Paul Baloche Releases "Christmas Worship" October 29

First-Ever Christmas Recording From Baloche Features Guest Vocalists
Aaron Shust, All Sons & Daughters, Kathryn Scott, Rita Baloche, More

Features New Celebratory Songs, Re-Imagined Classic Carols With New Vertical Choruses As
Resources For Modern Worship Services; Co-writes with Jason Ingram, Lincoln Brewster,
Graham Kendrick, Glenn Packiam, Kathryn Scott

NEWS SOURCE: Hoganson Media
October 10, 2013

One of today's most influential worship leaders, songwriters and artists, Paul Baloche is set to present his first Christmas project, appropriately titled Christmas Worship, Oct. 29 from Integrity Music. The goal of this three-time Dove Award-winning artist and local worship pastor was to create a Christmas album that would minister to and resource the church. Featuring new songs of celebration along with unique arrangements of much-loved traditional Christmas carols seamlessly blended with modern worship choruses, the result is an album packed with accessible Christmas songs that help create a worship environment familiar to congregants and first time visitors alike.

Drawing from his own personal experience as a local pastor working to help his congregation worship during what may be the busiest time of the year, Baloche says, "We all love the content of Christmas carols, but often they don't facilitate a vertical expression of worship towards the Lord. So the idea of this album was to take classic Christmas carols that we all enjoy singing and combine them with modern worship choruses to encourage worship all throughout the Christmas season."

Produced by Baloche, Michael Rossback and Ben Gowell, Christmas Worship features special guest vocals by Aaron Shust on "Follow That Star," All Sons & Daughters on "King of Heaven," Kathryn Scott on "This Is Love," Onaje Jefferson on "Offering" and Jennifer Holm on "Prepare Him Room." The album also features additional vocals by Rita Baloche, who further wrote "Prepare Him Room" and "Follow That Star" for the album.

In addition to his wife, Paul was joined in the songwriting process for Christmas Worship by such acclaimed writers as Jason Ingram, Lincoln Brewster, Graham Kendrick, Glenn Packiam and Kathryn Scott. These "contemporary" songwriters crafted new choruses to seamlessly blend with the great classic Christmas hymnody from writers such as Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, George Frederick Handel and John Francis Wade.

The full Christmas Worship track listing with corresponding songwriters follows:

01. Hark The Herald Angels Sing/King Of Heaven - Hark The Herald Angels Sing: Charles Wesley & Felix Mendelssohn. King Of Heaven: Paul Baloche & Jason Ingram.
02. Joy To The World/Shout For Joy - Joy To The World: Isaac Watts & GF Handel. Shout For Joy: Paul Baloche, Jason Ingram & Lincoln Brewster
03. Offering - Paul Baloche
04. O Come Emmanuel - Traditional, Paul Baloche
05. Angels Intro
06. Angels We Have Heard On High (Deo) - Traditional, Paul Baloche
07. What Can I Do (Christmas Version) -Graham Kendrick & Paul Baloche
08. Your Name - Paul Baloche & Glenn Packiam
09. This Is Love/Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (with Kathryn Scott) - This Is Love: Paul Baloche & Kathryn Scott. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus: Charles Wesley & Rowland Prichard
10. Follow That Star - Rita Baloche
11. Prepare Him Room - Rita Baloche
12. O Come All Ye Faithful/We AdoreYou - O Come All Ye Faithful: John Francis Wade & Frederick Oakeley. We Adore You: Paul Baloche & Tim Janis

Taking the new music on the road, Baloche's touring/workshop/teaching schedule takes him around the world. In the coming months, he will hold Nights of Worship in Calgary, AB, Canada (10/18-19), St. Louis, MO (11/1-2), Seattle, WA (tba), Jacksonville, FL (12/14-15) and New York City (tba).

Best known for such modern classics as "Open the Eyes of My Heart," "Above All," "Hosanna," and "Your Name," Baloche's songs have been recorded by numerous artists, including Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, Matt Redman and Philips, Craig & Dean. His songs are also sung by millions of worshippers around the world, with 21 of them included in the CCLI Top 500 list, indicating the songs most often used in North American churches.

