Jeffrey Stephen "Bebo" Norman is from Columbus, GA. He was originally involved in Young Life Ministries and gained a considerable fan base by performing at the summer camps there. He made friends with the members of Caedmon's Call and toured with them for years.
Back before it was fairly normal for independent artists to be successful, Bebo Norman sold fifty thousand self-made copies of his first record (1996) at coffeehouse shows, out of the trunk, and online. Now, as a recognized singer/songwriter in the Nashville-Christian community, he still keeps a low profile. He likes to quietly do his thing, without the trappings of the limelight.
Family: Bebo and his wife have two young sons - Smith and Miller.
Kick off this week right - with your favorite worship songs all afternoon!
ARTIST OF THE DAY Matthew West
Dove award winning, GRAMMY nominated Matthew West is the songwriting darling of Nashville. A pastor’s son, West grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois and released three independent projects before signing to a major label and issuing his first studio album, Happy. The project yielded the hit “More,” which topped the chart for nine weeks and became the most played song on Christian radio in 2004. His follow-up History would continue his radio dominance.
Then life happened. West underwent a career-threatening vocal surgery in 2007. He didn't know if he'd ever sing again. But God brought healing and fresh perspective. Less than a year after his surgery, West released Something To Say and garnered more listener and critical acclaim than ever before.
The last several albums released by Matthew West have been, in a way, co-authored by his fans. He began writing songs based on stories given to him by his fans both at concerts and through his interactive website.
Is that the weekend I smell?
Consider this a weekend present:
ARTIST OF THE DAY Go Fish
Go Fish is bringing fun accapella fueled music to families and young children! Everything they do is geared towards introducing kids to Jesus through music, dance, visuals and fun.
Kickin’ It Old School and Kids Music are the latest installments of the biblical foundation for kids and families that Go Fish has been building since their 2003 children’s music debut, Splash. Leaving behind a career in Christian pop, the trio turned their attention to making music exclusively for kids.
Go Fish put their vocal spin on classic hymns, like Before the Throne of God Above. Go Fish has recorded hymns and classic praise songs to introduce children to the worship music of their parents and grandparents, but in a style that is relevant today.
If your church is looking for some high octane VBS material - look no further than Go Fish!
'tis the season to buy stock in allergy medicine... FALALALALALALA!
ARTIST OF THE DAY Brandon Heath
Since his 2006 debut, Christian music has twice honored Brandon Heath as Male Vocalist of the Year, he's been nominated for five GRAMMYs, an American Music Award, and holds a variety of honors in GMA Dove Awards.
Off stage, Heath seeks opportunities to merge his public platform with his heart for community, regularly working with Young Life, Blood:Water Mission, Restore International and unofficially volunteering for many other human rights agencies on a global scale.
Brandon Heath created the annual “Love Your Neighbor” benefit with songwriter Jason Ingram, in partnership with Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, for a night of music to raise funds and gather volunteers for a focused need in the Nashville community.
His Story: When he was just 3 Brandon's parents divorced. Growing up, Brandon was bitter towards his family, but he found comfort in Christ while in high school. At age 16 Brandon was invited to a Christian camp with some friends. He accepted Christ and began to learn about forgiveness. A journey he is still on.
The half-way point has been reached - hold on!
It's all downhill from here!
ARTIST OF THE DAY Brenton Brown
Brenton Brown grew up in Cape Town, South Africa - then studied in Oxford (Rhodes Scholar), England - and now lives in Malibu, California. So he's been around.
While studying in England, Brenton Brown became one of the young worship leaders at the very first Vineyard UK. But just when life seemed to be roaring down the highway of success, Brown fell ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and was forced to leave his position as worship pastor and take a sabbatical in his South African home town. It was there that he met and married his wife Jude - also ill with CFS.
Brenton then recorded and released his album Everlasting God. Realizing that a change in pace and lifestyle might assist their recovery in 2005 the Browns reluctantly left London and their home church of Holy Trinity Brompton for California. Since then they have been welcomed into the Horizon family of churches and have traveled across the States and beyond leading worship in churches as far away as Sweden and Korea.
Family Matters: Brenton and Jude have a little girl named Bella.
Songs By Brenton Brown That You Probably Know: Lord Reign in Me All who are Thirsty Come Now Is The Time Hungry Everlasting God
Jason Roy formed Building 429 to reach others with a story similar to his. He faced a hard childhood and found freedom and relief in the local church. The band's name comes from Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
In The Beginning: Back in 2005, B429 won the Dove Award for New Artist of the Year.
What's New: The band has a new album coming out in June. It's called We Won't Be Shaken. The new album encourages listeners to erase fear, stand firm and believe in a God who cannot be shaken (Pslam 62:2)
Lead singer Jason Roy explains, “We really felt like we wanted to make a record that said, ‘Stand up! You have been called. We are God’s children. Who can stand against what God has begun?’ That’s really our perspective. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. This record says, ‘Hey, let’s go! Let’s do this. God is going to use us and we’re not going to fail.”
