RiseFest 2021 Artist Announcements!

This week, we were so excited to start announcing and sharing the artists we are so excited to be hosting for RiseFest 2021! Firstly, Matthew West will be returning to Sheldon to perform on our new permanent stage!!! Matthew is a favorite of ours, five-time GRAMMY® nominee, a multiple ASCAP Christian Music Songwriter/Artist of the Year winner and a 2018 Dove Award Songwriter of the Year (Artist) recipient. He has received an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, a K-LOVE Fan Award and named Billboard’s Hot Christian Songwriter of the Year. A recipient of the Rich Mullins Impact Award, West also received a Primetime Emmy® Award nomination for Original Music & Lyrics for the title track for the feature film “The Heart of Christmas.”  He has been awarded a RIAA Gold certification for his single “Hello, My Name Is” and RIAA Platinum certification for the song “The Motions.”

Our next artist, "We the Kingdom", is making their first ever appearance at RiseFest! "We The Kingdom" is a multigenerational family of musicians, including producers and songwriters Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, NeedToBreathe, Bethel Music, Crowder), Scott Cash, Franni Rae Cash, Martin Cash and Andrew Bergthold. The members of the band have been involved behind-the-scenes in songs that have been sung around the world, and now are ready to tell their own story firsthand, putting out some amazing music! Their sound is a blend of worship, vulnerability, and grit that is birthed out of decades of musical influences and a shared difficult experience that brought them together as a band. Their debut album Holy Water released Aug. 2020 featuring songs like "Holy Water", "God So Loved", "No Doubt About It" & more. Their song "Holy Water" charted in the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot Christian chart!

Lastly, we are so excited to announce "Casting Crowns", also appearing for the first time at RiseFest! The band has produced mega-hits like “Praise You In This Storm,” “East to West,” “Who Am I,” and “Just Be Held,” broken sales records, sold out arenas, won prestigious awards and traveled the world singing songs of redemption. There’s not much within the realm of Christian music the band hasn’t accomplished. The impact of Casting Crowns is incalculable, the fingerprint of their songs forever imprinted onto the hearts of millions of people. The group remains humble, however, and when discussing the band’s latest project, Only Jesus, band founder Mark Hall shifts the focus off of the band and onto the one they sing about. Only Jesus personifies the band’s mission to help people understand the nature of God’s love and Jesus’s sacrifice, digging deep into the who and the why, inviting the listener on a heart-journey of foundational faith, immovable trust and ultimately, freedom in Christ. For "Casting Crowns", there’s one thing they hope people will take away after listening to the new album: only Jesus.