November 11, 2013
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (September 25, 2013) - Legendary vocalist John Schlitt has announced the name of his upcoming CD and unveiled the artwork for its CD cover. The Christmas Project, the Grammy and Dove Award winner's first recorded collection of Christmas music, will be released October 29.
"When we started working on this CD, we kept calling it The Christmas Project, because we didn't have a name for it yet," Schlitt says. "As the months went by, the name just kind of stuck. I like things that are what they say they are, and in the end, I decided that The Christmas Project was the perfect title."
The inspiration for the album cover is the life of Jesus, according to Schlitt.
"It started out as an idea I had to incorporate all the symbols of Christmas onto a wreath. As my team worked on the cover, we realized that there is one symbol that stands above all: the manger," Schlitt says. "But the manger was only the beginning, because looming ahead was the cross. Christ was born to die. We don't like to think about that at Christmastime, but His whole purpose in coming into this world was to bear our sins on the cross."
"But it didn't end there," Schlitt says. "Our Lord conquered death and the cross by rising on the third day. Without the resurrection, the cross means nothing, just as the manger means nothing without the cross. The cover really tells the whole story of Jesus--from His birth, to His death and on to victory."
Schlitt, who had never previously recorded any Christmas music, neither during his 20-year stint as the lead singer with Petra nor as a solo artist, says he felt "a very strong tug" to make this seasonal record.
The majority of the CD consists of traditional Christmas songs with one new original, all done "John Schlitt style."
Schlitt utilized the popular crowd funding platform Kickstarter to raise financial support for the new album.
Schlitt utilized the popular crowd funding platform Kickstarter to raise financial support for the new album.
For more information on Schlitt and The Christmas Project, visit johnwschlitt.com or follow him on Twitter (@johnwschlitt) or Facebook (facebook.com/johnwschlitt).
About John Schlitt:For more than three decades, John Schlitt has enjoyed a stellar musical career as a solo artist, as the lead singer for Grammy Award-winning Christian band Petra, one of the most successful Christian rock bands of all time, and as the former lead singer for popular '70s mainstream rock band Head East. He has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame as the lead singer of Petra during the years when the band won 10 Dove Awards and four Grammy Awards. Schlitt was named the best rock singer in Christian music history by GospelMusicChannel.com. According to the website, Schlitt "remains one of the most distinctive and impactful men to ever stand behind a microphone." Schlitt was also named Male Vocalist of the Year in About.com's 2011 Readers' Poll in a category that included Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, Brandon Heath and Bebo Norman.
Since Schlitt released his fourth solo CD, The Greater Cause, in May 2012, the legendary vocalist's busy schedule has included appearances on The Mike Huckabee Show, 700 Club Interactive and the Faith & Freedom Celebration--the faith-based kick-off to the Republican National Convention, as well as extensive international touring.
For more information on Schlitt, visit johnwschlitt.com or follow him on Twitter (@johnwschlitt) or Facebook (facebook.com/johnwschlitt).
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