If members of Coldplay were to assemble a side project with members of Angels & Airwaves, and the resulting album were produced by Bono, you'd have something like 'Atmospheres', the debut album produced by C3 Asheville. Harkening from the heart of the North Carolina mountains this is a fresh sound that belies its country setting. Not that the sound is anything other than professional - but what else would you expect from a team that has produced dozens of contemporary worship albums in the USA and Australia?
Atmospheres has unassumingly obliterated every stereotype conjured by descriptives like 'church music' and 'worship music' with songs like 'Across The Earth', an epic and sweeping declaration of faith and vision, evoking majestic visuals with its huge lyrics and even bigger production, and 'Crazy' - an ethereal rocker with the reckless passion and dramatic insistence of an April thunderstorm. The tracks 'Love Is Here' and 'Heaven's Symphony' resonate with an intensity that is immediately immersive and intimate, balancing astonishing songwriting simplicity with compelling and complex arrangements. The project is a master class in texture, displaying an unparalleled depth of artistry in its composition and performance.
To understand how such a cinematic collection has been produced, look to Steve Deal, the modest yet confident artisan at the helm of Atmospheres. Steve has been hailed as "the most underrated, unappreciated worship leader in modern music" - high praise for a former messenger boy who took a huge risk when he left Australia in 2000, relocating his family to Atlanta to serve as the worship leader and premier songwriter at a new C3 Church in Lawrenceville, GA. Steve spent nearly a decade refining his talent and building what would become the headquarters for C3 music in America before taking yet another gamble -- leaving an established, thriving church to partner with Pastors Nick and Emily Dimitris in launching the C3 Church in Asheville, NC. Among the halcyon skies and obdurate majesty of the Western North Carolina Mountains, Steve was inspired to begin composing what would become 'Atmospheres'.
As the writing progressed, Stephen von Heyking, a brave young songwriter with a fresh, visceral energy, was drawn into the project, eventually relocating from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to join Steve with the intent of building upon an already urgent and unconventional musical culture in the North Carolina Mountains.
"It's like a little Seattle here. There's so much culture. A lot of diversity. The whole area is just ripe for something. You can feel it downtown, or just hanging out in little dive clubs with local bands. There's a lot of talent here, and there's crazy potential. The place is bursting and thirsty at the same time." --Stephen von Heyking
The result of their collaboration -- the insistent ambience that permeates Atmospheres - is hardly accidental. The risks were deliberate and calculated; essential and sincere.
"We started out thinking we'd put together an EP with three songs, but we kept writing what we felt were good songs, so we decided to do five, then seven, then finally stopped at twelve. We intentionally tried to capture the essence of the mountains and the landscape God created here - writing lyrics that paint vivid pictures on top of broad soundscapes. Half way through the project, we decided we had enough 'us', 'me' and 'I' statements, very much in the vein of the Psalms, and decided to write in the 'You' vein of the book of Revelation as it contains huge, anthemic descriptions of the greatness of God, so we incorporated those concepts, and we found that those songs were the most well-received by our congregation." -Steve Deal
This attitude of fierce honesty and boundless imagination has drawn musicians from all over the US, and Steve's dreams of an ardent musical community, the seeds of a scene, have already begun to germinate. Yet even with such a grand vision, Steve is strikingly unpretentious.
"I write songs, and sure, many worship leaders want to write the next 'Shout To The Lord', but really, I love God and I love C3, I write songs for my church. If other people want to worship with us, that'd be great. I'm fortunate to do this for a living, but experiencing God is more important than writing a great song. Of course you want to write great songs, but churning one out for the sake of itself - that's not what I want to do. If people leave a service having felt the presence of God, it doesn't matter if I've sold a record or written the perfect song, or even played one that I've written. Creating an atmosphere where people can experience God - that's what matters." -Steve Deal
With this project, the collective has succeeded in accomplishing precisely that objective. 'Atmospheres' - both the band and the album - is unquestionably inspired and distinctly excellent by every standard of measure. It is an innovative, groundbreaking, an essential statement, unwavering in its insistence that music intended as worship must be expressed with a skill, fervor, and creativity mirroring that of the One it is intended to honor.
Item Specifications...
Weight: 0.2 lbs.
Binding UPC 824767425827
Availability 96 units. Availability accurate as of Feb 11, 2012 04:30.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Atlanta, GA.
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