In addition to writing, recording, touring and his role as worship pastor at Community Fellowship in Lindale, TX, Baloche has created a variety of teaching DVDs, along with many free resources designed specifically for worship leaders and musicians. He has also written the books, The Same Love: A Devotion (David C Cook) and God Songs -How to Write and Select Songs for Worship. He is a further a contributing writer for both Worship Leader and Worship Musician magazines and is a featured blogger on ChurchLeaders.com.

For more information on Paul Baloche and his schedule, go to www.leadworship.com and www.integritymusic.com.

About Integrity Music:
Integrity Music is part of the David C Cook family, a nonprofit global resource provider serving the Church with life-transforming materials. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Integrity is committed to taking songs of substance to the local church and its leaders around the world. Additional information can be found at www.integritymusic.com.

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Sidewalk Prophets: Merry Christmas to You {Album Review}

ALBUM TITLE: Merry Christmas to You

ALBUM ARTIST: Sidewalk Prophets

RATING: 4.9/5

Christmas is in the air! The most awaited season of the year has come! The happiest of days is finally here! As we enter the season with joy and excitement, Sidewalk Prophets greet us Merry Christmas to You, their latest Christmas worship album offering. Featuring 12 exciting songs, this album brings us back in time when Heaven was born into earth!

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said, fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord—makes a very clever intro to the first song, What A Glorious Night. Its lyrical content is the perfect expression of the passages found in Luke 2:8-11; this song is so energetic, vocally and instrumentally brilliant. The hand-claps and bells at the background is so nice, a perfect song to open the album in great excitement& enthusiasm.White Christmas is sweet and jazzy, I love how the song started and France’s falsetto is beautifully done. Backing vocals is so clear& you can hear the bells that continue through the upbeat Give Me Christmas.You can picture out the joy brought by the season and the warm spirit of love. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ feeling and emotion is capturing; its musicianship is engaging. Piano-laced & lyrically amusing Hey Moon is so heartfelt, vocals are warm and expressive. Impressive is the shifting to a short verse of the anthem Silent Night.Its simple, honest and raw instrumentation is compelling; it creates an atmosphere of that silent night when Love came down.

Bells are here again to accompany the album title track Merry Christmas to You. It opens with acoustic guitar strums/hits; the song is jam-packed & well-accomplished. Bells are still here added with drumbeats in Holly Jolly Christmas, it resembles with other Christmas songs that has been the signature of its kind. The never fading atmosphere of the solemn What Child is This & Silent Night is very powerful and raw. Both have been Christmas favorites. The vocally distinctive & well-orchestrated The Spirit of Christmas has an awesome backing chorale to be commended, it sounds like a gospel song. My favorite track Hope Was Born That Night is a gorgeous song of praise and exaltation to our King. Everything in it is so perfect; the message of the song is simple & meaningful. It will leave you stunned with a grateful heart& feeling of excitement; while the lively Because It’s Christmas describes the Christmas atmosphere, I love how it ended with a Christmas tune. It reminds us to never forget the reason for the season—Jesus, our Savior. That is why He came to earth to bring peace, love, hope and salvation to all mankind; and those who will believe in Him will have an eternal life.

Closing thoughts:

This Christmas worship project has a very high level of musicianship, a no-ordinary album. People of all ages will surely love every song in this record. Everything in it is well made!
Rejoice in Christ the King! Merry Christmas to You!

ABOUT SIDEWALK PROPHETS

Their background may have made it look easy—after all, Sidewalk Prophets toured with Jeremy Camp and Audio Adrenaline on the strength of independent albums, then rode the popularity of their first Word Records release, These Simple Truths, to a Dove Award for Best New Artist and a nomination for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year. "The Words I Would Say" hit #3, "You Can Have Me" went Top 20, a Christmas single, "Hope Was Born This Night," hit the Top 10, and "You Love Me Anyway" went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Christian Singles chart. The band has toured with the Rock and Worship Roadshow with MercyMe and Francesca Battistelli, among others, and landed another Dove nomination for Group of the Year in 2011.

Follow them on social media sites:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidewalkprophets‎

Twitter: @swprophets

Instagram: SidewalkProphets

For more info. log on to www.sidewalkprophets.com/

Disclosure: I received free review copy of the album in exchange of my honest review and opinion.

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