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Grammy-Nominated ELEVATION WORSHIP Discuss Their Formation, Newest Music and More!
Posted On 09 Apr 2020
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GRAMMY® nominated Elevation Worship recently released their third single of 2020 called “My Testimony.” The new music from their forthcoming GRAVES INTO GARDENS album (available worldwide on May 1st) releases on the heels of the group garnering their first RIAA-Certified Gold record for Here As In Heaven.
“My Testimony” encourages listeners to embrace a more spirit-filled and purpose-driven life especially in times of uncertainty, where people globally are leaning on faith and worship music to power through each day with a renewed sense of hope. Listen to the song here and watch the video here.
“This track is like a shot of faith adrenaline declaring all that God’s done for us, along with all the miracles and blessings we’ve yet to see him do in our lives,” says Elevation Worship’s Chris Brown, who also provides the lead vocals for the song.
“We want the music and message to elevate your faith to believe in the resurrection power of God,” adds Brown. “And to be reminded, that in every season, and every circumstance, He is able to do more than we could ask or imagine when we trust Him with our present and future.”
In addition to the title track and “My Testimony,” GRAVES INTO GARDENS will also include the breakout single “The Blessing” which premiered on the Elevation Worship YouTube channel on March 6th, and has already garnered more than 6 MILLION views. “The Blessing” features guest vocals from Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes who co-wrote the song with Brown and Pastor Steven Furtick.
Over the course of their career, Elevation Worship has released 10 compilations; including their RIAA-Certified Gold record Here As In Heaven and 2018 GRAMMY® nominated project Hallelujah Here Below. The group is known across the globe for their RIAA Platinum Certified single “O Come to the Altar,” which has more than 100 million streams on Spotify and more than 52 million YouTube views; and their RIAA Gold Certified single “Do It Again” –– both of which reached #2 on Billboard’s Christian AC Songs chart. With more than 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, more than 760 million views on YouTube, and 1.5 million+ U.S. album sales; the group has toured nationwide on bills with multiple GRAMMY® winner Lauren Daigle, Hillsong Worship, Bethel Music, Passion, and others.
Elevation Worship is the worship ministry of Elevation Church, a multi-site church based in Charlotte, N.C. led by Pastor Steven Furtick. Elevation Worship has produced multiple albums that include the RIAA-Certified Gold Here As In Heaven, RIAA Platinum Certified and American Christian radio Top 5 song “O Come to The Altar,” and the RIAA Gold Certified song “Do It Again.” The group currently has nine songs in the CCLI Top 100 list. This ministry is passionate about producing songs for the local church that connect others to God. Their main priority is to create an atmosphere of worship so people can encounter Jesus in a real and personal way.
Connect With Elevation Worship Online Here:
Website: www.elevationworship.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elevationworship/
Twitter: @elevation_wrshp
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevationworship/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/elevationworship
Learn more about Elevation Worship in the following All Access interview:
When it comes to your music, what are you most excited about for 2020?
Getting to release brand new music! We just recorded live at our church in January and have worked hard to have this project full of new songs released May 1, and in the middle of finishing this album we wrote “The Blessing” with Kari and Cody, and decided to include it on the album as well…so it’s all really exciting to have so many new songs releasing this year.
Let’s talk about your upcoming 11th studio album, “Graves Into Gardens.” Is it hard to believe this will be your 11th one?
11 seems like a lot when you write it out, doesn’t it..haha?! The reality is we’re always trying to capture through songs what God is doing and speaking through our church in every season. And these songs on “Graves Into Gardens” are ones that have been life-giving to us over the past several months, so we’re thrilled to get them out!
What was it like recording this collection? Did you approach the process any differently than your past ones?
The night we recorded these songs was absolutely the most fun I’d had recording an album with our church. No contest. There was such an excitement, joy and lean-in to what we were collectively capturing – and the SOUND of it translated on the album – I think you’ll feel the energy through your headphones 🙂
Can you pick out a few of your favorite tracks on this album? What inspired them?
We wrote “Graves Into Gardens” and “My Testimony,” two of my favorites on this project, the same day. Both have such life and joy to them musically and both speak to what God’s done for you and me through His power and grace – and all the plans He’s still got ahead of us. Brandon Lake joined us for “Graves Into Gardens.” We also have Tauren Wells singing our first live version of “Never Lost,” which goes off!
Generally, how does this group go about writing your music? Do you write together or separately? What is the first step in your music-making process?
We’re very collaborative in our writing. And Pastor Steven, who I’ve known as a songwriter and musician since we were teenagers, is a central part of writing the songs that are coming from Elevation. We try often to bring new songs to our church on the weekends and several of our musicians are involved in helping take the song from a piano demo to having it ready to play as a full band and team. We’re blessed to have a lot of gifts coming together in our church to bring songs from the earliest stage of writing it to it winding up on an album.
I know that you have a national spring/summer tour scheduled. Have any dates been canceled yet due to the Coronavirus?
Yea, we love getting to tour and take the songs and sound of Elevation across the country. We’re always trying our best to make it to as many cities or areas as we can. I’ve been excited for our Elevation Nights tour, which has Pastor Steven joining us. We’re currently set to be in Austin, St Louis and New York in late May and June, but playing it by ear if we’ll need to postpone or not due to COVID-19. We’ve already been working on plans to be out touring this fall, so if we do need to cancel this particular run of shows, we’ll be heading out as soon as we’re able!
