The Blog: CASTING CROWNS

Casting Crowns Biography

Mark Hall, the lead vocalist for Casting crowns, has been a youth pastor for the past several years and it was his heart for youth that caused him to write and perform music to reach them and help them grow as Christians. "I've been a youth pastor for about 12 years, and every church I've been in, music's always been a part of it", Hall says in the band's biography. Music ministry, however, was something that he never imagined would go beyond his local church. "I had the thought that maybe I could write for other bands because traveling around playing was not something I thought I wanted to do".

Youth ministry in Daytona Beach, FL, followed by Atlanta, GA was where Mark and the rest of Casting Crowns shared their music. The band recorded two independent records that were distributed mainly in the Atlanta area, and both were wildly popular. They were tempted to send their CD's to record labels, but after praying about it, decided that they were supposed to just keep doing what they had been doing. It wasn't that God had other plans for them, it was that He just had a different plan for getting them where they needed to be. That path came in the form of a college student in Daytona named Chase Tremont.

Chase had one of their CD's and he shared it with his basketball coach, who happened to be friends with Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown. Mark liked what he heard, but he didn't know what he could do for the band at that point. He hung on to the two records, waiting for the right time to do something. The perfect moment came on a vacation trip with the families of two of his longtime friends, Provident Label Group President Terry Hemmings and Steven Curtis Chapman.

Hemmings and Chapman liked what they heard as much as Miller did and before long Beach Street Records was born. Mark Miller, who was running Beach Street, wanted Casting Crowns to be their first band. The rest, as they say, is history.

Casting Crowns Kudos

Three RIAA-Platinum albums and two Platinum videos
GRAMMY Award winners
19 GMA Dove Awards
1 American Music Award (2007)
Eight consecutive #1 radio hits
Casting Crowns has been the most played artist on all Christian radio formats combined
Casting Crowns is the fastest CCM artist in its career to have its first two albums certified Platinum, and only the second in RIAA history ever to achieve it (the other being Jars of Clay)
Casting Crowns was the only U.S. band invited to play at the 2007 April Art Friendship Festival in North Korea.

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