"I have admired Page CXVI for years and was thrilled to get a call from them about a collaboration," states Webb. "I was even more thrilled at their desire for experimentation and disruption. And once I heard Latifah's voice and the band's soaring melodies over the non-organic and electronic elements we were playing with, I wondered if they might have missed their calling. It takes truly great songs to work so beautifully and believably over such diverse arrangements. And that's what these are."

The band's three members-Latifah Phillips and husband Reid and Dann Stockton-came to love hymns independently, even before they came together as the band The Autumn Film. A few years into touring as The Autumn Film and leading worship and churches around the country, the band could not deny the strong beckoning of the hymns and decided to develop a parallel band, another side of the same coin: the same people but a new purpose, catalog, and name, Page CXVI. The somewhat cryptic name was drawn from the page number in a particular copy of The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, in the passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void.

The group's overnight success began when they recorded their first Hymns collection. After deciding to give the album away online, sending emails to around 60 friends to spread the word, John Piper's blog, "Desiring God," posted a free download, turning in 12,000 downloads in only two days. The group has since recorded four Hymns albums and toured nationwide.

About Page CXVI:
After forming the group, The Autumn Film, band members Reid and Latifah Phillips and Dann Stockton were leading worship at churches and could not deny the strong beckoning of the hymns. They decided to develop a parallel band; the same people but a new purpose of making hymns accessible again under the new name, Page CXVI. The somewhat cryptic name was intentional. It's drawn from the page number in a particular copy of The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, the brilliant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void. Since the formation of this new project, the band has recorded four Hymns albums and have toured "just about every state." Page CXVI also has a lullaby album of hymns that will be released this coming fall.

About Derek Webb:
A former member of the Houston, Texas-based Caedmon's Call, singer-songwriter Derek Webb has seen career sales approaching one million records, 10 Dove Award nominations, a Billboard Music Video Award nod and six No.1 radio hits. Webb's innovative music marketing and distribution strategies have received national news coverage in USA Today and the Los Angeles Times.

For more info on Derek Webb visit the JFH Artists Database.

 

 

 

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