Former member of celebrated vocal duo Watermark and perennial Female Vocalist of the Year Dove Award nominee, Oklahoma native Nockels began writing and leading worship music with her husband, Nathan, in 1995. In 1996, Passion founder, Louie Giglio, got a hold of their independent release and invited them to attend the very first Passion Conference in Austin, Texas. They’ve continued leading worship with the Passion movement the past 12 years and recently moved to Atlanta, Ga. to be in the founding family of Passion City Church.

Also recently joining the sixstepsrecords family of artists, Nockels was invited to sing vocals with friend and labelmate Chris Tomlin on his spring 2009 headlining tour, which kicked off January 22nd. The tour has already performed in front of 100,000 people in markets including Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Newark, N.J., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, Mich., and San Antonio.

“Everybody has their favorite singer, and amazingly, I’ve been able to sing with my favorite, Christy Nockels, for more than ten years now,” says labelmate Chris Tomlin. “I’m honored that she’s currently out singing with us on the ‘Hello Love Tour.’ Christy has always been part of the Passion family, and I’m excited she’s making new music with sixsteps. I can’t wait for people to hear and start singing these new songs.”

In addition to accompanying Tomlin on vocals, Nockels is debuting her first radio single, “Life Light Up,” on the tour. The single, which went for ads at Christian radio March 6, is currently available to fans for free download at http://www.christynockels.com. The single will appear on the upcoming full-length release, Life Light Up, produced by husband Nathan Nockels, in stores June 2nd.

“Christy’s heart and voice have been a prominent part of the Passion Movement since our earliest days,” says Louie Giglio, sixstepsrecords founder and director. “Out of that friendship, we could not be more excited about this new chapter in Christy’s life and our opportunity to partner with her as a solo artist. We believe her contribution to the music landscape is unique and much needed.”

For more information on Christy Nockels and to hear songs from her upcoming release, visit http://www.christynockels.com/.

About sixstepsrecords:
Founded in 2000 by Louie Giglio, sixstepsrecords (http://www.sixstepsrecords.com/) is a worship label and a division of Passion Conferences. sixstepsrecords’ artists include Chris Tomlin (Hello Love), David Crowder* Band (Remedy), Charlie Hall (The Bright Sadness), Matt Redman (Beautiful News), and Passion (Passion: God of This City). The label partners with Sparrow Records/EMI CMG Label Group for A&R, marketing, sales and distribution operations.

About EMI CMG Label Group:
Brentwood, Tennessee-based EMI CMG Label Group is comprised of Sparrow Records, Forefront Records, and Credential Recordings, in addition to providing A&R and marketing support for sixstepsrecords via a joint venture and licensing partnership. Balancing freedom, discipline, creativity, profitability and ministry, EMI CMG Label Group strives for excellence in artist development. The Label Group is a division of EMI Christian Music Group. For further information, please visit http://www.emicmg.com/.