worship with you. I look forward to hearing from my children the texts they will receive in the future (yes, they signed in!) and the wonderful discussions it will bring to the dinner table. 

We will be attending many more concerts this year, I am sure, and we definitely look forward to Winter Jam 2010! God Bless!

WINTER JAM IN CINCINNATI IS ON FOR TONIGHT!

Winter Jam WILL go on as scheduled tonight in Cincinnati, OH! tobyMac and all of the other artists are in Cincinnati and they're ready to rock out tonight! Be there!

A Great WJ09 Testimony Posted on HearItFirst.com

I went to the Winter Jam concert this past Sunday (January 11th) in Charlotte, NC and it was TOTALLY AMAZING! So many people gave their hearts to Jesus for the first time, and to know that it was just from hearing a song or hearing an encouraging word from a speaker just goes to show you that Winter Jam is allowing God to work wonders and show His true colors! And not to mention that the artists were fabulous, too! Newsong's time on stage was so worshipful and everyone seemed to be tuned out as to what was going on around them. Hawk Nelson was awesome and so was Francesca Battistelli. Brandon Heath sounded just like he does on his albums which you rarely find in concerts. Tony Nolan had an awesome word from God and tobyMac and Diverse City had EVERYONE on their feet! It was WONDERFUL! If you haven't been yet, GO! You will be blessed! 

God Bless! 

Leah in NC 

GODTUBE.COM SPONSORS# 1 CHRISTIAN MUSIC TOUR--WINTER JAM 2009 TOUR SPECTACULAR AND OFFERS A ONCE IN ALIFETIME EXPERIENCE FOR WINNING FANS

GODTUBE.COMCONTINUES TO SOLIDIFY KEY MUSIC INDUSTRY ALLIANCES AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEWBUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS AS SITE BUILDS NEW ASSETS AND UPCOMING ELEMENTS

_____________________________________________________________

December 15, 2008- Dallas, Texas - GodTube.com, the world’s largest Christian social networking site has announced that it is joining theWinter Jam 2009 Tour as the exclusive online Christian social networking partner.  Winter Jam is the world’s largest annual tour in Christian music history, which has continuously attracted millions of fans since the event launched in 2002 and quickly became one of the industries most highly regarded and successful events.  In 2009, the number of concert attendees is already projected to surpass last years’ attendance level, as Winter Jam will be introducing a Christian music powerhouse line up including artists such as TobyMac, Hawk Nelson, Brandon Heath, NewSong, Family Force 5, BarlowGirl, The Afters, Francesca Battistelli, pureNRG and Stephanie Smith.

“Everyone on the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular team is thrilled to partner with GodTube.comfor 2009,” stated Nick Barré of Proper Management.  “As the unquestioned leading online source of ‘faith based’ user-created content, GodTube.com will enable Winter Jam fans to actually introduce their favorite artists in front of the largest annual tour audience in Christian music. This unprecedented level of fan-interaction is exactly what Winter Jam is all about.”

As a key sponsor, Godtube.com has announced that the company will be hosting The GodTube.com Jam Cam Contest - affording a lucky fan the chance to personally introduce his or her favorite artist/band in front of thousands at a selected tour date on Winter Jam.  Entrants are invited to film their own unique and creative introduction for their favorite Winter Jam artist/band on the tour, upload it on their GodTube.com account and send a message including the video link to www.godtube.com/winterjam. For more information, please visit info.godtube.com/jamcamcontest. 

If selected, the winner will be awarded two free early admission passes to the Winter Jam Tour city nearest to them.  There are 35 Winter Jam tour dates with five GodTube.com Jam Cam artist introductions each night, offering opportunities to numerous winners. Multiple video entries are welcomed and encouraged to increase the chances of winning for all entries. Entries are to be submitted no later than seven days before the concert a fan would like to attend. Contest concludes by March 8, 2009. 

Trey Bowles, Vice President of Marketing and the Head of Music Strategy for GodTube.com, is encouraged to be a part of Winter Jam 2009 and to formally announce the partnership of The GodTube.com Jam Cam Contest giveaway. “We are excited to offer this revolutionary contest that will allow fans to become a part of the Winter Jam Tour and play an interactive role in the entire concert experience,”says Bowles.  “We are allowing concert goers the opportunity to experience the features and benefits that GodTube.com has to offer not only in uploading their videos, but also through connecting and sharing their faith and lives through photos, blogs and prayers on a safe and family-friendly site.  With what our world needs at this time, GodTube.com has the unique ability to share hope and faith combined with music.”

