One of Christian music¹s most enduring bands, PFR, returns this fall with its first new studio release in three years, The Bookhouse Recordings. The project, available exclusively at Family Christian Stores beginning November 23, features new recordings of seven of the band¹s signature hits, along with three new songs..
Produced by PFR, The Bookhouse Recordings features new interpretations of “That Kind Of Love,” “Wonder Why,” “Great Lengths,” “Anything,” “Dying Man,” “Last Breath” and “Pray For Rain.” The project also includes three new songs, each written by Patrick Andrew, Joel Hanson and Mark Nash: “Home,” “In The Middle,” and “Prayer For Beslan.” The latter song was written in response to the tragic September school siege in Beslan, Russia..
“Working with these songs again was like a flashlight you pull out 10 years later and the light still turns on,” said Hanson. “You¹re almost surprised there¹s still juice in those batteries. The old songs still had that energy to them. ŒRe-juicing¹ them gave us the opportunity to continue to create honest music.”.
“This was mostly about stripping everything away to its most raw form and putting a different light on the song or presenting it from a different angle,” said Andrew. “The point was to concentrate on the songs themselves, updating them and giving them new life.”.
“Listening to the three new songs is like getting a glimpse of our three individual personalities,” said Nash. “All three of us are fathers now. Patrick brought ŒHome,¹ and it¹s very much him. Joel brought ŒIn The Middle,¹ considering some things he¹s been thinking about, and I brought music for ŒPrayer For Beslan,¹ which is different for us. We¹d never written a song based on a current event.”.
The Bookhouse Recordings will be released on the Nashville-based Fuseic Music label. Other Fuseic releases include Charlie Peacock¹s For Christ Alone (February, 2004) and the multi-artist A Warm Cozy Very Sentimental Family Christmas (October, 2003), both Family Christian Stores exclusives. The label will also launch Worship Jamz, currently a Time Life television promotion, to Christian retail next year..
“It¹s exciting that Family Christian Stores is giving fans of great artists like PFR the opportunity to enjoy new music,” said Kent Songer, sales and marketing manager, Fuseic Music. “PFR has delivered just what their fans have come to expect: great songs, strong performances and cutting-edge production.”.
“The Bookhouse Recordings is artistic, creative and full of the pop brilliance that has been the trademark of the PFR sound,” said Rick Altizer, director of A&R, Fuseic Music, and the project¹s executive producer. “All the band members were excited to be in the studio again, and that excitement brought a real energy to the record and a joy that comes through in the music.”.
“We are all big PFR fans who have followed their career from the beginning, and we felt the need to get them back together to record,” said John van der Veen, music buyer, Family Christian Stores. “These guys are the real thing‹real musicians playing real instruments. Being a part of the PFR Œexperience¹ has been a fun ride, and we hope their fans will listen to this record and feel the same way.”.
“Pray For Rain,” the first single from The Bookhouse Recordings, has been serviced to Christian AC and CHR formats with an add date of October 22.
PFR became a favorite of critics and fans alike after the release of their 1992 debut, Pray For Rain. Over the next five years, the Minneapolis-based trio accumulated six #1 Christian radio hits, a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year (for Pray For Rain) and a Grammy Award nomination. The band reunited in 2000 to contribute a song to the Roaring Lambs compilation, and released the full-length recording Disappear in 2001.
