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On their Spring 2006 debut project, It’s About Time (INO Records/Columbia Records), Jonas Brothers’ pop-punk style gives life to uplifting, positive lyrics, showing that this band of brothers — Kevin, Joseph and Nicholas - has more depth than your typical “boy band” and making them more universal than your hard-core punk groups.

In their relatively short lives they have come a long way musically, personally and spiritually — and they’ve done it together, as brothers and band-mates. With numerous live concerts as a trio already under their belts, Jonas Brothers come at their audience with high-energy songs and performances meant to inspire, uplift and entertain.

“We are Italian, we come from New Jersey, and we are proud of it!” says Joseph, 16 (the “joker” of the group according to his brothers). Kevin (17), Joseph and Nicholas (13) Jonas grew up in a family rich with faith, love and music, which have played a major part in the brothers’ lives growing up in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Their parents are both musicians - dad Kevin Sr. is also co-founder of Christ For The Nations Music and pastor at a local church - so everyone gathering around the piano for sing-alongs was an essential part of regular family bonding, yet each brother found his own musical calling in a different way.

The oldest, Kevin, who plays guitar and sings vocals, was home sick one day when he found a guitar and a “Teach Yourself Guitar” book lying around the house. “I spent the next three days learning how to play the basic chords,” Kevin remembers. “That was about four years ago.”

Nicholas, who shares lead vocals with Joseph in the group, began singing as soon as he could talk. “From the time I was two years old, I would wake up in the morning and start singing all the time, every second of the day,” he says. His voice, often compared to Stevie Wonder, was “discovered” by singing while getting his hair cut in a local barbershop. He caught the attention of a woman in the shop who immediately referred him to a professional show business manager.

Joseph’s original plan, however, was slightly different than his brothers. He first dreamed of becoming a comedian and wanted to audition for sketch comedy shows. “But I was always attached to music and loved listening to different kinds of music, especially rock,” he says.

Each brother had already had his own experiences in the spotlight; Nicholas has starred in four Broadway shows including the Tony Award-winning “Les Misérables,” Joseph completed his stint on Broadway in Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” and Kevin has joined his brothers in commercials for Disney, LEGOS and Burger King.

Meanwhile, Daylight/Columbia Records, after hearing Nicholas’ incredible voice, began planning a solo record with him. Yet after a spectacular group audition was held for the label, the direction was clear. “All three of us were signed pretty much on the spot as the Jonas Brothers,” Kevin says.

For the Jonas boys, the real fun began as they combined their musical abilities to write and record their debut album together, quickly realizing how lucky they were to have each other for both personal and professional inspiration. “It’s awesome to have my brothers on stage and in the studio with me,” explains Nicholas. “You have a security that everything is going to be okay, even when you mess up.”

One thing is for sure - the Jonas Brothers are all ready to keep the momentum going strong. “We go crazy on stage!” says Kevin. “It’s so much fun!”

They’re all particularly proud of their vocal chemistry as well. “Nicholas is the powerhouse vocal,” says Joseph. “He’s just got this young, soulful voice that catches everyone’s ear.”

“Joseph just has this really cool, smooth rock voice,” Nicholas points out. “He really knows how to get the crowd going. Kevin is the one that holds us all together. Joseph and I are the singers and we take turns on keyboards, and percussion, but Kevin mostly plays the guitar and that’s the part of the group that we need–he’s the glue that keeps it together.”

Inspiration for the group’s songs comes directly from the boys’ personal experiences–from the highs and lows of dating to being on the road to having been given the opportunity to follow their dreams at such a young age. The songs also celebrate the joy of living and encourage people to feel good. “The album is meant to get people up and have fun and raise their energy,” says Joseph.

As Kevin puts it, “It feels like the most natural thing we could be doing. When we write a song we get in a triangle. I start playing the chords that we’ve chosen over and over and then we’ll keep going around in a circle until we have figured out the lyrics for our song.”

Their unique personalities and wide range of musical influences, an eclectic mix of artists ranging from the Ramones to the Jackson 5 — both purveyors of tight, catchy anthems - have created a distinctive and special album.

“We decided to call the album It’s About Time,” Nicholas reveals, “because so many of our songs seem to deal with different aspects of time.” Kevin continues the explanation of the concept, “There’s ‘6 Minutes,’ which is about how quickly you can run through the full range of emotions when you feel strongly about someone you just met. There’s ‘7:05,’ about etching in your memory the exact time a relationship ended, and, well, the list goes on.”

Songs on the album that stand out for the boys include their tune “Time For Me to Fly,” a catchy, fast track that is about “following our dream of making music” according to Kevin. “The song is about us working hard, playing music every night and trying to make things happen.” “I Am What I am” is about staying true to yourself, while the tender ballad, “Dear God,” is a cry out to God. The song has already reached nationwide success thanks to airplay on the national radio show, “Delilah.”