GodTube.com has also established ways beyond face-to-face interaction to excite everyone about Winter Jam 2009 and beyond. Through GodTube.com, bands and music artists will create a band page where users can see videos, song streams, photos, update tour schedules, write blogs and more about the band. These band pages are an initial example of new things to come for the site, which showcases the unique forum that GodTube.com provides for bands and consumers alike and sets them apart from any other online community or social network in existence.

HEARITFIRST.COM EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT
  
FRANCESCA BATTISTELLI AND PURE NRG 

 CONFIRMED FOR ALL
WINTER JAM 2009 DATES
FAMILY FORCE 5 AND BARLOWGIRL ADDED TO SELECT DATES

NASHVILLE, TN—November 11, 2008—Christian music’s biggest annual musical tour just got bigger. In an exclusive announcement, HearItFirst.com has confirmed that Francesca Battistelli, the breakout new artist of 2008 will perform at all dates of the Winter Jam 2009 Tour Spectacular. Also confirmed to headline the Precious Girls Club Pre-Jam Party on all dates is pop sensation, pureNRG. Punk Rockers Family Force 5 and power trio BarlowGirl have also been confirmed for several select dates.

The 10-week tour launches January 8, 2009 in Roanoke, VA, and will conclude at the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN on March 15th. Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning, NewSong will host the high-energy event for the 14th consecutive year, which will feature special guest speaker Tony Nolan. Previously confirmed Winter Jam 2009 artists include tobyMac, the “GMA Artist Of The Year” for 2008, Hawk Nelson, “GMA New Artist Of The Year” 2008 Brandon Heath, “GMA New Artist Of The Year” 2006 The Afters, and new Gotee Recording artist, Stephanie Smith.

For more information visit HearItFirst.com or JamTour.com.
 
About HearItFirst.com
Now boasting more than 182,000 members, HearItFirst.com has become the definitive online community for fans wanting exclusive in-depth access to artists. Among member benefits are free daily updates, music downloads, weekly newsletters, early viewing of upcoming music videos, artist interviews updated daily, and behind-the-scenes footage from live events. The site also maintains an entire channel devoted solely to the latest in indie music. Versatile, fresh and timely content has come to define the site, which receives more than 500,000 visits a month and in excess of 1.2million monthly page views. For more information, visit www.HearItFirst.com

HEARITFIRST.COM EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT
 
WINTER JAM 2009 RELEASES FREE DOWNLOAD EXCLUSIVELY VIA HEARITFIRST.COM
HIP-HOP WORSHIP PIONEER, RAWSRVNT LANDS THEME SONG FOR CHRISTIAN MUSIC’S LARGEST ANNUAL MUSICAL TOUR

NASHVILLE, TN—November 11, 2008—Christian music’s largest annual musical tour, The Winter Jam 2009 Tour Spectacular, for the first time ever, is offering a free song download exclusively with HearItFirst.com. Hip-Hop Worship pioneer, RAWSRVNT (pronounced “raw servant”) was commissioned to create an arena anthem especially for the tour.
 
Born Eduardo Puyol, Rawsrvnt has seen his music influence others beyond his hometown of Miami, Florida, traveling extensively across the United States and treading international waters to Europe and Africa.  He has also shared stages with the likes of Wyclef Jean, TobyMac, Third Day, Newsboys, Reliant K, Superchic[k], KJ-52, and many more.

Rawsrvnt’s unique signature sound and charismatic lyrical agility is phenomenal and has won him favor with fans both young and old.  “I have a passion for seeing people fall in love with Jesus,” said Rawsrvnt.  “My goal is to ignite a flame of fire that will continuously burn in people’s hearts and eventually impact their lifestyle.”


For a free download of Rawsrvnt’s “Winter Jam” visit HearItFirst.com.

For more information about Rawsrvnt visit www.rawsrvnt.com <http://www.rawsrvnt.com> and www.souldeepministries.org