Genre: Christmas, Pop/Rock
Members: Eddie Carswell (percussion, vocals), Billy Goodwin (vocals, guitar), Michael O'Brien (vocals, piano, keyboards), Matt Butler (keyboards, organ, accordion, cello), Scotty Wilbanks (keyboards, saxophone)
For fans of: 4Him, Aaron*;Jeoffrey, Phillips Craig & Dean
Label: Reunion Records

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In the three years since Reunion Records recording artist NewSong released their last pop album, life has been one explosive surprise after another, something they could never have predicted.

Those surprises came in the form of an unprecedented, nation-wide reaction to the 2000 release of NewSong's poignant Christmas song, "The Christmas Shoes," originally recorded on the group's Sheltering Tree album. Co-written by Carswell, the song tied the record for garnering the No. 1 spot on Billboard's AC chart in just three weeks. The song continued to build momentum in 2001 when NewSong released a beautifully-crafted holiday album titled The Christmas Shoes. A novella based on the song was written by Nashville author Donna VanLiere, and appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list two years in a row. That was followed by a nationally-televised made-for-TV movie, "The Christmas Shoes," produced by CBS and starring actors Rob Lowe ("The West Wing") and Kimberley Williams (Father of the Bride). The television special surpassed its other network competitors and brought in 17 million viewers. In early 2003, the album's success was capped by a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album" and garnered a 2003 Dove Award.

With success on such a large scale, it would have been easy to get caught up in the momentum and bask a little in the glow of the spotlight. "But it really wasn't about us," says NewSong's Eddie Carswell. "It was pretty amazing to see how God orchestrated it all, and it took us completely by surprise. I've always been a big fan of Bob Briner (famed sports agent, television executive and author of Roaring Lambs, a book focusing on the element of excellence for the Christian in the secular business world) and the idea behind Roaring Lambs, so it was nice to see something like this happen, and to feel like we were somehow able to make an impact."

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