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Nitengale

FAIRBANKS — Less than a year ago, Joe Snow and fellow members of the Christian rock band Nitengale were living the Alaska dream, playing local shows and building a local fan base. Now they are traveling the country and enjoying the ride while pursuing bigger dreams.

“It’s been really exciting. The shows we’ve done and meeting so many new people, it’s really been amazing,” said the Fairbanks native and drummer for the group.

While touring the Christian music festival circuit is exciting, the group is especially excited to return to its home state for a tour this month. Nitengale will open for the Grammy-winning Christian group Casting Crowns at the Carlson Center next Thursday. The group will also perform at the Friends Church in Fairbanks Aug. 9, the Tok Community Center Aug. 16, the Abbot Loop in Anchorage Aug. 21 and Joel’s Place in Fairbanks Aug. 22.

The young talent were all living in the Fairbanks area when they started playing together in February 2007. Snow had played with vocalist and North Pole native Josh Baumgartner in the past — that band broke up and the two remained friends — and they met bassist Sean Lovegrove through church. The three started playing together, and soon after Snow’s college roommate Stephen Pettyjohn chimed in.

“Stephen started playing with us, and it just started clicking. It was working for us,” Snow said of the quartet.

Their story of success moves rapidly from there. The group won a Battle of the Bands competition last summer at the North Pole Worship center, and learned of another venue, Life Light, a regional competition that served as part of a national search for new Christian music talent.

At that 2007 show, Nitengale proved its worth, despite having only been together for a matter of months, winning the regional competition and advancing to the national stage in Nashville, Tenn. Snow recalled the importance of local support to get to the stage at that level.

“We had just enough money for the hotel, and had airline miles donated to get us there,” he said.

The Alaskan quartet won the competition, earning a development deal with Word Records. The rest sometimes feels like a blur, Snow said, with trips to numerous music festivals.

“We are definitely excited to be back in Alaska. I grew up there, so to get to see all my friends and family is going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

While Snow described the band’s sound as “piano-based rock” — he also mentioned Coldplay, Muse and BC Tuck as major musical influences for the group — they remain focused on Christian ideals.

“We want to do what God wants us to do, be witness for people through the testimony we have,” he said, adding “we want to give God glory for everything he is doing with our band.”

They also hope to maintain enough success to be self supported and “make a living doing what we love.”

Nitengale’s performance on Thursday will be a special treat also because the group will be warming up the stage for Grammy-award winning Casting Crowns. The seven-member Christian group’s newest album, “The Altar and The Door,” looks at the bridge between Sunday and Monday mornings.

“When we’re at the altar, everything makes sense,” lead singer Mark Hall stated on the group’s Web site in reference to the band’s new project. “We know how we’re supposed to live. Everything’s black and white. But somewhere between the altar and the door, when we leave and go out into our lives, it all leaks out, and everything gets gray again.”

The message Casting Crowns sends, Hall explained, is to maintain that black-and-white definition.

“The Christian life is the journey between the altar and door, trying to get the things you’ve got in your head, into your hands, feet, into your life. ‘The Altar and The Door’ is all about the journey. The realization on the journey, the struggles and the victory of seeing it as possible,” he stated to the group’s fans.

Casting Crowns has earned a strong reputation for success, including an American Music Award in 2007, naming the group Favorite Artist in Contemporary Inspiration music category. Also, the group’s album “Lifesong” went platinum in February 2007, and the group has received Group of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year nods from various music award organizations, including GMA and American Music Awards. The big honor, of course, is the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary album, “Lifesong.”

What: Casting Crowns concert, with opening band Nitengale

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: The Carlson Center

Admission: $15 to $60, plus outlet fees. Tickets available at the Carlson Center box office, ticketmaster.com or Fred Meyer Ticketmaster locations

Contact staff writer Erica Goff at 459-7523.