Michael W Smith was one of the biggest artists to ever grace the stage at Easterfest, having been one of the defining artists of the contemporary christian music movement in the 1980’s.

Along with his good friend Amy Grant, Michael had a significant impact on the genre, not just as a performer, but also as a songwriter and producer.

But because of his commitment to his church at Easter, it took festival organisers 7 years to get Michael to sign on for the 2012 Easterfest.

We've dived into the 96five archives, with Liam Renton (96five breakfast/Australia's Hot 25 Countdown) in conversation with Michael W Smith in 2013. It was recorded at the Christian Music Broadcaster's Momentum Conference in Florida.

You can keep those nostalgic vibes going with our special Easterfest and AGMF playlist on Spotify.

Don’t forget to leave us a review with your favourite memory of the Easterfest and AGMF days, and don’t be afraid to go hard with the five star ratings! Your ratings and reviews will help other people find the podcast.

This podcast is brought to you from the studios of 96five. It was written and presented by Justin Rouillon.

You can find more podcasts like this by searching for 96five in your podcast app, by downloading the 96five app from your app store, or going to the 96five podcast page on our website.

Support the show: https://www.96five.com/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the Australian Gospel Music festival, the event that would give rise to Easterfest got going in 1999, the independent Christian music scenes across Australia were pretty healthy.

There was a lot going on in that space with plenty of Aussie muso’s diving in and giving it a go.

In Brisbane, the scene was thriving, with the local indie label Toupee Records bringing together the cream of the crop like Rhubarb, Battered Fish, Dumpster, Tonjip, Beanbag and Elementary Penguin.

Many of the bands on the Toupee roster would help enable the growth of AGMF in those early years, so I thought who better to sit down and chat with about that era, than the founder of Toupee Records... Jeremy Bennett.

You can keep those nostalgic vibes going with our special Easterfest and AGMF playlist on Spotify.

Don’t forget to leave us a review with your favourite memory of the Easterfest and AGMF days, and don’t be afraid to go hard with the five star ratings! Your ratings and reviews will help other people find the podcast.

This podcast is brought to you from the studios of 96five. It was written and presented by Justin Rouillon.

You can find more podcasts like this by searching for 96five in your podcast app, by downloading the 96five app from your app store, or going to the 96five podcast page on our website.

Support the show: https://www.96five.com/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of my favourite Easterfest stories is around two expat Aussie brothers, who wrote a bunch of killer songs, crafted a sound that can really only be described as epic, and found themselves at the very top of the Christian Music industry in the US.

But when you look at the For King and Country story, the origins of it begin at Easterfest in 2009, when Joel and Luke Smallbone, originally billed as Austoville, and then Joel and Luke, play one of their first ever shows.

In this bonus bit we'll hear from Joel Smallbone about what that support from the Easterfest crew meant to him and his brother Luke.

We'll also step back to 2013, with Liam Renton (former 96five breakfast and Australia's Hot 25 Countdown host) and interview with Joel that took place at the Momentum conference in the USA.

You can keep those nostalgic vibes going with our special Easterfest and AGMF playlist on Spotify.

Don’t forget to leave us a review with your favourite memory of the Easterfest and AGMF days, and don’t be afraid to go hard with the five star ratings! Your ratings and reviews will help other people find the podcast.

This podcast is brought to you from the studios of 96five. It was written and presented by Justin Rouillon.

You can find more podcasts like this by searching for 96five in your podcast app, by downloading the 96five app from your app store, or going to the 96five podcast page on our website.

Support the show: https://www.96five.com/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.