Congratulations: Building 429's song Where I Belong has been nominated for Top Christian Song at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards (May 19th).
A new day has dawned!
How are you going to make it special?
ARTIST OF THE DAY MIKESCHAIR
MIKESCHAIR was born out of a dorm room at Nashville's Belmont University. Music could always be heard coming out of Mike Grayson's dorm room, attracting other musicians to volunteer in his jam sessions. Before long, a band had formed! The band gets its name from, you guessed it, the chair frontman Mike Grayson sat in during band practice. It's kind of a lackluster story, actually...
Though they love music, each member of MIKESCHAIR admits it’s about so much more. “We all really have this desire to be involved in ministry,” Hale says. “We are obviously all really passionate about music, but we always want it to be about something more. We saw that we all had the same heart for this and then God just kept opening doors.”
Big Break: Just a few weeks into the band's creation, the guys won Belmont University's Music Showcase competition, signed to CURB Records and got themselves nominated at the Dove Awards for Song of The Year (for Let The Waters Rise).
After 30 years and 20 #1 radio hits - NewSong is still pushing the limits to reach a new generation for Christ. Members have come and gone - and some fresh young musicians have joined the core group to produce a sound that is both fresh and classic NewSong.
When Eddie Carswell and Billy Goodwin, who continue to lead the evolving group, started out in 1981 at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia, neither of them imagined NewSong would repeatedly outdo itself for so many years. Now the guys are headed into their fourth decade of music and just keeps getting better!
After nearly a decade away, award winning front-man Russ Lee returned to the group in 2010. Their newest album Swallow The Ocean captures the essence of this evolving, multi-generational band, yet somehow still has the heart and soul of the NewSong of old.
Trend-Setters: NewSong founded and continue to tour as a part of WinterJam. This massive multi-artist American tour brings Christian music's biggest acts to cities all across America and never charges more than $10. The goal - to bring the best music to everyone - and provide an incredible time of worship for the whole family!
'tis the season to buy stock in allergy medicine... FALALALALALALA!
ARTIST OF THE DAY Britt Nicole
A native of Salisbury, NC, Britt has always had a heart for reaching people and has long used music as the vehicle to change lives. She began singing in church at age three and by the time she was in high school, was appearing on her church’s daily television program and logged a performance at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall with her school’s advanced chorus.
History: Those early pursuits paved the way for her to sign with Sparrow Records in 2006. She burst on the charts a year later with her label debut, Say It. It was a super-fun album with surprising lyrical depth - and it earned her a slot on the Winter Jam tour that year with Steven Curtis Chapman, Jeremy Camp, NewSong and Hawk Nelson where she developed a reputation as a compelling live performer. It was in 2011 when she received her first Dove Award nomination for Female Vocalist of the Year.
Abroad: Aside for making a name for herself in the states - Britt's pop-electronica stuff has been charting solidly in the UK. Expect a lot more from her in the future. Even in her early 20s, she's already a veteran in the new world order of Christian music.
Songwriting: Britt Nicole "write[s] whatever's in [her] heart." Each song finds its roots deep within life experience. Her hit All This Time stems from the heartache of her parents' divorce. Stand is about rediscovering God's strength in your time of weakness.
Personal: Last July, Britt married Joshua Crosby (Drummer, Producer and Writer).
Matt has been leading worship full-time since the age of 20 and this journey has taken him around the world; to South Africa, Japan, India, Australia, Germany, Uganda, Croatia and the Czech Republic. His early compositions include The Heart of Worship and Better is One Day. More recent songs have included Blessed Be Your Name and You Never Let Go – both written with wife Beth and encouraging us to worship God through the storms of life. Redman is in an ellite group of songwriters responsible for a great deal of what is sung in churches worldwide.
Matt & Beth Redman have five children; Maisey, Noah, Rocco, Jackson and Levi. Based in Atlanta they are part of Passion City Church with pastors Louie and Shelley Giglio. This is the third church plant Matt has been involved with, having previously been on the team for Soul Survivor, Watford, and The Point in the UK.
Matt is also the author of four books, all center around the theme of worship and he compiled two other books of practical worship-leading advice from many experienced leaders around the globe.
Space, The Final Frontier: Matt became an intergalactic worship leader, when the crew of the STS-132 and International Space Station chose his song Shine to be there wake-up music.
The Future: Matt will be recording a new live worship album at the LIFT conference held at Passion City Church in Atlanta at the end of May. Some planned guests on the album include Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Kristian Stanfill and Christy Nockels - so pretty much the entire Passion family.
The weekend! Oh how, lovely!
Don't forget, this Saturday and Sunday - The First Martyr!
