The Lion and The Lamb

Big Daddy Weave

When it came to naming their new album, the five men who comprise Big Daddy Weave hardly had a choice. The new album all but named itself: Every Time I Breathe. More than a call to worship, their latest project is a call to life. With Every Time I Breathe, Big Daddy Weave surrenders all that they have, and joyfully admit it is not enough. "We finally realized it is not the greatness of our offering, but it is the greatness of the God we are offering to that makes the difference," says singer/guitarist and primary songwriter Mike Weaver. "It is not the greatness of our songs, but it is the greatness of the God behind the songs. When the little boy showed up with two fish and five loaves, it was so not enough; but that is exactly what Jesus used to feed everyone. The reason our offering seems insignificant is because it is. But God is not looking for our significance. He is looking for our availability." Heartfelt words from one of the most popular bands in Christian music. Indeed, One and Only, the group's 2002 debut release quickly cracked SoundScan's Christian Top 5 and Big Daddy Weave was rewarded with a Dove Award nomination for New Artist of the Year. Fields of Grace, Weave's follow-up, was a stunning display of pure power pop from a band chomping at the bit to get their new songs down on tape. On their third outing, What I Was Made For, the group battled the elements as Hurricane Ivan ravaged their homes. But even in the midst of the storm Mike Weaver says he experienced a fresh outpouring of God's grace and presence. It wasn't until it came time to write for Big Daddy Weave's fourth album that the inspiration dried up. "We walk through different seasons," Mike explains. "Summer doesn't look like winter. Winter is radically different, but that doesn't mean it is a bad season. I was in this 'Winter' season of wondering why I couldn't hear God like I used to. Where did God go? So when the label said, 'It's time to cut another record,' I said, 'I've got squat!' But you know what? God never left. He never changed. He never stopped being worthy just because I didn't feel like singing a new worship song. He has been here the whole time, even though encountering Him right now means something different." "It wouldn't have mattered if Mike had brought fifty songs to the table. That doesn't mean they would have been the right songs," says guitarist Jeremy Redmon, who doubles as the band's producer. "We realize we are only doing this because He allows us to. There is a peace that comes with that, because it takes the ownership out of our hands." Joe Shirk, who handles sax and keyboards for the band, also feels the change of seasons. "We can't help but be changed by our circumstances," he insists. "Change has infiltrated our musical ideas because we hear God differently today than we did four years ago." That realization sparked a new excitement in Big Daddy Weave. Worship, they discovered, was not simply what happened on the stage. It wasn't something that was confined to Sunday morning or Wednesday night. It didn't just occur during those 'Shout to the Lord' moments. "Worship goes beyond the rise in popularity of worship music," explains Jay Weaver, the band's steady-on bassist. "It is about how we treat the guy at the cash register at the gas station. Lately I've felt like the woman at the grocery store whose little boy keeps tugging on her skirt. It's like God is continually trying to get my attention. 'It's not just about the music. It's not just about the music. It's not just about the music!' We're beginning to understand that experiencing worship has next to nothing to do with the music." Drummer Jeff Jones says that concept hit Big Daddy Weave like a tidal wave in the midst of leading worship. "We saw people trying hard to make that time on Sunday morning magical," he muses. "We suddenly realized that unless you are practicing godly character throughout the week, what happens on Sunday morning is just going through the motions. What happens during those times of corporate worship is just a reflection of what goes on in your life throughout the week." "Worship is a response," Mike declares. "It is not something that you have to conjure up. Worship always happens when you encounter the greatness and glory of the Living God. Isaiah saw God and said, 'Woe is me!' But after the angel touched the coal to his lips he said, 'Here am I, send me!' How did that happen? I don't know, but it was a response to an encounter with God. Worship should be our response to encountering God all the time. The truth is, we don't always feel like it. But does that mean if you don't feel it you just stop? No. We have a choice. We choose to worship in spite of how we feel." Mike points to the title track (Every Time I Breathe as a perfect example of where the band is right now. "You don't think about taking your next breath," he says. "You don't have breathing on your 'to do' list. If you don't breathe, you die. It is as simple as that. Breathing is a natural part of life. That is what God is calling us to; a lifestyle of worship—to encounter God every moment, as naturally as taking your next breath." While the songs on album artist=Big Daddy Weave]Every Time I Breathe enhance Big Daddy Weaves' reputation for producing instantly recognizable melodies and tight harmonies, it was the lyrics that the band was most concerned with. "Our main focus has always been about communication," Mike says. "We don't want people to hear our songs and say, 'Whoa, that was cool.' We want people to hear our songs and say, 'Whoa, I understand what they mean.' I think people will really like these songs, and I think they will understand what we are trying to say. But the reality is that these songs are just fish and loaves. Without the touch of God they are just not enough." www.christianitytoday.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Speak Life

