Winter Jam ’07 has greeted March like a lion, roaring past the 225,000 mark in paid attendance as of the end of March 5th, with two weeks of tour dates to go. The tour is proving to be the must-see concert event of the new year, averaging 8,400 paid concert-goers for each show, announced Troy VanLiere, partner in VanLiere-Wilcox, tour producer and manager for Integrity Music’s NewSong, which is hosting WINTER JAM for the 11th straight year.

The actual paid attendance for the tour’s first eight weekends was 228,758. Six shows have exceeded 10,000 in attendance, including a 14,500 sell-out in Greenville, South Carolina and a Winter Jam record-breaking 16,500 in Greensboro, North Carolina where fans were treated to a surprise guest appearance by American Idol icon Clay Aiken.

Winter Jam 2007 Tour Spectacular (http://www.jamtour.com), once again promoted by Premier Productions, is hosted by NewSong and features headliners Steven Curtis Chapman and Jeremy Camp, with special guests Hawk Nelson, Sanctus Real, new artist Britt Nicole, Speaker Tony Nolan, Presidential impersonator and comedian John Morgan and the breathtaking, fire breathing Andre the Hollywood Cowboy.

“Winter Jam never ceases to amaze everyone involved. Fans continue to line-up to be a part of these special concerts and not only are they offered an electrifying evening of music and entertainment, we are seeing hearts moved and lives changed,” said VanLiere, who states that more than 31,000 concert-goers have made decisions for Christ.

In addition to decisions made for Christ, more than 3700 concert-goers have made commitments to sponsor children in Holt International (www.holtintl.org>www.holtintl.org) Children’s Services “Waiting Child Program,” a monthly sponsorship program that brings sustaining hope and support to orphaned, abandoned or vulnerable children awaiting full-time adoptions. Along with Holt International, Winter Jam Tour sponsors include Gospel Music Channel, Walden Media’s release “Amazing Grace”, HearItFirst.com, CCM Magazine, Tennessee Temple University, ZAP! Cars, Wayne E. Bailey Produce and Midnight in the City (a program of Convey of Hope.)

There are two more weekends, with six shows left in the tour:

March 9 Tulsa, OK Mabee Center Arena
March 10 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Pavilion
March 11 Little Rock, AR Barton Coliseum
March 16 Chattanooga, TN UTC McKenzie Arena
March 17 Valdosta, GA Wild Adventures Theme Park
March 18 Charlotte, NC Cricket Arena

NewSong has more than the tour to celebrate as they recently received their twenteth #1 career single (“Before the Day”) and news that their critically acclaimed Christmas CD, A Christmas Hope, has been nominated for a Dove Award for Christmas Album of the Year. The 2007 GMA Dove Awards will be handed out on April 25, 2007.