CCM News: for King & Country, Chris Renzema, Cross Point Music, Petey Martin
for KING & COUNTRY Release Country Version Of Smash Hit “Together”
for KING & COUNTRY have released “TOGETHER (The Country Collaboration),” a brand-new rendition of their multi-week No. 1 hit featuring country singer/songwriters Hannah Ellis and Jackson Michelson. The new version places the globally recognized track against a lush backdrop of violins, steel guitars, and banjos. Since debuting the song earlier this year during the duo’s TOGETHER: A Night of Hope streaming event, “TOGETHER” has gone on to become a genre-defying global smash, spending multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard and Mediabase Christian radio charts, and reaching No. 23 on the Hot AC chart and No. 13 on the AC chart.
“In a time where this virus is not isolated to one people group or country or social class—it has become the great equalizer,” shares for King & Country’s Joel and Luke Smallbone. “It is helping us all reconsider this beautiful concept that we all bleed the same blood. And if we are able to unite, and support—be a neighbor to someone, serve someone, reach out to someone—how might those acts of kindness change the scope of our futures, together?”
Chris Renzema Releases Let The Ground Rest B-Sides
Chris Renzema is releasing his new EP Let The Ground Rest – B-Sides today (Jan. 8) at digital and streaming outlets. The EP features five live studio tracks, including three versions of songs from Renzema’s acclaimed sophomore LP and Centricity Music debut, Let The Ground Rest, along with two new songs : “Tear My House Down” and the single “Mercy.” The new Let The Ground Rest versions on B-Sides include the title track, “God Is Love,” and the Air1 Radio Network-featured “Springtime.” The songs were also captured on video for The Smoakstack Sessions video documentary, which was premiere-streamed this week on YouTube.
“2020 has been really hard,” states Renzema. “I think it has been a journey for me as a writer and a person, discovering what it even means to be content, what it means to let your plans change. A lot of what I wrote for the last project has taken on new meaning in the pandemic, and singing about waiting on a season to change or sitting it out through a hard time means a lot more to me now that it did then.”
Cross Point Music Vows To ‘Never Stop Singing’ With Centricity Debut
Nashville’s Cross Point Music releases its Centricity Music debut EP Never Stop Singing today (Jan. 8) at digital and streaming outlets internationally. Written and recorded by this collective of nearly 400 volunteer musicians, vocalists and songwriters, anchored by worship leaders Mike Grayson and Cheryl Stark, the EP includes four original songs emanating from the worship at Cross Point Church, which serves about 10,000 people across six campuses in and around Music City.
The project’s lead single and title track “Never Stop Singing” features Stefan Cashwell from Atlanta’s Maverick City Music, who penned the song with fellow songwriter Mary Beth Sudduth and Cross Point Franklin pastor Kevin Robison. Written before the pandemic and before Cross Point’s doors were closed following a tornado that ripped through Middle Tennessee in March 2020—damaging a large portion of Cross Point’s main building in downtown Nashville—“Never Stop Singing” has become an anthem of hope despite the adversity.
Petey Martin Debuts New Single ‘Come Back Home’ With Lauren Daigle
Petey Martin is releasing his Palm Tree Records debut single “Come Back Home,” featuring Lauren Daigle. The anthemic single combines Martin’s piano house production with Daigle’s powerhouse vocals.
Martin wrote and produced Celine Dion’s “Ashes” from the Deadpool 2 soundtrack, which helped catapult him into producing, where he decided to pursue a career in dance music with the help of Kygo and his Palm Tree Records team. In 2019 he wrote/produced “Think About You” by Kygo, “Bigger Than” by Seeb, and made his debut as an artist in his own right, collaborating with Matoma on their song “Keep It Simple” (feat. Wilder Woods). Last year, he wrote and produced five song’s on Kygo’s Golden Hour album, as well as releases with Loud Luxury, Frank Walker, and a remix for Seeb.
