“It’s Been Beautiful”

David Crowder Band leaves an intentional musical legacy for the church

Those living the intentional life in Christ understand the value of embracing change, and longtime fans of the David Crowder Band have been doing just that.

After the completion of the 2011 “The 7 Tour” and the release of their sixth album, the group announced it would disband. “It was not a very difficult decision,” Crowder said. “When we first got into things, we didn’t want to be too presumptuous and think that this might have some longevity to it, because this is a band, and as far as job security goes, that’s not what you get into it for.”

“We had this arc, where all these records were connected to each other, and each had a sibling, and we could never see past the last record. Once we got close to the end of our contract, everyone was feeling the same thing… that we’re supposed to head someplace different,” Crowder said. “Even though it doesn’t make a lot of sense culturally speaking, it’s really a great thing to know that you’re headed where you should be.”

“The way I’m wired, I just love making music for the church to sing, so there will be some of that in my future.”

The band played its final show at the Passion 2012 Conference on January 3 at the Georgia Dome following the releases of Give Us Rest (A Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys]) and the holiday collection Oh for Joy. Crowder has formed a new band that will be making their first performance at the Creation East Festival in June 2012. The other members of the group have also formed a new group, called “The Digital Age,” and are opening a recording studio in Waco, Texas.

Crowder said the start of work on Give Us Rest… was a landmark time for the band. “Even as we were getting ready to start it, there was this real sense of, ‘This is our last time to make a collection of songs for people and for the church,’ and so there was this very present sense that we’ve got to get this thing right,” Crowder said.

“I couldn’t be happier about how it turned out. It was a very ambitious thing we took on. We did a requiem mass, which is one of the oldest forms of music we have in the church. We thought that this was really going to be a mountain to climb, but it turns out it was one of the easiest things we’ve ever made,” he said. “The content being so rich and deep and having so much to draw from; we had a container, it was just to insert ourselves into it, and it was amazing. We had the best time we’ve had making music.”

“It has absolutely been an honor and privilege to have God use these simple words and melodies to hopefully affect lives. It’s been beautiful.”