Months after the successful launch of worship training school Worship Central and a move to Holy Trinity Brompton Church (HTB) in London, popular British worship leader Tim Hughes is now launching his third studio project Holding Nothing Back. In this interview, the smiley worship leader indeed holds nothing back, as he gives Christian Today a heads up on the new album and Worship Central. CT: How has the Worship Central been developing so far? TH: It’s been going great! We’re getting about 900 worship leaders and musicians to each of the days, and we’re getting great response from the podcast and website. There’s always a great need for training and resourcing, and it’s great to see a community of worship leaders developing. […read more]

Christian rock is becoming increasingly popular in today’s world, and no doubt that Kutless - one of America’s most-played Christian bands - takes on a big part in driving this movement forward.

In this interview with Christian Today, Kutless frontman Jon Micah Sumrall speaks while on the ‘Go’ Tour with the Newsboys. He shares his thoughts on their music going mainstream, who their musical influences are, his relationship with his father, and exciting plans for an upcoming European tour. Here’s Kutless… unplugged. […read more]

What you see is what you get with these passionate rockers from the States, who’ve already hit the top of US radio charts twice since the release of their debut album, End of the Grey. Take an inside look at the group through frontman Caleb Oliver. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with the band personally?

We were actually in another band, 3 of us – Chris and Josh and myself were in another band before this one. And we’ve been together since the beginning, about 9 years, but we started this band about 5 years ago when Chris, our other guitarist, came on board and kind of cemented our sound and so we’ve been in this band for close to 5 years now. And Josh, my brother and the drummer, we’ve just always been playing together, so it kind of worked out that way.  […read more]

Alternative worship artist David Crowder and his band were named Artist of the Year at the MSN Music portal, beating out Prince, Christina Aguilera, INXS, and Kenny Chesney.

The band received an overwhelming number of votes from fans, which was decided solely through online voting. David Crowder Band recently performed at the mega collegiate Passion07 conference, alongside worship leaders Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, and Chris Tomlin. […read more]

As any pastor knows, musical style is perhaps the biggest force driving people’s emotional response to worship. Many churches are a maelstrom of musical tastes, personality types, and worship preferences.

In an era of cultural diversity, how can one church find and develop its voice? With so many options available and so many individual preferences, how do we decide what will be our accent? […read more]

Legendary gospel artist Rebecca St. James’ latest album If I Had One Chance To Tell You Something has been named “Best Album- Gospel/Christian’ of 2006 in the Netherlands, according to Seven FM, the largest Christian pop/rock station in the country.

Fresh from capping her 2006 Christmas Tour with tour partner Brian Littrell, the pop singer already has a busy schedule lined up for the new year. […read more]

Meet Graham Kendrick, the maker of internationally renowned songs like “All I Once Held Dear” and “Shine Jesus Shine”, as he talks about his latest project Out of the Ordinary. CT: What distinguishes this album from your other records? GK: I’ve always had a bit of a melancholy streak and reflective side to me, but I think this [album] has got a good number of bright and open songs. I’m very pleased with what the producer, Julian Kindred, did in drawing together the various musicians and what he got out of them, because it’s very fresh and satisfying. Hopefully it’s something people will not just say ‘here’s a worship song’, but that they will enjoy playing the music and acknowledging what the instrument is doing in the texture of the music. […read more]

CT: Turn Around is your fifth album, and your first release to the Christian marketplace. Can you tell us a little bit about the writing process for the record? JL: I wrote and produced the record with a couple of guys: Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders. And the three of us began writing for this record - we spread it out probably over about a year, and then we began recording the album, and also finishing up writing while recording some other songs. But I think this is probably the most focused I’ve been, lyrically speaking, about what it was I wanted to say in a record, because this is really the first time that I’ve been outward about my faith in Jesus and what He means to me. […read more]

