Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, February 2014: TobyMac, Skillet and LeCrae Join Forces to Thrill Crowds on Summer Shed Tour

TobyMac, Skillet and LeCrae Join Forces to Thrill Crowds on Summer Shed Tour

Three of the industry's best selling, most-awarded and critically acclaimed artists to hit seven select markets this May

NEWS SOURCE: The M Collective
February 19, 2014

Nashville, Tenn. (February 19, 2014) - Three of the industry's best-selling, most-awarded and critically acclaimed artists, TobyMac, Skillet and LeCrae, are joining forces to thrill crowds on an exclusive summer shed tour. With each act also known for their energetic and diverse live performances, fans in each of the select seven cities are sure to get the show of a lifetime. Tickets go on sale to the mass public on March 1, with a special presale for artist fan clubs at 10am local venue time on February 27 through 10pm on February 28.

Since last fall and continuing through April, TobyMac has been touring the country on his "Hits Deep Tour." The national tour has been selling out venues and playing to packed houses including an emotional set at the Madison Square Garden theatre in New York City. Last week, cable's top-rated morning show Fox & Friends and VEVO.com world premiered the GRAMMY® winner's music video for his current multi-week No. 1 hit "Speak Life" from his GRAMMY®-award winning and No. 1 Billboard 200 record, EYE ON IT. Currently the video has been viewed over 100,000 times and can be seen here.

After spending last fall rocking Europe opening for Nickelback, Skillet kicked off the year co-headlining The Roadshow, and will tour with Third Day on 20 more domestic dates throughout the spring. Skillet was recently named HM Magazine's Best Band of 2013, New Release Tuesday's Best Rock/Alternative Artist or Group of 2013, and their best-selling 2013 release RISE was named mainstream online rock site Loudwire's Best Rock Album, besting Pearl Jam, Avenged SevenFold and more. Loudwire and NewReleaseTuesday.com recently debuted the music video for Skillet's latest No. 1 Christian rock single, "Not Gonna Die," which is also climbing the mainstream active rock chart, currently at No. 11 with a bullet.

Since the release of Lecrae's GRAMMY® award winning album Gravity, Lecrae's mainstream and Christian audiences and platforms have continued to expand, reflected in his features in TIME, Entertainment Weekly, XXL, The Source, Vibe, and other mainstream media outlets. He was named the NFL Players Choice Performer during Super Bowl XLVII Weekend in New Orleans, due to his positive lyrical messages over hard and gritty hip-hop beats, which appeals to a generation of fans that find his music not only enlightening but also entertaining. Finishing up his tour with Rock the Bells this past fall, Lecrae released the second volume of his mixtape series, Church Clothes, which sold over 40K units after being downloaded over 150,000 times. Lecrae is currently co-headlining Winter Jam with the Newsboys, which has been Pollstar's Worldwide 1st Quarter Ticket Sales Chart topping tour for the past three years.

May Summer Shed Tour with TobyMac, Skillet and LeCrae:
May 1 Austin, TX / Austin360 Amphitheater/ Tickets @ TicketMaster.com
May 2 Oklahoma City, OK / Zoo Amphitheatre/ Tickets @ ProTixOnline.com
May 3 Rio Rancho, NM / Santa Ana Star Center/ Tickets @ ComcastTix.com
May 4 Denver, CO / Red Rocks Amphitheater/ Tickets @ Itickets.com

May 8 Little Rock, AR / First Security Amphitheater (Formerly Riverfest Amphitheater)/ Tickets @ Itickets.com
May 9 St Louis, MO / Verizon Wireless Amphitheater/ Tickets @ TicketMaster.com
May 10 Memphis, TN / Mud Island Amphitheatre/ Tickets @ TicketMaster.com
* TICKETS GO ON SALE at 10am locally on Saturday, MARCH 1st.