One of the more personal tracks on the record is the first single, “Mandy,” which is about a girl that their mother, a sign language teacher, taught to sign so that she could pursue her dream of working with the hearing impaired. Nicholas, Joseph and Kevin each formed a special friendship with Mandy. “We were writing songs one day and decided we wanted to write about something really nice–so we wrote a song about Mandy,” recalls Nicholas. “She’s the nicest girl you will ever meet. She knows what you’re thinking all the time.”

For now, the brothers are just relishing in the experience of having other people hear their music live and making new fans one city at a time while they are on the road. “We’ve known for a while how it felt to be on stage, but we never knew how it would feel to have people love music that we’ve written and which we both play and sing. It’s very gratifying when fans come up to us after shows and tell us how much they relate to our songs,” says Joseph.

Joseph sees them all collaborating for years to come. “We’re brothers so it’s not like if we got upset at each other that we can be like, ‘Well I quit.’ They’re still my brothers. We love to do this and we know we’re going to keep doing for a very long time.”

It’s been more than four years since the release of the critically acclaimed, best-selling worship album, In the Company of Angels. But for Caedmon’s Call, the past four years might as well have been a lifetime. Having traveled to India, Ecuador and Brazil to witness firsthand the work of two key organizations, the Dalit Freedom Network who is dedicated to empowering India’s oppressed Dalit people in their quest for social freedom and human dignity, and Compassion International—a child relief agency for which Caedmon’s Call has been a longtime advocate—the band and its vision for and definition of ministry has been forever changed. The musical result was 2005’s Share the Well, considered by many Caedmon’s career best. Certainly, it was a pivotal album, signifying this band’s new experience and understanding of the Great Commission.

“Our perspective on worship, on who we are before God, has completely changed,” explains Cliff Young. “What we’ve been doing in India, Ecuador and Brazil—has reshaped our priorities and our understanding of what this life is supposed to be all about. We’re so much more of an active group now, so there’s really no going back.”

And yet one thing has irrevocably remained the same: the call in Caedmon’s Call to be a conduit of worship. “First and foremost, we’re called to use our gifts and abilities and passions to the glory of God,” Cliff continues. “And doing that within our local churches and communities. The natural result is original songs of worship. Songs for people to sing in community.”

On March 7th, the much-anticipated release of In The Company of Angels II: The World Will Sing carries the worship torch forward, extolling the attributes of God in a progressive blend of organic originals and new spins on timeless classics.

From the surprisingly aggressive first single “Great And Mighty” to the mesmerizing new treatments on “Draw Me Nearer” and “I Surrender All,” which are already gaining ground in churches across the U.S., In the Company of Angels II: The World Will Sing features 11 powerfully memorable songs. Songs like “Rest Upon Us,” “Be Merciful To Me” and “We Give Thanks” that consider substance over style, God’s glory over experience alone. “We try to be careful with doctrine and theology in our lyrics and not sacrifice good solid doctrine for the sake of a good rhyme,” Cliff says. “We try to make the songs about God rather than about us. We never want to forget that God is the audience. We gather together to worship Him, to say great things about Him, and then He in turn does great things among us. But first, it’s for his glory. That’s really all that matters.”

Again as with its best-selling predecessor, Angels II taps a bevy of strong songwriters from within and outside Caedmon’s Call. In addition to Cliff, longtime friend and collaborator Aaron Senseman weighs in heavily on “Great And Mighty” and “Fellowship So Deep” as does Andy Osenga on “The Story” and “We Give Thanks,” and Josh Moore’s fingerprints can be lifted off “The Fountain.” Collectively, these songs fly right alongside the Angels of 2001. Original. Worshipful. Accessible. Powerful. The kind of excellence we’ve come to expect from a band of this caliber.

“My hope for these songs is that they will spread beyond our small Christian communities,” Cliff says. “Christ is going to do his work first and foremost in the church, so being active in our churches will always be important. But this project is aimed at challenging believers to be salt and light in the world. If your life has been changed—as ours certainly has—you’ve got to do something about it. Get involved in people’s lives, make the effort outside yourself… That’s what worship really is anyway, and that’s kind of the idea of Angels II: We will sing, and eventually, the world will sing, too.”

Modern life values beauty over most everything else.

The images we’re bombarded with showcase the aesthetically pleasing, often to the detriment of the true substance within.  But the men of Brother’s Keeper — Philip Enzor, John Sanders and Gabe Dunlap — want to show you something deeper. They wish to highlight the aspects – of friendship, of commitment, of faith — that make this life worth much more than the surface struggles to reveal.  They want you to see - and hear - something Beyond Beautiful. 

