Mark Hall (musician)
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| Mark Hall | |
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| Born | September 14, 1970 McDonough, Georgia, U.S. |
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| Occupation | lead singer for Christian rock band Casting Crowns |
| Website www.castingcrowns.com |
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Mark Hall is the lead vocalist for the Georgia-based Christian rock group, Casting Crowns.
Casting Crowns. A seven-member group made up of all youth pastors Mark was tested for attention deficit disorder as a child. Mark defines himself as “a broken person made whole.” Casting Crowns, began as a student worship band. The lead vocalist and youth pastor of 12 years was Mark Hall. The group initially formed while Mark was serving at First Baptist Dayton Beach in 1999. Other members at that time included: Juan DeVevo (guitar and vocals), Melodee DeVevo (vocals and violin), Hector Cervantes (guitar and vocals), and Darren Hughes (production manager).
After two years of service in Florida, God called Mark Hall and Casting Crowns to Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, GA. Almost immediately upon arriving, the Lord led two more people to join the band - Chris Huffman (bass guitar), and Megan Garrett (keyboard, vocals, accordion). A year later, drummer Andy Williams joined, and thus, Casting Crowns was complete.
The band recorded two independent records that were mainly distributed in the Atlanta area and received much praise. "There was the temptation to send our CDs to record companies," Hall says, "but we prayed about it and came to the realization we needed to keep doing our music our way."
Mark and the rest of the band say they had no desire to get into the music business. Mark was focused as a youth paster and felt that that was where God wanted him to be. In 2003, Casting Crowns with their self-titled album, full of an edgy-pop sound and rich, heart-felt lyrics, debuted with Miller and Chapman serving as co-producers. Their first single, "We Are The Body," which challenges Christians in the church to truly look at the needs of people around them, took off fast and set the group on a whirlwind of activity.
He received e-mails from pastors and their wives talking about what the song's doing in their youth group with their students. People writing to us from California to Finland. Hall says That it is incredible, because he wrote that song for 25 kids in Alabama.
Hall's fundamental message is: "I want to shake people up and help them see that Jesus is not a religion, and God is not a book," Hall says. "You can't pray to a book and you can't draw strength from an idea or standard. "If there's no relationship with Jesus as a person to you, you're in trouble." It's about life, not religion. It's about relationships, not books."
Melanie, Mark’s wife of 17 years, became the band’s manager. Mark affectionately refers to her as “the other half of my brain.” She’s analytical. He’s creative[1]
Mark Hall collected four trophies at the 2008 39th Dove Awards[2]. Hall, who was that night's leading nominee with six, won song of the year and pop/contemporary recorded song of the year for "East to West," which he co-wrote with Bernie Herms.
His participation on the multi-artist worship project "Glory Revealed" brought Hall individual honors for special event album of the year for the CD, as well as inspirational recorded song of the year for "By His Wounds."
His band also had four nominations and won three: group of the year, best pop/contemporary album of the year for "The Altar and the Door" and pop/contemporary recorded song of the year for "East to West."
Contents |
[edit] Discography
- Casting Crowns (2003)
- Live from Atlanta (double disc with live CD and live DVD) (2004)
- Lifesong (2005)
- Lifesong Live (double disc with CD and DVD) (2006)
- Casting Crowns Gift Edition (re-release of 2003's Casting Crowns with bonus music videos, live footage, etc. on a bonus DVD) (2007)
- The Altar and the Door (August 28, 2007)
[edit] Books
- Lifestories by Mark Hall
