DeMarcus also announced the appointment of industry veteran DON KOCH as general manager during the event as well as announcing the inaugural signings to the new label: female vocalist LAUREN JAMES and iconic vocal group, AVALON. Both artists performed during the event, giving the invitation-only VIP audience full of industry and media a sneak-peak at the first offerings set to arrive from RED STREET RECORDS.

DeMarcus shared his thoughts exclusively with Billboard, who broke the news yesterday, saying: "I always feel like I'm going back home every time I do work over there [in Christian music] because that's where I started. I grew up in the church and loved contemporary Christian music. I go back to the early days of when it first started with the likes of Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. Those people that really pioneered are heroes of mine. It's great to always 'come back home' and feel like I've never skipped any time. They've always welcomed me back with open arms. We just played the Doves the other night with Jason Crabb and they always feel like family to me. I want to be a part of bringing more visibility to the Christian music genre and give it some platforms that it may not have had before. I feel like as blessed as we've been with Rascal Flatts, I might be able through some of my own connections and avenues to give them some visibility in arenas they've never had before. That's what I hope to be able to do."

This is a natural evolution for DeMarcus – he's kept his hands in the Christian music world for years, producing Reba's award-winning Christian music project, Sing It Now, along with artists Jason Crabb and the Martins, among others.

More information about new releases will be forthcoming from Red Street Records.

For more information on Red Street Records, visit www.redstreetrecords.net.

For more info on Avalon, visit the JFH Artists Database.