CCM Magazine was ahead of its time.
No, really, we were...
But
we had no idea The Jonas Brothers would grow up to become the
phenomenom they are today, and now I can say, "I knew them when..."
It
was in 2006 that I first met Nick, Kevin and Joe, and although they
were cute and put on an energetic live show, these attributes were not
what first caught my attention (and likely the attention of
Columbia/INO Records). These boys were warm. They were well-mannered
and polite. They looked you in the eye when you spoke. They were
gracious. They were hardly what you'd expect from young, teenage boys.
Once they signed a Christian deal with INO, we were invited down to a
show they were doing opening for The Veronicas at a local music venue
called 3rd and Lindsley. Afterwards, we stood outside their tour bus
and talked with the three boys, their parents (who continue to travel
with them) and their younger brother, Frankie (the adorable,
rambunctous brother--watch out world, I wouldn't be surprised if he
grew up to follow in his older brothers' footsteps).
The Jonas
Brothers and I were reunited again later that year during Gospel Music
Week when I saw them in the lobby and they rushed up to hug me.
Needless to say, I was surprised that they remembered me, much less
even cared, but most people who meet them will tell you that their
affection is genuine (they're all "huggers"). As luck would have it, I
ended up seeing them again during an interview session with The Afters.
When I interviewed The Afters earlier this year for
their CCM Magazine cover story, we reminisced about The Jonas Brothers and sat there shaking our heads in amazement at their success.
Who
would have thought that those three little boys would be the biggest
things to cross the paths of the hearts of teenage girls since *NSYNC?
I recently read an article that compared The Jonas Brothers phenom to
"Beatle-mania." WOW! I don't need to list their accolades or tell you
what kind of media response they've gotten. You've seen it unfold just
like I have. Suffice it to say, it's refreshing to see a young group of
guys promote morality and values in the mainstream. So far, so good
with these guys.
The Jonas Brothers released a brand-new album (A Little Bit Longer
) this week--the third in their already storied career. So, I did a little digging around and found the original interview that CCM ran in May 2006 along with a review of their debut album later that year. Andy Argyrakis also recently highlighted the group's new album in this week's ! Album Alert. Be sure to check these articles out!