TobyMac

The Eye On It Songfacts reports that Eye On It, TobyMac's fifth full-length studio album was released on August 28, 2012. Said TobyMac regarding the album title: "I want my music to depict what I'm going through. I want to write about the things that upset me, move me, hurt me and haunt me. The things that are real. With Tonight, I was determined to live more passionately with God. I was laying down the gauntlet. Eye On It is a continuation of that. It's saying, 'This is the person I want to be and I'm going to keep my eye on it, God willing!'" TobyMac "Tonight" The ascension of TobyMac’s solo career has been nothing short of spectacular. In an era of declining music sales he has consistently defied the odds and has seen his sales increase with each new album release. This is no small feat. With his fourth studio album TONIGHT released on Feb. 9, he is poised to take things higher yet again. Having climbed the mountain once with the group dcTalk (4 Grammys, more than 8 million albums sold), TobyMac knows how difficult the journey can be and how much work the process actually takes. Rarely does an artist get to soar to great heights for a second time, but soar he has. He took home his first Grammy as a solo artist last year after receiving Grammy nominations for each of his first four solo projects (Momentum, Welcome To Diverse City, Portable Sounds, Tonight). And last year TobyMac topped 2 million in total albums sold during his solo career. TobyMac has also remixed the Welcome to Diverse City album and Momentum, calling the new albums Renovating Diverse City and Re:Mix Momentum, respectively. He has done it with a combination of talent, hard work and humility which has produced songs that resonate with people from all walks of life . Upon embarking on his solo career, Toby sought to surround himself with a talented and diverse cast of characters, aptly named the Diverse City Band. The result has been a musical fusion that radiates with an unquenchable energy and a penetrating message. A self-professed perfectionist when making records—he’s been known to relentlessly tweak and massage every little thing in an inexorable effort to make it sound better—Toby is the first to admit that he has to work really hard to make great music. “That’s what drives me,” he says. “I feel like I have to work harder than other people to get there. Sometimes I feel like I’m slightly under-gifted; I usually don't sit down and write a great song in just a few minutes like others can. But I think my work ethic makes up for that.” Starting with dcTalk, and then going solo when the group disbanded in 2000, Toby still clings to such rootsy notions as hard work, persistence, patience and—perhaps most relevant of all—the power of music, which he insists is still what keeps him going. “It’s the truth,” he says. “I still believe that a song can penetrate a heart. I believe God can use a song to open someone’s mind and heart. Other songs can just drop what I call, 'the joy bomb' on somebody. I fight really hard to remain unjaundiced—to keep believing that you can actually walk into a studio and write a song that breathes life. That’s the hardest fight for a guy who’s been doing this for a while; it’s easy to fall into the trap of just making it your job. But I still believe that songs matter.” The songs on TONIGHT certainly matter—everything from the prayerful first single “City On Our Knees” to the testimonial “Changed Forever,” from the worshipful “Captured” to the confessional “Start Somewhere,” and even down to the put-on-your-party-hat grooves of “Funky Jesus Music” and “ShowStopper.” One theme that runs loud and clear throughout is the idea that we all need God, and we need him now—this morning, this afternoon, tonight. “Right here, right now / Under the stars / I promise You my heart / ’Cause it starts tonight,” Toby sings on the chorus of the title track. “If you gotta start somewhere why not here? If