One thing shines through when speaking with the members of Brother’s Keeper: this is no garden-variety, thrown-together-for-commerce’s-sake musical machine. Philip, John and Gabe grew up together, discovered music together, and merged common passions into a powerful ministry…together.  “This has really been a way of life since we were all about 15 years old. It’s almost like you can’t quit this band,” John says. “We weren’t put together by anything but God, and we know that because we’ve tried to separate ourselves several times and it just won’t take.”  The result has been a decade and a half of putting their hearts and talents out there for the world to see, not only through captivating live performances but also through compelling records such as their 1999 self-titled debut, 2002’s Cover Me and the newest Brother’s Keeper album, Beyond Beautiful. 

The intervening three years since the last BK record saw a profound change in not only the lives of Brother’s Keeper’s members, but also the world and pop culture alike. But that doesn’t mean the men in the band sat idle. “God was really working on some different things in our lives, whether it be business or families or whatever,” Gabe says. “What we had decided after Cover Me was not just to fling a record out there. We wanted to take our time with it and find the songs we want to be on this record. It was a hard process, but in looking back, I’m glad we did it the way we did.”

The outcome — Beyond Beautiful — is a 10-song set chock full of sophisticated rhythms, instantly memorable melodies and the intricate harmonies that have been a signature Brother’s Keeper element from the band’s very beginnings. At the same time, the subject matters covered — ranging from the desire to be fully open to God’s callings found on “Noah” to the honoring of sacrifice found on “Cross of Christ,” from the energizing spirit of “Passion” to the bonds of brotherhood inhabiting “Walk With Me” — present these men’s desire for relevance and genuineness in the face of the everyday. “Something we’ve heard all our lives is that all truth is God’s truth.

So all we focus in on is the truth,” Philip says. “John talks about working at a bank years ago, and when they’re teaching you how to spot a counterfeit bill, they give you a real $100 bill and say, ‘Study this,’ so when the counterfeit comes along, you’ll be able to spot it like that. We kinda try to do the same thing with our music, and put the truth out there that will both strengthen the believer and convict the person who’s living outside the truth.”  Gabe, Philip and John all know from whence they speak when talking about the power of Christ’s love and message through music; after all, the music of Brother’s Keeper affected them first, and in very palpable ways, over the years. 

“Gabe and I really came to know Christ through the ministry of Brother’s Keeper.  We had both sung in the group for years before coming to a point in our lives when we thought, ‘We’ve been singing about Christ, but we haven’t really made a commitment to Him,’” Philip says. “So what it’s done for us is give us a passion to tell people about Christ, especially in the church.”  “Sometimes people expect you only to think big, ‘Man, we’re going to go out there and reach the world for Christ,’ and then you water down stuff and go after it thinking you’re the cutting edge,” John says. “Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I don’t care if it’s not cool, Brother’s Keeper is always going to be able to say, ‘I love Jesus. He died for me, I’m going to live for Him, by God’s grace.’” 

And it’s in that spirit, that reaching out to both those within and those who think they’re outside the cover of God’s grace, that’s allowed this band to impact lives for more than 15 years. They’ve shared their music and testimony in venues large and small, from performing before crowds at NBA and NHL games to remote churches on the other side of the world, and that bringing together of seemingly disparate elements manifests itself on Beyond Beautiful’s final track, “Walk With Me.” 

“Something that’s very dear to our hearts is the fact that we all met as part of an accountability group years ago. What that means to me is not so much a checklist, but really being there as a brother in Christ to encourage and exhort one another,” John says. “There’s never really been a song where we go get a bunch of guys and talk about what being a Godly man really means.” So, through a song written by Tony Wood and 4HIM’s Mark Harris, Brother’s Keeper gathered some of the finest male vocal talent in Christian music, including Harris, Bob

Carlisle, Todd Agnew, Scott Krippayne, Sonicflood’s Rick Heil, the Gaither Vocal Band’s David Phelps, Russ Lee and Newsong’s Michael O’Brien, to pay honor to that idea of Christian brotherhood and accountability.“To get all those artists on one song, that was totally a God thing,” John says.  In the long run, the men of Brother’s Keeper crafted Beyond Beautiful to the very best of their collective abilities, to serve as a motivator and a communicator of a message that has bound them together for more than half their lives.  “For us putting together the record, it was about putting together messages and songs that moved our hearts and lives and spirits where we were, but can also encourage and motivate people, Christians and non-Christians alike,” John says. 

“From a musical standpoint, we want to be able to compete with anything out there, and people can point to it and think, ‘Man, that’s solid. They didn’t cut any corners.’ But also, when you get it, there’s a positive message.  “We hope it does intrigue some people, but it’s a lot like sowing seeds. Some people, it will fall on and allow them to have a deeper relationship with Christ,” John continues. “Some other people it might fall on and they might never know Christ.  And both of those are those are OK with us, because we want an overriding principle where people can connect and think, ‘Wow, this record is about something deeper than Brother’s Keeper, and that’s their relationship with Christ.’”  Songs about something deeper, something eternal, something Beyond Beautiful.