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Christian rock and worship group Hillsong United spun out of Australia 's Hillsong Church, a Pentecostal ministry based in northwest Sydney. Founded in August 1983 by New Zealand natives Brian and Bobbie Houston, Hillsong Church was first known as Hills Christian Life Centre. At launch, the congregation counted just 45 members, but grew to 900 within four years. As the church's music ministry evolved, in 1986 the Houstons founded the Hillsong Conference, an annual event created to teach and nurture contemporary Christian musicians.

A live CD titled The Power of Your Love hit retail in 1992, featuring singers/songwriters Geoff Bullock and Darlene Zschech, both mainstays on the myriad Hillsong albums to follow. By the end of the decade, the Hillsong brand was so well-known that in 1999 the Houstons renamed the church Hillsong as well.

Darlene Zschech suggested to Reuben that they make an album in 1998 after many songs were written in the youth ministry, and the EP 'One' was recorded. The album was packaged with the Hillsong annual album, and both achieved Gold sale status in Australia . 'Everyday' was recorded in 1999. The band continued to release an album each year, rebranding as Hillsong United in 2002 after Reuben Morgan stepped down as co-worship leader of the band. Joel Houston, the eldest son of the church's senior pastor Brian Houston, stepped up to lead the group together with Marty.

Current members of the Hillsong United band include Jonathon Douglass (J.D.), Jadwin "Jad" Gillies, Holly Watson, Annie Garratt, Bec Gillies, and Michelle Fragar, daughter of Russell Fragar. Michael Guy Chislett plays guitar and Matthew Tennikoff plays bass guitar. Former and original drummer Luke Munns made a transition from the drums to front the rock/indie band LUKAS. Popular New Zealand artist Brooke Fraser recently joined the band when she joined the church, first appearing on United We Stand.

Their 2007 album All of the Above was the first album to be fully studio recorded, containing videos of songs on the DVD. The band has toured in a number of countries, leading worship to thousands in North and South America, Europe and Asia .

Hillsong United continues in the vein of Hillsong Church 's tradition of excellence and powerful, passionate songwriting these recordings simply capture ministry moments, with young people caught up in pure, unadulterated praise.

Rita Springer is one of the most gifted worship leaders to arise over the last ten years. Not only is she able to express herself beautifully through her poetic lyrics, but she delivers her message with a passion that is unlike any other. Springer also has the unique gift of improvising songs on stage at the piano. Her vocals are incredibly dynamic and are often compared to Melissa Etheridge and Jennifer Knapp. She is another of the famous "Vineyard songwriters" responsible for such legendary songs as "Make Us a Prayer," "Fragrant Offering," "Moving with the Lamb," "You Said," and "Oh How You Love Me."

Rita has been playing the piano and writing music since she was 11 years old. At that time in her life, she found it very difficult to talk to others about how she felt about things, but she could always sing anything to God. She realizes now that the Lord was preparing her to express herself through music and use it as a tool to minister to others.

As Springer aged, her involvement in music continued to grow and she recorded her song "Make Us A Prayer" on the Touching the Father's Heart #12-Throne of Grace album. This led to her involvement with Vineyard Music, which then gave her the opportunity to pursue her calling as a worship leader. She started her own label, Kindred Joy, and released two independent CDs before signing with Floodgate Records in 2000.

Rita Springer's Albums include:

To The Moon (Independent)
Love Covers (Independent)
Created to Worship, 2000 (Floodgate)
All I Have, 2000 (Floodgate)
Effortless, 2002 (Floodgate)
Rise Up, 2004 (Floodgate)

Springer, a resident of Houston, Texas, travels upwards of 35 weekends a year. Besides writing, singing, and performing, Rita also spends time with "Fragrant Oil," the women's ministry conference she started in April of 2000. Her latest release, Rise Up, is a live album that captures Rita's passion for unscripted, spontaneous worship and is taken right from one of the conferences. The album was recorded during 5 days of ministry in New Mexico and is as authentic as it gets. No effects, no flashy studio tricks. It captures the true, unrefined worship that Rita Springer is so well known for.

