In a time when the music industry is struggling to find a profitable business model, worship leader Chris Nesbitt is taking the opposite approach. He's making his second album, "Liquid Worship," completely free. The album's 11 songs can be downloaded in high-resolution mp3 files at
www.chrisnesbitt.com and
www.liquidworship.com for no charge. "Liquid Worship" is produced by Christian music veteran Phillip LaRue of the Dove Award-nominated group LaRue.
"I'm giving it away to make it easier for worship leaders and worshipers to get the songs, because I believe they're for the Church, and for now," Nesbitt says. "I felt the Lord challenging me this way, and He has had me check my motives repeatedly. He's moved me from whining to reluctant acceptance to finally a place of cheerful giving. He cares less about album sales and more about my heart."
Already, the album is gaining national attention. Worship Leader magazine is including the track "Your Ways Are Higher" in its Nov. SongDISCovery CD. And Riverspring Music is featuring "Saturate Me" in their Nov. CD.
Hailing from Southern California, Nesbitt has built a reputation as a songwriter whose music reaches deep into the heart of what God is doing, not only in his own life but also in the church today. "Liquid Worship" finds him taking the elements of his debut even farther. Backed by a stellar band including guitarist Paul Moak (Michael W. Smith, dc Talk), keyboardist Jeff Roach (Ginny Owens, Chris Rice), drummer Ben Showalter (SonicFlood, Luna Halo, Shaun Groves) and bassist Bryan Willard (Jason Upton, Passion), the 11 tracks range from all-out rockers to gentle worship ballads.
"I'm so excited about 'Liquid Worship' because I believe it's fresh and relevant for worshipers," says Nesbitt. "The name comes from not only a central theme of water, or reference to water, in many of the songs, but also from parallels in my personal life: The way God is speaking to my family and myself right now, often using water metaphorically in His lessons, in His direction."
(Nashville, Tenn.) June 19, 2006 – Gotee recording artist Liquid performed for over 100 inmates at Nashville’s CCA Metro Prison this past Friday, June 16th.
As part of the Men of Valor program, Liquid performed a seven-song set and shared his personal testimony of growing up in North Philadelphia, an area known predominantly for an abundance of drugs, violence and poverty; an area simply called The Badlands. He also spent time with the inmates in a Q&A session after the performance.
“Friday’s show humbled me,” said Liquid of the experience. “I felt like God really was using me and has given me a heart for those guys. It was so awesome to see the fire in them—they were on fire for the Lord! It made me realize that I need that same fire for the Lord and should strive for it everyday.”
Men of Valor is a ministry outreach committed to winning men in prison to Jesus Christ and discipling them. They aim to equip inmates to re-enter society as men of integrity and givers to the community, rather than takers.
Tales From The Badlands, Liquid’s debut album which streets July 18th, features an eclectic mix of musical influences including Latino-tinged R&B, old-school hip-hop, and 1970’s soul.
Liquid, born Victor Oquendo, was self-taught at the piano, writing music and learning to program by age 14. At 15 he had already started to produce songs for his own rap group and, in 1998 was signed to a production deal with an indy label in New York City where he met some big name producers like Koran C. Thomas (Wyclef Jean) and Manuel Seal (Alicia Keys, Usher). The relationships eventually paid off as he found himself producing Petey Pablo’s I Ain’t Scared, the B-side on the platinum selling single Blow Your Whistle. Since then his production credits include Out of Eden (over 1.5 million career sales), GRITS (CBA’s #1 Rap Brand) and Verbs (Live to the Music! spent 19 weeks at #1 at Christian Rhythmic). He has also already seen major song placements on both MTV and ESPN. On the tour front, Liquid recently performed at the Aquire The Fire event in his hometown of Philadelphia on May 12th, as well as doing additional dates with Men of Valor. Fall tour plans with the group Salvador are also currently underway.
(Nashville, Tenn.) May 2nd, 2006 – With the much-anticipated July 18th release of his debut project Tales From The Badlands, Gotee artist Liquid will perform at Sunfest in West Palm, FL this Saturday, May 6th alongside of label mate DJ Maj.
Liquid, who draws from an eclectic mix of musical influences including Latino-tinged R&B, old-school hip-hop, and 1970’s soul, will perform four songs at this weekend’s Sunfest. He will share the stage with DJ Maj as the two perform separately as well as collaborate on performances together. The festival lineup also includes such names as Omarion, Fiona Apple, Ashlee Simpson, and Carrie Underwood.
Tales From The Badlands is a twelve-track album that was inspired by Liquid’s upbringing in North Philadelphia, an area known predominantly for an abundance of drugs, violence and poverty; an area simply called The Badlands. “My goal is to be as honest as possible, in every sense,” says Liquid. “I feel like people in the ghetto have the same basic problems as kids in Beverly Hills—it just looks different. I want to reach kids from the inner city as well as from the suburbs. With everything I’ve ever written down lyrically and musically, I ask God to stamp the song with his love. I want God to take control and do what he wants through my music for the world.”
Liquid, born Victor Oquendo, was self-taught at the piano, writing music and learning to program by age 14. At 15 he had already started to produce songs for his own rap group and, in 1998 was signed to a production deal with an indy label in New York City where he met some big name producers like Koran C. Thomas (Wyclef Jean) and Manuel Seal (Alicia Keys, Usher). The relationships eventually paid off as he found himself producing Petey Pablo’s I Ain’t Scared, the B-side on the platinum selling single Blow Your Whistle. Since then his production credits include Out of Eden (over 1.5 million career sales), GRITS (CBA’s #1 Rap Brand) and Verbs (Live to the Music! spent 19 weeks at #1 at Christian Rhythmic). He has also already seen major song placements on both MTV and ESPN. On the tour front, Liquid will perform at the Aquire The Fire event in his hometown of Philadelphia on May 12th, as well as doing a show for the prison ministry Men of Valor in Nashville this June. Fall tour plans with the group Salvador are also currently underway.
