True Vibe founder Jonathan Lippmann recently noticed CMCentral's news story on the band's split, and contacted us personally to clarify the situation. During our brief conversation this afternoon, Lippmann mentioned that among other things, "True Vibe is still here. I own the name 'True Vibe,' it hasn't ended, I have new guys. The other guys chose to go another way. That's cool. But True Vibe hasn't gone away."

Lippman says that he's spent time with his pastor seeking council in what to look for in his prospective new band members, and has come up with a group of new guys that hail from all over the southeast.

He didn't wish to go into detail on how or why the group came apart, saying only that he hopes to use True Vibe as more of a ministry now, and to stay more grounded with the help of pastors and others. He said, "We weren't staying as focused as we should... We were all guilty of that."

Lippmann indicated that his plans for the group include recording again, and he's currently looking for a new record label. But don't expect the boy-band sound to prevail, as there will be a slight switch in formats.

"We've always been a vocal group -- a bass, a baritone, and two tenors -- and you can't really convey that with dancing all the time. So we're going to go at it as a vocal group now. Sort of a young 4 Him or something like that. More of a ministry. My goal is for the group to be more of a ministry, like the way that The Katinas are a ministry. They've been a great example to me."

When I asked if he feared that teenage fans might not take to the group changing its sound, he said he's "not really worred about that. I'm excited to get back to what I always intended, which is songwriting and strong vocals. That's what I like. The dancing and everything was more of what the label wanted."

On a personal note, Lippmann mentioned that he's been "back to working at Pizza Hut with my wife" for the last few months. He said, "It was the most tripped-out thing going to the Grammys and then coming back the next day to deliver pizzas."

But the experience has given him a new perspective. "I delivered a pizza this one time and the lady who answered the door was like, 'Oh, I thought you were here for the party, but you're just the pizza man.' I said, 'Well, I'm more than just a pizza man.' She said, 'No, you're just the pizza man.' The thing was, this could have been one of the same people who under different circumstances, might have been screaming at one of our concerts. It's amazing how differently we treat people based on our own conceptions. We need to stop lifting people up onto such a pedestal. It's sad."

Meanwhile, CMCentral has been receiving separate reports lately that the group's three departing members, Jason Barton, Jordan Roe, and Nathan Gaddis have reformed themselves into a new group, which is being tentatively called Ten Fold. The rumors also indicated that the three have already signed a new recording contract with a major Christian label, but this has not been confirmed.

Details about both the new members of True Vibe and the new group formed by Barton, Roe, and Gaddis, should be forthcoming.