Another Time, Another Place

It is funny how when you follow a musical group you seem to feel as if you 'know' them. They become like an old friend who walks with you throughout different parts of your life. Through joyful times and sorrowful times their music is there for you to lean on and gain strength from.

I will never forget the first time I heard Avalon. They were a new group and I used them to do a Music Review in our youth newsletter. That was almost 12 years ago... believe it or not! It is amazing how time flies.

I will also never forget a time when I was a young person and going through a very difficult time. I had just been given Avalon's newest album as a gift. It was a pre-released copy and on the album was a recording of an old song entitled, "We Are The Reason." The recording of the song was not officially released until a few years later.

I had heard that song many times when I was a young child but I had not heard it in years. That particular day I was feeling lost, hopeless, and as if God didn't care. I put in my new album and just kept clicking through the songs- not listening to anything. I remember hearing the first chord of the song and quickly picking up the album cover to see if it was the song I thought it was.

In that moment, at that time, to a teenager who was struggling, it seemed that God allowed Avalon to sing that song on a pre-released album for me. I found myself lying face down in the carpet weeping and sobbing. Needless to say, both the group and the song have become very special to me through the years.

I knew Avalon was releasing another album but I didn't know a lot about it. With so many things that have come up in my own life I hardly keep up with things like that as much as I used to. Their new album is entitled, "Another Time, Another Place." It is a remake of Christian classics: People Need The Lord; For The Sake of The Call; Thy Word; El-Shaddai; and many others I and people my age grew up with.

Once I clicked on the website I noticed the group picture instantly because it is missing a very talented and gifted singer; Jody McBrayer. I learned that Jody had to leave the group upon the completion of the last album because he has become stricken with a very serious and life threatening disease. As crazy as it is, this news really bothered me. I will keep him, his wife, and family in my prayers.

To anyone looking for a new album or a great Christian group to become a fan- I present Avalon. I am a little bias, but they are the greatest Contemporary Christian group around! I have heard them on the radio, heard them live in concert, read their writings, and listen to their music: seldom has their been a group who is so continuous in quality and ministry in any medium as Avalon has.

(Take this from a past young person who used to make it a matter of pride to know everything there was to know about Contemporary Christian Music!)