Accomplishments:

*Featured worship leader, GMA Worship Night 2 consecutive years.
*Written and recorded the title track for the Brendan Frasier movie "Still Breathing".
*Her song "You Are Still Holy" was recorded on Kim Hill's Arms of Mercy album and was a #1 radio hit.
*Included in the Time-Life Songs 4Worship compilation.
*Currently in plans to launch youth conferences much like her women's conferences.
*Currently in discussion with a book publisher to write a book on worship, for release in 2005.

Rita Springer's heart is overflowing with the love of Jesus, and she desires to share it with all who want to hear. "My heart has always been to see people come into a perspective of worship that leads them to lifestyle membership and true ownership in Jesus," Says Rita. "I have learned that He truly is the Best Friend, Father, Savior, and Lover of my soul."

Rick Heil, originally a member of the 3 time grammy nominated, well-established Christian band, "Big Tent Revival," was led to join a fledging band, known as Sonicflood. This group shared their music ministry on the road, traveling in a van. They soon had a successful record album, but unfortunately the band members went their separate ways, leaving Rick Heil with the responsibility of the band's appearance / tour obligations.

Knowing that the Lord had called Sonicflood into this music ministry, Rick wanted to honor God by finding a way to honor these performance commitments, so he picked up the phone and called some friends who all had a heart for worship. Instead of giving up, a new group of Christian musicians was formed, eager to carry on this music ministry that Sonicflood had been called to do; promoting praise and worship of the Lord, encouraging a closer walk with God.

"We're just a group of musicians that God has called to sing and write music that edifies the church.We're not trying to do the biggest events in the world, and we're not out to save a million people, but strive to go where God leads and connecting others to Him through worship." - Brett Vargasun

Their music is created by group collaboration, "through their openness to explore new ideas musically and through their ability to stretch themselves creatively, enabling their songs to capture the heart and vision of Sonicflood. They strive to creat songs "where you can see that the song writer's heart was moved by the Lord's awesomeness while writing the song, the lyrics being completely honest and open."

"With all that is going on in the world today, sometimes it's hard to keep our eyes on Jesus, and his faithfulness."

"Fear has a way of creeping into our lives, and causing us to forget that Jesus our Lord and Savior has conquered all, even death, and has empowered us through faith to do the same. We, the members of Sonicflood, want to be a part of helping others remember that our Savior is not only kind and gentle to us, He is consistently waging war against the enemy on our behalf, and we can walk in courage throughout our lives. He has paved the way, and our futures lie in His hands."

"As part of this focus, we are launching the Fearless Planet tour in the Spring of 2004. The tour will feature another great band, Building 429, as well as well-known speaker/author Michael Franzese. Michael has been known for doing what few have done before, he left a life of organized crime and was touched by the Lord, and now speaks to hundreds of thousands about God's saving grace yearly. Moreover, he is living proof that courage comes from the Lord. He lives everyday not knowing if the next time he turns the key to start the engine on his car, if he will actually hear the motor start. He believes that God has saved him, and walks out courage, living in faith. We're excited to have him out."

Rich released his first solo album, titled Rich Mullins, through Reunion Records in 1986. From there he released eight more albums before his death. During his life, Mullins was nominated for twelve Dove awards. His most famous songs include "Awesome God," which in 1989 was voted one of the top three songs of the decade by the Christian Research Report, and "Sometimes By Step", in addition to eight other number one songs.

Rich Mullins is known for his beautiful lyrics and emotion-filled music, but to many people, he was so much more than that. He was a man with a deep commitment to Christ and a heart for God's people. In 1995, after completing his degree, Rich pursued one of his greatest dreams and moved to Tse Bonito, New Mexico to teach music to children on Indian Reservations. He desperatly wanted to bring them the gospel of Christ through music, art, and drama. Although he was only able to do this for two years, his dream of showing compassion to the Navajo nation lives on today. His family and friends founded The Legacy Of A Kid Brother Of St. Frank, which has full-time missionaries, interns, and volunteers serving the Native American youth.

Since his death in 1997, three (3) more albums have been released by Reunion Records:

1) The Jesus Record.
2) Songs 2.
3) Rich Mullins: Here in America.

