And while this fitting moniker may appear to be a new force on the horizon, the pair previously comprised two thirds of the Word/Warner Brothers recording group SoulJahz, who took the industry by storm in the early 2000s with a jaw dropping spread of radio singles, press acclaim and prominent appearances.įor starters, the troupe performed alongside the lauded (and diverse) likes of No Doubt, Nelly, Counting Crows, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Garbage, Boyz II Men and Erykah Badu (to name a few) on a cross country tour in support of its major label debut The Fault Is History. It’s an astonishingly inventive merger that’s given them instant accessibility steeped in street credibility, while breaking down boundaries more than any other eclectic troupe in recent memory. “Under the context of The Washington Projects, brother/sister duo Jekob & Rachael Washington merge insightful hip-hop, scintillating soul, rippling R&B, old school funk and pure bred pop. Eighth proper album Welcome to the New was released in April 2014, with a rootsier but danceable sound.” In 2012, The Hurt & the Healer followed, peaking at number seven on the charts and earning more critical acclaim. It earned critical respect and commercial success, including a debut at number three on the overall album charts and three number one singles on the Christian chart (“All of Creation,” “Beautiful,” and “Move”). The best-of 10 followed in 2009, and MercyMe recorded a concept album titled The Generous Mr. The church-focused All That Is Within Meappeared in 2007, and also broke into the Top 20 of the album charts. With a sharper sound less indebted to soft rock, it earned raves from critics and still charted at number 13 on Billboard’s album charts. The Christmas Sessions appeared in the fall of 2005, and the band’s fourth album Coming Up to Breathearrived in April 2006. MercyMe‘s third album Undone followed one year later, and again earned the group commercial and chart success in addition to further action on the Christian and album charts, MercyMe singles “Here with Me” and “Homesick” earned play on adult contemporary radio, marking a new frontier for the band. In 2003, veteran Christian rocker Barry Graul of Whitecross joined the band as a second guitarist. But I fell in love with it immediately.”Ī rootsier album, Spoken For, followed in 2002 and also performed well on the charts it also earned the band three more Dove Awards. Millard says that the praise band involvement marked “the first time I had ever done anything with a band - just a local youth group who played for a Wednesday night service. He accepted the offer and moved at the end of his freshman year of college. Millard‘s youth pastor, who had recently moved from Millard‘s hometown of Greenville, Texas to Lakeland, Florida, invited him to work with the youth praise band. The loss caused him to look for a change and a fresh start. During Millard‘s first semester in college, he was faced with the death of his father to cancer. With the prodding of his choir director, he was soon actively involved. But I broke both my ankles in a high school football game and that ended my career.” Due to the injury, Millard was left with an elective class to fill and reluctantly joined the only available option: choir. So naturally, that’s what I wanted to do as well. Millard recalls, “My dad and my older brother were both football players. “Although praise & worship band MercyMe was founded in 1994, vocalist Bart Millard says that the group’s birth was a process God began in him during high school.