About TobyMac:
With over 11 million units in career sales, TobyMac's career continues on the fast track. His most recent project, EYE ON IT, garnered him the GRAMMY® Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and the highest chart debut of his solo career landing at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and topping the iTunes® Overall and Christian sales charts. The project made TobyMac one of only four artists to ever debut atop the Billboard Top 200 with a Christian music album. His previous four solo projects have received RIAA Gold certification and his live DVD, Alive & Transported, is certified platinum by the RIAA and received a GRAMMY® award. His 2009 album Tonight received GRAMMY® nods for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album and Best Contemporary Christian Song. In less than 15 months, TobyMac has received two GRAMMY® awards, two Billboard Music Awards for Top Christian Artist and Top Christian Album, his first American Music Award for Favorite Artist in the Contemporary/Inspirational category, Dove Awards for "Artist of the Year," "Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year," "Recorded Music Packaging of the Year," "Short Form Video of the Year," KLOVE Music Awards for "Artist of the Year" and swept the 2013 Australian Music Awards.

[Get Connected with TobyMac]
Website // http://www.tobymac.com
Twitter // https://twitter.com/therealtobymac
Facebook // http://www.facebook.com/tobymac
YouTube // http://www.youtube.com/tobymacmusic
iTunes // http://toby.cta.gs/02r

About Skillet:
Over the course of the past few years, GRAMMY® nominated and platinum selling rock band Skillet has sold more than two million units in the U.S., racked up more than 150 million YouTube views and amassed a diehard following (dubbed Panheads) whose members number over four million on Facebook alone. Their 2013 release RISE debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Billboard Rock and Christian charts, which led to a No. 1 radio hit for "American Noise" and "Sick Of It." RISE also gave Skillet their late night television debut on CONAN. RISE follows the band's 2009 blockbuster, Awake, which was recently certified platinum for sales in excess of one million copies in the U.S and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. In addition, the record hit No. 1 on the iTunes® Top Albums Chart, garnered three Billboard Music Awards and spawned four hit singles including the No. 1 Active Rock smash and gold-certified "Awake & Alive," the gold-certified "Hero," "It's Not Me It's You" and the platinum-certified "Monster." "Monster" lived up to its name, selling more than a million copies and hitting Top 5 at Active Rock radio (the first in a string of multiple Top 5 active rock hits), while its companion video has generated over 47 million YouTube views. Skillet was the only active rock band to achieve RIAA Platinum Certification in 2012, and was one of only three rock bands (the other two being Mumford & Sons and The Black Keys) to strike platinum in 2012. Skillet is made up of John Cooper, Korey Cooper, Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison.

[Get Connected with Skillet]
Website // http://www.skillet.com
Twitter // http://twitter.com/skilletmusic
Facebook // http://www.facebook.com/skilletmusic
YouTube // http://www.youtube.com/skilletband

About LeCrae:
What began as a way to reach the youth in a nearby juvenile detention center, through hip-hop, eventually became chart topping success as a critically acclaimed rapper, with over 1.8 million collective album sales. In the past two years, Lecrae has released 3 genre-redefining projects. He dropped his first mixtape in 2012, Church Clothes, hosted by Don Canon, which went double platinum on Datpiff, garnering over 500,000 downloads and debuting #10 on iTunes as an EP. Following that, in probably what was a major upset in Gospel music, Lecrae made history as the first hip-hop artist to win a GRAMMY® award in the Best Gospel Album category for his sixth studio album Gravity. Gravity debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200, #1 on the Rap Charts, and #1 Independent with over 73K units sold during its first week. The album featured key production from GRAMMY® award winning producers DJ Khalil and Heat Academy. He also celebrated video premieres of his singles "Mayday," "Fakin'," and "Confessions" on BET and MTV. Along with the biggest win of his career, Lecrae was also nominated for a Billboard Award, BET Award and Soul Train Award, and won a Dove Award. Lecrae closed out an incredible 2013 on several major tours, including Rock the Bells, and put out his second mixtape, Church Clothes 2, which has sold over 40K units after being downloaded over 150,000 times.

[Get Connected with Lecrae]
Website // http://www.lecrae.com
Twitter // http://twitter.com/lecrae
Facebook // http://www.facebook.com/Lecrae
YouTube // http://www.youtube.com/user/reachrecords
iTunes // http://smarturl.it/lecraeitunes

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For more info on TobyMac visit the JFH Artists Database.
For more info on Lecrae visit the JFH Artists Database.
For more info on Skillet visit the JFH Artists Database.
For more info on Tedashii visit the JFH Artists Database.
For more info on Capital Kings visit the JFH Artists Database.
For more info on We As Human visit the JFH Artists Database.