After over two years of compiling and assembling a diverse collection of rare audio and video masters, Rich Mullins: Here In America came into being. Featuring a 60-minute audio CD and a full-length DVD, Here In America is a virtual scrapbook of sights and sounds that take you beyond the music and into the heart of one of Christian music's most interesting and intriguing artists.

"Although he died at a relatively young age, Rich Mullins left behind an incredible legacy in music. But, more than just music, Rich also left us a vast treasury of homespun wisdom culled from the scriptures and a lifelong pursuit of God." notes Dean Diehl, sr. vice president/general manager, Reunion Records. "Here In America preserves both the words and the songs of a man I believe was in many ways a prophet for our times."

The audio portion includes live recordings taped between 1984 and 1987, during the early days of Rich's career. A highlight of the audio includes Rich teaching a crowd "Awesome God" for the first time, written just a few days prior. Here In America includes original BMG song demos such as "The Lord's Prayer" and "Never Heard the Music," both of which have never been released and a live version of "None Are Stronger," which has not been released before either.

To lead listeners from all Christian denominations on a spiritual journey as he explores through the songs on this album the wonders and challenges of following God's call to a life of faith.

"Henri Nowen said that the greatest sign of a Christian was their sense of hospitality. So, in the name of Jesus, welcome. Welcome to life - in the church, out of the church, in the sacraments, in our sin, in seasons, in love and pain, in joy and sorrow, in growing and refusing to grow, in pride and surrender, in marriage and divorce, in hurt and forgiveness, in being young and feeling old, and in our ugliness still somehow looking beautiful despite ourselves."

Before he started this music ministry to the outside world in 2002, he was already serving as a youth music ministry leader, with his friend and mentor, Tom Booth, at their home church near Tempe, composing their own songs for the youth and young adults, bringing contemporary Christian music to their Catholic Church, which has been and continues to be a huge success.

However, the Lord had much bigger plans for Matt Maher's gifts and musical talents; to be in a musical ministry for all young people; expanding his musical outreach to not only Catholic youth outside his own church, but also to youth in other Christian denominations and youth who don't know Jesus yet.

This expansion of Matt Maher's music ministry to the rest of the Christian world began in 2002, when Matt Maher's songs first received national exposure when other artists recorded them. His songs, JUST LIKE YOU and LOVE HAS COME were recorded by Kathy Troccoli, on her album, HEART OF ME, an album which earned a Grammy nomination for best Pop / Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year in 2002.

For more than 18 years, gospel listeners around the world have known Fred Hammond as a talented songwriter, bassist and vocalist. Throughout that time he has been known within the music industry as a gifted musical arranger and producer. But, his work with Face to Face Productions Corporation, the company for which he is both founder and CEO, has earned him the title the "Babyface" of gospel.

In addition to Hammond's studio career, he has continued to take his special brand of gospel to audiences around the world, performing an average of 30 weeks per year. Hammond and his group, Radical for Christ has headlined over 400 concert dates with an average audience attendance of 3,500, in addition to television appearances on the nationally syndicated The Stellar Awards, BET's Teen Summit and TBN's highly- rated shows The Pat Boone Show and Praise the Lord.

In his second decade in the industry, Fred Hammond shows no signs of slowing . In 1997 Fred shared the stage with Kirk Franklin & the Family and Yolanda Adams before more than 500,000 people on The Tour of Life, the most successful tour in gospel music history, and in 1998, Hammond continued to find touring success as the featured artist on Walt "baby" Love 's Power 98 Gospel Tour.

Two-time Dove Award winners By The Tree have made a name for themselves with their ability to mix passionate worship with catchy rock/pop melodies. Since signing with Fervent Records in 2001, the group, which includes Chuck Dennie (vocals, guitars), Ben Davis (bass, keyboards, vocals), and Aaron Blanton (drums, percussion, vocals), has released a record each year and show no signs of slowing down!

When Dennie started the band back in 1997, he did not intend to make a big music career out of it. However, as the group began to lead worship at numerous churches, retreats, and camps across the south and southwestern United States, their fan base grew by leaps and bounds. This led to the release of two independent albums which sold over 30,000 copies. In no time at all, record companies began seeking them out and the band eventually chose Fervent Records as their home.

