Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, September 2008: JIMMY NEEDHAM ACHIEVES NEW PERSONAL BEST WITH FIRST WEEK SALES NUMBERS

JIMMY NEEDHAM ACHIEVES NEW PERSONAL BEST WITH FIRST WEEK SALES NUMBERS

Sophomore Album Debuts in Top 5 on iTunes Christian Album Sales Chart

Singer-Songwriter Sets Out on BarlowGirl “Million Voices” Tour Next Week

NEWS SOURCE: Savvy Media
September 3, 2008

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Sept. 3, 2008 –Inpop Records’ singer/songwriter Jimmy Needham celebrates his best-ever sales debut with Not Without Love, released Aug. 19. The album’s lead single, “A Breathe Or Two,” is currently making its way up the Radio & Records CHR chart, at No. 13 this week, and Needham will set out on BarlowGirl’s “Million Voices” headlining tour on Sept. 12.

Not Without Love debuted in the top five on iTunes’ Christian Albums chart and landed at No. 8 on both the Christian AC Soundscan and Overall Christian Digital charts. Not Without Love marks a new personal best for Needham, selling more than five times the initial week sales of his debut project, Speak.

“This street week number is exceptional,” says Dale Bray, Inpop Records president. “Jimmy has worked long and hard to establish a solid, credible ministry and music career, built on a mix of hard work and God-given talent. Jimmy has a strong ability to communicate with people, and it’s pleasing to see the community react so strongly. Jimmy renews the belief that people do want quality art and performances that seek God first.”

Also forecasting the album’s success is debut radio single “A Breathe Or Two,” which is No. 13 with upward momentum this week on the CHR chart. Additionally, the second single from Not Without Love, “Hurricane,” is currently “New and Active” on the Radio & Records AC Indicator chart.

And after wrapping a street week promotional run that included visits with The Fish and Way-FM in Nashville, Tenn., Atlanta’s Gospel Music Channel and WVFJ-FM, as well as shows in Spring, Texas, Brentwood, Tenn., and Katy, Texas, with an upcoming CD release concert at Texas A&M, Needham will head out on BarlowGirl’s fall “Million Voices” tour next week. Kicking off in Needham’s native Houston on Sept. 12, the tour, additionally featuring Brooke Barrettsmith, will go through mid-November and focus on encouraging audiences to speak hope, truth and love to others. For a complete tour listing, visit: www.barlowgirl.com

Filled with bluesy guitar as well as powerful piano ballads, Not Without Love covers a range of musical sounds and lyrical topics. Opening track “Come Around” is a rollicking melody that captures the album’s heartbeat: the futility of zeal without love. Closely related is “Forgiven and Loved,” a meandering guitar ballad in which Needham prays for head knowledge to become heart knowledge. The newlywed Needham is also happy to include some bona fide love songs on Not Without Love, such as a lighthearted, quirky ode to marital bliss, “Firefly,” and the more romantic “Unfailing Love,” which he wrote as a proposal to his wife Kelly. For more information on Jimmy Needham and Not Without Love, visit www.jimmyneedham.com or www.myspace.com/jimmyneedham.

Founded in 1999 by newsboys frontman Peter Furler, artist manager Wes Campbell and Inpop President Dale Bray, Inpop Records is home to a variety of artists including newsboys, Superchick, Shane & Shane and Mat Kearney, among others. For more information, visit www.inpop.com.

CAPTION: Jimmy Needham performs "Unfailing Love" with wife Kelly on Saturday, Aug. 23 at Owl Creek Park in Brentwood, Tenn. The street week concert was one of several to celebrate the release of Needham's sophomore album, Not Without Love.

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