It’s been two years since Gotee Records pop songstress Stephanie Smith last offered up a new project, but today she's sharing her powerful new single, “Letting Go,” as it releases digitally across the country.
 
The anthemic, catchy track was produced by Barry Weeks (Francesca Battistelli, Avalon, Hawk Nelson) and written by Smith and Weeks, along with hit songwriter Brian White.
 
“I feel like there have been a million songs called ‘Letting Go,’ but I still wrestle with executing the concept in my day to day,” says Smith. “This song is my reminder to myself that there is a good God who sees me, knows me and has a better plan for my life than I do. Sometimes I get too attached to an idea of how my life should look and when my expectations aren't met, the process of releasing my grip can be painful, but I know that I am always safe in his grip.”
 
An official lyric video for “Letting Go” is now available for viewing on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3FYvVWGqLc
 
After initial raves with 2008’s full-length debut, Not Afraid, she followed with an EP—2009’s Stephanie Smith—which heralded the production handiwork of Mark Lee Townsend (Relient K, House Of Heroes, Deas Vail) with Smith co-writing all five of the tracks. Smith has toured non-stop with an ever-growing fan base, solid album sales, and industry acclaim. Her packed-out schedule found her making the rounds at music festivals such as Rockfest, Ichthus, AtlantaFest, Music in the Park, Kingdom Bound, and Riverstages, as well as a return to Agape Fest, the original stage that lead her to meeting TobyMac and eventually signing a deal with Gotee Records.
 
Upon on the unveiling of her long-awaited new single, TobyMac comments, “Stephanie Smith is a tenacious young artist with a voice that rises to the skies and a vision that demands our attention."
 
Smith has also performed at various conferences including Feedback Conferences, Secret Keeper Girl Tour, Pure Freedom, and the Asphalt Assault Tour, and also joined illusionist Brock Gill as part of the Florida-based SuperWow Camps, where nearly 350 individual youth groups attended weekly.  Smith continues to work with the non-profit organization Soles4souls, as well as Compassion International.
 

(Nashville, Tenn.) November 17th, 2009 --- Stephanie Smith's latest five-song EP releases today and is available to fans everywhere via iTunes.com and all other digital retailers.   The self-titled CD will also be offered at live shows as Smith performs on the 20-city Winter Wonder Slam tour, along with tobyMac, Relient K, and fellow Gotee Records’ new artist B.Reith.  

Stephanie Smith, the EP, heralds the producer handiwork of Mark Lee Townsend (Relient K, House Of Heroes, Deas Vail) with Smith co-writing all five of the tracks that include "Back To Innocence", "Heart Attack", "Pieces Of My Heart", "If You Really Want The World To Change", and "Joshua".  The first single "Back To Innocence" is currently impacting Christian Rock Radio formats nationwide and is the #1 most added song this week.  

In keeping with the holiday spirit, Smith also went in the studio with producer Jamie Moore (tobyMac, Ayiesha Woods) to record the Christmas favorite "Jingle Bell Rock".   This song is available at all digital retailers as well.

The Winter Wonder Slam tour, which kicks off this Thursday, November 19th in Smith's hometown of State College, Pennsylvania, and will make stops in New York, Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, California, Nevada, with the final show in Phoenix, Arizona on December 20th.  Ticket information can be found at http://www.winterwonderslam.com/tickets.html   

In addition, Smith will be featured online by Gospel Music Channel (www.GospelMusicChannel.com) as part of their "Christmas Of Compassion" piece starting next Monday, November 23rd.  Fans will be able to get inside scoop on Smith, her involvement with Compassion International, and nab a free download of "Superstar" from her 2008 Gotee Records' debut album.  

After initial raves with last year’s debut Not Afraid, 25-year old Smith has toured non-stop with an ever-growing fan base, solid album sales, and industry acclaim.   Her packed out schedule found her making the rounds at music festivals such as Rockfest, Ichthus, AtlantaFest, Music in the Park, Kingdom Bound, and Riverstages, as well as a return to Agape Fest, the original stage that lead her to meeting TobyMac and eventually signing a deal with Gotee Records.  Smith has also performed at various conferences including Feedback Conferences, Secret Keeper Girl Tour, Pure Freedom, and the Asphalt Assault Tour, and also joined illusionist Brock Gill as part of the Florida-based SuperWow Camps, where nearly 350 individual youth groups attended weekly.  Smith continues to work with the non-profit organization Soles4souls, as well as Compassion International with whom she traveled to El Salvador last year.

GRAMMY ® Award winner, TobyMac slams into the holidays once again as he headlines his popular Winter Wonder Slam 2009 Tour, also featuring the talents of: Relient K, B.Reith and Stephanie Smith. For the first time ever the tour will head to the West Coast as well as making its way to New York City, Fairfax, VA, Pittsburgh and numerous other cities across the states.

