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A Holiday Concert with Chris Pick & Friends

Performance to take place Friday at 6 p.m.

PHOTO PROVIDED Chris Pick poses for a photo outside Avenue 209 Coffee House, which will host his Christmas concert on Friday.

LOCK HAVEN — Singer/Songwriter and recording artist Chris Pick will be returning to Avenue 209 Coffee House on Friday, Dec. 13 for a Holiday show with friends Mariah Hostrander and Josh Billings.

“Ten years ago, I decided to do a Christmas concert three days before Christmas at Avenue 209 in Lock Haven,” explains Pick. “Not expecting a big turnout, I was shocked that many had showed up including a woman who was going through a hard time in her life and needed to hear a little hope and joy. It was requested by many that I do this every year.

“In the years that followed I invited guest artists to join me. However, we took a few years off because of mission trips over the Christmas season. Several asked when I was coming back, so we decided to start it back up,” he continued.

“We know so many people right now who are going through a hard time in life (loss of a home, a loved one, loss of job, struggling with an illness, marriage struggles, financial struggles, etc.) and how the Christmas season brings with it depression, and anxiety for many. So, this year, I’ve asked Mariah, a good friend in the Christian music biz, to join me once again and help bring some hope. And this year we are welcoming our good friend and fellow singer/songwriter Josh Billings, lead singer of SOULMANNA,” Pick said.

Pick’s music has been heard globally and has charted in both mainstream pop and Christian.

PHOTO PROVIDED Pick poses with guest musician Mariah Hostrander.

His first CD release “Thank You For The Music” (released for John Lennon’s 20th Memorial, Dec. 8, 2000) premiered in the Holy City of Israel and reached #1 on the KAOS FM charts in Australia. Shortly after, Pick released “The Mission” which was featured on Good News FM in Turkey and requested up to four times a day.

In 2009, the song was featured on Quickstar Production’s “UNIFIED BY GRACE, Eastcoast Unplugged Vol. 1” compilation CD to help finance mission work at a medical clinic in Uganda.

In 2010, Quickstar Productions released another mission project online entitled “A Call For Healing.” The compilation featured Pick’s song “Rachel’s Prayer,” based on the prayer journals of Columbine High martyr Rachel Joy Scott.

In 2011, Pick released his first Christmas EP “Christmas in the World,” which featured members of Rich Mullins’ band A Ragamuffin Band. It was followed by “Tragedies & Miracles” which also featured the band and brought back the Ragamuffin sound made famous by Rich Mullins in the early to mid-90s.

In 2012, Pick released “Finally Free,” a tribute to a friend in the business, the late Monkee frontman Davy Jones. The song and lyrics were featured in the Vegetarian cookbook “Written In Our Hearts,” with stories and recipes by Pick plus the surviving Monkees, the cast of the Brady Bunch and Boy Meets World and many others. Pick had performed the song at several Davy Jones memorials including the Central Park and Sardis Restaurant memorial in NYC.

PHOTO PROVIDED Josh Billings will be another guest at Pick’s Christmas concert.

A dynamic performer, Pick’s passion for global missions is at the center of his music and concert ministries. Playing a variety of instruments (from keyboard to guitar to lap dulcimer), he has worked with and shared the stage with many artists in many categories of music (i.e. Mark Harris of 4HIM, Mitch McVicker, Davy Jones of The Monkees, Jaded Thorns, etc.)

As missionaries, Pick and his wife Michelle (an elementary teacher in Central PA) are advocates for the native missionary movement and the persecuted church. They partner with Gospel For Asia http://www.gfa.org/ with their music ministry. They are also a “Voice” for Voice of the Martyrs http://www.persecution.com/.

Pick has been involved with several mission projects which have included work in South America, Africa, Asia, and even in North America ministering to the Lakota Sioux at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota as well as among the Ute on the Southern Ute Reservation in Colorado and the Navajo in Window Rock. Pick is also involved with a ministry carrying on Rich Mullins’ legacy of music and arts camps held on Native American Reservations throughout America.

“Rich’s approach was simple. He would say, ‘I’m here to teach you guitar, but I also want to tell you about Jesus. But if you don’t want to hear about Jesus, I still want to teach you guitar.’ Instead of preaching Christ, he modeled Christ to the people. And it opened doors to the Gospel through building relationships with the people. This is the approach we use today,” explains Pick.

Free mission books and DVDs will be available at the concert.

Mariah Hostrander began her singing/songwriting career in 2006 at the age of 13. With influences from BarlowGirl to Paul Baloche, Mariah has captured the muse to deliver a compelling folk-rock sound with well-crafted lyrics that tell life stories easy for most people to appreciate.

Mariah Hostrander’s first full-length project, “Beautiful Scars” was released in 2008, followed by a Christmas single “The Angels Sing” in 2009. Fast forward to 2011 and “Picture It,” impeccably expands her discography with her first national release with Tate Music Group.

Most important to Mariah, “Ultimately, I want to glorify God with the gift He’s given me and I want to reach and inspire people.”

A national touring artist on the “Extreme Tour,” Mariah has also teamed up with the Principled Warrior Foundation.

To show her support she wrote a song titled “I’m Alive” and will be donating 50 percent of the proceeds to the foundation. This foundation is being established to provide support to our servicemen and servicewomen and their families with PTSD and brain injuries.

For more information, visit http://www.mariahhostrander.com

The concert is free and begins at 6 p.m..

Avenue 209 Coffee House is located at 209 Bellefonte Avenue in Lock Haven (next to Wendy’s).

To hear some of Pick’s music and for some free music downloads, visit Pick’s Bandcamp page http://www.chrispick.bandcamp.com.

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