you gotta start sometime why not now?” he asks on “City on Our Knees.” And “I wanna straighten this before the sun goes down tonight,” he proclaims on “Start Somewhere.” “There’s definitely a sense of urgency on this record,” says co-producer Chris Stephens, who has worked on TobyMac’s last three CDs. “And it’s an album that speaks of unity, of coming together and finding common ground to worship God.” Toby has long had a passion for racial reconciliation and unity, a recurrent theme in his music. TONIGHT includes songs of reconciliation of another kind—between husband and wife. Toby and Amanda have been happily married for 15 years, but like all couples, it can be hard work sometimes. For Toby, who best expresses his emotions through music, it was a natural step to write about it. In “Hold On,” he sings, “If you move just a little bit closer / You can put your head on my shoulder . . . / Wipe away those tears / This one’s for you.” And on “Start Somewhere,” he’s downright confessional: “I said some things that I regret / And if I could, I’d take ’em back / But here I am, and there you are / The space between us is not so far / I’m reaching out my hand in love.” “‘Hold On’ is very personal,” Toby says. “Many lines are there to encourage my wife, but I know those lines could encourage anybody in a relationship. As for ‘Start Somewhere,’ any time you’re in love with somebody, you’re going to bang heads from time to time. I don’t know how many times I’ve been lying in bed, sweating it out and thinking, How am I going to make this right? But then you reach that moment of apology and forgiveness. That’s one of my favorite songs on the record; it’s a personal perspective on confrontation and reconciliation.” And then there’s “Wonderin’,” in which Toby reminisces about the past with Kevin Max and Michael Tait in dcTalk, one of Christian music’s biggest acts in the 1990s. “We was ridin’ in style, clockin’ them miles / With the songs that He put down deep in our hearts . . . / I’m wonderin’ ’bout the way I spend my days / Wonderin’ if it’s even worth the chase / Wonderin’ if they’re stealin’ me from you.” “It’s just a warm look back at dc Talk,” says Toby, almost wistfully. “It’s reminiscing about Michael and Kevin and what we did together, and recognizing their influence on me. I love what I do today, but there are times when I wonder,What if we stayed together? I’ve got these dreams I’m pursuing now, but are they stealing me from you? I think about Kevin and Michael on every song I write. That's the truth man, we climbed a mountain together.” Sonically, TONIGHT is typical TobyMac in many ways—an eclectic mix of rap, rock, pop and funk, all laden with catchy hooks and melodies just itching for airplay and audience singalongs. There’s even a healthy dose of reggae on the album closer “Break Open the Sky,” where Toby flexes his Jamaican family ties while Israel Houghton provides guest vocals. Other visiting vocalists include Skillet’s John Cooper on “Tonight” and Relient K’s Matthew Thiessen on “Wonderin’.” Of course most of the vocals belong to the artist himself. Stephens says Toby “has stretched himself as a vocalist, he writes about things he is passionate about and his vocals reflect that urgency''. Toby agrees: “I do more singing on this record than ever before. I’m learning to use my vocal instrument in different ways, and I’m getting more comfortable with it everyday''. It all adds up to a project that reflects one man’s desire to push himself beyond “very good,” to dig deep in the quest for that other country where greatness resides. He certainly reached for it. Hard. “I’ve worked very hard not to fall into the trap of making this just a gig,” he says. “If it is a labor, it’s a labor of love. I know music can’t change the world, but who says God can't speak through a song." Right here, right now. TONIGHT. TobyMac is usually styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

