Renowned Christian music artist, Chris Tomlin, has gone country! With so many faith-filled songs under his belt, Chris has now joined forces with Florida Georgia Line, Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum), and more to bring forth a collaboration that blends the best of Christian, country, worship, and pop music.
“There's a closeness between the music of the church and country music. Always has been. You look at the history of country music, the history of any music, and the church is very, very close,” Tomlin said.
Chris met Tyler Hubbard from Florida Georgia Line in a gym while on a family vacation. He went to work out and Tyler was the only other person at the gym. Chris introduced himself and Tyler said, “Man, you’re one of the reasons I got in music.” They began chatting and Hubbard shared that he had been singing Chris’ hits since he was in youth group.
“After that, the next day we started hanging,” Tomlin described. “[We were] just dreaming about, ‘Man, what would it be like to smash up our genres together, smash up our worlds together and write some songs?” Never thinking we’re going to make an album.”
The record, Chris Tomlin & Friends, was birthed out of that friendship and came to fruition as he joined with those who share the same faith and heart to blend their styles and genres into something more. With 13 tracks on this new release, there is a wonderful variety of faith-filled songs to sing along to.
Chris said, "For me, this record is a step towards breaking down the walls of the Christian genre and allowing the music to be accessible to a wider audience. That's my understanding of the Gospel. Music about faith, God, salvation, and forgiveness doesn't only have to come from the Christian genre." We agree, Chris. We agree!
Worship Live is all about bringing music into the mainstream that crosses genres and reaches across boundaries with the incredible message of Christ's love, hope, healing, and restoration. Here's hoping, praying, and believing that others will follow and begin to break down the barriers to getting the gospel into other mainstream avenues.