[Jonular]

One of the premier songwriters of today, sixsteps/Sparrow Records' Chris Tomlin, known for writing "Forever," "We Fall Down," "The Wonderful Cross," "Famous One" and more anthems sung by millions of people each week in churches around the world, receives his first No. 1 radio hit. "Indescribable," the debut single from his widely acclaimed, Sept. 21 release, Arriving, has climbed all the way to No. 1 on the R & R AC Monitor chart, while holding the No. 1 position on R & R's AC Indicator and PDAdvisor's Top 20 AC charts for three consecutive weeks. The song is also No. 2 and No. 6 and climbing on the CRW and Billboard AC charts, respectively.

Arriving producer Ed Cash calls the song "one of the best songs I've ever heard." "It is the kind of song with the anthemic appeal of Darlene Zcech's 'Shout to the Lord' or Tim Hughes' 'Here I Am to Worship'…expect to hear it for some time to come," agrees CCM Magazine.

"As radio programmers have connected with Chris Tomlin around the country over the last couple of years, they have been waiting for a single like this from him," reflects Grant Hubbard, EMI CMG vice president, national promotion. "We knew after hearing 'Indescribable' for the first time what kind of potential it had, and it's exciting to see that potential turn into such a great response from both radio and its listeners across the country."

As the momentum for the single and the album continues, last week ChristianityToday.com named the project a top pick for its favorite worship album of the year. Knight Ridder News Service also gives the album a four-out-of-four star rating, saying, "Whether you sing along at church or listen in your car, these 11 songs will inspire you."

With more than 42,000 units sold in just four weeks, Arriving debuted at No. 1 on the Praise & Worship chart, No. 3 on the Top Current Contemporary Christian chart and No. 39 on the Billboard Top 200. Tomlin's fastest selling recording to date, Arriving more than quadrupled the debut sales of his lauded sophomore release, Not To Us, and received a mention in USA Today for its sales success.

In addition to radio and CDs, people will be able to hear songs from Arriving as Tomlin travels with Steven Curtis Chapman on his 70-city, six-month All Things New tour, which began Oct. 21 and will be in Fresno, CA tonight. Tomlin will be performing in the middle slot with opener Casting Crowns on this major market tour. Rooted in Passion's collegiate movement that the New York Times calls "Christian Music's New Wave," Tomlin is further finishing his first book, The Way I Was Made, which is slated to release on Multnomah early next year.

Additional Chris Tomlin information, tour dates, etc., can be found at www.christomlin.com, as well as at www.emicmg.com, www.sixstepsrecords.com or here.

Founded in 2000 by Louie Giglio, sixstepsrecords (www.sixstepsrecords.com) is a young worship label and a division of Choice Resources, the parent ministry for Passion Conferences. In addition to Tomlin, sixstepsrecords' artist-worshippers include David Crowder Band (Illuminate), Charlie Hall (On The Road To Beautiful) and Matt Redman (Facedown). The label partners with Sparrow Records for marketing, sales and distribution operations.

This article, which I first saw on Chris Tomlin's site, omits the most important bit of information...the name of the song's writer, Laura Story. This article would lead any uninformed reader to believe that Chris Tomlin wrote this song himself. Laura recorded this song herself a couple of years ago, and more than one CCM group expressed interest in it. Tomlin's bass player, Jesse Reeves, is listed as providing "additional lyrics," but all he did was change Laura's original lyric "a very big God" to "amazing God" in the chorus.