MUSIC NOTES: Rend Collective, Audrey Assad and Austin Stone Worship

Submitted articles

REND COLLECTIVE ANNOUNCES NEW PROJECT - Rend Collective announced today that the group's sixth studio album, Good News, is set to release in January, 2018. The first single from the anticipated project, “Rescuer (Good News),” has already been added by major stations including K-LOVE, Air1, WayFM, KSBJ and more, reaching an audience of over 2.8M weekly listeners. With over 1.1M views on YouTube of the hit single's official music video, last week the band released a performance video of the song live in the Netherlands.

"In the middle of such devastatingly bad news, we don't want to just sing Good News, but follow the example of Jesus and actually BE Good News to hurting people," says band member Gareth Gilkeson.

The announcement for new music comes after the group kicked off their headlining "Good News North American Tour Pt. 1" to a sold-out show in Philadelphia last night. Hitting 26 markets throughout the U.S. and Canada, the band has already sold-out other major markets including Windsor, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Vancouver, St. Cloud and more. For the latest tour schedule, visit https://rendcollective.com.

NEW SINGLE FROM ASSAD - Critically acclaimed singer, songwriter and author Audrey Assad releases the first single from her third independent album and first new album of all new songs in four years, Evergreen. The song, “Deliverer,” was written, produced and engineered by Assad and Bryan Brown, mixed by Chad Howat of Paper Route and is available now at digital retailers globally from Fortunate Fall Records with Tone Tree Music distribution.

Set to release internationally Feb. 23, 2018, Evergreen stems from a season of renewed creativity for Assad. Forging through the flames of personal pain in the deepest corners of her broken heart, new songs of rebirth, identity, the rebuilding of trust and discovery of joy and love have taken shape.

“I grew up with some rather terrible and terrifying ideas about who God was. Mostly, I believed that God only loved me because Jesus stepped in between us and God couldn’t see me anymore—this contributed to many years of a tormented and broken-down relationship with God, based mostly in fear and shame,” reveals Assad. “Imagine the deep healing that took place when I came to recognize that Jesus came not to defend us from God, but to display in His life, death and resurrection exactly who God has always been. Jesus is often called ‘Immanuel,’ which means ‘God with us.’

DEBUT ALBUM FROM AUSTIN STONE WORSHIP - Austin Stone Worship, a ministry of The Austin Stone Community Church, releases its first studio album and eighth recording overall, Everflow, Nov. 17 through The Fuel Music.  The 13-track album is available for pre-order beginning today at iTunes, Amazon Music and other digital retailers globally while the first single from the recording, “Singing In Victory,” will release Oct. 20.

Dedicated to serving and equipping the Church in Austin, TX and around the world with content rich in theology, mission and expression, Austin Stone Worship’s Everflow was crafted by the group’s 200-plus songwriters, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, designers and storytellers in response to themes of the book of 1 Peter.

“1 Peter is powerful and timely for today’s culture. It deals with suffering, enduring in the faith, and persevering no matter the cost,” says Austin Stone Worship Pastor Aaron Ivey. “It helps answer this question: How do we live in a world that is not our home?