ARTIST OF THE DAY Josh Lopez
Josh was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in the Bronx and now leads worship at a mega-church in San Antonio, TX! He uses his life story of survival to bring hope to those he ministers to. Among many tragic events growing up, Josh was a homeless teenager at 15 but by the grace of God, he was able to reach a life today filled with happiness and dreams made reality.
Early on, Josh was the lead singer of the Pop Latin group, Jaquemate. He toured Latin America opening up for Ricky Martin and even landed a number one single on the Latin charts. But Josh came to a point in his life where he wanted to make a difference in people's lives through his music.
He earned the chance to travel and sing with Multi-Grammy Award winner, Israel Houghton. And later became the host for the Spanish Inspirational Television show, Alabanza Real, seen in 23 countries!
He and his wife (Martha) have partnered with the organization, Food for the Hungry, to bring relief to starving children all over the world, through proceeds from album sales.
Simply put Josh says, "I am just someone who found hope and would like to share that hope with as many people as possible through my music. I love my wife, love people, love Puerto Rican food and love God."
Rachel Scott, along with her husband Greg and their 3 young boys, live in Omaha, Nebraska. But much of the year, Rachel spends pounding the pavement - singing in churches all across America. Her husband, Greg, is a pastor with the Assemblies of God, and pulls double duty as Rachel’s Manager/Audio Engineer for touring and studio recording.
Having a passion to reach the poor through her music, Rachel is also signed to Compassion International’s Artist Roster where she is a spokesperson for Compassion to see children released from poverty in Jesus’ name.
Abroad: Her song Seven: Fifteen ranked in the top 10 in the UK.
Street Cred: Rachel has shared the concert stage with other Christian Artists such as Remedy Drive, Rebecca St. James, Hillsong London, Vota, and Sara Groves.
The word Anthem means “a song or hymn of praise”. Collectively and as individuals the band says it's their hearts' cry to not only lift up God through song but with every aspect of their lives. They strive to lead the church in the pursuit for us to all live our anthem!
Living Anthem consists of: Matt Seagle, Lucas Budde, Toby Holloman and Jeff Bowman.
"We are not just acting when we call ourselves a Christian band, we are Christian men longing to do our part in shaking the world for Jesus Christ." - Matt Seagle (lead vocals)
For FREE: The band is giving away their latest EP on Noisetrade!
Joel and Luke are brothers. And they have five other siblings as well. One of whom is Rebecca St. James. Though born in Australia, they were raised in Nashville, TN and on the road with their concert promoting father and Christian music superstar sister. They were literally born into the music industry - like royalty.
The duo's debut album has scored radio hits, award nominations and been featured on multiple TV shows. So far the band's music has been heard on The Vampire Diaries and Drop Dead Diva.
Luke says, “We want to deliver a message that is about believing in something much bigger than oneself. You can confidently go through the ups and downs in your life because you know that life isn’t all about you and what you do but rather the hope and salvation of Christ.”
The Bible: Millions watched the epic mini-series on The History Channel - and millions heard music from for King & Country - they were featured in commercials for the television event and on the official soundtrack!
Allan Hall, Amy Perry, and Todd Smith are Selah. The group, like most people, has weathered many storms. From the death of children, through illnesses and line-up changes, the group has stayed faithful to what God has called them to do - to sing, to worship, and to tell people about Jesus Christ!
From their inception, Selah has always been synonymous with hymns. In fact, the trio’s 1999 debut, Be Still My Soul, helped initiate a hymn revival in Christian music that is still thriving today.
The Past: Nicole Sponberg is Todd Smith's sister and was a founding member of the group.
The Present: Birthed from seasons of personal hardship, Selah’s latest is a celebration of the hope Todd Smith, Allan Hall and Amy Perry have discovered through surrender to God, and a testimony to the group’s collective desire to share these stories of hope with broken people through music. With Hope of the Broken World, Selah recognizes their opportunity to relate with and help listeners heal through songs that poignantly contrast worldly hurt with spiritual hope.
The Future: Selah is writing and recording a new album, due out this Fall!
Rain, rain on my face...
The good news is at least the weekend will be pretty!
ARTIST OF THE DAY Ginny Owens
Ginny Owens is a three-time Dove Award winner, including the Gospel Music Association’s 2000 New Artist of the Year recipient, and multiple ASCAP Award winner. She has sold nearly one million albums and has topped the charts with several hit songs including If You Want Me To and I Wanna Be Moved. Her music has been featured on television shows and her concerts have impacted the lives of tens of thousands.
And Ginny Owens is blind. That has never stopped her from chasing musical perfection, though. When she sits behind a piano, music flows from her soul and the lyrics ring of Truth. Sometimes that Truth is learned through heartache - sometimes through Joy. She's just like everybody else, except she takes our collective life experiences and turns them into art.
