JesusfreakHideout.com: Highlighting 2014 Part One -- Looking Ahead To New Music In The First Half of 2014

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...