Singer/songwriter and Club44 recording artist Charles Billingsley—one of Christian music’s most beloved voices for nearly three decades—recently led worship for more than 4,500 attendees at the annual Gridiron Men’s Conference. Held earlier this month at Huntsville, Alabama’s Propst Arena, the event featured appearances from bestselling author, speaker and former professional athlete Tim Tebow; famed actor and speaker Kirk Cameron; and renowned evangelist and Gridiron Men founder Phil Waldrep, among others.
 
Billingsley, a regular worship leader at the conference, released his acclaimed new recording, The Shadow of Your Smile, last month. His Club44 Records debut—which reached #1 on iTunes’ Jazz Top Albums chart—heralds a new era for the versatile vocalist as Billingsley embarks on a series of concerts at performing arts centers and symphony halls around the country, in addition to continuing a slate of key ministry dates at churches and conferences.

A quintessential anthology of Broadway, Big Band and American classics, The Shadow of Your Smile was produced by Tim Davis (Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga); Wayne Haun (Linda Lavin, Celine Dion); and Jamey Ray (Voctave), and features Billingsley’s take on such timeless favorites as “It Had To Be You,” “Beyond The Sea,” and Broadway showstoppers “Bring Him Home” (Les Misérables) and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (Carousel), among other selections.

The album also showcases a soaring a cappella rendition of “America, The Beautiful” with popular vocal ensemble Voctave. In celebration of Independence Day, the song’s music video will premier Friday, July 1 via Billingsley’s YouTube channel. In addition, he is set to co-headline “Celebrate America: A Tribute to Our Veterans” at Washington, D.C.’s iconic Kennedy Center on July 3. Billingsley, TaRanda Greene and April Duren will take the stage along with the 250-voice American Festival Choir for an evening of music honoring those who have faithfully served and protected the United States.

Long before acclaim, awards, plaques, chart positioning, and radio play, Lecrae and Ben Washer co-founded Reach Records because they both love hip-hop and Jesus. Nearly two decades later, with countless award-winning albums, Reach Records remains committed to building a 116 Movement that combines faith, music, and popular culture to reach people globally.

On Friday, July 1^st, 7 pm-10 pm, Reach Records will present “Afro Gospel,” an Afro-Beats Pop-Up Showcase presented by Reach Records representing the 116 Movement abroad.

The one-night pop-up event highlights performances from UK-based Nigerian Afrobeat Gospel star Limoblaze and DJ Shunz, with additional performances from rising UK-based Afrobeat artists: Annatoria, Becca Folkes, and Asha Elia. Limoblaze has been featured on several Reach Records songs, including “Everyday,” featuring Lecrae and Nigerian American singer, Jidenna (“Classic Man”). He also sings the hook on the Afro mix version of Andy Mineo’s viral hit “Coming In Hot,” which also features Lecrae.

Grammy Award-winning artist and president of Reach Records, Lecrae, will make an appearance alongside Reach Records’ executives including: Lasanna “ACE” Harris, VP of A&R who has produced several Afrobeat tracks for the label and Marcus Hollinger, VP of Marketing.

The excitement over the 11Six Movement coming to the UK is motivating! After the Afrobeats showcase initially sold out, it was moved to XOYO 32-37 Cowper Street, Shoreditch London, EC2A 4AP

To stream “Everyday,” click here https://lecrae.lnk.to/Everyday

Singer, songwriter, and performing artist Ryan Ellis announces the release of his self-titled album is set for July 15 (Provident Label Group/Sony Music). After a special announcement from Ellis’ son, which can be viewed here, the album pre-order is now live. The anticipated project features the six songs from his 2021 EP, Episode I, along with seven additional tracks including “New Wine Flow” (click here), which dropped on Friday accompanied by a lyric video and can be viewed below.

The debut of his upcoming album debut also features Ellis’ hit single “Heart Of The Father,” which peaked at No. 2 at Mediabase and has received more than 34M streams to date. He shares another previously released song from the project, “Lean On The Lord,” live on the Kingdom Tour: Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin where Ellis performs with the group Housefires. Later this summer, he will head out opening for UNITED.

Ahead of her upcoming album, American Patriot, Natasha Owens is celebrating the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade with the powerful pro-life anthem, “Stand for Life.” Produced for Radiate Music by GRAMMY-nominated and multiple Dove Award winner Ian Eskelin, the well-timed single appears on her upcoming album, available everywhere on July 1 from Radiate Music.

