[Mickey]

Nashville, TN - June 27, 2002 - Coming off a highly successful year for a new artist, New Artist of the Year nominee Joy Williams is back in the studio working on her sophomore project set to release October 8, 2002. In the studio with multiple GRAMMY and Dove Award winning producer Brown Bannister, Joy has stretched herself as an artist, writing half of the songs for the new project.

"Brown has taught me to be confident when going against the grain and to simply write and sing what I'm feeling. I feel safe to dream and stick my neck out when working with him," says Joy.

"One of the great revelations I had on Joy is that we have an artist emerging here," says Bannister. "I have discovered that Joy is more than a great singer-she has great creative instinct. She will have her fingerprints all over this album."

With less programmed drums and more acoustic guitar, the new album moves away from the "dance-pop" sound of her self-titled debut, creating more of a "live band" feel, reminiscent of the sounds of Sheryl Crow or Nelly Furtado.

Even as Joy moves forward on the new album, the impact of her first year continues to be noticed by the media as the CNN network includes her in a segment on Christian music next week, which will also feature Third Day, All Together Separate and Delirious. The segment is part of CNN Student News and will be aired on CNN July 2 at 4:00 a.m. EDT. CNN Student News will also carry the feature into schools across the country, where it is viewed by over 500,000 students daily. A preview of the feature is slated to run on CNN's Web site www.cnn.com/fyi.

Joy kicked off 2002 on tour with Avalon and Mark Schultz and performed at the 10th Annual MOVIEGUIDE Awards in Los Angeles. In April she was nominated for a New Artist of the Year Dove Award by the Gospel Music Association. Performing this summer at Atlanta Fest, Alive Fest, Celebrate Freedom, Night of Joy and Spirit West Coast among others, Joy will be seen by over one million people by summer's end.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Nashville-based Reunion Records and its affiliated labels, Brentwood Records, Diadem Music and Benson Records, are distributed through Provident Music Distribution and through partnerships with mainstream parent company, Zomba Music. In addition to Joy Williams, Reunion Records is home to Michael W. Smith, Kathy Troccoli, NewSong, LaRue, Jake and Daily Planet.

Photo Caption: In between songwriting and recording, Joy Williams and Brown Bannister pause for a photo at Brown's studio, The Tiki Room.

For much more on Joy Williams, click here