Special Feature: Tenth Avenue North

[MissAravis]

Well, I just had to get permission to start this SF about my favorite band. Most of you have probably heard of these guys, but if not, here's some background. They're a contemporary Christian band from West Palm Beach and they've been around since 2002. They've released 4 independent albums and their newest record, Over and Underneath, is the first to be released on a label (Reunion Records). This year they won the Dove Award for New Artist of the year. Even if you aren't familiar with most of their music, you've probably heard their songs By Your Side, Love Is Here, and Hold My Heart (their 3 singles that play on the radio).
What are some of your favorite Tenth Avenue North songs? Have you had the opportunity to see them in concert? Have you seen any of their hilarious youtube videos? (these guys are the funniest people ever.)

Discuss away!

[PELS]

I really like Tenth Avenue North, most especially "By Your Side". I heard it once and immediatly was taken in. A few weeks later I got their CD and I love almost all of the songs on there.

I hope I might someday be able to see them in concert.

[Hathaway Standalone]

I was blessed enough to see them in concert about a month ago. They are such a great group of guys. Mike Donehey gave a powerful message about Christ's love for us...he went through the Jewish traditions for engagement/marriage, and how Jesus offering the cup of wine to his disciples was how Jewish men asked the women they were interested in, "Will you marry me?" Then he sang "Beloved"--it was so amazing.

Love this video, where Mike explains the meaning of By Your Side.

[malkah]

Yes!! A Tenth Avenue North SF!

I just have to say that the depth and humility of these guys and their lyrics is amazing. God has used so many of their songs over and over again to shape my heart and draw me closer to Him.

I have to choose favorites? Seriously, every one of the songs on Over and Underneath is special to me. I really love By Your Side, Hold My Heart, Love is Here, and Beloved, though.

And yes, I've seen the Youtube videos. I think my favorite is the one with Ted the Giant Buffalo.

They're playing Hold My Heart on the radio now? I've never heard it! (I listen mostly to K-Love.) How did I miss that?

EDIT: Hathaway Standalone, that sounds like a blog post Mike did some time ago, also tying in with "Beloved". It really does bring the truth of Christ's absolute love for His Bride home in a whole new way.

[MissAravis]

Hathaway Standalone, I love that video too. The illustration he uses is quite funny. He must have been a really smart kid to put the leash on some other "unsuspecting toddler."

I also liked Mike's blog post explaining the song Beloved. It really made so many things clear to me that I hadn't understood before. My mom said he should become a pastor.. lol

One of my favorite songs is definitely Times. I was so sad because at their concert here they didn't play Times or Beloved.

Malkah: Hold My Heart was sort of recently-ish released to radio stations, compared to how long they've been playing By Your Side/Love Is Here on the radio.

[eves_daughter]

I absolutely love this band! Their lyrics are Christ-centered, and their lives show that they are on fire for God. I love reading their blog posts and watching their hysterically funny videos (my favorite is the one about the Pentavorite).

My favorite songs are "Love is Here," "Beloved," "Hold My Heart," and "Lift Us Up to Fall."

I haven't heard them in concert yet, but they're coming near me in December so I'm hoping to convince my parents to let me go.

He must have been a really smart kid to put the leash on some other "unsuspecting toddler."

that was too funny! I told my mom about it and she nearly died laughing. I wonder how the poor kid's mother felt about it.

[Hathaway Standalone]

Yeah, I think I've seen that blog post--I read it after the concert and Mike pretty much said it verbatim. Incredible.

It is annoying that the radio stations keep saying, "New release from Tenth Avenue North--"Hold My Heart"!" I'm like, guys, this came out over a year ago, same as "Love Is Here" and "By Your Side"--do you not know this? But sometimes singles are released after the whole CD, so I suppose they can be excused.

My personal favorites are...hmm..."Times," "Beloved," "By Your Side," "Lift Us Up to Fall," and "Break Me Down." But I also love "Beyond Words," "In My Arms," and "(The?) Bike Song," from which albums I have no idea. YouTube is my friend. "Speaking of Silence," from Speaking of Silence, speaks so clearly to me. The words are like the scream of my soul. That's what I love so much about these guys--not only their humility and passion for Christ, as already mentioned, but their ability to convey deep struggles and raw emotions with lyrics and vocals. The first time I heard "By Your Side," the words pierced my heart. I'd been having trouble feeling Christ's love for me and struggling with my works-based way of what I thought could earn it. It was like Jesus was talking directly to me through the speakers. I just needed to be told, "I love you, and I want you to know that I, I love you, and I'll never let you go." And that's what Jesus did through TAN. And that's why I love them so much.

[MissAravis]

my favorite is the one about the Pentavorite

I love that one so much! Every time I pass a KFC now, I just crack up, and nobody knows why.

