East to West was a

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

duo from

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...

, formed in 1993.

Background

Neal Coomer and

Jay DeMarcus Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus Jr.; on April 26, 1971) is an American bassist, vocalist, pianist, record producer and songwriter. From 1999 to 2021, he was a member of the country pop group Rascal Flatts. Early life DeMarcus was born ...

met in Cleveland, Tennessee, at Lee College (now

Lee University Lee University is a private Christian university in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was originally the Church of God Bible Training School, a small Bible institute founded in 1918 with twelve students and one teacher, Nora I. Chambers. The school grew ...

) and decided to form a Christian pop group along the lines of

Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on the ...

or Go West. They released two albums, ''East to West'' in 1993 and ''North of the Sky'', in 1995, which hit No. 16 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's Top Christian Albums chart that same year. The group toured in the United States with

Al Denson Albert Wray Denson (born May 13, 1960, in Starkville, Mississippi), more commonly known as Al Denson, is a contemporary Christian music artist and a Christian radio and television show host. Biography Denson first became well known for his ...

and

4Him 4Him was a contemporary Christian group founded in 1990 in Mobile, Alabama, US. The group has ten Dove awards, a Grammy nomination and three certified gold albums to their credit. The group was inducted into Alabama's Music Hall of Fame, follo ...

before breaking up in 1997. DeMarcus later became a member of the group

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

. The group's Christian radio hits included "Welcome to the Next Level" (#3, 1994), "Prince of Peace" (#1, 1994), "Hungry for You" (#3, 1995), "Heart on the Line" (#16, 1995), "This Time Around" (#5, 1995), "Still in Love" (#9, 1995), "Live Like I'm Leaving" (#19, 1996), and "Talk to Me" (#15, 1996).

Discography

*''East to West'' (

Benson Records Benson Records was founded by Bob Benson and John T. Benson, who formed the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records, creating house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, R ...

, 1993) *''North of the Sky'' (Benson, 1995)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Tennessee American Christian musical groups Musical groups established in 1993 1993 establishments in Tennessee