subject: Toby Mac Tickets - Winter Wonder Slam [print this page] This winter won't be as chilly thanks to Toby Mac, Relient K, Kutless, Stephanie Smith and B. Reith as the punk rock musicians perform around the nation in the annual Winter Wonder Slam. Fusing hip-hop and punk pop with a Christian theme, the former DC Talk front man has been hailed the "Justin Timberlake of Christian rock," headlining top venues around the States with his "Supernatural Fly" (the title of his latest single).
The northern Virginia native is just as successful as the former boy band member he's compared with -just don't let the fedora and poppy lyrics fool you. tobyMac, his official performance name, has three Gold records and his own label where the equally successful Christian punk group Relient K is signed. The groups, along with other Christian acts, will take over the country this holiday season as Toby Mac tickets become available online.
Both headlining acts are promoting their new albums, tobyMac's Tonight is set to debut February 2010 just after the wintery outing closes, while the Ohio based quintet Relient K (who had the crossover hit "Be My Escape" in 2004) released their eighth album Forget and Not Slow Down in October.
Though the show has been a standout in the Midwest and the South, this year the fourth annual concert hits the Northeast as well. "It came about because I thought no one really tours between Thanksgiving and Christmas and if they do it's generally more of a traditional Christmas show," he said to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "So I thought, let's combine rock 'n' roll and hip-hip and punk and let's have this big Christmas party."
Without totally making Christmas its main feature, each band was requested to turn at least one song into perfect holiday fare - Relient K's "Sleigh Ride" features the infamous screamer tonalities of front man Matt Thiessen; "Each of the bands handle it differently," tobyMac continues. "Last year, practically half of Relient K's set was Christmas whereas I do one or two Christmas songs."
This year will undoubtedly be no different for Mac, who has been in search of a perfect promotional outlet for Tonight, his fourth solo album following six with DC Talk. "It's the same pot of musical gumbo," Mac adds about his new set. Last year's live DVD/ CD combo Alive and Transported earned the top evangelical seller a Grammy for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album and a GMA Dove Award for Artist of the Year.
Toby Mac, born Kevin Michael McKeehan, formed the hip-hop Christian rock group DC Talk with friends Michael Tait and Kevin Max Smith while at the Liberty University at Lynchburg, VA. The group became one of the first to fuse such a wide array of genres, something that would eventually find commercial exposure thanks to acts like the Beastie Boys.
The group's first set appeared mid '80s and continued a chart topping reign through the '00s with a split after 1998's Supernatural. From there, tobyMac wound up working solo, releasing 2001's Momentum, which garnered an impressive five Doves and a Grammy nod. He has continued to release top selling albums and remains a successful producer, songwriter and father of five.