It is annoying that the radio stations keep saying, "New release from Tenth Avenue North--"Hold My Heart"!" I'm like, guys, this came out over a year ago, same as "Love Is Here" and "By Your Side"--do you not know this? But sometimes singles are released after the whole CD, so I suppose they can be excused.

;)) Exactly! They didn't start playing it on our local station until about a month ago, and for the longest time they kept saying "Here's a brand new song from Tenth Avenue North!" I wonder how they choose which of their songs to release as singles for radio?
I am really not too familiar with their older stuff. Have you heard their old version of Beloved (on youtube)? With the acoustic guitar at the beginning instead of piano? It's really really pretty.

That's what I love so much about these guys--not only their humility and passion for Christ, as already mentioned, but their ability to convey deep struggles and raw emotions with lyrics and vocals.

Yeah, the thing that's neat is that their lyrics are so easy to understand and yet they're still quite profound.

[winterlife]

*Can't believe it took her this long to find this thread*
Kat- You're probably surprised, too.
My favorite song is Hold My Heart. I have the opportunity to play it for my church (I love ccli #'s).
While I'm here, can I ask Tenth Ave club members to PM me? I've only gotten two PMs. I'm trying to keep a master list.

[narnian_at_heart]

Winterlife loves Tenth Avenue North and is continually trying to get me hooked on them. She made watch one of their music videos and I admit, it was pretty good. They're just not my favorite.

[eves_daughter]

my favorite is the one about the Pentavorite

I love that one so much! Every time I pass a KFC now, I just crack up, and nobody knows why.

Me and my younger sister do that too. We've started randomly quoting from their videos, while my older sister just looks at us like we're from another plant.

But I also love "Beyond Words," "In My Arms," and "(The?) Bike Song"....

I've never heard those songs before. Are they on the CDs that TAN release before Over and Underneath?

Mike's blog post on "Beloved" was absolutely amazing. It was very thought provoking and gave really cool background info on the whole concept of the Church being the Bride of Christ.

[Queen Susan]

Yay, TenthAve!!! :-D

My favorite of their songs are:
By Your Side
Beloved
Hold My Heart
and
Love is Here

So yeah. I was happy to see a SF on this--but I didn't have a chance to post until today...

[narnian1]

Part of my post that I posted on the music thread just now:

Tenth Avenue North,
I only LOOOOOVE one of their songs: By Your Side
But I also Love, Love is Here.
Times is really nice as well after growing on me slowly, though I am not crazy for the way it's sung, the lyrics work well into it which makes me really enjoy it regardless. The lyrics are great and that's the best part.

(I hope that last bit made sense)

I haven't heard any of their other songs except Hold My Heart but I'm not sold on that one just yet.

[The Pendragon]

Oh! I LOVE Tenth Avenue North! They're the best!
My favorite (and this is really hard to choose!) is probably Beloved because it was EXACTLY what I needed at the time I first heard it, and I felt God just saying "Oh, come running home to me". It's changed my attitude about everything. Why I do what I do. At the time, I was really upset and distraught because I felt like I needed something to make me "happy". Oh, what stupid little sheep we can be. All along, Jesus was right in front of me, and I kept running away from Him. I was too ashamed to tell him what I've done and thought, and I kept trying to hide it from him. like I said, stupid little sheep! So when I heard "Love of my life, look deep in my eyes, there you will find what you need. Give me your life the lust and the lies, the past you're afraid I might see. You've been running away from me." I felt like God spoke directly to me! I'm SO much closer to him now! I feel like it was a very anointed CD! I gave it to my friend who is a very intense situation, and although she still has questions, and really isn't right with the Lord, it helped her a lot! Thank you Lord!

I love their videos! They are halarious!!!!! I love in web4 when Mike has the 64oz "bucket", and Jason's like "that ain't natural! But I'll drink it, crap yeah! drink the bucket!" I laugh at that SO hard every time!
"64, every growing boy need 64!"

[winterlife]

I almost got grounded off YouTube for awhile when I found their YouTube videos because I spent so much time watching all of them.

[MissAravis]

Just a random note, for anyone who doesn't already own By Your Side, if you go to Tenth Avenue North's website you can get a free mp3 download of it.

She made watch one of their music videos and I admit, it was pretty good.

You make it sound like she forced you

I haven't heard any of their other songs except Hold My Heart but I'm not sold on that one just yet.

I wasn't big on that one at first either. If you want to check out any others, maybe listen to Satisfy, it's really good, or Let It Go.. I love that one! Beloved is one of my favorites lyrically, but not musically.

It's really quite neat - so many people have said that about Tenth Avenue North's songs - how they speak directly to a situation they're in. They are a very special group and God is using them to do so many amazing things...

I almost got grounded off YouTube for awhile when I found their YouTube videos because I spent so much time watching all of them.

LOL! My mom wouldn't do that to me, since she herself spent a lot of time watching some of them.

I love the one webisode where at the end they start singing a song about Dunkin Donuts really out of key.. The guys are all just so funny and they're really sweet and friendly too.