JFH News: Maverick City Music Break Out of Their "Old Church Basement" with New Album

Maverick City Music Break Out of Their Old Church Basement with New Album

NEWS SOURCE: Shore Fire Media
May 4, 2021

Since its debut on Friday (4.30), ‘Old Church Basement,’ a collaboration between Maverick City Music and Elevation Worship has quickly made an impact on the charts. It’s currently sitting No. 2 on the iTunes All-Genre Albums chart (they have hit No. 1 multiple times over the last few days) and No. 1 on the iTunes Christian Chart. The group has five of the Top 10 videos on the iTunes All-Genre video chart, and their song “Jireh” is on the Spotify Viral 50 Chart.

Old Church Basement is making a new wave of music... in a community-driven way. Captured live over the course of two nights at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC, the record is a soaring, ecstatic collection fueled by love and faith and community, and that “community” is what Maverick City Music is all about.

What makes this so unique? Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay began Maverick City Music in Atlanta in 2018 by way of a series of writing camps and workshops with an emphasis on amplifying the marginalized voices of women and minorities. Their goal was to gather artists—both hugely successful veterans and brand new rising talent—who might never otherwise find themselves in a room together and let the magic play out.

In the two years since releasing their debut EP, Maverick City Vol. 1, the group has already notched multiple Billboard No. 1 albums and singles, earned a pair of Dove Award nominations, racked up more than 250 million streams across platforms, and amassed more than a million subscribers on YouTube. The critical response was similarly rapturous, with Relevant raving that “Maverick City Music represents a leap forward for Church Music—an evolutionary step forward that the whole genre has been waiting for without realizing it.”

That's the magic of Maverick City Music. They’re working together to change the game because they defy the status quo in order to forge their own vision of a more welcoming, inclusive industry, because they open the doors and invite everyone in. It’s visible in these captivating performance videos:

Jireh (released 3.26 / 8.1 Million views): https://youtu.be/mC-zw0zCCtg

Talking to Jesus (released 4.9 / 3.4 Million views): https://youtu.be/OXsxw1fRHMA

Wait On You (released 4.23 / 2.7 million views): https://youtu.be/K3TYG7Q_fj4

Build Your Church (released 4.30, 360K+ views): https://youtu.be/wegtdmbeuh0

In addition to collaborating with Elevation Worship, Maverick City Music recently joined forces with “Crowder” for this electrifying performance of “Good God Almighty,” which topped the Billboard Hot Christian Songs Chart. Watch that performance here (1.2 million views): https://youtu.be/6TzECToPYIk

Maverick City Music is a finalist for three Billboard awards, including Gospel Artist of the Year and Gospel Album of the Year (x2) for two different albums, Maverick City Vol. 1 and Maverick City Vol. 2.

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