CCM News: Chris Tomlin Makes History At Bridgestone Arena, Winter Jam Tops Tours, Next Level Songs Expands

Chris Tomlin Makes History With Good Friday Nashville Event

Pictured (L-R): Governor Bill Haslam, First Lady Crissy Haslam, Chris Tomlin, Kristen Allender (State Director for Tennessee’s Kids Belong), Laura Doherty (Director of Communications for America’s Kids Belong)

CCM artist Chris Tomlin made history on Friday, April 14, when nearly 15,000 attendees joined him for his Good Friday Nashville event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, making it the largest ticketed Christian concert in the venue’s history.

Joining Tomlin were Big Daddy Weave, Zach Williams, best-selling author Max Lucado and surprise special guest Hillary Scott from Lady Antebellum singing her No. 1 hit “Thy Will,” as well as Matt Maher and Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. Good Friday Nashville is set to return with Bridgestone Arena already on hold for the next seven years.

Tomlin donated the net proceeds from Good Friday Nashville to Tennessee Kids Belong (TKB), the state chapter of national non-profit, America’s Kids Belong.

Winter Jam Tour Spectacular Makes Pollstar Top 100 Tours List

Britt Nicole performs at Winter Jam

The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, which closed its 2017 Eastern U.S. run earlier this month, landed at No. 4 on Pollstar’s “1Q YTD Worldwide 2017 Ticket Sales Top 100 Tours” chart. The tour visited 46 cities from January through April.

The tour features 10 top CCM artists, including Crowder, Britt Nicole, Tenth Avenue North, Andy Mineo, Colton Dixon, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Winter Jam creators and tour hosts NewSong. Several special guests appeared throughout the tour, including Matthew West, Lauren Daigle, Danny Gokey, Francesca Battistelli, Jordan Feliz, Zach Williams and more.

Next Level Songs Adds Marketing Director, Lead Mentor

Nashville-based Next Level Songs, founded by Stephen Duncan in 2014, has added Brittani Scott as Marketing Director and Lead Mentor. The company provides mentorships and song critiques, as well as hosting songwriting retreats to connect songwriters with fellow writers and industry professionals. The company is primarily geared toward the Christian music industry.

Stephen Duncan, the owner and founder of Next Level Songs, states, “I am so excited to bring Brittani Scott on staff with Next Level Songs! She is heading up our marketing department, co-leading and coordinating our retreats and workshops, and she adds huge value to our mentorship program as our second mentor on staff.”

Next Level Songs’ upcoming songwriting retreat will take place June 22-25 at Deer Run Retreat Center south of Nashville. For more, visit event.nextlevelsongs.com/retreat

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Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at jnicholson@musicrow.com.

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