''downhere'' is the first official album release under a major record label by

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band

downhere Downhere (stylized as downhere) is a Christian rock band from Canada. They have released six studio albums to date: ''downhere'' (2001), ''So Much for Substitutes'' (2003), ''Wide-Eyed and Mystified'' (2006), ''Ending Is Beginning'' (2008), ...

. It is only preceded by their 1st (and now out of print)

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

album release. The album received the 2002

Covenant Award The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in Ca ...

for Rock Album of the Year and the 2002

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Best Gospel Album. The song "Larger Than Life" received the 2002 Covenant Award for Rock Song of the Year and "Protest to Praise" was featured on the ''WOW Hits 2002'' compilation. The album consists of new songs written for this debut release with

Word Records Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records). History In 1 ...

, plus a selection of songs from the previous independent release that were re-recorded. Current bassist Glenn Lavender only appears on the album for the hidden-track "Rock Stars Need Money". His membership in the band wasn't finalized in enough time (after the departure of first bassist, Tyson Manning) for him to appear on the rest of the album, so Nashville studio musicians were used instead. Glenn Lavender already had an association with the band, as they previously met at a 1999 Word Vision Artist Retreat in Florida, USA.

Track listing

All songs written by Jason Germain and Marc Martel. # "Larger Than Life" - 4:26 # "Free Me Up" - 4:07 # "Reconcile" - 4:30 # "Raincoat" - 4:14 # "Great Are You" - 5:01 # "Calmer of the Storm" - 5:04 # "Making Me" - 4:19 # "Protest to Praise" - 5:07 # "Breathing In" - 4:10 # "So Blue" - 4:08 # "All The Reasons Why" - 2:54 # "Rock Stars Need Money" (hidden track) - 5:32

Personnel

Downhere * Jason Germain – lead and backing vocals, acoustic piano, keyboards,

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

, acoustic guitar *

Marc Martel Marc Martel is a Canadian Christian rock musician born in Montreal, Canada. In 1999, he formed the band Downhere before going solo in 2013. Aside from his own work, Martel is known for his Queen covers and his vocal likeness to frontman Freddie ...

– lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar,

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

* Glenn Lavender – bass * Jeremy Thiessen – drums, percussion Additional Musicians * Jeff Roach – keyboards *

Nathan Nockels Nathaniel Edward "Nathan" Nockels (born June 8, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and worship leader, who is a producer, songwriter, and composer of sacred music. He has received seven GMA Dove Awards, for his production. Nockels and his wif ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, acoustic guitar * Jerry McPherson – acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Gary Burnette – guitars * Mark Hill – bass * Pat Malone – bass * Dan Needham – drums, percussion * Ken Lewis – percussion * Skip Cleavinger –

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

penny whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

* Tom Howard – string arrangements Production * Nathan Nockels – producer, overdub recording * Jason Germain – co-producer * Marc Martel – co-producer * Judith Volz – executive producer * Craig A. Mason – A&R * Todd Robbins – recording * David Streit – recording assistant * Tom Laune – mixing * Paul Angelli – mastering * Louis LaPrad – art direction, design * Ben Pearson – photography Studios * Recorded at

The Bennett House The Bennett House is a recording studio located on 4th Avenue North in Franklin, Tennessee. Built in 1875, the two-story building has served as a residence, a clothing store and, starting in 1980, a recording studio used by many popular music ar ...

(Franklin, Tennessee) and Bridgeway Studios (Nashville, Tennessee). * Overdubbed at Watermark Studios (Atlanta, Georgia) and Dark Horse Recording Studio (Franklin, Tennessee). * Mixed at Bridgeway Studios * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York).

Singles

* "Larger Than Life" (2001) * "Free Me Up" (2001) * "Great Are You" (2001) * "Protest To Praise" (2001) * "Calmer of the Storm" (2001)

References

2001 albums Downhere albums Juno Award for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year albums {{2000s-Christianrock-album-stub