Moya Brennan, Irish singing legend and the voice of Clannad, recently released her new album Signature. The album reflects snapshots of her life, a journey mixed with bittersweet memories and sometimes dark moments. In this interview with Christian Today, Moya reminisces on her ‘messed up’ past and how she came to find hope once again by devoting her life to God. She also talks about her relationship with her sister Enya - also a former Clannad member and singing legend - and her exciting plans for the future, which include an ‘Irish Christmas’ visit in the States. […read more]

When Krystal Meyers first broke into the music scene in 2005, she was just 16. As a mouthpiece for her generation, she brought out the anthem “Anti-conformity”- a Godly-rebellion- with the U.S. release of her self-titled debut album. Since then, Krystal has garnered a Dove Award nomination for New Artist of the Year, had three Top 10 singles (“The Way To Begin”, “My Savior”, and “Anticonformity”), and performed before more than 400,000 people. […read more]

Disney recently celebrated their 24th annual Christian music festival, Night of Joy, in Orlando, Florida, at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The festival has drawn more than 900,000 attendees during its history.

This year, the two-night event, held 8-9 Sept., sold out both evenings. Performing artists included MercyMe, BarlowGirl, Rebecca St. James, Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, David Crowder Band, Building 429, Vicky Beeching, the Afters, Casting Crowns, Hawk Nelson, Smokie Norful, Todd Agnew, Kirk Franklin and tobyMac were among this year’s performers. […read more]

When Krystal Meyers first broke into the music scene in 2005, she was just 16. As a mouthpiece for her generation, she brought out the anthem “Anti-conformity”- a Godly-rebellion- with the U.S. release of her self-titled debut album. Her music was used as a medium to reveal God’s Word all around the world, including a country that has less than 1 per cent of Christians - Japan. Her song “Anticonformity” hit #1 on mainstream charts in Japan, which led her to visit the country herself and meet thousands who have been inspired by her songs.

Now 18, Krystal readies to shake the ground once again with her second album Dying for a Heart. In this interview with Christian Today, Krystal talks about her new album, her experience with Japan, and how she’s grown since embarking on her music career. […read more]

Leigh Nash, former frontwoman of Sixpence None the Richer (“Kiss Me,” “There She Goes”), recently released her first solo album Blue on Blue. Since the bands’ break-up in 2004, Leigh has busied herself with marriage, the joys of motherhood, and her new solo career. In this CT interview, Leigh gives a basic scoop of her ‘new’ life, and confesses that from beginning to end, God has always been her ultimate inspiration. […read more]

Jars of Clay, multi-GRAMMY winning and platinum-selling Christian rock band, will use their new album as a platform to provide clean water for Africans in need. Known for its humanitarian organisation Blood:Water Mission, the group hopes to raise at least $300,000 (£160,064) for clean water projects in Africa with the help of sales from its Good Monsters CD.

According to the United Nations, over 300 million people in Africa lack access to safe drinking water and 477 million people live without adequate sanitation facilities. […read more]

Popular band Switchfoot has announced the launch date of their new album, following their critically acclaimed fifth studio album Nothing is Sound. The new project, Oh! Gravity, will release the day after Christmas, December 26. Switchfoot has recently cancelled their August European tour due to a family medical situation. Although the band has been playing live music for years, they have never cancelled a show, according to their website. They stated on their website: “We feel as disappointed as many of you might feel, please accept our apologies. We will absolutely be back as soon as we possibly can.” [ …read more]

Dr Ron Kenoly hit the gospel music scene in the 1980s, even before there was Israel Houghton or Martha Munizzi. For decades, Dr Kenoly has toured the world as one of the top-selling praise and worship artists in gospel music history, selling over five million in sales.

In this interview, Dr Kenoly speaks to Christian Today about his Academy of Praise based in Orlando, Florida, shares his thoughts on praise & worship, and how the gift of singing is inherited in his family.

Prior to the interview, Dr Kenoly briefly reminisced of his mother, Edith Kenoly, who sadly passed away the night before, from a long-term sickness. […read more]