CCritically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Sara Groves has gathered a group of fellow-acclaimed artists and friends Brandon Heath, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken and author/artist Charlie Peacock, for her ART*MUSIC*JUSTICE tour this fall, which will benefit both the International Justice Mission and Food For the Hungry.

The International Justice Mission (www.IJM.org) is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. Food for the Hungry (www.FH.org) works in more than 26 developing countries providing disaster and emergency relief, and implementing sustainable development programs to transform communities physically and spiritually.

With dates running from September 19th through October 26th, the tour is a unique concert opportunity to “add to the beauty, seek justice and give God praise,” desiring to further educate the church on God’s heart for justice, gain advocates for the oppressed, and show evidence of a God at work in this world. Each evening will bring inspired music and stories of God’s people in action and their heroic experiences across the globe. Incredible stories of rescue from the International Justice Mission will be told, while giving audience members the opportunity to be involved in Groves ‘adopted’ village in Rwanda thru Food for the Hungry.

“God is mighty to save and is actively rescuing the oppressed through His people,” comments Groves. “Scripture references to the ‘slave, the poor, the oppressed’ are not figurative. There are 27 million people enslaved today, after more than in 400 years of trans-Atlantic slavery. God is calling us to respond. All of us on this tour want to convey, it is not a burden to help, it is an adventure. We’re excited to get out there and share what God is doing!” To listen to audio of Sara sharing about the tour, and for more tour information, click here.

In addition, all of the artists on the tour are offering songs on NoiseTrade.com for the price of telling three friends about them or paying any amount they choose in exchange for an immediate download. Webb co-created NoiseTrade.com after the success of giving away over 80,000 full downloads of his project Mockingbird. Through NoiseTrade, any artist can freely distribute their music online via NoiseTrade’s embeddable widget.

On October 14th, Groves will be releasing O Holy Night, a Christmas album that evokes all that is good, warm and friendly during this special season, showcasing all new recordings as well as four original songs.

About the artists

Sara Groves

Since her debut release in 2001, Conversations, Sara Groves has become one of the most critically-acclaimed artists in the Christian music industry, receiving rave reviews across the board for each recording by the likes of Billboard, and consistently topping year-end reader’s polls and album of the year nods from the likes of CCM magazine, Christianity Today online and more. On her new album, Tell Me What You Know, Groves explores what she has learned over the past two years, lessons on the value of long defeats, and the defiance of hope in the face of insurmountable odds. Since the 2005 release of Add To The Beauty, Groves has been questioning just how, exactly, she is called to do that. Her answers came in a series of global conversations and experiences, from the flood-ravaged gulf of Louisiana, to the genocide memorials of Rwanda, to the testimonies of Southeast Asia sex trade survivors. These experiences showed the disparity between some of the American pursuits of comfort and wealth and the joy of joining the difficult work of social justice and engaging in the suffering of the afflicted.

Brandon Heath

Brandon Heath debuts his anticipated sophomore album What If We on August 19th. The new album features the hit bound single “Give Me Your Eyes” which continues to lead at iTunes with more than 20,000 downloads in just three weeks since it released digitally. Teaming up again with producer Dan Muckala, Heath’s What If We follows his breakthrough debut project, Don’t Get Comfortable, which delivered the No. 1 radio-hit, and Dove Award Song of the Year nominee, “I’m Not Who I Was”. The song ended 2007 as one of the year’s most played radio singles. The smash debut also contributed to Heath’s first Songwriter of the Year nomination, and win in the New Artist of the Year category at the 2008 GMA Dove Awards in April. Off stage, Heath seeks opportunities to merge his public platform with his heart for community, regularly working with Young Life, Blood:Water Mission, Restore International and unofficially volunteering for many other human rights agencies on a global scale. In March, Heath turned his attention to trials near his hometown of Nashville after parts of the city were ravaged by a string of tornadoes. Brandon quickly organized a highly-effective benefit concert raising $20,000 for the storm victims.

Derek Webb

A former member of the Houston, Texas-based Caedmon’s Call, singer/songwriter Derek Webb has seen career sales approaching 1 million records, 10 Dove Award nominations, a Billboard Music Video Award nod, and six #1 radio hits. With his fourth solo project, titled The Ringing Bell, Webb continues to be one of Christian music’s most prophetic voices, penning tunes regarding the Church and culture through personal stories and relationships. Recognized by both Christianity Today and Paste magazine as one of the best albums of 2007 (receiving the only 5 star review the Paste publication gave in 2007), The Ringing Bell, as the title suggests, is a collection that sounds clearly through the noise of the day, beckoning some, and warning others. It’s a call to meaningful conversations and it’s a great time, injecting songs into the cultural bloodstream that will move listeners to reflection and action while moving their feet. “I do not do things in moderation,” Webb admits. “I think The Ringing Bell is a record about peace on the whole be it literally, conceptually, personally, nationally, or even spiritually.” “I felt like there was more to say about the subject,” he says. “This is too important of a moment historically to not say more about the idea of peace. It’s right in my face at all times if I claim to be at all concerned with anything that Jesus ever said.” Webb’s innovative ways have received coverage everywhere from CCM to USA Today and The LA Times.

Sandra McCracken

St. Louis born singer-songwriter, Sandra McCracken has been called Nashville’s best-kept secret. This small framed, big voiced songstress grew up the youngest in a family of seven, where music was always streaming from the record player like a soundtrack. She grew up on Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Elvis and gospel music. McCracken moved to Nashville in 1995 to study music at Belmont University. A diploma, hundreds of tour dates, and five albums later, she has built a substantial presence in the independent music world, touring nationally, selling over 20, 000 records and intentionally staying ever under the industry radar.

Charlie Peacock

Charlie Peacock is a Grammy® award-winning, multi-format songwriter, record producer and respected author and speaker. Named by Billboard’s Encyclopedia of Record Producers as one of the 500 most important record producers in music history, Peacock is a three time Recipient of the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Award for Producer of the Year, and along with a Grammy® award, is six time Grammy® nominee for production on various artists. His best known songs include “Every Heartbeat”, recorded by Amy Grant, for which he won the BMI Pop Award twice as one of the most played songs in America. In addition to working with scores of best-selling artists, Peacock is the Co-Founder Director of Art House America, Nashville, Tennessee, a ministry of hospitality, the arts, and biblical teaching featuring such teachers and artists as Dick Keyes (L’Abri), Nancy Pearcey, Patricia Heaton, Daniel Doriani, Mel Gibson,
Quentin Schultze, Bono, Steve Turner, Steve Garber, Denis Haack, and many others.

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