Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, October 2007: CASTING CROWNS

CASTING CROWNS KICKS OFF THE ALTAR AND THE DOOR TOUR WITH 18,000 FANS ATTENDING FIRST WEEKEND

NEWS SOURCE: Provident Music Group
October 2, 2007

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Oct. 2, 2007 –Christian music’s top-selling act Casting Crowns played to more than 18,000 fans over the weekend during the first four shows of its headlining The Altar and The Door Fall Tour. The GRAMMY-winning band’s opening night of the tour was Thursday, Sept. 27 in San Antonio, Texas, to a sold-out crowd of 4,800 followed by shows in El Paso, Texas with 4,000; Phoenix, Ariz., with 5,400; and Anaheim, Calif., bringing in 4,200 on Sunday, Sept. 30.

San Antonio promoter Greg Carnes notes, “I think this is a landmark show for San Antonio. I do not know of any Christian music concert that has sold this many tickets in the 12 +years I have been promoting concerts in San Antonio and the South Texas region.”

Booking agent Ron Cantrell with Jeff Roberts & Associates adds, “I’ve been a booking agent for 18 years and every time I see Casting Crowns it reminds me why I started working in this industry in the first place. This group is the real deal and I’m excited to see what God is going to accomplish through them on what will be one of the largest tours in the history of Christian music.”

The Altar and The Door Fall Tour presented by Aquasis will visit 36 cities through Dec. 2. The powerhouse lineup features special guest Leeland and introduces John Waller. For tour dates and more information, please visit www.castingcrowns.com.

Casting Crowns has scanned 224,000 units of new album The Altar and The Door in the four weeks since its historical debut at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. The album remains No.1 on SoundScan’s Top Christian Albums chart and the project’s first radio single “East to West” holds at No. 1 at Christian AC radio.

During its four-year career, Casting Crowns has been honored with a GRAMMY Award, two American Music Award nods and multiple Gospel Music Dove Awards serving as the industry’s “Group of the Year” for the last three years. Casting Crowns has been the most played artist on all Christian radio formats combined, with seven consecutive No.1 AC radio hits, and the group has sold nearly 3 million albums to date. Earlier this year, Casting Crowns set an RIAA record as the fastest Christian music 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 in 2000).Casting Crowns’ lead singer and songwriter is full-time Youth Pastor Mark Hall, who is serving his 16th year as student pastor at Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta. All seven band members remain active in student ministry in the Atlanta-area and tour part-time around their local-church duties.

Beach Street Records, an imprint of Reunion Records, a unit of Provident Label Group, was launched by Mark Miller, founder and frontman of the multi-platinum country music act, Sawyer Brown. SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT’s Provident Music Group is one of the world’s leading Christian music companies. Provident Music Group operates under the umbrella of Sony BMG Nashville.

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