With the hard-driving single “Bring Me to Life” — whose music video has become nearly ubiquitous on channels throughout North America — many have classified the group as one of the crunching nu-metal breed; on the accompanying album, Fallen (Wind-Up), Evanescence reveals its roots in the Goth-rock genre blazed by the likes of The Cure. Add in 20-year-old Amy Lee’s vocals, and the sometimes epically dramatic arrangements, and the skewed pop visions of both Tori Amos and Meat Loaf become readily apparent.

Then, too, there’s the whole “Christian rock” tag, which the band has viewed with some bewilderment. In fact, after some puzzled remarks on the subject by lead guitarist/co-founder Ben Moody in Entertainment Weekly — complete with a certain four-letter word — the album was yanked from Christian retailers and charts.

“We’re definitely a rock band,” says Lee, “but the twist is that the band’s music is epic, dramatic, dark rock.”

Lee and Moody met as teenagers at a youth camp and clicked immediately, with Mr. Loaf again providing a kind of glue. “During some sort of recreational period held in a gymnasium, I heard Amy playing Meat Loaf’s ‘I’d Do Anything for Love’ at the piano,” Moody recalls. “So I went over to meet her, and she started singing for me. I was pretty much blown away, so I suckered her into joining a band with me.

“We have the same exact vision regarding what we love about music,” Moody says. “When it comes to songwriting, we finish each other’s thoughts.”

That loyalty to each other stood Moody and Lee in good stead as they began making their way through the Little Rock, Arkansas music scene in the late 1990s. “It’s typically death metal or really soft, older-people music there,” says Lee. “I don’t even know of any local bands that have female singers.”

The pair eschewed live shows in favor of releasing their own EPs — an odd strategy that slowly built them a following. “A lot of it developed by being elusive,” Moody remembers. “The second song we ever wrote was this seven-minute, ridiculous Goth anthem called ‘Understanding.’ And for some reason, the local rock station decided to play it a lot. We gained this popularity around town, even though no one knew who we were or where to find us. It was because we could never afford to play a show. It was just Amy and I —- and we couldn’t pay any musicians.”

Once the buzz was sufficient to garner label attention, guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray were added to flesh out the group’s sound. The band recently added touring bassist William Boyd as an official member. Recording of Fallen took place in Los Angeles, where they were “able to carry out the intricate harmonies and orchestrations of the memorable material on Fallen ,” Moody enthuses.

The vividly emotive “Bring Me to Life,” powered by its appearance in the blockbuster film Daredevil , that highly theatrical video, and the addition of fellow Wind-Up act 12 Stones’ singer Paul McCoy helped Fallen move almost effortlessly into the Top 10. Moody says the song “is about discovering something or someone that awakens a feeling inside them that they’ve never had before. You discover there is a world that is bigger than just your safe bubble.”

Evanescence has spent most of the year on the road, currently touring in Europe after wrapping up a long U.S. trek in September. With follow-up singles “Going Under” and “My Immortal” the group remains committed to making sure its vision and aims remain intact.

“We’re very sincere about what we do,” Moody says. “There’s so much pre-packaged teen angst these days in music. That’s not us. We’re not trying to sell an angle; we’re just here writing from our heart.”]]> 2004-12-01T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234108 12 Stones, Audio Adrenaline, Chapman, Steven Curtis, Jars of Clay, Johnson, Doug, Kee, John P., McClurkin, Donnie, St. James, Stuart, Mark, Winans, Vickie, Christian, Gospel, Feature, BMI Christian Music Awards Steven Curtis Chapman, Bob Herdman, Will McGinniss and Mark Stuart as Songwriters of the Year; and EMI Music CMG Publishing as Publisher of the Year.

Joyce Rice, Director, Writer/Publisher Relations, and Thomas Cain, Senior Director, Writer/Publisher Relations, awarded BMI Citations of Achievement to 31 songs in five categories: AC (Adult Contemporary), CHR (Christian Hit Radio), Contemporary/Traditional Gospel, Rock, and Southern Gospel. Staged at the company's Music Row offices, the ceremonies featured special performances by Lemmie Battles and the quartet Mercy's Mark for the crowd of 200 writers, artists and executives.

Onstage at BMI Nashville during the Christian Music Awards are BMI Director Joyce Rice, EMI Music CMG Publishing President Eddie DeGarmo, Song of the Year writer Joe Beck, Songwriter of the Year Bob Herdman, "Three Wooden Crosses" writer Doug Johnson and BMI Executive Vice President Del Bryant. Photo by Steve Lowry

Joe Beck and Chad Chapin accepted the BMI Crystal for Most Performed Christian Song of the Year as writers of "To Ever Live Without Me." Published by CEC Animal Music and EMI Music CMG Publishing, "To Ever Live Without Me" was recorded by Jody McBrayer on his Sparrow Records album This Is Who I Am.