Invade My Soul, the band's first release through Fervent, found great success in the Christian market, winning Dove Awards for Modern Rock/Alternative Album and Recorded Song. The band soon began touring with Christian music icons, The Newsboys, Delerious, and Jeremy Camp, and released two more albums in 2002 and 2003, bringing their total sales to 150,000 records.

The busyness of life, though, soon caught up with Dennie who, at this point, found himself feeling a little out of touch with God. Through all the excitement and success, he felt as though he had lost track of what the band was doing and why. After some time, Chuck felt God leading him back to the place where it all began - true, heartfelt worship, for himself and for the band.

In June of 2004, By The Tree released Hold You High, their fourth album with Fervent. It has become a very special record to them all, as it has reclaimed and reinvigorated the foundation on which they began.

From the first time you meet Todd Agnew, you'll realize that he's a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy. And his manner of speech will certainly reflect his sartorial taste: direct, straightforward, to the point.

With a Native American background, Todd was adopted and embraced by Texas parents who were dedicated in their church attendance. Crediting his spiritual growth stemming from his family's commitment to God, he was enveloped by the music of the church from his earliest remembrance.

But while his own musical skills and interests grew, including serving as worship leader at local churches, the traditional music began to lose its power, becoming ingrained as a habit instead of a worship experience and a relationship with God.

"As I grew as a worship leader, I realized that when I learned a song at a camp, I sang it with all I had, but when I sang in church, it was just routine," Todd explains. "I've been in church all my life, and it was just habit for me. I knew every word to every song, and there was no speaking of God in that, just rote practice. But when I started breaking down these songs, realizing the depth and value of their meaning, I realized that I would have to teach them again, making them more relevant."

It's when you get to his music that you will find the complexities that inhabit Todd's life.

Todd believes:

There is a God. There is only one and there is no other. He is our Father who created the universe and yet knows us intimately, our Christ who is the fullness of God and yet is humble enough to become a man for our sake, and our Spirit who guides us with the power to convict and to comfort.

We are sinners. Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth as a man and died on a cross for my mistakes. On the third day, He rose again. His death is accepted by God as the perfect sacrifice for my mistakes.

He is holy, different from us. He is worthy of a life of worship.

His debut album for Ardent Records, Grace Like Rain, is a dizzying array of musical styles, none of which seem out of place and all of which help serve Todd's dual purpose as a communicator, horizontally reaching out to a young generation looking for inspiration and vertically reaching out to the Creator who provides that inspiration.

Todd knows that it's because he chose to listen to God's still, small voice that he's been able to then sing loudly from stage. Spending more than a decade passionately serving in the worship field, he traveled to churches that needed music where God sharpened his performance and writing skills before even thinking about making a record.

"I was at a point where I had many different avenues I could have gone down in my ministry: I was leading worship, I was doing my little coffee-house, singer-songwriter thing, and I was playing cover stuff while doing evangelism by playing in clubs," Todd says. "That's where you get all the Dave Matthews, Creed, Counting Crows pop music influences; it came from playing covers."

Grace Like Rain melds rock, blues, soul, and gospel in an unabashed attempt to not only capture as many ears as possible, but also to keep Todd from being pigeonholed as an artist in his first time out the gate.

"I haven't limited myself to one style because musical creativity is an act of worship to an infinitely creative God," Todd says. "I didn't want to put out an album where you could listen to one song and immediately put a label on me as a whole."

It's in that joining of the familiar and the progressive where Todd's music finds its power. That's why a song like "Grace Like Rain" makes such an impact, taking text from one of the world's best-known hymns in "Amazing Grace" and placing it within the context of a groove-laden, alt-rock track. Todd further adds his gritty vocals, singing with a concurrent joy, amazement and thankfulness about his, and subsequently our, sins being washed away.

"About a year and a half ago, God said to me, 'why don't you marry all of those influences together?' I started combining that mainstream sound with worship because that's what our generation liked, wanted, and needed."

