If you haven't yet seen them, check out the world premiere video #1 "Fall On Me" and video #2 "Foothold" from New Jersey folk-rock outfit forBrothers.  This is the 3rd and final debut music video premiering at UTR - also coming from the new project Fool {live and acoustic}.  And this song "Make Something Right" was cited as one of the Top Gourmet Songs of 2015 by the UTR critics panel. Here's what forBrothers' lead singer Shaant Shishmanian shared about the story behind this song: This song was inspired by conversations I had with my bandmate Ben about the tragedy of human trafficking.  Several years before our first album, Ben and I came up …

I haven't been keeping it a secret, and for various reasons haven't been blasting this publicly either (until now) - I am a part-time Uber driver.  This last January, after our Q4 fundraising for UTR fell below expectations, the UTR board of directors and I decided that to help the financial stability of the organization, both my hours and pay would need to be cut back from UTR.  And after a few weeks of applying for several part-time jobs (all dead ends), I turned to one of the nation's top job providers: Uber.  I won't pretend that Uber completely filled the financial gap for me and my family, however I'm …

We are excited to present the Wild Wild Midwest Tour featuring music from Dove Award-nominated artist John Tibbs (and full band), critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Jess Ray, and on-the-rise artist Taylor Leonhardt. UTR's founder Dave Trout will be the emcee each night as well.  We hope YOU can join us for one of these incredible nights of gourmet music! [A portion of the tour proceeds benefits the ongoing ministry of Under The Radar, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.]   BUY TICKETS TO ANY OF THE TOUR STOPS   NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to cancel the tour stops on 5/17 in Appleton WI and on 5/21 in South Bend IN.  We are very excited to still visit MN/IL/MI on …

We hope you had a chance to catch the video world premiere #1 "Fall On Me" plus our exclusive interview with the band forBrothers.  The 2nd world premiere video in our series is the song "Foothold." These tracks you are seeing are a part of the new project Fool {live and acoustic}.  Here's what forBrothers' lead singer Shaant Shishmanian shared about the story behind this song: Originally, "Foothold" and "Don't Know Me" were one full song; "Don't Know Me" being the first half and "Foothold" being the second half. As we were making our record, we realized that the two ideas were different enough to be made into two complete songs, so …

In the northeast, their talent has been turning a lot of heads. We are excited the New Jersey-based band forBrothers will be making the trek to peform live at Escape To The Lake 2017 this August. They also released a new project called Fool {live and acoustic} which captures some of the energy of their live performances and showcases why the whole nation should know this band.  To help, we interviewed their lead singer and principal songwriter, Shaant Shishmanian.   UTR: How did forBrothers originally form as a band? Shaant:  Ben and I grew up playing music together.  We formed several bands until college when we went our separate ways.  In 2014 Carli Lampley, nee …

In the days that lead up to the celebration of Christ's resurrection, we are hosting a concert with songs to celebrate the themes of redemption, forgiveness, and Jesus' sacrificial love.  And you don't even have to bend over to tie your shoes for this concert, as it will be beamed straight to your couch.  We are excited to feature a one-hour Holy Week Concert with Caroline Cobb this Thursday, May 12 at 8:30pm CT.  The tickets for this online concert are available now at a You-Name-The-Price amount.  However, this is a benefit for UTR's ministry, so we ask you to be as generous as possible.  In fact, anyone who pays/tips $20+ will receive a download …

This time each year, I get this opportunity to share my personal favorite song for this year's Easter weekend celebration.  The first time I heard it was on the final morning of Escape To The Lake 2016.  The community gathered for a time of reflection, communion, and songs of worship led by Jess Ray, Kyle Aaron, and Taylor Leonhardt.  They started playing a song that was a perfect fit for that atmosphere. Even though it was the first time I heard it, the song somehow felt familiar and easy to sing with in a corporate setting.  So much so, that until a couple of weeks ago, I had assumed that …

Hailing from New Jersey, the acoustic rock band forBrothers consists of two sets of brothers with tight harmonies and driving melodies.  Their most recent studio project Fool released in 2015, and UTR named their track "Making Something Right" as one of the top gourmet songs of that year.  Now they have just released a very special new version called Fool {live and acoustic} that showcases this bands exceptional skills.  We are honored that the band has chosed UTR as the place to offer the world premiere of three music videos from their "Live and Acoustic" sessions -- which we'll be releasing over the next five weeks.  The first is the song "Fall On Me" -- …

We are excited to be the exclusive media sponsor of Wide Eyed Wonder Tour with legendary and Grammy-nominated band The Choir, making stops coast-to-coast in March and April 2017 - featuring a full performance of their entire iconic 1989 album.  We will have free UTR swag available at all the tour stops. We would love to have someone from the UTR community serve as our "rep" for the night -- nothing too crazy, just willing to make sure the UTR swag is set up nicely and serve as a go-to person if someone wants to know more about us. If you are already going to any of the stops and want to …

Staci Frenes is an author, speaker, and singer-songwriter who has been engaging with audiences for years.  Her songs have been featured on Nashville, The Biggest Loser, America's Next Top Model, and other TV shows and movies.  Her latest release Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores is her career-to-date best work (available now on iTunes).  Kevin Davis of New Release Today said this about the new album: "Staci has a profound way of bringing me closer to God with her poignant words, tender singing and inspirational truths."  We recently had the chance to talk one-on-one with Staci.   UTR: Growing up, did music play an important role in your life? Staci: I’ve always loved words! When I was little I wrote …