“By the Fire” headlining Yazoo City’s “Praise on the Ridge” | Arts & Culture

The following is a press release from Praise on the Ridge:

Laurel natives and members of the Christian band, “By the Fire” will be headlining a new Christian event in Yazoo City, “Praise on the Ridge,” on Nov. 17.  The band recently won the right to appear on the main stage with the Biloxi band, “Hanover Drive” at Lucedale’s, “Praise in the Park” Christian music event.  Both bands will be taking the spotlight at this free event which is open to all ages, and is hosted at Parkview Church, located at 1750 Hwy 16, in Yazoo City.  By The Fire’s lead singer, Van Long explained the band is eager to have another opportunity to share Jesus with others.

“By The Fire is very excited to headline this event and share the stage with Hanover Drive, for the second time this year,” said Long. “We met one of the church’s student ministers, Shayne Kirk, last year at Praise in the Park in Lucedale, MS, and since then we have developed a relationship with him that has evolved into the first annual ‘Praise on the Ridge.’ We are very excited to partner with Parkview Church.”

This is the first time for By the Fire to perform in the Yazoo City/Jackson area market, which features band members, Long as lead singer and playing rhythm guitar, Stephen Windham on lead guitar and back ground vocals, Nick McCullin on bass guitar, keys, and background vocals, Levi Burnham on drums and production manager, Jason Casey. However, Long will quickly explain to any potential new fans they aren’t new to the music scene.  They plan to complete and release its new album, “Revolution,” by next spring and are entering the band competition, “Atlanta Fest” with hopes of winning a recording contract. 

“We have also had the opportunity to share the stage with a lot of nationally known groups like the Newsboys, Jeremy Camp, and Building 429, just to name a few, but to us, helping to support the local church is where it is at,” said Long. “Another goal for us is to play at the Christian event, “En Fuego” an annual event in Verbena, AL, as well as continue our streak for a third year in a row and appear on the main stage at Praise in the Park.”

The Yazoo City event begins at 10 a.m. and will end around 10 p.m. Kirk encouraged everyone to come out and bring their lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy this free event. Concessions will be available all day along with games for the kids.

“We are excited to see what God is going to do through our first ‘Praise on the Ridge.’ There are people in our community that may never visit a church, but they may come to an event like ‘Praise on the Ridge.’ Our prayer is that people, through this event will come to know Jesus in a more intimate way and give their heart to Him. The purpose of this event is to not only praise the Lord, but to also reach out to our community, letting them know that there is hope in Jesus,” said Kirk.

The day’s events will begin on the main stage with the “Parkview Youth Praise/Worship Band” followed by bands like, “Laced by Grace,” “Dream like Lazarus,” and “Next To Nothing.”  For more information call the church at 662-746-4298 or visit the web page: http://www.parkviewchurchyc.com/.  To learn more about By the Fire visit the web page: www.bythefireband.com.