Selling more units each week than the week before since its March 3 launch on the Lucid Artist label, God Of This City again captures the top position on the Christian Retail and Praise & Worship charts while moving up seven slots this week to land at No. 106 on the Billboard Top 200.

"Christian retailers have really caught the vision for Bluetree and have effectively helped launch a new breakout band," says Greg Lucid, Lucid Artist CEO. "The support for Bluetree by music fans at Christian retailers across the nation has been overwhelming."

With an unabashed attitude of worship running through all of the songs on God Of This City, the album also reflects the highs and lows that inevitably come with the journey of faith. The story of the song "Each Day," for instance, while it is ultimately an upbeat declaration of a believer's unwavering trust in God, it was actually born out of a season of struggle. When Bluetree lead vocalist/guitarist Aaron Boyd sings, "You never leave me alone/Even when storms cloud my way/And I can't see the breaking day/You never leave me alone," the lyrics were crafted by him in response to finding out his daughter Lily was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis not long after birth.

"When I first heard the news, I freaked out. I didn't even know what cystic fibrosis was," Boyd shares. "This thing just rocks your world because you really begin to look at what you believe. God is a loving God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And I know He does not bless you with an incurable disease to teach you a lesson. He does not do that. So I suppose I got to a place where I struggled, even when I knew that God is a good God."

And that's exactly what Boyd hopes that listeners will experience when listening to Bluetree—hope not necessarily dictated by circumstance—the moment when God does some of His best work and shaping.

Critics from the Lexington Herald-Leader, Belfast Telegraph and StereoTruth.net to Worship Leader, ChristianMusicToday.com, CBN.com and CBA Retailer + Resources and more are heralding Bluetree's God Of This City, describing it as "stunning debut album," "inspired and inspiring," "an experience," and calling the band the "next big leader" and "freshest sounding" with "compelling musicality." And the praise continues:

"…I dare not commit the sacrilege of comparing a new band to the greatness of U2, well, watch out for these guys…Bluetree transports the listener from their time and place into absolutely symphonic satisfaction through guitars, rhythm, and electronics…Bluetree brings an experience of powerful, real worship that moves with the undercurrent of a gritty, real-life faith." – Wrecked For The Ordinary

"…this is not just some carbon copy act, looking for fame by imitating the successful artists in their genre… Its excellent production, strong songs, sense of praise and sensitive pacing make it one of the best worship debuts I can think of." – www.tollbooth.org

"This is an excellent straight-ahead rock record in the tradition of Delirious? and U2." – Alpha and Omega

As music fans and church congregations begin to experience the song "Each Day," one of Bluetree's songs that is already being sung in churches across the world is the new album's title track, "God Of This City." With the Willow Creek Association recently concluding its worship pastor seminar with the song, it was also recorded by Chris Tomlin and Passion and became the name and theme for the latest Passion project and world tour.

Written by Bluetree during a mission trip and while the band was on stage performing worship songs in the Climax Bar, a club which doubles as a brothel in the Red Light district of Pattaya, Thailand, "God Of This City" became a message of hope for the people of Pattaya and beyond.

Receiving an R&R Most Added nod again this week, "God Of This City" continues to gain momentum at radio, landing at No. 30 on the R&R AC Christian Monitor chart and climbing.

Learn more about Bluetree at http://www.lucidcreativeservices.com/bluetree, www.givmusic.com/bluetree.

 

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