NEVER GOING BACK TO OK, THE AFTERS ARE #1 ACROSS THE BOARD SELLING NEARLY 16K IN FIRST WEEK
03/05/2008
NEVER GOING BACK TO OK, THE AFTERS ARE #1 ACROSS THE BOARD SELLING NEARLY 16K IN FIRST WEEK: #1 BILLBOARD CHRISTIAN ALBUM, #1 CHRISTIAN DIGITAL ALBUM, #1 CHRISTIAN SINGLE SALES, #1 CHRISTIAN CHR RADIO AND TOP 50 BILLBOARD SCANS
NASHVILLE, TN…3/5/08….On the heels of a street week filled with smashing reviews, viral video victory with “MySpace Girl” and a No. 1 Christian CHR radio hit, INO/COLUMBIA Record’s act The Afters confirm they are indeed NEVER GOING BACK TO OK as this, their sophomore release, enters the Billboard Top 200 at #41 and the Contemporary Christian SoundScan charts at #1 selling 15,856 units. In digital sales, the project enters at #1 for Christian SoundScan album and track sales plus hit as high as #14 on the iTunes® overall digital chart and #4 on their digital Rock chart. Simultaneously, for the third straight week, the album’s title track, “Never Going Back to OK,” remains #1 at Christian CHR, and hit Top 5 at Christian Rock. Now, “Keeping Me Alive” has just released and is emerging as their next hit single at Christian AC radio.
“After their initial success with “Beautiful Love”, it is gratifying to see The Afters return with such a strong sophomore album,” remarks INO Records’ President Jeff Moseley. “I think the strong showing in sales, welcome arms from radio, media and fans alike is just an early indication of the fact that this band is for real and here to stay.”
Following prime placement on MySpace.com, YouTube, Seventeen.com over the past couple of weeks, the “MySpace Girl” video has now gone out via TV Guide Broadband’s Video on Demand service, which hits 30 million homes, syndicating content across a number of sites like YouTube, veoh, hulu and AOL video. The clip is can be viewed on AOL Videos at http://video.aol.com/partner/hulu/mvids-the-afters-myspace-girl-music-video/eicuKYI2tFTwUk0uWbzzt3YzAysys2Jp and on Youtube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=4HySTiCLYcM
In addition, Clear Channel has also announced they will be featuring the video on their radio station websites for on-demand streaming, starting March 6th. This will be for a feature they call “NEW!”, which is available across 393 stations . Also coming up, The Gospel Music Channel will host the television broadcast premiere the video on March 8th. To view the video go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA_LDKz3Tc0.
“This is an exciting week for us.” exclaimed The Afters’ frontman Josh Havens. “We had so much fun recording this album and it’s wonderful to know how well it is being received. We are very encouraged that so many people are as excited about the new album as we are. Thank you!”
NEVER GOING BACK TO OK is a culmination of all the buzz and excitement of the past three years for this emerging band. After receiving a Gospel Music Award for “Best New Artist of 2006” and having the most downloaded inspirational track (“Beautiful Love”) of the same year on the iTunes® charts, the band is back with a diverse record receiving rave reviews from media outlets including Popmatters, CBNMusic, CCM, Alternative Addiction, All Music Guide and many more.
The Afters will also be touring across the country throughout 2008 including headlining their own dates this spring and hitting the major summer festivals. All tour dates listed below are subject to change.
Releasing their debut project “I Wish We All Could Win” in 2005, The Afters received top attention from their fans and media outlets. The Afters’ music has appeared on the networks of MTV, mtvU, ABC Family and E! News as well as on HOT AC and VH-1 radio along with outlets such as Billboard, BOP and Popstar. The MTV college network and mtvU have been strong supporters of the band as their music video for “Beautiful Love” was awarded with an mtvU Award for Best Streaming Video in 2005. The Afters were awarded the Dove Award for “New Artist of the Year” (2006), and has had over 250,000 downloads to date. The foursome composed of Josh Havens, Matt Fuqua, Brad Wigg and Marc Dodd, met while working at a Starbucks in Mesquite, Texas.
www.theafters.com myspace.com/theafters