Audrey Assad

Audrey Assad

Audrey Assad in 2013
Background information
Birth name Audrey Nicole Assad
Born (1983-07-01) July 1, 1983
Origin Secaucus, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
Years active 2002–present
Labels
Website AudreyAssad.com

Audrey Nicole Assad (born July 1, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and contemporary Christian music artist. Her debut album, The House You're Building, was released through Sparrow Records in July 2010 and went to be named Christian Album of 2010[2] on Amazon.com and the Christian Breakthrough Album of the Year on iTunes.[3] She has worked and toured with other CCM artists such as Chris Tomlin,[4] Tenth Avenue North, Matt Maher and Jars of Clay.[5][6]

Early life

Audrey Assad was born in Secaucus, New Jersey to a Virginian mother and a Syrian father and was raised in a Plymouth Brethren household.[7][8] She started to play the piano at 2 and spent her youth moving around New Jersey before settling in Scotch Plains from ages 7 to 18.[8][9] She attended public school until middle school, where her experience there caused her to ask her mother to homeschool her, which she did.[8] Assad spent her adolescence being homeschooled, working at her father's businesses, and attending church events.[10]

Music career

Early career in Florida

In 2002, when Assad was 18, her family moved to Florida and she spent the next six years there.[11][12][13] At 19 she briefly attended college and supported herself with odd jobs while beginning her musical career, writing and composing songs for the first time. Assad spent the next five years playing at various venues performing original songs and covers. Venues ranged from restaurants, weddings and coffee shops to leading and organizing worship concerts at church.[8][14] Around 2003 Assad recorded a 4-song demo[11] with Drew Middleton, a member of the CCM band Tenth Avenue North at the time, whom Assad toured with occasionally.[13][14]

Nashville and the Firefly EP

In 2008 when Assad was 24, she decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee to continue and focus on her music career. She raised $7,000 from friends and fans to support her move from Florida.[8][15] In Nashville she worked with producers Paul Moak and Phillip LaRue, recording a five song EP, Firefly, which sold at shows and featured a handwritten cover made of a brown paper bag.[11][14] She supported herself by working as a nanny before meeting fellow Catholic musician Matt Maher. Maher took Assad under his wing and brought her to various gigs, where she sang back-up vocals and played sets during his shows. This time together around Maher's home base of Phoenix, Arizona, would later prompt Assad to move there from Nashville.[11] During this time Assad signed on to work as a staff writer for EMI Christian Music Group Publishing, doing songwriting work with other artists.[8]

Sparrow Records

In 2009 Assad signed with Sparrow Records, who had been talking to Assad after the release of her EP.[12] For her first album, Assad then met and played for producer Marshall Altman, who would agree to produce what would become The House You're Building. Altman and Assad recorded the album at the Galt Line Studio in Los Angeles.[11] The House You're Building was released on July 13, 2010, and the title track was featured as a free download on iTunes Discovery Download. The album performed well commercially and critically, going on to become the amazon.com “Best Album of 2010” in the Christian Music category, as well as being the best selling new artist in the Christian Music category of 2010 according to SoundScan. The album reached No. 12 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart and No. 6 on its Heatseekers chart.[16]

Her sophomore album, Heart, was released on February 14, 2012.[17] The album sold 7,300 units in its debut week, an increase of 185 percent over her previous album, and reached No. 18 on the overall iTunes chart.[18][19] In large part it was a further development of the ″piano-driven style and lyrical depth″ that The House You're Building had shown.[20] The track "Sparrow", was released as a single, and similarly did well.[21] "Sparrow" was based on the classic gospel hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow", which Assad has said she loved seeing and hearing in Sister Act 2 when she was young.[22]

Fortunate Fall

Wanting to steer her music closer to liturgical and worship music, and attracted by the economic advantages of independent production, Audrey Assad parted ways with Sparrow Records "on good terms."[23] With the help of her husband, William Price III, Assad ran a Kickstarter campaign that reached double its goal by its finish on April 15, 2013.[24] The proceeds paid for Assad's third studio album, Fortunate Fall, which Assad produced herself under the name "Fortunate Fall Records", as well as a live concert EP, O Happy Fault, and a film of the concert.