The tour continues its tradition of giving, as Winter Wonder Slam teams up with the U.S. Marine Corps to help with their Toys for Tots campaign. Toys for Tots aims to provide tangible signs of hope to economically disadvantaged children at Christmas. Music fanatics will be encouraged to bring an unwrapped gift to the event as Marines will be on site to collect toys at every venue. Each year, Winter Slam produces multiple sell-outs and sets records for the amount of gifts collected for Toys For Tots.

This will be the fifth year that TobyMac has brought his highly energetic show to the holiday season to crowds across the country. This family reunion show is one that keeps bringing people back for more each year sharing the true meaning of Christmas.
 
For further details on Winter Wonder Slam 2009, please visit www.winterwonderslam.com or www.tobymac.com.
 
With over 10 million career scans, GRAMMY ® Award winning album "Portable Sounds,” recently certified GOLD by the RIAA, is TobyMac's latest studio and highest solo debut ever on the Billboard Top 200 chart (No. 10), which hit No. 1 on SoundScan’s Contemporary Christian Overall chart in its first week as well. All three of TobyMac’s solo projects have received numerous GMA Dove Award nominations as well as GRAMMY nominations. In addition,  "Momentum" (2001) and   "Welcome to Diverse City" (2004), both were awarded RIAA Gold Certification. Along with sold out tour dates, back-to-back radio hits, being named the GMA Dove Award’s 2008 Artist of the Year, and R&R’s Christian CHR Artist of the Year in 2007, TobyMac was also nominated for a 2007 American Music Award as Favorite Inspirational Artist.  His song “Ignition” was also recently chosen to play during the 2009 Superbowl as The Arizona Cardinals entered the stadium in Tampa, FL.

Nashville, TN. – Stephanie Smith and HearItFirst.com have joined forces with Daisy Rock Guitars for a guitar giveaway contest.  To enter, fans simply need to go to HearItFirst.com and register. http://www.hearitfirst.com/stephaniesmithguitar The contest runs between now and March 20, 2009.

Evident in her songs “Live Out Loud” and “Superstar”, Stephanie’s heart is to encourage young girls to be strong in their beliefs and to fearlessly live out the dreams that God has given each of us individually.

Stephanie is understandably excited about the contest.  “When we found out that we would be able to empower a girl somewhere to find her voice, and start playing a great guitar that is specifically made to fit a girl’s frame, it just felt like an incredible gift.  I truly hope the winner of the contest will be inspired to start playing the guitar and boldly live!”

“From first listen, Stephanie Smith caught my attention.  Her heart-felt, yet strong vocals, mixed with a true sense of musicality delivers a killer combination.  We are so excited to have such a talented, empowered female as an endorsee and spokesperson for Daisy Rock Guitars,” explains Tish Ciravolo, Founder and President of Daisy Rock Guitars.

“When Daisy Rock agreed to do this contest with Stephanie, HearItFirst.com was the first media outlet that came to mind.  They were excited about the possibilities,” states Glenda McNalley of The Select Artist Group.  “HearItFirst.com has been a great support of a new artist like Stephanie, and combined with their unprecedented reach into the market, we knew this contest would be an inspiration to an aspiring young musician.”

Stephanie is spending each weekend performing on the hugely popular Winter Jam 2009 Tour Spectacular, and she is the HearItFirst.com’s exclusive “roving reporter” for all Winter Jam video coverage on the site.  Stephanie’s Winter Jam videos can be seen at JamTour.com

(Nashville, Tenn.) October 8th, 2008 --- After initial raves with her Itunes release earlier this year, pop-rocker Stephanie Smith is poised to unveil her debut album Not Afraid at retail stores this December 23rd.   Along with her continued work with the non-profit organization Soles4souls, Smith will travel to El Salvador with Compassion International in early December.

Cmcentral.com has raved about Not Afraid by saying, “Opening strong, moments of electronic whomping foretell an edgy momentum… Smith’s fierce vocals lay out restorative encouragement to those uncertain of their own worth.”

On the marketing front, a new radio single, “In My Eyes”, is currently going for adds at Rock radio.  A music video for the title track “Not Afraid” was also just recently shot and will be widely available in the upcoming months.

Smith, a new face on the music scene, has been touring non-stop this year as momentum builds and people take notice of the 24-year old.  Her packed out schedule found her making the rounds at music festivals such as Rockfest, Ichthus, AtlantaFest, Music in the Park, Kingdom Bound, and Riverstages, as well as a return to Agape Fest, the original stage that lead her to meeting TobyMac and eventually signing a deal with Gotee Records.  Smith has also performed as part of  various conferences that have included Feedback Conferences, Secret Keeper Girl Tour,  Pure Freedom, and the Asphalt Assault Tour, as well as the upcoming One Life of VA (10/20 Vansant, VA), and the Freedom Experience (various dates Aug-Nov. www.reachyourcity.com).  In addition, she joined illusionist Brock Gill as part of the Florida-based SuperWow Camps, where nearly 350 individual youth groups attended weekly. Fans can anticipate more live performances by Smith as she joins the upcoming Winter Jam tour, headlined by TobyMac and running January 8th-March 15th, 2009.