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Christian band AudioAdrenaline to appear By BILL VARBLE In concert Who: AudioAdrenaline. When: 7 p.m. Tuesday. Where: Jackson County Expo. Tickets: $15 advance, $18 at the door, $13 in groups of 10 or more. Call 826-5523. Mark Stuart is calling from some town in South Dakota. Where is he? "Where are we?" he asks one of the other guys in AudioAdrenaline, the Christian rock band. That's what can actually happen on these 70-cities-in-70-nights kind of tours, just like that TV commercial in which the singer yells, "Thank you Detroit!" and it's not Detroit and the audience goes silent. "I've done that," Stuart says with a laugh. "`Thank you, Detroit,' or whatever it was, and they said it wasn't, and I said, `Oh, I thought this place was so-o much cooler than Detroit,' and it worked out really good. They liked it." When they talk about Christian rock bands crossing over to mainstream success, AudioAdrenaline is one of the bands that gets mentioned. In the last decade, the modern rock band has sold more than a million records and three times been nominated for a Grammy. It's won a Dove award. Touring in support of its new album, "Underdog" (Forefront Records), AudioAdrenaline performs Tuesday at the Jackson County Expo. In a telephone interview, Stuart says "Underdog" is a bit of a departure for the band in that it was produced by the band members themselves. The CD debuted at number one on the Soundscan Christian charts. It ranges from aggressive rock to hook-laden pop. It's the first AudioAdrenaline album for which all the band members wrote original songs. Stuart describes it as more beat-driven than the layered, experimental "Zombie," their last CD. Stuart says sometimes he can hardly believe the band is still going strong after a decade. "It feels like we've been doing it for six months," he says. "God just took us and in spite of our weaknesses, used us as a tool." He says he's seen the Christian music scene change over the years. "Many of the labels have been sold to conglomerates," he says. "The owners don't have the same passion." On the other hand, he says, "No one has really told anybody to change their style. "There's more money, more outlets, and the quality is better." Stuart says the band doesn't always try to tailor a message to its audience. "There are songs where we think of our audience," he says. "Others are personal. "We do write for a Christian listener about issues we face as Christians." The album's title tune is the band's take on its own story. There's a cover of Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door." "I don't think Pete Townshend is a believer," band member Bob Herman writes in the band's press material, "but he must have been searching, or he had some idea of the love of God." One of Stuart's favorite songs is "Chevette," which he wrote about growing up poor in Kentucky in the 1980s. Now 31, he grew up there and in southern Indiana. His dad was a gospel singer. He had garage bands in junior high and high school. "We played classic stuff," he says. "Prince, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Journey, Queen, Styx." He listened to The Jackson Five and The Carpenters, then discovered Christian music. "I was blown away that you could have good music and a good message behind it," he says. The band has its own label now, which Stuart hopes will become a launch pad for other artists. Do people ever say the band's music is too preachy? "Some people have a problem," he says. "Some say it's too preachy. Some say it's not preachy enough. We're just doing what we want to do and have been called to do." He says that fits with the band's philosophy. "To remind people where they are in life," he says. "You might feel unworthy, but God has a plan for you. Put your trust in him." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA