The Kramers are back with a new album. Teaming with StowTown Records, the Kramers will be releasing Sing Me There on August 19th. The new project is indicative of The Kramers wide range of musical styles as it offers touching ballads, up-tempo songs with catchy melodies, powerful songs of worship and songs featuring awe-inspiring orchestrations. The 12 songs on this album are written by some of the top writers in Christian music, including Jason Cox, Kenna Turner West, Jeff Bumgardner, Joel Lindsey, Rachel McCutcheon, and Wayne Haun, and they include themes of hope, redemption, salvation, love, and praise.
Award-winning StowTown recording artists THE ERWINS are marking another milestone in an acclaimed career with their single, “The God I Know,” reaching #1 on The Singing News Power 50 Weekly Chart. Penned by Jason Cox and Kenna Turner West, and featured on the group’s bestselling release This Is Love, the song held the chart’s top position recently.
“The God I Know” is the highest-charting single in The Erwins’ history, and adds to the growing list of honors the family ensemble has received in the last year alone: a GRAMMY Award nomination for What Christmas Really Means; a Dove Award for Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year for “The Power Of An Empty Tomb”; and a collaboration with the legendary Fisk Jubilee Singers.
“Every night on stage when we sing ‘The God I Know,’ we are able to experience its impact,” said Keith Erwin. “And now, as we hear about the song encouraging radio listeners, we can only praise the Lord for the fruit He’s bringing. It all points back to Christ. We are thankful for the opportunity to sing ‘The God I Know,’ and are so grateful that the message it brings is helping and ministering to people.”
There’s no question that the KINGSMEN QUARTET have secured their legacy as one of the longest running, most accomplished and innovative Southern Gospel artists in history. Though they have had dozens of releases in their storied career—all containing hits that are today’s Southern Gospel classics—each release from this celebrated group is special, and More to the Story—their upcoming album set to release September 10—is no exception.
Produced by the award-winning and GRAMMY-nominated Jeff Collins at Crossroads Studios, the set features several already-released singles surrounded by a fresh group of songs given both traditional and contemporary Southern Gospel arrangements.
Written by the powerhouse trio of Kenna Turner West, Sue C. Smith and Jason Cox, the album’s title track, “More To The Story,” begins with an easygoing, Beatles-esque vamp before sliding into a relaxed yet insistent country-soul feel. The setting offers plenty of room for introducing the story of Jonah—or, as the lyric has it, a “whale of a tale”—that illustrates the need, even in moments of peril, to look beyond the immediate and trust in God.
“More To The Story has been a long anticipated project for us,” reveals Jenkins. “This recording has been unlike any other we’ve worked on, from the recording process to the production to arranging songs remotely amid a global pandemic. We thank God for His provision and hand of guidance through the past year. We truly believe this album encompasses the message for the times in which we live.”
Southern Gospel/Gospel Roots artist JOSEPH HABERDANK recently celebrated his second career number 1 song on the Singing News Top 80 Chart. “Goliath” hit the number 1 position on the chart which will be featured in the May issue of Singing News Magazine. The powerful chart-topper also snagged the #1 spot on the Christian Music Weekly Chart for nine weeks in a row, as well as the Singing News POWER 50 Weekly Chart.
This is Habedank’s second #1 single from his 2019 Grammy and Dove Award-nominated recording Deeper Oceans. Penned by Michael Boggs, Jason Cox, and Joseph Habedank, “Shame On Me” hit the #1 spot on the Singing News Top 80 Chart in November 2019.
“Goliath,” written by Daniel Doss, Sue C. Smith, and Joseph Habedank, debuted on the Singing News Top 80 Chart in January of this year and quickly climbed to the top of the charts. This powerful song reminds listeners that there’s no weapon formed against them that is stronger than Jesus Christ.
For their first single following their acclaimed 2019 release A Lot With A Little, Southern Gospel trio 11th Hour’s “I Know It’s Mine” proclaims a message of surviving life’s trials—one that’s especially meaningful during these trying times.
“‘I Know It’s Mine’ is a declaration,” says the trio’s Amber Eppinette, who is the featured lead vocalist. “When Kenna Turner West, Jason Cox, and I wrote this song, we had that sentiment in mind. There are many battles out there, but when we follow Jesus Christ, we always have the victory over anything that comes our way.”
From the opening line that speaks of a time when “there are so many battles around us, pressing on every side,” the song is perfectly attuned to the moment, adds Eppinette. “If there ever was a time that we needed to realize we have victory over everything when we stand with Christ, it is now.”
In keeping with the song’s theme of a faith that overcomes every obstacle, “I Know It’s Mine” builds in strength and power. Starting from a sparse, almost intimate opening, it rises to a soulful, dramatic crescendo that delivers the lyric’s triumphant statement of certainty in spiritual victory through powerful harmonies from group members Jaquita Lindsey and Logan Smith, as they affirm:
“I’m going to sing, gonna lift up His name, my weapon of worship is my song of praise.”
With four #1 songs and a growing number of top 10 singles to their credit, 11th Hour has moved quickly to make its mark as a leading member of a new generation of Southern Gospel artists whose musical ministry is built on a foundation of personal faith and compelling music.
Never for Nothing 