Musical style and themes

Assad grew up in a religious household but listened to secular music growing up through her mother's influence, including The Carpenters, James Taylor and Celine Dion, as well as French and Middle Eastern music from her dad's influence.[13] Later she discovered and began listening to Christian music such as the Newsboys, Nichole Nordeman and Cindy Morgan.[5][7] When she was 2 she started playing the piano, but it wasn't until she was 19 when she began leading worship[11] that she started writing and performing her own music. Assad played in local Florida venues with a style she described as folky and "average girl with a guitar/piano stuff".[8] The Firefly EP that she recorded with Paul Moak was also described as folky and rootsy.

Her current style is a mix of religious and non-religious themed songs that draw from her Catholic faith as well as literary references from her love of reading literature and poetry.[7][10][11] A majority of her religious songs are written in a way that emphasizes being sung to God rather than about God.[5][13]

Personal life

Growing up Assad was raised in a Protestant religious household and reconfirmed her faith at the age of 19.[6][7] She converted to Catholicism in 2007 in Florida.[25]

Assad currently lives near Nashville, after living in Phoenix. She is married to William Gene Price III, whom she met in Arizona while on tour with Matt Maher in 2008. The couple married on February 19, 2011 in Phoenix. In October 2013, Assad announced that they were expecting their first child.[26] She gave birth to a son named William G. Price IV in May 2014.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/56618327/audrey-assads-first-indie-record
  2. ↑ "Best Music of 2010". amazon.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Billy Atwell (January 17, 2011). "ITunes and Amazon recognize Catholic musician, Audrey Assad". Catholic Online. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  4. ↑ Staff (March 3, 2010). "Interview with Audrey Assad". Women in Worship. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 RJ Carter (June 25, 2010). "Audrey Assad: Heaven is Breaking Through". The Trades. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  6. 1 2 Rose Rea. "Audrey Assad interview". Radiant. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Bill Lurwick (November 23, 2010). "Audrey Assad:Brick by Brick". New Release Tuesday. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Evan Amos (June 30, 2011). "Audrey Assad interview". Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  9. ↑ Flores, Raúl A. "For openers", San Antonio Express-News, September 11, 2009. Accessed July 21, 2011. "Audrey Assad Young new artist from Scotch Plains NJ weaves her melodic voice with keyboard acoustics and lyrics that explore faith through music."
  10. 1 2 Wendy Griffith (July 7, 2010). "Audrey Assad Explores Faith Walk in New Album". CBN. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Official bio". Sparrow Records. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  12. 1 2 James Christopher Monger. "Allmusic profile". allmusic. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Jen Rose (July 10, 2010). "Audrey Assad: Building Something Special". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  14. 1 2 3 C E Moore (July 8, 2010). "Talkback with C. E. Moore: Sparrow Records recording artist Audrey Assad". TCM. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  15. ↑ Jenna Murphy (August 24, 2010). "A Songstress for the Soul: Part II". Salt + Light. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  16. ↑ Charts, Allmusic
  17. ↑ The Marquee Blog "Ahead of the curve: Weekly pop culture calendar", CNN, February 13, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  18. ↑ Van Pelt, Doug. "Audrey Assad gets five-star reviews". HM. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  19. ↑ UCN (2012-02-23). "Audrey Assad's Heart Receives Rave Reviews, Highest Sales". Urban Christian News. Archived from the original on June 25, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  20. ↑ Carpenter, Chris (2012-02-14). "Heart by Audrey Assad". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  21. ↑ Billboard (2011-11-19). ""Sparrow" - Audrey Assad". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  22. ↑ Goodwin, Hannah. "Audrey Assad speaks to the Heart". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  23. ↑ Stafford, Patrick (2013-04-02). "Audrey Assad Shifts Gears". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  24. ↑ "Audrey Assad's First Indie Record". Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  25. ↑ Toni Rossi (July 28, 2010). "God Has Been a Relentless Pursuer of My Heart". Patheos. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  26. ↑ Audrey Assad profile, February 5, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2011.

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