Conference Artist Information

Gatlinburg December 27-29

Casting Crowns

In an unprecedented six-year span with nearly 4.5 million career album sales, a GRAMMY Award, an American Music Award, 23 Dove Awards and 8 chart-topping radio singles, Casting Crowns remains focused on discipleship through music. With lead singer and songwriter Mark Hall’s 18 years in youth 
ministry, the band’s message remains rooted in the student services he has led on a weekly basis since 2001, at Eagles Landing Baptist church near Atlanta. The songs start as messages for his 400 teenagers and their families. With boldly honest, hard-hitting lyrics, the band continues to challenge, strengthen and pour into the body of Christ, giving listeners a fresh, relevant perspective on loving God and loving people.

Jeremy Camp

Jeremy Camp's life has been a testimony of God's faithfulness as he overcame the largest trial of his life, losing his first wife Melissa, to ovarian cancer just months after their wedding. Outlined in his book entitled I Still Believe: Discovering Hope and Healing in the Midst of Life’s Deepest Valleys, Jeremy discusses how the loss of his wife impacted him, and also how his faith has grown and impacted his music over the last ten years. Jeremy Camp has always had a heart for ministry. Growing up the son of a Calvary Chapel pastor, the faith of his childhood would eventually become his own. Armed with the guitar his dad taught him to play when he was younger Jeremy, an ordained minister himself, began sharing his journey of God’s faithfulness in the midst of sorrow.

For King And Country

Carrying a name that evokes substance and a sense of purpose, for KING & COUNTRY make their debut with music that more than lives up to their clever moniker. Enveloping their insightful lyrics in a sea of ear-grabbing melodies, brothers Joel and Luke have forged a distinctive sound that has earned them an enthusiastic fan base as well as the respect of industry professionals who keep tapping their music for use in high profile TV shows. Together, Joel and Luke ignite each other’s individual passions to form a unique, distinctive voice that blends into simmering sibling harmony, unrivaled by any other collaborative group to date.

Francesca Battistelli

Take a close listen to If We’re Honest—the stunning, soulful and openhearted third album by Christian music superstar Francesca Battistelli, a GRAMMY® Award nominee and six time Dove Award winner—and you will hear that her latest song cycle is a deeply honest and powerful piece of work vividly reflecting the 28-year-old singer-songwriter’s own journey. “I definitely think the albums I’ve made have documented my journey from being a young woman to becoming a young mom,” says Battistelli. “My Paper Heart, I had just graduated college and moved to Nashville. I was single and had no idea what was in store for me. I think you can hear my searching on that album. There are a lot of songs about trust and trying to figure out what God was going to do in my life. “Of course, Battistelli was headed towards a tremendous and uplifting success story with My Paper Heart, hitting #1 on the Christian charts in 2008, and breaking the Top 40 on the Billboard Top 200 pop charts too. “I’m Letting Go” would become Battistelli’s first hit, while “Free To Be Me” earned her a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Gospel Performance.

Trip Lee

Trip Lee is an author, teacher, hip-hop artist, and thought leader. A pastor in Atlanta, he regularly preaches and teaches at Christian conferences and events, and has performed his music for thousands of listeners around the world. As a hip-hop artist, Lee’s music has received critical acclaim, while reaching a large and growing audience. He’s won a Stellar award and been nominated for several Dove Awards. His last three albums have debuted at #1 on the Billboard Gospel charts, and his most recent album, Rise, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Rap charts and #16 on the Billboard 200. Trip’s deepest desire in his writing, teaching, and performing is to declare the goodness and glory of Jesus Christ.

Red

Over the last decade, RED has emerged as a career artist.  Their honesty and transparency about who they are as human beings, what motivates and inspires them, and what they aim to accomplish with each step forward has established an army of loyal fans. The band's success emerged through a pure emotional connection with their audience, the power of their live performances, and most importantly, the passionate, honest dedication of band members Michael Barnes, Anthony Armstrong, and Randy Armstrong. Michael offers, "There is a certain ache in the melody and passion of our music. I feel it can reach emotionally into the soul of the listener and open up places in their heart they didn't know existed.  We wear our emotions on our sleeves, and are OK with who we are and telling others about the struggles we are facing."  Anthony adds, "We deliver our music and message aggressively using themes of theatricality and delving into the darkest parts of our lives in order to bring out the good.  We are relentless and will stop at nothing to deliver great music that will inspire and bring the best we've got in our performances.

Newsong

Newsong started out 30 years ago as a 9 member church band for Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, GA, never imagining that they would still be together in 2010. Founding member, Billy Goodwin, explains the group's faith attitude, "The commitment that we made was, 'God, we'll do this as long as Your hand is on it, as long as we see You working.' One of the joys in my walk has been learning that God is faithful even when things look impossible." Throughout the years, and changes in the group, they have had 17 #1 singles, six Gospel Music Association Dove Award nominations, numerous songwriting awards, and five of the Top 100 Christian radio singles of the past decade. They are known for their songs, "Arise, My Love," "Miracles," "Jesus To The World (Roaring Lambs), and "The Christmas Shoes," which is also the title of their first Christmas Album.

Conference Worship Band

Rush of Fools

Best known for their hit single “Undo,” the most-played song on adult contemporary Christian radio stations in 2007, Rush of Fools got its start after winning a contest called “Band With a Mission,” a title that really couldn’t be more fitting for the Alabama natives. The band's first single “When Our Hearts Sing” from its self titled album Rush of Fools helped put the band on the map, and was followed by its second album, Wonders of the World, an album that received four Dove Award nominations.