Mat Kearney’s Ships in the Night scored top debut honors on the Billboard Christian Songs chart the week of February 25, 2012. Interestingly enough, when I swung by YouTube to check out Ships in the Night, I was shocked to see the Ships in the Night audio-video was viewed almost 450,000 times! WOW! Kearney’s high profile in the secular world is buoyed by the inclusion of his songs in more than a dozen hit television shows, including...

Contemporary Christian super band Casting Crowns has released Just Another Birthday, off Come to the Well, its new CD just out late last year. Co-written by lead vocalist and group leader Mark Hall with established country songwriter Tom Douglas (who wrote #1 hits “Grown Men Don’t Cry” and “Southern Voice” for country superstar Tim McGraw), Just Another Birthday doesn’t feature Hall on lead vocal; instead, we...

Sanctus Real’s Pieces of a Real Heart may have been released in 2009, but that set – and its repackaged edition – have birthed four amazing singles. Forgiven, Lead Me, Take Over Me, and The Redeemer have all performed well, with Top 10 results for the first two, and now, Keep My Heart Alive, a moving ballad, is Single #5 for the Toledo, OH band. Keep My Heart Alive is a song about focusing on Jesus for strength in the day to...

Contemporary Christian singer/songwriter Dave Barnes, who earned a #13 hit with God Gave Me You in 2010, is back with a new single, Mine to Love, which is even catchier and more relevant than its predecessor. I really like the melodies of Mine to Love; Barnes’ voice, reminiscent of an edgier Stephen Curtis Chapman, is clear and passionate in his declaration of love. I really like Mine to Love over God Gave Me You which hopefully bodes well...

Contemporary Christian singer/songwriter Jimmy Needham, who is my second-favorite Christian songwriters – right behind Matthew West – has released If I Ever Needed Grace, the powerful carrier single off Clear The Stage, Needham’s fourth studio album under Inpop Records. I am so excited for If I Ever Needed Grace and Clear The Stage, which was produced by renowned Contemporary Christian producer Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, Aaron...

Debuting Contemporary Christian artist Moriah Peters, 19, is attracting Christian AC with her carrier single, I Choose Jesus. Peters, whose voice reminds me of Sixpence None the Richer vocalist Leigh Nash, is enjoying remarkable airplay for a debuting female artist – the last time I’ve seen radio react with these kinds of numbers was with the debut of Britt Nicole – and for good reason. Peters’ strong declaration of...