As a result of the not-so-gentle prods from a friend, Todd reached out to Ardent Records' Dana Key about using Ardent Studios in Memphis, where Todd had relocated, to work on a record. The longtime Christian music veteran gave Todd more advice than he had expected.

"When I started it, I went to Dana because I knew him from an earlier project. He talked to me about the business and everything, and I had to interrupt him, saying 'Look, I'm not coming to ask to be on your label, I just want to use your studio.

Walking by where Todd was recording, I found myself stopping and listening to his music," says Dana. "It wasn't long before I wanted to get involved. Similarly, whenever I play some of Todd's music for people, it has the same effect of stopping them in their tracks. His music is definitely not background material-it's music that demands attention."

While plunging headfirst into the miasma of the music business wasn't exactly something Todd was expecting at this juncture, he knows that because of his own experiences and being in touch with what God has planned for his life and career, the rigors of what is about to come will be handled. "This wasn't necessarily something I was aiming for," says Todd. "God just took His time molding before releasing me into a world I could not have handled earlier in my life.

"What God did with me was give me a gift, so I started playing and leading worship and doing a lot of the other things, and God basically took my heart and started refining it and sculpting it and telling me, 'This is who I want you to be. I want you to be somebody who wants to be about reaching people.' Once I really had a grip on that, those doors started to open because I was ready to start looking at music."

And the music that has come forth out of Todd is as crafted and polished as any debut to come down the pike in years, with songs like "Reached Down" rocking with an unfettered intensity alongside quieter tracks like "Still Here Waiting," a tune excellent in its reverence and message. Then there's "Lay It Down," one of the first songs Todd wrote after relocating from Houston to Memphis, and the one that most vividly shows his love for blues, rock and gospel.

Todd had been working with Metro Bible Study in Memphis, and pulling together a band of professional players jumpstarted his creativity.

"For the first time, I had a pro drummer," Todd says. One time I was warming up with some Dave Matthews stuff, and I hit the break in the middle of "What Would You Say?" and she just jumped right in there, playing Carter Beauford's part. We started taking these worship songs and turning them into rock songs, or funk or blues or whatever we felt like worked best. That was a very freeing experience for me, and combined with the fact that it was Memphis, it really affected my writing.

"I'd been in Memphis about a month when I wrote "Lay It Down", and through it, although I've grown up in Texas and have been listening to rock music my entire life, the whole blues influence is now a big part of who I am and who I'm becoming."

Todd also lets it fly on "This Fragile Breath," known by its nickname "The Thunder Song." The cut's big, anthemic sound came after a long-simmering revelation. "One day, it hit me all of a sudden. You know what? Worship music, it's power ballads, just done on acoustic guitars and djembes. If we're gonna play a power ballad, let's play a power ballad" Todd says. "That song is all about 'God, I'm here and I want to worship you,' but when it comes down to it, these songs are very small, piddling and insignificant compared to the fact that He is God, and He speaks with thunder and lightning, and what do I have that can compare to that? When it comes down to it, I don't have much, but whatever it is, here, this is what I can offer."

For Todd Agnew, being cognizant of his surroundings and situations is a strength when it comes to his relating to people and leading them in worship. In fact, it's all part of his primary goal. "My focus when I play as a worship leader is to worship honestly. If you can't sing something honestly, don't sing it; you're not fooling God," Todd says. "He's not getting any honor by you singing a line you don't mean. If that means you have to leave out a line, that's fine. We're not up here taking attendance, seeing who's singing which line. Worship from where you are."

Ardent Records' signature voice, Todd Agnew, is currently in the studio recording his anticipated sophomore album scheduled for release early in 2005.

Recording at Memphis, world-renowned Ardent Studios, which has lent its distinctive halls to such artists as R.E.M., ZZ Top, Dave Matthews, Bob Dylan and numerous other notables, Agnew is co-producing the project along with veteran John Hampton (Gin Blossoms, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Audio Adrenaline). Agnew's yet-to-be-titled album follows his 2003 critically acclaimed Grace Like Rain, the debut project that earned him four Dove nominations in addition to honors from Christian Music Planet as one of "12 Artists to Watch in 2004" and Worship Leader magazine as the "2003 Breakthrough Artist of the Year."

