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Casting Crowns defies Christian-music rules

Posted on: Sunday, 4 September 2005, 16:45 CDT

By Deborah Evans Price

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Every once in a while there's a success story that defies the odds, overcomes obstacles, slays skeptics and rises from obscurity to top the charts. In today's Christian music community, it is Casting Crowns.

The septet from Georgia burst onto the scene in fall 2003 with its self-titled Beach Street/Reunion Records debut. The album sold more than 1 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and spawned three hits: "If We Are the Body," "Who Am I" (a Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart-topper for six weeks) and "Voice of Truth," which camped out at No. 1 for 14 weeks. "Live From Atlanta," a 2004 CD/DVD release, scanned 103,000 copies.

With the August 30 arrival of Casting Crowns' sophomore studio set, "Lifesong," the industry is asking, "Can they do it again?"

Early indications are good. The title track zoomed up the charts as the lead single, and is currently No. 2 on Hot Christian Songs and Hot Christian Adult Contemporary Singles.

Casting Crowns frontman and principal songwriter Mark Hall admits that high expectations from the industry and fans made him "a little worried" about the new project. But he got a great boost from artist friends Steven Curtis Chapman and Third Day's Mac Powell, who advised, "Say what God wants you to say. Don't worry about if this is going to do OK or if people are going to like it."

NOT PREACHING TO MAINSTREAM

To say that people liked the first album is an understatement. Casting Crowns -- the Gospel Music Assn.'s reigning group of the year -- is the most successful debut act in the Christian industry. Several factors have set them apart from their peers. Unlike many Christian bands, Casting Crowns have no desire to score a mainstream radio hit. Their music squarely targets the church audience, and the support of that flock has been enough to propel the group's debut to platinum.

In fact, unlike most big-selling Christian acts, Casting Crowns have not had any exposure on mainstream radio. Their success appears to demonstrate the buying power of Christian music fans.

Casting Crowns began in 1999 as a worship band in Daytona Beach, Fla. After two years, Hall, Juan DeVevo (guitar/vocals), Melodee DeVevo (Juan's wife, who contributes violin/vocals) and Hector Cervantes (guitar/vocals) relocated to Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga. There they were joined by Chris Huffman (bass), Andy Williams (drums) and Megan Garrett (keyboards/accordion/vocals).

Hall has served as a youth pastor for 15 years and regularly has 400 young people at his Wednesday night service. Casting Crowns' schedule is arranged to accommodate its members' church commitments.

The band was discovered by Mark Miller, frontman for veteran country outfit Sawyer Brown. He signed them to his Beach Street Records and brought them to the attention of Terry Hemmings, who was about to take as president/CEO of Provident Music Group, the Christian arm of Sony BMG that includes the Essential and Reunion labels.

The band became one of Hemmings' priorities, and he was outspoken in predicting its success. Some thought Hemmings, who had stepped away from the industry for a few years, had been out of it too long to be realistic about the chances of a seven-member band that had never toured.

"While I was a huge fan of what I was hearing, I wasn't thinking a million copies," says Dean Diehl, senior VP of marketing for Provident Label Group. "Terry kept pushing, (saying), 'We need it now. We need it now.' ... We broke all the rules of how we typically set up artists."

CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS

The first single, "If We Are the Body," was polarizing. In a community where most artists target the church with songs of encouragement, Hall's lyric basically threw down the gauntlet. In Christian circles, the church is known as the body of Christ. In the chorus of the single, Hall asks: "If we are the body, why aren't his arms reaching? / Why aren't his hands healing? / Why aren't his words teaching? / And if we are the body, why aren't his feet going? / Why is his love not showing them there is a way?"

Another song, "Here I Go Again," spoke of a believer making mindless conversation with a friend instead of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. "American Dream" challenged the cultural preoccupation with material wealth at the expense of family and relationships.

"They don't just sing love songs and lullabies to the church," Diehl says. "They are singing songs that prod the church."

Hall -- whom the Gospel Music Assn. named songwriter of the year in 2004 and 2005 -- continues to challenge believers on "Lifesong," for which he wrote or co-wrote every song.

"I don't think it bothers the world if people in church sin. I think it bothers the world that people in church act like they don't," Hall says. "For some reason we (as Christians) feel that we have to act like we have it all together. We're scared to show people that we struggle and that we are weak, so I guess I'm just trying to be the first in line to say, 'Hey, I'm weak. I do dumb things every day, and it would be awesome to know that I wasn't alone in this."'

Hall absorbed the feedback people gave him after the debut album, and it served as inspiration for much of the music on the new one. "This isn't just the making of a second record, this is the second record telling the story of the impact of the first record," he says.

Casting Crowns will be on the road this fall with Building 429 and Beach Street newcomer Josh Bates. But, as usual, the band members plan to be at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church for nearly every service, keeping themselves plugged into the source of their life song.

Reuters/Billboard

Source: REUTERS

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