Casting Crowns

Casting Crowns is a Grammy Award and Dove Award winning Christian band that employs a soft rock music style. The band was created in 1999 by youth pastor Mark Hall at First Baptist Church in Downtown Daytona Beach, Florida [1] as part of a youth group. He also serves as a lead vocalist. Later they moved to McDonough, Georgia and more members joined creating the band now known as Casting Crowns. Some members of the band currently work as ministers for Eagles Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia.

Christian pop group Casting Crowns began as a student worship band in Daytona Beach, FL, in 1999. Led by singer, songwriter, and youth pastor Mark Hall, the group initially included guitarists Juan DeVevo and Hector Cervantes and violinist Melodee DeVevo. The group relocated to McDonough, GA, in 2001, adding Chris Huffman on bass, Megan Garrett on keyboards and accordion, and drummer Andy Williams. This augmented version of Casting Crowns released two independent albums on CD, both of which were well received in the Atlanta area. One of the albums found its way into the hands of Mark Miller, lead singer for country group Sawyer Brown, who was struck by Casting Crowns' driving pop/rock style and Hall's vocal delivery of his hard-hitting but devout songs. Miller signed Casting Crowns to his fledgling Beach Street Records, a division of Reunion Records with distribution by the Provident Label Group, and took the group into the studio along with co-producer Steven Curtis Chapman, himself a popular artist on the CCM musical scene. The resulting eponymous album, Casting Crowns, was released in 2003 on the Beach Street imprint. The album quickly made them one of the fastest selling debut artists in Christian music history. Lifesong followed in 2005, debuting at #9 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. Both albums have been certified Platinum. The band's third studio album The Altar and the Door debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and #1 on the Hot Christian Albums chart upon its release in August 2007. Ten weeks after it came out it was certified Gold. The band's live albums Live from Atlanta (2004) and Lifesong Live (2006) have also earned Platinum certifications.

Casting Crowns has enjoyed tremendous success in the United States. They have released nine singles to date with seven of them becoming consecutive number one hits on various Christian music charts. "Voice of Truth" spent a record-breaking fourteen consecutive weeks at #1 beginning in 2003. "Lifesong" spent nine weeks in the top spot, with "Praise You in This Storm" remaining at #1 for seven weeks. Casting Crowns broke their own record in 2007 when the single "East to West" from The Altar and the Door hit sixteen consecutive weeks at #1. The song ended up enjoying the top spot for a total of nineteen weeks, now their most successful single to date. "Slow Fade" was also released as a single, and was included in the soundtrack of the Kirk Cameron film Fireproof.

In 2008, Casting Crowns scored their eighth number one hit with "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", a track from their newly-released Christmas album entitled Peace on Earth.

In early 2009, drummer Andy Williams left to pursue a further calling with blessings from the band. The talented and very bald drummer was replaced with the talented Brian Scoggin and his red locks of hair, an irony Mark mentions on tour.

Mark Hall recently announced that their fourth studio album will be called Until the Whole World Hears. [1] It will be released November 2009.

(From Wikipedia) http://www.myspace.com/castingcrowns