As I write this, it’s my birthday and I’m writing this from several miles up in the air as Taya and I fly to Nashville to join the WAYFM tour with Jeremy Camp, The Afters, and Chasen. It was hard to say goodbye to my boys, but it’s a short run and we’re so grateful to be a part of what will be the highest profile tour I’ve ever been invited on. We’re so grateful. Being on a tour with rock acts gives me a nice little niche as the introspective singer/songwriter guy who gets to bring a unique contribution to the evening. I can’t wait to see old friends in the audience and make some new ones on this tour. It’s a pretty decent birthday gift, really – and a great way to start the year.
The best birthday gift I got, though, was when Gus climbed into bed with us in the early hours of the morning and snuggled up beside me before I had to get up to go. I didn’t even think I’d get to be home at all before late February, but things worked out for me to spend a couple days in my own house, eating my own food, sleeping in my own bed, and of course hanging out with my boys. (We played video games and built snow tunnels)
I want to update you on some exciting developments with my new single, “More Like Falling In Love”. I’m going to break it up into three parts and give you a little peek into the process of releasing a song to radio. I’ll begin the story here….
Last week, Josh Petersen (marketing, Centricity Music) and I were on the road again making our way from Texas to Minnesota – 10 states in 5 days – in support of the new radio single, “More Like Falling In Love”, thanking the radio stations that have added it to their playlists and giving those who haven’t yet a chance to give it a good listen and hear the story behind the song. We always hoped and believed that this particular song had the potential to connect with a larger audience, and I’m so grateful to see that this is proving to be true.
I’ve always felt blessed to have a strong connection with my audience over the years when I play live, and I’m grateful that I’ve always had consistently favorable reviews from critics, but the one thing I haven’t had is a solid presence at radio.
Here is the challenge and reward of radio support:
1. Radio airplay is hard to come by – radio music directors receive hundreds of songs for consideration each year but can only add tens of them.
2. Radio support is really important – it’s kind of like the gas in the tank for my ministry, helping us get where we could never get without it. That kind of exposure would grow our ministry and help me to keep making music for a long time to come (the Lord willing). Think of some of the most lauded and critically acclaimed artists you love or have heard of – even if they’re not currently the kings of radio – and more often than not there was some song of theirs that connected at radio and gave them the audience they have now, artists like Sara Groves, Derek Webb, Andrew Peterson, etc.
I’ve never really had that, and with this new record it was our hope to change this. “More Like Falling In Love” seemed like it might be the song that could do it.
And so far, “More Like Falling In Love” has been enthusiastically received at radio since we released it only a few short weeks ago – more so than any of my songs in the past! And the response from listeners has been great making it one of the highest rated debut songs. You can’t imagine how grateful I am for its warm reception. It was the highest debuting single the week it was released and recently broke into the top 20 on the AC indicator charts. We are praying that it keeps gaining momentum while connecting listeners with the idea that a relationship with Christ should look, as G.K. Chesterton has said, “less like a theory and more like a love affair.”
If you’ve heard it on your local station, I’d be grateful if you let them know that you appreciate them playing it (assuming you do, of course
(but only call/email if you’ve actually heard it on your local station – radio stations wouldn’t like it if they discovered you were calling a station in Oklahoma even though you live in New Jersey just because you wanted to help me out.) Your voice matters and it makes a difference when they hear from people who like the song. When they don’t hear from anyone, often times it stops being played.
Here are some of the stations playing the song right now:
WWWA/Augusta, ME WAFJ / Augusta, GA WSCF / Vero Beach, FL WAKW / Cincinnati, OH KLRC / Fayetteville, AR KXOJ / Tulsa, OK WGRC / Williamsport, PA WBHY / Mobile, AL WCVK / Bowling Green, KY WJIE / Louisville, KY KCVO / Columbia, MO KNWS / Waterloo, IA KKJM / St. Cloud, MN WCSG / Grand Rapids, MI KADI / Springfield, MO KXGM / Cedar Rapids, IA KNMI / Farmington, NM WCTL / Erie, PA WGNV / Wausau, WI WMUZ / Detroit, MI WQME / Indianapolis, IN WWIB / Eau Claire, WI KJIL / Meade, KS KLTY / Dallas, TX New Life Media / Illinois network WAYR / Brunswick, GA KSLT / Rapid City, SD WJYO / Ft. Meters, FL KCBI / Dallas, TX WCLN / Fayetteville, NC WHPZ / South Bend, IN KBIQ / Colorado Springs, CO WPER / Fredricksburg, VA KSOS / Las Vegas, NV WNWC / Madison, WI KZKZ / Ft. Smith, AR KGCB / Flagstaff-Prescott, AZ
Thanks to all these stations for adding my song, and thanks to you for listening!
(NEXT UP: Part 2 – What It’s Like To Be With Josh On The Road)