Of her new pro-life anthem, Owens says: “The Supreme Court just delivered the most historic victory ever in the fight for life. Roe v. Wade – the cause of millions of innocent babies’ senseless deaths – has been overturned. I always hoped but never thought that I would see Roe overturned in my lifetime. In a world that has such darkness, a spark of light has been given to us. But our work is not done. Now is the time to love and help be a part of the solution for mothers who are scared and without hope. The body of Christ has an unbelievable opportunity to spread God’s love. We must be bold in our proclamation to stand for life. I have witnessed incredible opposition when I have stood for life, but I stand boldly and unashamed in front of God and a watching world. We must never be afraid to stand up for what is right. Preventing the senseless bloodshed of innocent babies is what I know is right. I pray that that ‘Stand For Life’ will give others enough strength to boldly stand. Life is precious. Life starts at conception. Everything that has a heartbeat is alive!”

With American Patriot, Owens is taking a new direction and offering up a bold, proud, powerful concept collection that bridges an unwavering love of country with the themes of faith and family that have always played a significant part in her artistry. Owens exploded onto the Christian Music scene in 2016 and quickly found herself touring with Christian Music’s most iconic artists, including Michael W. Smith and Jason Crabb. Her sophomore album, We Will Rise, was named “Inspirational Album of the Year” at the 2018 We Love Christian Music Awards, which led to a deal with Nashville-based Radiate Music and extensive media coverage including appearances on Fox News, HLN, Newsmax and more.

Owens has been making regular appearances on the conservative circuit in recent months, including frequent visits to Mar A Lago and a main stage appearance at CPAC 2022 in Orlando, performing the national anthem for the largest and most influential annual gathering of conservatives in the world. She also performed for nearly 50,000 at this year’s Hero’s Honor Festival alongside Toby Keith and Craig Morgan.

Get the “Stand for Life” single: https://ffm.to/nosfl

Pre-save or pre-order American Patriot: https://ffm.to/patriot

‘A Thousand Shores’ marks a new chapter for the Seattle-born alternative band Citizens. This new EP cuts across the endless questions and mystery woven into the journey of discovering God with melodies and lyrics that reach deep places in the human soul. A Thousand Shores is available now.

Citizens have been writing songs that tell true and relatable stories since the beginning, and this 5-track project continues to carry their legacy with new grace and beauty. Frontman Zach Bolen mentions that “it became clear that this record was meant to be an invitation to step out from behind our defenses and to surrender ourselves into the mystery of Christ.”

Through the process of writing these songs, Citizens ultimately came to the conclusion that God is is bigger than we can possibly know. And through this, the band desire to tend to the wounds we inflict on each other by rejecting our different points of view. ‘A Thousand Shores’ seeks to build a bridge between the many groups of people that are being driven further and further apart by their belief systems.

Sonically, this new project embodies the feelings Citizens get when thinking about our Infinite Destiny: “The synths are adventurous. The guitars are forceful and yet often untamed. The vocals are desperate for more. The rhythm section is steady but not mundane or without its surprises,” Zach says. ‘A Thousand Shores’ dares us to dream beyond what’s visible, to ask questions beyond the comprehensible, and to embrace dancing in the mystery. Citizens inspire us to reconsider our perception of the Divine with music that pushes the boundaries of what “Church music” usually sounds like.

Dallas-based singer/songwriter and worship leader Davy Flowers is celebrating two major milestones this week with the release of her full-length debut, I Was Loved, as well as the success of the record-breaking “The Kingdom Tour,” which currently ranks as one of Pollstar’s Live 75 top outings. 
 
Flowers’ highly anticipated debut from The Worship Initiative, I Was Loved was produced by Shane Barnard (Shane & Shane) with two tracks produced by Bryan Fowler (TobyMac). A worshipful pop collection exuding intimate joyfulness, I Was Loved includes songwriting contributions from such names as Mia Fieldes, Sarah Reeves and Lindy Conant, among others. Featuring 12 tracks—11 of which were co-penned by Flowers—the album opens with “You,” an earnest proclamation of Christ’s sufficiency, and is highlighted by such selections as the debut single and title-cut, an autobiographical piano-driven ballad; and “Oh, But God,” a jubilant anthem celebrating His grace. 
 
“Every single declaration of Truth on this record I have truly FOUGHT to believe for many of the years that I have walked with Christ,” Flowers shares. “I have struggled to believe that the Father is never going to stop loving me, regardless of the rise and fall of my own weak attempt to love and serve Him. Yet, He has set His affection on us and determined before the foundation of the world that we belong to Him! Our position in the family of God has been purchased and sealed by the sacrifice of Christ, who alone is worthy of our wholehearted worship and abandoned obedience.”   

