It's Friday again...

...and time for another flashback to the early days of Contemporary Christian Music. This week we feature a great band, Smalltown Poets.

Smalltown Poets was formed in Georgia in 1996 by high school friends Michael Johnston, Danny Stephens, and Byron Goggin, along with (then) Nashville musicians Kevin Breuner, and Miguel DeJesus. They burst onto the Christian music scene with their Grammy-nominated self-titled debut on Ardent/Forefront Records (EMI) in 1997 and released two more albums with the Memphis based label. Three number one singles and a total of ten top ten radio hits helped garner two Best Rock Gospel Grammy nominations, seven Dove Award nominations (including Best New Artist) and a Billboard Music video award for the band. Their song "Anything Genuine" was featured on the platinum-selling WOW 1999 compilation. Two albums would follow on Ardent/Forefront - Listen Closely (1998) and Third Verse (2000). In 2004. the band released It’s Later Than It’s Ever Been on BEC Records (EMI).

I think my favorite Smalltown Poets song is "Prophet, Priest, and King" off their first album...

Smalltown Poets went on hiatus several months after It's Later Than It's Ever Been, but regrouped in the fall of 2010 to produce a Christmas album, Smalltown Poets Christmas, in 2011. Over a year in the making, Smalltown Poets Christmas was released November 1st of that year, with their single "Good Christian Men Rejoice" reaching Billboard’s Top 30 songs on Christian radio. Subsequent Decembers have found them touring with their Yuletide repertoire, and they released a follow-up project, Christmas Time Again, in 2014. Along the way, a seven-song EP in the fall of 2012 reminded fans that the Poets aren't just a Christmas band. Under the New Sun is a collection of new songs and older compositions that had never been put onto an album.

In May 2018, Smalltown Poets released their first full-length, non-holiday album in over a decade. For Say Hello, Smalltown Poets returned to Studio C at world-renowned Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, where their first three albums were brought to life. “Going to Ardent the first time to record our debut album was a monumental moment in our lives,” recalls guitarist Kevin Breuner. “For this new record, we wanted to reach back into the magic and emotion of those formative years." While longtime fans will recognize the signposts of the familiar Smalltown Poets sound, the band took great pains to explore new textures, such as a Memphis horns section (on the song "Impossible") and a Gospel choir (on the song "Like Home"). "Song of Hallelujah," co-written with worship leader Aaron Keyes, is an example of the band’s heart for worship through music. Their latest single, "Love Is The Ocean" was released a few month's ago.