It's been four years since The Color released an album and two years since they played in front of a live audience, and now they're back.
"We decided we were going to do things a little bit different and include other people in the process of picking the songs," says Jordan Janzen, lead singer of The Color. "Realistically we had never written that many songs for an album before. Going into this one James and I ended up writing 60 songs in total."
The album is called No Greater Love and is being released on Friday. Ten songs ended up on the final version.
"We stumbled upon No Greater Love, which is a song off the album that we released in June. It just fit everything as the song talks about there's no greater love than the love God shows and we felt that this was a reoccurring theme. Whether that be in the form of His strength, or His presence, through hardship His faithfulness, we felt that this was a statement that represented the album as a whole."
The Connections podcast: real life, real faith
With so many songs to choose from, having written many during the lockdown of COVID, the band asked super fans to weigh in.
"We decided to do a panel and get their input on what they thought. We narrowed it down to 25 songs or it might have been 20, and asked them, out of these, what are your top five songs."
Janzen says that the 150 people participating in this found it quite difficult to narrow it down.
"It was worth it and a lot of fun. It was really different and kind of cool."
Finally Playing Shows Again
After two years of staying in one place and offering fans online tours, the group finally played in front of a live audience again, this past weekend.
"We're doing two weekends with the Billy Graham Association of Canada which is something we've had the privilege of doing almost every year, except these COVID years, since 2015," says Janzen. "It's taken us all over the country, to Nunavut, to Whitehorse, Yukon, to Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, really everywhere."
This past weekend, The Color performed in Sudbury, Ontario and on October 23 they will be in London, Ont.
"It's been amazing and kind of strange. In our past experience a lot of people have come out and it's a little different because people are hesitant. It's interesting to see the reality of what COVID has done. It's not going to be necessarily a simple climb out or a return back to normal. At the same time, it's so refreshing to play for people."
During these celebration nights, Billy Graham's grandson, Will is the keynote speaker. Other Christian musicians that join in the evenings are Brooke Nicholls, The Afters, and George Canyon.
"It's a lot of fun, there's a lot of lights and a good show. The most impacting part is watching people respond to the gospel consistently. We look forward to what God is going to do with this coming weekend too."
The Association spends roughly two years in the cities they choose, partnering with local churches to prepare volunteers to connect with people afterward.
"In our ministry, we get a brief look into people's lives and you get an opportunity to speak truth. But this ministry does such a great job of keeping in contact, providing follow-up resources so people are able to connect with the local church and it doesn't become about a single event."
Fri, Apr 19, 5:00 PM
Skilled Trades, Full-time
Featured