Recently exceeding 100,000 retail sales in less than a year, Grace like Rain continues to garner fan appeal including remarkable success at radio. Following two consecutive No. 1 singles, "This Fragile Breath (The Thunder Song)" and "Grace Like Rain," Todd is simultaneously releasing two new songs to radio on Friday, August 20; "Reached Down" for CHR and "Still Here Waiting" for AC/INSP.

In between studio sessions at Ardent and wrapping up this summer's performances at various youth camps and festivals across the country, Agnew is preparing to traverse the nation on two major-market tours this fall and winter. He will headline World Vision's "In the Name of Love Tour" beginning this September along with artists Building 429, BarlowGirl, Starfield and speakers David Nasser and Brian Currie. Agnew will continue in November as a special guest on "Target presents Adoration: The Tour" with Newsboys and Rebecca St. James.

In addition to significant concert exposure, Agnew will be featured in a "Todd on Tour" promotion this fall with participating retailers. Starting Sept. 15, Grace Like Rain product will feature a special sticker providing purchasers with access to free downloads of new Agnew songs, giving a sneak preview of his 2005 studio project.

When the seven members of Caedmon's Call left home in 1993, they were a fledgling folk band, a group of friends traveling in rented vans to various Sunday school rooms and coffeehouses around the country. They had no grandiose notions of Christian music stardom or packed arenas. They had little more than a few guitars and a common vision: to make music for people like themselves, believers walking a treacherous road, clinging to faith through every mystery and storm.

Now, 10 years later, that vision remains, more vivid and fulfilled than even the band could have imagined. Back Home, the fifth and latest studio project from one of Christian music's most celebrated artists, finds the Houston-based band trusting its creative instincts to make a record reminiscent of its beginnings yet reflecting the group's progress over the last decade. This album re-emphasizes Caedmon's Call as an eclectic, folk-influenced live band. It demonstrates a musical and spiritual maturity culled from a decade's worth of artistic influences and experiences.

Building 429 came into the Christian Music scene in 2004 and found tremendous success in the rock/pop/inspirational/worship genre, receiving four Dove Award Nominations and winning in the category of "Best New Artist" for 2005. All success aside, though, these guys want their fans to know that they are real and truely believe that a relationship with Christ is the best thing there is.

In 2000, frontman/guitarist Jason Roy and Scotty Beshears (bass) started a band that would focus on uplifting others. They felt so strongly about this that they named themselves after the Ephesians 4:29 verse, which says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." One year later, Paul Bowden (guitar) was added, and soon Michael Anderson (drums) joined.

After signing with Word/Warner, the quartet released the band's first single, "Glory Defined," from their debut EP release, which carried the same title. It rocketed to the top of Christian Radio Weekly's AC chart in just three weeks - the fastest climb ever for a song in that category. Other releases found success as well, fueling anticipation for Building 429's full-length album, Space In Between Us. The record hit stores in July of 2004.

Although there are some shared songs between the two albums, the band feels that their full-length CD contains much better music. They hope the record will show people that, although we can't break through the divide between God and us, we have to be willing to make a leap towards it and trust that God will catch us and lead the way.

As a result of the success of "Glory Defined," Building 429 found themselves with many touring and concert opportunities. They toured with Sonicflood, joined ZOEgirl, Tait, and Jump 5 for Shoutfest, and joined Todd Agnew, Barlowgirl, and Starfield for the In The Name of Love Tour with World Vision. This fall, they have been invited to tour with Jeremy Camp.

Building 429 is very passionate about reaching young adults, and is currently working with Interlinc, a company dedicated to creating resources for youth pastors nationwide. Jason, Scotty, Paul, and Michael all recognize young adulthood as one of the most critical times in a person's life. It marks the point at which a person makes their faith their own, as well as deals with very challenging issues. The group wants to do all they can to help point people to Christ - which is the only place to find true peace and joy.

This pursuit of God and grace is the heart of Building 429, and they make that clear with Space in Between. "At the end of it all," says Roy, "I hope someone says that we never settled for one side of the canyon, waiting for grace to reach for us. I want people to say that we were God chasers."