Stuart Townend

"There is a hope" CD/DVD due out in February

As some of you will know, I got the opportunity to record a new live album and DVD in November. We hired the Riverside Theatre, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, for two nights, and recorded 14 songs, many of which were being performed for the first time.

Why Northern Ireland? Well, although I've made Brighton my home for the last 20+ years, I have been making regular visits to the north coast of Northern Ireland over the last few years, not least to lead worship at the annual New Horizon event, and I have to say it's become something of a second home to me. And the Riverside Theatre was the perfect venue to shoot a video - although it seats 300, there's a nice, intimate feel to the place.

I was privileged to have a great band with me - Andrew Small (drums), Kevan Frost (bass), Matt Weeks (guitar, trombone, flugel horn), Lawrence Johnson, Maria Martin and Ruth Waldron (bvs), Julian Ferraretto (violin), Troy Donockley (whistles, uilleann pipes), and Mark Edwards (keys, accordion) as arranger and MD.

I'm delighted with the way the album has turned out. A couple of the news songs in particular feel very strong to me - "Salvation's Song" (co-written with Andrew), and the title track, "There is a hope" (co-written with Mark), and I'm looking forward to seeing how they are received by local churches.

Both the CD and the DVD will be available for purchase shortly on this site, so watch this space.

US customers click here!

www.kingswaymusicstore.com

Finally - great news for US customers

I'm delighted to be able to tell you that if you are looking to buy either "Best of Stuart Townend live" or "Monument to Mercy", and you live in the US, you can now buy from a new US website - at US prices!

Go to: http://www.kingswaymusicstore.com

 

Up to now, because of the weakness of the US dollar against the UK pound, buying albums from my website when you live in the US has been very expensive. But this should really help ease the pain! Simply click the link above to access the kingswayworship.com site.

So... apologies to you North Americans up to now who have bought at the UK price - although I have really appreciated your willingness to support the ministry by purchasing albums direct from me.

New 'Best Of' album just released

I'm pleased to be able to tell you that Kingsway has just released a huge new compilation album, containing 31 live recordings taken from a number of different worship conferences. It's available from this website, as well as from your local Christian bookshop, and I'll be taking it with me to the various events I'm doing this summer.

For more info, check out the (very kind) review from Andrew Sutton in the "Stuart's albums" section; and to purchase, just click on the "Buy now" button you will find there.

Also... I'm planning to record a brand new live album and DVD this September, with a whole load of new songs (some of which haven't been written yet... I'm afraid...). We're actually doing it at the Riverside Theatre, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, and if you want tickets for the event, they are available from the venue. The album should be out at the end of the year.

I'd appreciate your prayers over the next couple of months as I seek inspiration for some new songs.

Review of "Best of Stuart Townend Live..."

If you are looking for the definitive Stuart Townend album, this has to be it. 31 (yes, 31) tracks of live worship from various events Stuart has been part of down the years, including Stoneleigh, Worship Together, Mandate, and many more.

What really strikes you is the scope of the man's writing. All the established classics are here, from "How deep the Father's love" to "Psalm 23", "Beautiful Saviour" to "In Christ alone" . But there are more gems to discover: the Abbey Road live versions of "Kyrie" and "My God", for example; and some less well-known songs such as "Giver of grace", "You are my Anchor" and the beautiful "O my soul, arise and bless your Maker". And for those who have never come across the haunting "How long?", be prepared to be affected by some of the most moving worship lyrics of recent years.

Those who have become acquainted with Stuart's music more recently will find a whole wealth of further material for their own and their church's environment. Serious Townend aficienados will just enjoy having all these songs in one collection, recorded in the context they were meant to be heard and used - live.  (Andrew Sutton)

Track listing:

CD1

1. Lord, I'm grateful (Grace)
2. See what a morning (Resurrection hymn)
3. What wonder of grace (My desire)
4. Your love (Pour over me)
5. We have sung our songs (How long?)
6. Oh, to see the dawn (The power of the cross)
7. All my days (Beautiful Saviour)
8. O my soul arise and bless your Maker
9. Speak, O Lord
10. Who paints the skies?
11. Lord, how majestic You are
12. My heart is filled with thankfulness
13. My God
14. Jesus is Lord
15. Joy has dawned
16. The Lord's my Shepherd (Psalm 23)