Born and raised in Jackson, MS, Owens was discovering melodies on the piano almost before she could complete a sentence. Sunday school songs and common childhood tunes began to emerge from her fingers even as vision began to leave her eyes. By the age of three, a degenerative eye condition left Ginny completely blind.
Despite her physical challenge, music just made sense to her, quickly becoming a lifeline for both understanding and communication. Songs provided a window into a world Ginny couldn’t see, but they also offered an outlet for her to express her own thoughts, dreams and questions.
Ginny took some time off of touring to go to school in NYC, where much of her new album finds it roots. She says, "One of the greatest lies we tend to believe is that we are unimportant and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But grace changes that."
Hawk Nelson is a Christian pop/rock band from Peterborough, Ontario. The band was voted "Favorite New Artist" by CCM Magazine in their February 2006 Reader's Choice Awards. For over a decade the band has pounded the pavement, making fun Christ-focused music.
Relentless touring - six albums - multiple Dove nominations - lots of fun.
But in April of last year, lead singer Jason Dunn told the guys in the band that he was ready to strike out on a solo career. After lots of prayer (and a bit of encouragement from friend Bart Millard of MercyMe), guitarist Jon Steingard stepped up as the new lead singer of Hawk Nelson.
So while the band's DNA is pretty much the same - in many ways, this is a brand new Hawk Nelson.
Warr Acres (formerly known as VMusic) is the worship team from Victory Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They are a group of musicians, singers, dancers, audio & video artists, and songwriters who have committed to taking the creativity that God has given them, and use it to give back to Him.
The band finds its roots in the life-changing story of Pastor Mark Crow’s wife, Jennifer, being healed of depression and multiple physical ailments. That's when VMusic was formed and the ministry has continued to evolve. Out of Jennifer Crow's healing, she began to write songs expressing the love and thanksgiving that flowed out of her heart to God.
As VMusic, the band penned six #1 hits on Indie Christian radio from 2008 through 2010, was featured twice on Worship Leader Magazine’s Song Discovery CD, and was nominated for the Dove Awards in 2011 and the Premios Arpain 2010.
Christian recording artist Kristy Starling joined VMusic and began leading worship at Victory Church in 2006 when her husband Adam joined the Pastoral team at Victory.
The Name: Warr Acres is the name of the community outside OKC where Pastor Crow planted Victory Church in 1994 - and where the ministry continues to grow and impact lives.
After spending a lifetime growing up as a preacher's kid, attending Lee University, traveling with the Lee Singers, honing his songwriting skills, and dedicating 16 years to leading congregations in praise and worship, Jason is chasing a full time music career, based right here in the Mid Atlantic.
Jason has been featured in CCM Magazine, New Release Tuesday, The Examiner, The Christian Post, and many other industry spotlights as his album Beautiful Design takes hold of Christian radio across the country.
Breaking News: Jason is recording a new album this Spring and expects it to be ready sometime Summer 2013!
In 2011, a band hailing from Ontario, Canada made a tremendous splash into the United States. Their debut album Introducing The City Harmonic featured a hit song that captivated the American Christian radio audience and scored a surprise late hit. The song was Manifesto. That one track soared to #5 on iTunes and swiftly got over 1 million hits on YouTube. Before the end of 2011, The City Harmonic became the best selling new artist on Billboard’s Top Current Digital Sales Chart.
The band's first full-length album I Have A Dream has already conquered the airwaves with hit songs like the title track, Mountaintop and Holy (Wedding Day). It'd be one thing if their popularity was fueled simply by their creative piano driven rock sound, but it's the lyrical depth that gives the band staying power. Many times, taken directly from scripture and constantly surging towards moments of worship - The City Harmonic's songs have been called "a roadmap with only one route, to sum up the journey of faith and mystery."
“Being a Christian now is more difficult than it was 200 years ago,” Elias Dummer says of the thematic trail. “We face tragedy at every turn because of the way our media and culture operates. The stories of this world have let us down. Politics have let us down. We try to cope with it by becoming apathetic or by hiding in the Christian bubble—some altered version of the American dream where living for Christ leads to personal comfort— even misguided Christian stories can let us down and this is the tension of the world we live in. Christianity isn’t a tool to escape suffering, it’s a lens by which we understand it and the means by which we live through it. Our culture is built on the notion that our spirituality can be compartmentalized but, simply put, the Christian story isn’t. We can go from mountaintop to valley in the span of a day, and in the midst of that valley Christ calls us to love our neighbors, our enemies, just as if we were with them on the mountaintop. Apathy may be a natural result of today’s broken world, but the Christian story is that Christ is redeeming his creation and we have a role to play as the body of Christ.”
The band is chronicling their recording process on their Instragram account. And having a lot of fun doing it, I might add.
The City Harmonic is:
Elias Dummer
Eric Fusilier (Who recently beat ALL cancer!)
Aaron Powell
Josh Vanderlaan
