Get Your Music on Amazon!
Get Your Music - and everything else - on Amazon! All purchases made on Amazon through this link earn a commission for Jesusfreakhideout.com!

    For our 8th annual Highlighting feature, we split the year into TWO pieces -- January to June and July to December. Each list contains 15 artists/releases for a total of 30 in total for 2014. So, without further ado, we give you Highlighting First-Half 2014!



  9 of 15  




#9. The Choir
Shadow Weaver

Release Date: Sometime 2014
Historically speaking, any time Christian alternative music is discussed, this band's name inevitably comes up. And rightly so. As almost passé as it may seem to those who have spent the majority of their music-buying years in the shadow of landmark alt-pop releases like dc Talk's Jesus Freak or the self-titled Jars of Clay album, there was once a time when such decidedly left-of-center fare was all but unheard of. Indeed, at a time when Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Sandi Patti, alone, accounted for six of the top ten albums on the Christian charts, The Choir's debut 1985 EP, Voices in Shadows, created, if not a full-blown flood (pardon the pun), at least a ripple in the waters ruled by soft-pop and classic rock artists who, looking back, seemed hopelessly unhip by comparison. Just like the their '80s contemporaries, The Cars, who were embraced by those in both the punk and classic rock camps, drummer Steve Hindalong, guitarist/vocalist Derri Daugherty and their frequently-changing roster of fellow musicians, have managed to craft poignant and thought-provoking music that speaks to those both inside and on the fringes of that which we now label as alternative pop. Here's hoping their upcoming record continues to build on their long, proud, and well-deserved legacy.
        - Bert Gangl

The Choir's Kickstarter campaign (one of quite a few featured on this list) netted them more than twice what they asked for, and will make possible a new record, and the killer live album this veteran band has wanted to make for a long time. This band has been on an absolute roll the last few years, and the creative partnership of drummer and lyricist Steve Hindalong and guitarist and lead singer Derri Daugherty continues to shine. The Choir has been making beautiful and heartbreaking alternative music since before the term was coined. Two albums in one year makes for a good musical year indeed.
        - Alex "Tincan" Caldwell

If not for The Choir, we might not have such beloved bands as Jars of Clay or Sixpence None The Richer, who were greatly influenced by their alternately dreamy and melancholy alt rock. As if we weren't indebted to them enough for that fact alone, their consistent delivery of high-quality and compelling projects (particularly in the new millennium) make it almost a foregone conclusion that any future release will be equally high-quality and compelling.
        - Mark Rice

The Choir is one of those bands that I can use as a bellwether to test someone's knowledge of and history with Christian music. If they're familiar with Daugherty, Hindalong, and company, then we can have a nice long conversation. This is a band that's been together nearly 30 years, and I look forward to hearing their latest chapter.
        - Mark Geil

  • Visit our The Choir page for more information about them...

  • 2014 Countdown:

    15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1
    Highlighting 2014
    ©January 2014 / June 2014 Jesusfreakhideout.com




       go to main page

     

                     
    Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

    Search JFH



    This Friday, July 25, 2025
    ALBUMS
    Anchor & Braille New Mexico [Equal Vision]
    B. Tee Told You [Syntax]
    Bride Scarecrow Messiah CD Re-Release [Girder]
    Empowered SALT - EP (independent)
    Homesick Prodigals Different Good (independent)
    KDNS After Eden [Syntax]
    Olivia Lane Songs About Jesus (Deluxe Edition) [BEC]
    Tasha Cobbs Leonard TASHA [Motown Gospel]
    Kevi Morse Kingston We Winning [Syntax]
    Pulpit Vomit Hospital Lens [Rottweiler]
    Anthony & Tiffany Salerno Dance for Jesus - EP (independent)
    Taylor & Co Worship Breakthrough - EP (independent)
    Josh Wright LEAD (independent)

    SINGLES
    abenezer i was lost - Single [Gotee]
    Joe L Barnes Good Shepherd (Studio Version) - Single [Provident]
    Sho Baraka Still Got Faith (ft. L3xdivine) - Single [Syntax]
    Gracie Binion Easy To Please - Single [BEC]
    Katty Camargo Shine Upon Me - Single (independent)
    The CCC Collective Thankful - Single (independent)
    C4 Crotona Mr. Gritty - Single [Syntax]
    CXMMXNS Trust and Obey (feat. CAIN) - Single [Provident]
    EJ Swavv & Nickwit2Ks Growth - Single [Syntax]
    Forrest Frank GOD'S GOT MY BACK - Single [River House / 10K]
    Andrew Gonoude Closer To You - Single (independent)
    Noah Paul Harrison Oh Lord My God (Live) - Single [Bethel]
    J.Solo All I Have (ft. Kaboose & MotionPlus) - Single [Syntax]
    Kings Kaleidoscope + Kings Kaleidoscope Hymns Amazing Grace - Single [BEC]
    Tasha Layton Life In Me - Single [BEC]
    Lecrae Bless You (feat. Torey D'Shaun) - Single [Reach]
    TobyMac God Did It (feat. Jamie MacDonald) - Single [Capitol CMG]
    Matt Maher Wait (Radio Version) - Single [Provident]
    Hunter Plake Down to Earth - Single [BEC]
    QEW JOYXFIX (ft. Stevie Rizo) - Single [Syntax]
    Naomi Raine God Will Work It Out - Single [Tribl]
    Rave Jesus Runnin' - Single [Provident]
    Saints in Exile Bad Vibes - Single [Syntax]
    Xander Sallows infinite - Single [DREAM]
    Silent Reflection Left Me for Dead - Single [Syntax]
    Michael W. Smith Your Love Is A Flood - Single [The Fuel]
    John Stratton The Body and the Blood - Single [Pure Mosaic Services]
    Regina Vandereijk You're the Light - Single (independent)
    Joel Vaughn Feel It - Single [DREAM]
    Zach Williams Killed A Man - Single [Provident]
    Zauntee Jesus Down In Florida - Single [BEC]

    VINYL
    Bride Scarecrow Messiah Vinyl [Girder]

    DVD
    Jordan Smith The People's Hymnal DVD [Gaither]

    This Saturday, July 26, 2025
    SINGLES
    Anthony & Tiffany Salerno What Would You Do? - Single (independent)

    Next Friday, August 1, 2025
    ALBUMS
    Crash Rickshaw Big Sir - EP [Velvet Blue]
    McKamey Legacy Holding to Truth [Horizon]
    Ordained Thunder Roar [Girder]
    V1 Worship Archives [DREAM Worship]

    SINGLES
    Dan Bremnes Human - Single [Curb]
    Lauren Daigle Let It Be A Hallelujah - Single [Centricity]
    Sleeping At Last Believe - Single (independent)

    VINYL
    Disciple Attack! (Limited Run Vinyl) Vinyl [Girder]



    For all release dates, click here!
     

    Join honey and save on online purchases!
    Get all of JFH's indie compilation now totally free!
    Check out depositphotos for royalty free images