“When your story connects to God’s story it leads to a greater story.”

ArtSoul Radio Show host Sam Collier of “A Greater Story” sat down with artist Jonathan McReynolds recently to talk about his life, voice and the stories behind his music.

A self-proclaimed nerd, Jonathan shared his interests in tech, music, meteorology and his desire to learn. Growing up playing music in the church, Jonathan was trying to figure out “Christianity outside of church,” how to just live it out in everyday situations that we all face.

Those experiences and more were part of his first album, Life Music, which McReynolds put together in his college dorm room! He admitted to Sam that almost trashing his single “No Gray” because he thought it wasn’t “Gospel enough” of a sound, but it was his authentic story, and has become one of his greatest hits so far.

“God just put my name in the wind,” McReynolds humbly shared on his musical career’s takeoff and growing popularity.  You don’t want to miss Jonathan McReynolds’ inspirational journey in his music career so far, from church services to the Stellar Awards and making records with his projects.

McReynolds shared some notable advice throughout their interview, including this for anyone navigating their career and purpose journey:

“When you find your own groove, you become really good at your groove, and it allows everything else to open up.”

 

On “A Greater Story,” Sam Collier gets into the artists’ life story, but also the story behind their music. Jonathan McReynolds shared that his songs, from “No Gray” to “Cycles” start with his humanity and end with his faith.

His style of music is changing hearts in the traditional genres of Gospel music, and he shared his take on the future sounds of what we consider current and old school Gospel Music. We’ve seen artists transition in and out of the Christian/Gospel genres, or completely redefine it for their own sound. “What you see is kind of a dispersion of the Message in a lot of different places.” The 28-year-old artist talked about the current state of Gospel and how people today view church, which is “a charge to sing our song in a strange land,” to stay steadfast in this changing culture while glorifying God.

Want more? Tune into this episode of A Greater Story here and be sure to share with your takeaways from this interview!

A Greater Story’ is what is available for all of us.  A life completely fueled and guided by the power of God. He has a plan for all of us. The common cry and longing of humanity knowingly and unknowingly has always and will always be the desire to discover and ALIGN with HIS plan. HIS story. A Greater Story. This campaign was designed to help us all discover how to gain access to that Greater Story. Led and narrated by Sam Collier and his unique story and journey, our goal through our messages, products and initiatives is to partner with individuals to aid them in their process of discovery.

Catch A Greater Story on ArtSoul Radio now airing every Wednesday at 2pm CST and Saturdays at 10am CST!

The summer season is right around the corner along with Native North‘s first tour!

Native North will be hosting the “Native Nights” Summer Tour with music and workshops from Natalie Lauren, Swoope and Joseph Solomon. The first night begins with  Atlanta on June 3rd, then heading to Dallas, Orange County, and Jacksonville.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi2zAQmlYGi/?taken-by=natalielaurensims

Not only are the artists sharing their music, but they are running workshops, which is in line with the Native North brand and vision. “With a heart to share their faith, Art & Entrepreneurship with the culture, Native is committed to providing you with a intimate spiritual arts experience this Summer,” as announced about the tour. What can we expect from this tour?

Natalie Lauren is a creative and entrepreneur, putting together an interactive music workshop combining, production, live songwriting and music business hacks. She along with Swoope and Joseph will create music on the spot as well as inviting creatives from the audience into the music production experience!

On the concert end, Joseph Solomon will be introducing new music & poetry from his upcoming EP. Rapper Swoope will be playing & performing music from his latest album, Sonshine for the first time. They will all be performing together with the “Tribe”, Native’s Live band, to bring you what’s sure to be a memorable Summer concert.

For more tour updates and added cities, be sure to follow Native North on Instagram or check the Native Nights Summer Tour page for tickets.

You may know Jackie Hill Perry from her phenomenal poetry, messages at events or her personal testimony in the media, but the artist has been in music for some time. With the new release of her sophmore album Crescendo, Perry doesn’t shy away from issues and adds her faith as the foundation of her sound.

Jackie Hill Perry released a new music video plus a behind the scenes look at the making of the album. Perry shares how her life and sound is different compared to her last musical project, Art of Joy in late 2014. Back then, she was a new wife and mother to be, resided in Chicago, and was still learning and growing in her faith.

View this post on Instagram

Almost 5 years ago, I moved to Chicago to come on staff with a Christian Non-Profit doing major work all over the city. During that time, I joined Legacy Fellowship Church, got married to a Southside Native and gave birth to something gorgeous on the Westside. Even though I was born in St.Louis and discipled in LA, I became an adult in Chicago. But now, after months and months and mooooonths of prayer, my family has decided to move to Atlanta. Ima miss Chicago and the people (and food) in it. But where God tells us to go, we go. ❤️

A post shared by Jackie Hill Perry (@jackiehillperry) on Nov 29, 2017 at 5:10pm PST

Crescendo is available now!  It has 12 tracks and two interludes with features including Joseph Solomon, Ambassador, Shai Linne, Da’ T.R.U.T.H., Braille, plus the track “Fall Away” featuring Natalie Lauren.

I’m personally waiting for a video to drop for her track “Woman” with artist Sharon Irving.

Which songs are you playing on repeat from Crescendo?

Stream Crescendo Here