It’s no secret around here that my favorite band is downhere. It’s also no secret that I harbor a major crush on singer Marc Martel. What is it about a man who can sing falsetto that makes us weak in the knees? Of course he’s cute and talented, but it’s really the band’s music that I love. I follow them on facebook and twitter and I read their blogs and I do everything I possibly can to support this band. I always go see them in concert when they come to town. This is one of maybe three bands that my sister and I each pay to download their music on itunes. Instead of one of us buying it and burning the other a copy. We love to support the band! Rockstars need money! They can’t live on bologna sandwiches.

So when Queen drummer Roger Taylor announced they were searching for people to audition for Queen Extravaganza, my guy Marc submitted a video audition. People have been telling him for years that he sounds, and even looks a bit like Freddie Mercury. Even my husband and I told him that when we saw him in concert. (the same night those pics above were taken)

And then something amazing happened. The video went viral. And right now it has almost 3.5 million views. About 20 of them are mine. Here it is in case you haven’t seen it already.

It’s unfortunate that it took something like this to bring Marc and downhere into the spotlight. These guys have been busting their butts for ten years now making incredible music, but constantly struggling to pay the bills. There just doesn’t seem to be the same market for Christian music that there is for mainstream. You will probably never see a Christian artist bust out and sell millions of albums and have sold out concerts right out the gate. (like Lady Gaga) And while I wish this wasn’t true, there are some advantages to it. At least for the fans. How many people can say they get to meet and talk to and be photographed with their favorite musician each time they see them? Probably not very many. Except for those hipsters who only want to listen to bands that don’t exist to anyone else. And almost every time I’ve blogged about the band, one or more of the band members has come here and left comments. Which totally makes me geek out and squee like a tween.

I sincerely hope that Marc wins this competition. The public voting begins on November 14th. Marc is even going to be on Ellen this coming Monday the 3rd. Please set your dvrs, you won’t want to miss it. My biggest hope is that all of these people who are quickly becoming fans of Marc will also become fans of downhere. They will buy their music, they will see them in concert. And they will do their best to make sure that these rockstars don’t ever have to eat bologna sandwiches ever again!

Here, enjoy some of their music. They also have a brand new album out called On The Altar of Love. You should, you know, buy it.

The downhere concert last night was amazing. Those guys never disappoint.

It wasn’t quite as intimate as last time, but we still got to meet the band and get autographs and pictures.

When I introduced myself as the Tulsa blogger that loves to write about them, Jeremy says “Oh, you’re Marc’s stalker!”. Um yeah, that’s me. My sister tries not to die of embarrassment.

Whatever, they look happy to see me.

And I was very happy to see them. Even though I was having a bad hair day.

Here’s a snippet of Great Are You, the first song of theirs I ever heard. I fell in love with it the first time and have been a fan ever since.

And here is a full length video of Cathedral Made of People, one of my favorites from Ending Is Beginning. Except I have a lot of favorites. That’s how I know they’re my favorite band.