It Is Well

Jeremy Camp

Jeremy Camp, a multi-award winning Christian vocalist and guitarist, was born on January 12, 1978 in Lafayette, Indiana. His thoughtful lyrics and booming voice have earned him legions of fans and accolades including 16 No. 1 songs, five Dove Awards, three ASCAP Songwriter of the Year wins and an American Music Award nomination. Before his music career began, his father (a pastor at Harvest Chapel church in Lafayette) taught his son how to play guitar. After completing high school, Camp attended a bible college in Southern California for two years. Camp was raised in a Christian home and drew musical inspiration from worship music and secular tunes alike. Touchstone albums in his artistic development include U2's The Joshua Tree, Delirious?' King of Fools , Jars Of Clay's debut album, Jars of Clay, and Steven Curtis Chapman's The Great Adventure. When one of the worship leaders at the school heard Camp playing with some friends at his dormitory, he urged him to become involved with their music ministry program, and soon he was performing at Christian music events all over California, recording a self-released disc called Burden Me in 2000. At one such appearance, Camp met a young woman named Melissa, and the two struck up a friendship that blossomed into a romance. When Melissa broke off the relationship after a few months, Camp was crushed, but when he next saw her, her life had taken a serious turn -- she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was in the hospital. When Melissa went into remission, Camp married her, but after their honeymoon, they discovered the cancer had returned, and in early 2001 she passed on; she was only 21. Camp poured both his sorrow and the faith that helped see him through into his music, and in 2002 he was signed to BEC Recordings, who released his first nationally distributed album, Stay; it was both a critical and commercial success, and five songs from the disc reached the top of the Christian singles chart. While touring in support of Stay, Camp met singer Adrienne Leisching, former singer with the Benjamin Gate; the two hit it off, and in 2003 they were married, and have since been blessed with two daughters. In 2004, Camp released his second album for BEC, Carried Me: The Worship Project, which matched the gold record success of Stay, and Camp won two Dove Award trophies for Best Male Vocalist and Best New Artist. In 2005, Camp released two albums -- a studio set, Restored, which rose to number 45 on the Billboard Top Albums chart and spawned three number one Christian singles, and a live disc, Live Unplugged from Franklin TN. Camp also recorded the song "Open Up Your Eyes" for the soundtrack of the hit film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which earned him another Dove Award. The fall of 2006 brought another studio set from Camp, Beyond Measure, which reached number 29 on the Billboard charts and produced two more hit singles. Speaking Louder than Before, his sixth album, was released on November 25, 2008. The Way Songfacts reports that his seventh album, We Cry Out: The Worship Project , was released on August 24, 2010, and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Witness

Jordan Feliz

in 2006, Jordan Feliz began his musical career with the rock band A Current Affair, as they were in search of a new lead singer. In 2015. In 2015, Feliz signed to the Christian lable Centricity Music as a solo artist. With Cintricity he has released two albums: Beloved and The River. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

I WIll Lift My Eyes

Bebo Norman

Jeffrey Stephen "Bebo" Norman (born May 29, 1973) is a contemporary Christian musician from Columbus, Georgia, USA. His most successful album to date is Myself When I Am Real, which included hit songs "Great Light of the World" and "Falling Down". Other popular songs by Norman include "Disappear", "Nothing Without You", "I Will Lift My Eyes", and "Borrow Mine". He initially gained popularity when touring with another Christian band, Caedmon's Call. Norman's fans call themselves Simpletons. Norman is married to Roshare Finecey. Norman was originally involved in Young Life Ministries and gained a considerable fan base by performing at the summer camps there. This has drawn parallels to musician Matt Wertz and producer Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, Amy Grant), both who gained fame through their involvement with Young Life. Upon releasing Big Blue Sky, his third album, Norman included a slip asking for donations to the organization. His song "Walk Down This Mountain" is about an experience at Young Life's Wilderness Ranch. Norman released Between the Dreaming and the Coming True in September 2006. The tour in support of this album featured Christian music newcomers Aaron Shust and Brandon Heath. Norman is a graduate of Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. His song, "To Find My Way To You" was used on various promos for the CBS sitcom, The Class. Bebo's single called "Britney" is written to Britney Spears, and is featured on Norman's ninth studio self-titled album. Recently (2007–2008) Bebo has appeared with several notable Christian artists on tour as they present Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb" concerts during the Christmas season. Bebo Norman's new album, "Ocean", released on September 28, 2010. It's a personal album, according to Norman, that covers the discovery of his true identity and the battle between fear and faith. The singer/songwriter told CBN.com that he hopes "Ocean" causes listeners to "look internally… at where they draw their own identity from. It’s worth wrestling with who we are, where we draw our value from, and where we draw our life from and .... refocusing on the source of whatever season of life we are in rather than focusing on the season itself." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.