“Davy has been part of The Worship Initiative community for a while, and we’ve gotten to know her very well,” says Shane Barnard. “She has always been deeply passionate about Jesus and His living Word, and she’s a natural fit with the mission of The Worship Initiative. We couldn’t be more excited to help Davy share her songs and her heart with the world.”

Flowers is currently on the road performing with Housefires, special guests along with Jonathan McReynolds on the 37-city “The Kingdom Tour” headlined by GRAMMY-winning collective Maverick City Music and 16-time GRAMMY winner Kirk Franklin. Kicking off June 1 at Miami’s FTX Arena, the tour also hit Orlando’s Amway Center, Tampa’s MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, and Atlanta’s Lakewood Amphitheatre in its first weekend, breaking a record for highest gate gross amount with a combined total audience of more than 50,000 people.

Born and raised in Houston, Davy Flowers currently serves as a resident artist at The Worship Initiative in Dallas, as well as a worship leader at Dallas’ Watermark Community Church. Her music reflects a story of healing and triumph in Jesus, and her passion is to connect broken and weary hearts with the power, presence and love of God through her songs and worship leading.

Leslie Jordan presents her new deluxe single titled ‘Love Will Never Fail’. The new release includes the Nashville-based singer-songwriter and worship leader’s recent single ‘Great I Am’ as well as two new tracks, ‘Love Will Never Fail’ and ‘Found It All.’ The deluxe single’s title track was originally written for The Porter’s Gate 2019 album ‘Neighbor Songs’.

This project and community are close to Leslie Jordan’s heart as it focuses on important conversations around the embodiment of phileo love, as well as the division within the church around race. “Love Will Never Fail” is available now.

‘Love Will Never Fail’ is filled with straight scripture as it was crafted around the well-known Biblical passage 1 Corinthians 13. “We’ve heard it so many times at weddings, but I love thinking about it in the context of neighboring and how to love well,” Leslie says. Adorned with the artist’s soft vocals and a warm acoustic background, the new single gently challenges us to take on the example of Christ – the One who loves unconditionally and never gives up. “If love was our agenda, we would have a lot more beauty in the Church,” she adds. Leslie Jordan’s name has become synonymous with meaningful and ground-breaking worship music. She welcomes listeners into her space; one where songs are companions to those who embrace them wherever they may be at.

Meredith Mauldin & UPPERROOM have partnered to launch their newest song together titled “You Remain” (DREAM Worship).

Featuring Elyssa Smith, this powerful worship song precludes the release of the 8-song album, The Turning by Meredith Mauldin & UPPERROOM will release on July 29th. Both the album and the song were produced by Oscar Gamboa.

The heart behind “You Remain” is a cry for those going through changes of season or unsure moments. It’s for those who need the reminder that though everything around us may change, Jesus remains constant through it all. The bridge was an anthem for Meredith personally, while walking through a difficult transition. She sang it over and over, as it reminded her that we will never regret the things that we give to God. It became her anthem of praise through one of her hardest seasons.

The official audio can be heard below. “You Remain” is available now.

Integrity Music unveils a brand-new project and multigenerational collective of artists creating songs of substance from both a lyrical, theological, and musical frame called Anchor Hymns.

Starting with reaching into the past, the initial releases cover some of Integrity’s most iconic songs and reframe them in a modern and musical way. The movement introduces its first single with a revisited version of ‘Christ Be All Around Me’ featuring multi-cultural collective Village Lights and singer-songwriter Jasmine Mullen. “Christ Be All Around Me” is available now.

Rooted in sacred, reverential, and vulnerable honesty, Anchor Hymns dive deep into the human condition and are unafraid to tackle the sounds of suffering and grief, as well as joy and celebration. As is introduced with ‘Christ Be All Around Me,’ this is more than just a serious collection of spiritual songs. The songs emerging from Anchor Hymns are meant to be played on a continuum of musical sophistication, allowing room for worship musicians to level up their skills or to simplify the sounds and play within their skillset.

Joyous Family is back with another song of thanksgiving aptly themed ‘Gratitude’. Maybe it’s easy to get lost in the hustles and bustles of our world and totally forgetting to take a moment to count your blessings, but from the chorus to the verse to the bridge of this song, they take us on a journey of thanksgiving, remembering what God has done, naming our blessings one by one. 

Featuring Dare, Kemi and Sam, exceptional ministers and members of the Joyous Family, Gratitude is a song that testifies to the undeserved goodness of God.

Listen, download, share and add to your playlists as you take the Gratitude Train. 

Watch “Gratitude – Joyous Family” Video Below;