CD 2
1. My first love
2. You're the Word of God the Father (Across the lands)
3. In Christ alone
4. How deep the Father's love
5. With a prayer (Love Incarnate)
6. Holy Spirit, how I love You
7. From the squalor (Immanuel)
8. The King of love
9. Our God is strong and mighty (Breaking out)
10. I have heard (I won't let go)
11. O Church arise
12. For every child (Kyrie)
13. Beloved and Blessed
14. You are my Anchor (The Father's embrace)
15. Giver of grace (You are good to me)

Coming to a church near you?

Some of you know I was involved in a short tour last autumn with Lou Fellingham and Phatfish, which was great fun and seemed to go really well. I'm looking to do another series of events again this autumn, this time performing solo in a more informal low-key atmosphere - more Personal Worship than Monument to Mercy!!

The evening will be a mixture of worship, performance, sharing, prayer and informal teaching.

The available dates are between 28th September and 14th October, and I'm currently looking for churches or organisations that could organise and host such an event. So if you're interested, and are confident you could gather an audience of 250 people or more, please drop me an email, and I'll give you more details.

(Weekends tend to get quickly booked up, so if you thought you could run something on a weekday, that would be particularly helpful.)

Hear the tracks

Just to let you know, following requests to hear sample tracks of the albums mentioned in the "Stuart's albums" section, I've now worked out how to do it!

Right now you can hear clips from several of the "Monument to Mercy" tracks, and over the next few days I hope to do the same on the other featured albums. Hope this helps you make a choice about the albums you might be interested in.

Also, "Monument to Mercy" can now be purchased as a DOWNLOAD on Kingsway's Mission Worship site for £9.99. Single tracks are also available on the kingswaysongs.com website.

Happy New Year!...

...I'm sorry it's a little belated! I trust you had a refreshing break over Christmas, and that 2007 will be a fruitful and rewarding year for you.

I thought I'd briefly update you on some new projects and dates that are coming up...

First, I'm planning with Kingsway a new 50 song songbook of my stuff. What will make it slightly different is that the songs will include full piano arrangement with separate melody line (I'll explain the thinking on this in a moment). It will also include all the songs from the "Monument to Mercy" album, with piano parts as close to the recording as I can get them!

Brighton gig

Well, we managed to pull it off! Over 70 musicians and singers, the whole "Monument to Mercy" album performed live, with string orchestra, brass band, choir, grand piano, tubular bells, air raid siren (a sample, I have to admit, although we did go on ebay to see if we could buy a real one!)... it was quite a  night. Plus a terrific string arrangement of "In Christ alone" to round the evening off, created by the very talented Patrick Harrex.

The whole evening was an amazing experience for me. Not only was it a privilege to have so many talented and committed people  working so hard to make  it work; but to have the opportunity of sharing the songs (and the gospel) with non-church people was very exciting.

Thanks need to go to far too many people to mention here! Suffice to say. the team was incredible, and I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Dave Fellingham, who had the vision and courage to make this incredibly ambitious project work - and to Mark Edwards, whose musical talent never ceases to amaze me.

NEXT BIG DATE!

Well, our short tour came to an end last night at Alton, where we had a great time with the folks there, who came from various parts of Hampshire, Sussex, and further afield. The night before we were in Wrexham, where we played to a full house of over 800. A huge thank you to all who were involved, especially the event organisers, Chris on sound and the two Sams on lights. It's also been a really fun time meeting and worshipping with lots of new people. So if you managed to get along to one of the gigs, thanks for coming! If not... well, it's actually not too late...

On Saturday 25th November, at CCK, Brighton (my home church), we are doing a special event where we will be performing the whole of the "Monument to Mercy" album with string orchestra, brass band and choir! It's aimed in part at unchurched people (there won't be any preaching, but I'll talk and share my faith a little between songs), but all are welcome. Lou Fellingham will be playing support.

Tickets are at the ridiculously low price of £5, but because of the orchestra, the venue will only hold around 450 people, so get your tickets early. Visit the website www.cck.org.uk to purchase tickets online, or phone the church office (01273 747687).

See you there!

Stuart Townend