Christian rockers 33 Miles, Classic Rock All Stars to play at NIBROC

An edgy, high-energy Christian rock trio and a fan favorite will round out the musical entertainment lineup at the 2009 NIBROC Festival in Corbin this August.

According to Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bruce Carpenter, 33 Miles, a Nashville-based Christian rock threesome, will open the festival Thursday, Aug. 13 at 8:00 p.m. with a performance at Central Baptist Church.

"I think they will really appeal to the youth with their style of music and their live performance," Carpenter said. "We’ve moved what has kind of become our traditional ‘gospel’ music night to Thursday so it doesn’t conflict with anyone’s Wednesday’s evening services. In this way, no one will have to make the difficult choice of going to church or going to see 33 Miles."

Consisting of lead vocalist Jason Barton, guitarist Chris Lockwood and keyboardist Collin Stoddard, 33 Miles is touring this summer in support of its second studio album, entitled One Life.

The group’s debut, a self-titled effort released in 2007, peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers albums chart and No. 16 on its Top Christian Albums chart. The group is commonly heard on popular Christian music radio station K-LOVE.
According to a biography on the band’s official website, www.33milesonline.com: "The theme of the album [One Life] is simple, it is about loving God and living every mile to the fullest," says Barton.

"Now, One Life reveals the heart of a group even more intent than before on loving the church with transparency. Committed family men who are as fun to meet personally as they are to hear in song, each member of 33Miles is married, and two have children. They’ve kept a constant presence at home and still managed to put 120,000 miles on the touring van over the past year, not to mention the thousands traveled by air."

The group was nominated for the Best New Artist for 2009 Visionary Awards by the Christian Music Hall of Fame.
Back for a return engagement at this year’s NIBROC Festival is the Classic Rock All Stars.

Comprised of Jerry Corbetta, Peter Rivera, Mike Pinera and Dennis Noda, the group has played the festival several times in recent years and has always been a fan-favorite.

"They put on a great show and they play a lot of songs people are familiar with," Carpenter said. "We are pleased to be able to have them back again."

The All-Stars will play on NIBROC’s main stage at about 9:30 p.m.

Corbetter, founder, keyboardist and former lead singer of the group Sugarloaf ("Green-Eyed Lady") also released a solo album for Warner Bros. He joined Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in 1979, but still found time to write hit songs for Grace Jones, Belinda Carlisle and others. He has performed worldwide with The Classic Rock All Stars since 1992.

Rivers, former singer and drummer for 1970s super group Rare Earth, recorded over 17 albums and had top ten hits "Get Ready," "I Just Want to Celebrate" and the two-record set "Rare Earth in Concert" which went double platinum. Rare Earth sold over 25 million records.

Pinera, former lead singer and guitarist for Iron Butterfly and The Blues Image, received his first gold record for The Blues Image’s song "Ride Captain Ride." When The Blues Image split, he joined Iron Butterfly – the first group ever to be awarded a platinum album. Their legendary hit "In A Gadda Da Vida" was a chart topper for 56 consecutive weeks.