Steven Curtis Chapman	Audio Adrenaline

Of the 50 writers called out, Steven Curtis Chapman, Bob Herdman, Will McGinniss and Mark Stuart each placed two songs on the awards list to share the title of BMI Christian Songwriter of the Year.

Chapman, BMI's 2001 and 2003 Christian Songwriter of the Year, was cited for writing the AC hits "All About Love" and "How Do I Love Her," included on his Sparrow Records album All About Love.

Herdman and Audio Adrenaline members McGinniss and Stuart were recognized for the Audio Adrenaline CHR hits "Ocean Floor" and "Pierced," from the band's Grammy-winning ForeFront release Worldwide.

EMI Music CMG Publishing enjoyed the BMI Christian Publisher of the Year spotlight by accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs (through its companies River Oaks Music Company, Sparrow Song and Up In The Mix Music).

Other BMI award-winning songwriter/artists included Rebecca St. James, Jars of Clay, Vickie Winans, Donnie McClurkin, John P. Kee, 12 Stones, Relient K, Big Dismal and Greater Vision.

A highlight of the ceremonies was special acknowledgment of "Three Wooden Crosses," written by Doug Johnson. The first song released by a gospel label to reach #1 on the country charts, "Three Wooden Crosses" was named Song of the Year by the ACM (2004), the CMA (2003) and NSAI (2003) and Country Recorded Song of the Year at the GMA's Dove Awards (2004). Johnson was presented with a Citation of Appreciation recognizing the song's message, which has "renewed faith in millions of listeners around the world."

BMI's Citations of Achievement are given in recognition of popularity in the field of Christian music, as measured by feature broadcast performances on American radio and television. The 2003 Christian Music Awards eligibility period ran January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003.

Toby McKeehan

Kirk Franklin

Congratulations to BMI's 2003 Dove Award nominees:

NINE NOMINATIONS:
Toby McKeehan

EIGHT NOMINATIONS:
Kirk Franklin

SEVEN NOMINATIONS:
Wayne Haun

FOUR NOMINATIONS:
The Crabb Family
The Hoskins Family
Jars of Clay

THREE NOMINATIONS:
Audio Adrenaline
Dottie Peoples
Mark Schultz
Mike Bowling
Monroe Jones
The Oak Ridge Boys
Rebecca St. James
Trin-i-tee 5:7

TWO NOMINATIONS:
12 Stones
Yolanda Adams
Kenny Bereal
Steven Curtis Chapman
Don Clark
Nate Clemmons
Jeff and Sheri Easter
Vince Gill
Gold City
Greater Vision
GRITS
Israel Houghton
Jennifer Knapp
Will McGinnis
Mike City
Mark Stuart
Smokie Norful
Charlie Peacock
Karen Peck and New River
Pillar
Barry Poynter
Aaron Sprinkle
The Blind Boys of Alabama
The Canton Spirituals
The Lewis Family
The Paynes
The Perrys
Harvey Watkins

SINGLE NOMINATIONS:
Adore
Adam Anders
Paul Allen
Luther Barnes
Ron Block
Kevin Bond
Matt Bronleewe
Tyler Burkum
Buster
Marc Byrd
Eddie Carswell
Teron Carter
Ed Cash
Charlie Daniels Band
Alvin Chea
John Chelew
Chigger Hill Boys & Terri
Michael Clemons
David Corlew
Jim Cooper
Cumberland Quartet
Cedric Dent
Chris Eaton
Fleming & John
Paul Fox
Brian Free & Assurrance
Paul Garcia
Ernie Haase
Tom T. Hall
Fred Hammond
Sanchez Harley
Dan Haseltine
Rick Hendrix
Bob Herdman
Norman Hutchins
Rodney Jerkins
Tim Johnson
Stacey Jones
Joy Electric
Joel Kibble
Mark Kibble
Lifehouse
Lordsong
Dorothy Love-Coates
Charlie Lowell
Merlin Lucious
The Martins
Stephen Mason
Kevin Max
Curtis Mayfield
Claude McKnight
Brent Milligan
Dave Moody
The Nelons
Matt Odmark
Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet
Out Of Eden
Paul Overstreet
Joe Pace
Sandi Patty
Brian Peters
Otto Price
Doug Riley
Professor James Roberson
Ric Robbins
Marvin Sapp
Shavoni
Pamela Sheyne
Charlie Sizemore
Skillet
Southern Brothers
Pete Stewart
Mike Speck
Take 6
Ben Tankard
Michael Tait
Michael Anthony Taylor
Stephen Tedeschi
David Thomas
Up In The Mix Music
Miguel Angel Villagran
Asaph Ward
Cornelius Dwayne Watkins
Cece Winans
Joe Wolfe
Gerald Wolfe