Music with a message - Christian bands come together for Shoutfest music festival at Honey Horn

Christian music promoter Jeff Roberts believes music can be used as a vehicle to convey God's love and the joys of a Christian life.

"My faith led me to be in music," said Roberts, who owns Tennessee-based Jeff Roberts and Associates, one of the biggest Christian booking agencies in the nation. "(Christian music) had more involved than sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll."

When Roberts discovered that cool music coupled with extreme games could catch the attention of today's youth, he developed Shoutfest, a traveling one-day Christian music festival that has become one of the most

popular events of its kind, drawing Christian music fans of all ages in its five years in existence.

Shoutfest '06 makes its way to Honey Horn on Hilton Head Island on Aug. 27. Gates open at 1 p.m. and the music begins

at 1:30.

"We're ... rolling in with (20) bands, two stages, 15 tents and extreme games," Roberts said of the family-friendly event.

Top Christian artists Natalie Grant, Superchic[k], Sanctus Real, Krystal Meyers, Overflow and By the Tree will perform, along with many other bands. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the singers and get autographs.

But Shoutfest is more than a live music show. Other bits of entertainment include the Quad Power Bungee Jump, Titanic Super Slide, the Gladiator Joust and an obstacle course. Prizes will be given away and CDs and T-shirts will be for sale.

Christian music festivals have been around since 1970, with the emergence of the Ichthus Music Festival, the Christian version of Woodstock. Today, there are about 20 national Christian music festivals. Shoutfest is the only traveling festival; it follows in the footsteps of Festival Con Dios, a traveling festival that ran from 2001-04.

The idea for Shoutfest originated six years ago when Roberts heard of what Vans, a sneaker and skateboarding shoe company, was doing with an annual music festival called the Warped Tour, which featured dozens of top rock artists and extreme games. The Warped Tour has become well-known around the world. Roberts figured he could do something similar, with a Christian spin.

"I wanted to do something really effective to reach this generation," he said. "This is an event that is more based on biblical values than what you would see on MTV."

This year Shoutfest will stop at more than 20 venues across the country. While some of the featured artists and special events change with each city, the festival still draws as many as 4,000 people at each stop.

Roberts said the Christian music industry has grown extremely popular and doesn't show signs of slowing down.

"It's about God," he said of the music. "Living life with faith, trying to be real (and) the challenges we face in life."

Today, there are Christian bands from nearly every music genre, from punk rock to hip-hop.

"There's so many bands, it's just blowing up," said T.J. Harris, whose band Fighting Instinct will perform here next weekend. "They're blowing a lot of mainstream bands out of the water."

Harris hopes Fighting Instinct will help spread the Christian message of Jesus Christ.

Matt Dally, of the Christian band Superchic[k], said his band's goal is to make Christian music that no one has ever heard before.

"That's why I love being in this band," he said. "You have to mix six bands just to get our sound."

Superchic[k] plays a mix of pop, funk, disco and hip-hop. But when it broke into the Christian music scene in the late 1990s, some people didn't welcome its unique sound.

"People gave us a hard time," Dally said. "They said our music wasn't that preachy, but we stuck to our guns. Columbia Records just signed us on a few months ago. They said they don't want

us to change."

When your audience includes people who might have never heard the Gospel before, sometimes it's best not to use too much religious jargon, Dally said, defending the band's religious subtlety.

"We're just trying to use plain English," he said, adding that his band sings about everything from self-esteem issues to suicide to having confidence in Jesus Christ.

A message of community also is found in Shoutfest's theme: "Let the Walls Fall Down."

"We hope that the walls and divisions with us between Bluffton and Hilton Head, Methodist and Baptists, evangelical and mainline -- that those will fall down," said Jamie Osborne, executive director of Shout Ministries.

By bringing Shoutfest to the Lowcountry, he hopes to spur more youth-related, Christian activities here, he said.

For Roberts, the music festival is his opportunity to spread the Gospel -- "to share that there is a God," he said.