With 2009 coming to a close, I decided to highlight some of the big events from the Relient K camp this year.

First and foremost, Relient K released their cd, Forget and Not Slow Down, on the label Mono Vs Stereo, which they now also oversee. They also signed the first band to Mono Vs Stereo under their management – which was Deas Vail.

Forget and Not Slow Down was started in early 2009. Fans were invited to watch and be part of the live chats that went on every so often during the recording process, watch the webisodes made by Cale Glendening, and leave and check for messages up on the Say Now site. After a almost year long journey, Relient K produced Forget and Not Slow Down.

Forget and Not Slow Down, released on October 6th, had a great response, debuting at #15 on the Billboard 200, #1 in Christian Albums, #2 in Digital Albums, #4 in Alternative Albums, and #5 in Rock Albums. Overall album chart selling was more than 33,000 units. The single itself was released to radio on September 21, 2009 and debuted at #11 on the iTunes single rock charts.
This album has been described as a new, mature sound, catchy and ambi­tious, unique and solid, and overall -very enjoyable. This album shows much maturity for Relient K, and you can feel the emotion on each track of the album.

Some live performances from songs from F&NSD:

– Forget and Not Slow Down
– I Don’t Need A Soul (To Hold)
– Therapy
– Part Of It

Forget and Not Slow Down wasn’t all that 2009 brought. Schneck also learned how to solve the rubix cube, which ended up with the podcast that gave us all some good laughs.

Thiessen also collaborated with different artists such as Deas Vail and Owl City – helping to write and sing guest vocals on the chart topping single Fireflies.

Touring wise, Relient K’s been around this year as well. They had a whole bunch of dates all across the US, but also made it up to Canada twice, and played a couple shows in the land down under.

Relient K also joined the crazy wave of Tweeters, making their own Twitter account, and also taking control of the Twitter account that our very own Kara set up and got the unofficially official stamp of approval from Jon Schneck. The rest of the band soon got their own individual Twitter accounts as well.

Last, but not least, for the first time in the band’s history, they were minus the two Matts. Matt Hoopes had to leave the lineup for a family matter, while Matt Thiessen had a family emergency when his mom had a heart attack. The rest of the band (Jon, Ethan, and John) still did a great job, pulling off amazing shows, and for the last four shows – got Tim Skipper to fill in as lead singer. They also hosted a contest for fans to try to get on stage to lead the performance of Sadie Hawkins.

2009 has been a great year for Relient K, with the release of F&NSD, and everything in between. Next year will defininitly be bringing in even better things, and hopefully more Woodland Forest episodes? Someone’s got to talk to Warne about bringing them back.