What you didn’t know about the artists of Winter Jam

Courtesy of Winter Jam
Winter Jam is set to return to Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night. 

Jacob Beals
January 21, 2016

Winter Jam will return to Wells Fargo Arena at 6 p.m. Friday. 

Tickets are $10 at the door, and early admission Jam Nation passes can be purchased at Winter Jam’s website for $49.99. 

As one of Christian Music’s biggest annual tours, Winter Jam draws crowds in cities around the country because of the chart-topping artists who travel on the tour.

Twelve musical artists are set to perform Friday night — all from different parts of the country and globe. Here are some facts to know about each artist before Friday night.

For King and Country

Hometown: Sydney, Australia

Jam fact: For King and Country consists of two brothers who come from a family of nine. Their family has had a major impact in their career, with their sister (also a singer) and their father, who worked in the music industry.  

Matthew West

Hometown: Franklin, Tenn.  

Fun fact: West has been nominated for an Emmy and four Grammys. He has released his own hits, such as “Hello My Name is”, and has written songs for other popular artists like country music’s Rascal Flatts.

Crowder

Hometown: Texarkana, Texas

Jam fact: Crowder (also known as David Crowder) has a wide discography that includes six albums with his former group, David Crowder Band, and one album as a solo artist. Along with his songs, Crowder has also written a couple of books.

Here is a video of Crowder’s song “Come As You Are” from his album “Neon Steeple”.

Lauren Daigle

Hometown: Lafayette, La.

Jam fact: When Daigle was 15 she became very sick. This would be something that gave her inspiration early on in life as a singer and a songwriter. Her latest album “How Can it Be” is one of the nominees at the upcoming Grammy awards in the category of Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.  

Here is the music video for “How Can it Be.”

RED

Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.

Jam fact: RED is known for its lyrics that tackle some of the harder parts of life. One of the goals of the group is to produce music that helps people work through the daily struggles of life.

“Darkest Part” is one of RED’s most recent releases. Check out the video:

NewSong

Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.

Jam fact: NewSong started Winter Jam almost 20 years ago and has hosted it ever since, all while retaining its goals to bring Christian music to new people and give new artists a beginning. The group has had a history together since 1981 and has released 18 albums.

NewSong updates its Twitter regularly with posts and photos from Winter Jam. Here is one of its latest tweets from Winter Jam in Ohio. 

Sidewalk Prophets

Hometown: Nashville, Tenn. 

Jam fact: Sidewalk Prophets has released three albums in its career including the most recent, “Something Different”. This is its first release in three years and the tracks for the album were written in a cabin in the country by two of the band members.

KB

Hometown: Tampa, Fla.

Jam fact: Before becoming a hip hop artist KB played the trumpet and studied theology in college.

Here is the music video for “Sideways” that KB did with rapper Lecrae last year.

Tedashii

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Jam fact: One of Tedashii’s goals as an artist is to get people to think, according to his biography. His lyrics are inspired by things that have happened in his life. Like fellow artists KB and Trip Lee, he also records with Reach Records.

Here is a tweet posted recently by Tedashii from his view of the crowd at Winter Jam in Tampa, Fla. 

Trip Lee

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Jam fact: While he’s been rapping since he was 12 and is currently signed with fellow rapper Lecrae’s Reach Records, Lee is also a pastor.

Here is a video Trip Lee released for his song “Sweet Victory,” which features fellow artists Dimitri McDowell and Leah Smith. 

Stars Go Dim

Hometown: Tulsa, Okla.

Jam fact: Stars Go Dim is an up-and-coming Christian band and recently released its first self-titled album.

Here is a link to Stars Go Dim’s Sound Cloud page, where music from its new album can be heard. 

We Are Messengers 

Hometown: Nashville, Tenn. 

Jam fact: We Are Messengers singer Darren Mulligan was an atheist in the early part of his career. After he became a Christian he completely changed his lifestyle and the message and tone of his music. 

Here is one of We Are Messengers’ latest songs “Everything Comes Alive”:

Pastor Tony Nolan

Hometown: Acworth, Ga.

Jam fact: Nolan has preached in cities all around the country to many people at a multitude of live shows like Winter Jam, but he also writes books and preaches at a church in Georgia. He had a tough childhood coming from an abusive family and has used his past to help him speak in his ministry. 

Here is a video posted by YouTube user RemedyLIVE that features part of an interview with Nolan.

To find out more about Winter Jam, visit itswebsite.