New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Rick Hoganson Media Relations) One of the best-selling new artists of 2011, The City Harmonic, continues to gather acclaim following the release of its first full-length album, I Have A
Dream (It Feels Like Home). Gathering three awards, including "New Artist of the Year," from the Gospel
Music Association Canada Covenant Awards last fall, the Gospel
Music Association bestows another "New Artist of the Year" nomination on the band for the 43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards, which will take place April 19 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
Hearing the news while traveling on the 60-market "God's Not Dead World Tour" with newsboys that launched Jan 12 and runs through May 5, The City Harmonic front man,
Elias Dummer, comments, "We're so grateful to be out every night making music for and with the Church, and this is another humbling reminder that that means something to people. Many thanks."
Already known for its engaging live performances, The City Harmonic is playing its hit singles and new music from I Have A
Dream (It Feels Like Home) while on tour, including the title track, a top 15 Billboard
National Christian Audience radio hit, and "Manifesto," which is featured as a bonus track on the album.
"I was eager to see if they could translate that big, sonic sound from the studio to a live show," says a ChristianMusicZine.com tour reviewer. "…I was really quite blown away with how impressive these guys were live, with such an aura around them that is hard to find…from the powerful piano notes, to the banging of a 'ginormous' drum, to the clip of
Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous mountain top speech, I don't think they could have possibly done more…"
In less than a year, The City Harmonic went from being virtually unknown to international acclaim. Released Oct. 18 on Kingsway with EMI CMG Distribution in the USA, I Have A
Dream (It Feels Like Home) hit No. 1 on iTunes® in Canada, No. 6 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and never left the Top 4 on the iTunes Christian/Gospel US chart in its debut week at retail. The digital single, "Manifesto," has also sold well over 100,000 copies and is the only song from a new artist in 2011 to break into the top 10 of the SoundScan Top Current digital singles sales chart as it's companion music video has been viewed on YouTube by over 1,300,000 people (https://www.youtube.com/thecityharmonic).
"Wowing" the critics, who are using adjectives like "fabulous," "infectious," "exciting," "spectacular," "worshipful," "captivating," "creative," "brilliant" and more to describe the album, I Have A
Dream (It Feels Like Home) became one of two Christian music entries on Google Music's 2011 Favorites list and has been named among the best albums of 2011 by Watchgmctv.com staff, senior music and entertainment editors.
"There is nothing in Christian music that sounds like this. So, so incredibly good! In the still-saturated world of worship, this album was a breath of fresh air. There's a fresh verve and energy in these vertically minded songs, and their obvious passion for God is downright contagious," says www.watchgmctv.com.
The City Harmonic, consisting of Dummer, bassist Eric Fusilier, guitarist
Aaron Powell and drummer Josh Vanderlaan, wrote, recorded and produced all of the songs for I Have A
Dream (It Feels Like Home). From the "now but not yet" tension of earthly Christian living heard in much of the album, including the title track and "Mountaintop," to having hope in the midst of struggle in "Fell Apart" and "Be Still O My Soul," to dealing with apathy in "
Yours" and "
Wake Me Up" and living missionally in "Spark" and "Benediction," the songs take the listener on a poetic journey.
More information on The City Harmonic and its touring can be found at:
www.thecityharmonic.com
https://www.facebook.com/thecityharmonic
https://www.myspace.com/thecityharmonic
https://www.youtube.com/thecityharmonic
https://twitter.com/thecityharmonic
