{"id":1371894,"date":"2018-09-20T13:03:20","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T17:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/?p=1371894"},"modified":"2018-09-20T13:04:09","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T17:04:09","slug":"jordan-feliz-contemporary-christian-music-from-the-heart-with-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2018\/09\/20\/jordan-feliz-contemporary-christian-music-from-the-heart-with-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Feliz: Contemporary Christian music from the heart, with soul"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BGPMX4zU9jc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Jordan Feliz rocked the contemporary Christian music market with his 2016 album \u201cThe River,\u201d which solidified him as one of CCM\u2019s fastest-rising artists and earned him a Dove Award for Best New Artist. The title track, which was his debut single, reached Gold status recently, selling 500,000 units. The song was also a No. 1 radio hit and received a GMA Dove Award nomination for Pop\/Contemporary Song of the Year and a K-LOVE (a contemporary Christian music radio programming service) Fan Award nomination for Breakout Single of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>Riding high on those accolades, in March of this year, Feliz released his second album, \u201cFuture,\u201d hitting No. 1 on the Christian album charts. It features the new single, \u201cWitness,\u201d which made it into the Top 10 for Christian radio play.<\/p>\n<p>Can he get an amen?!<\/p>\n<p>Feliz will join fellow CCM artist Matthew West (\u201cHello, My Name Is,\u201d \u201cBroken Things,\u201d \u201cStrong Enough,\u201d \u201cMercy Is a Song\u201d which features Feliz) on the grandstand stage Saturday. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., the show at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which include gate admission to the fair, are $25 grandstand annex, $35 grandstand and $40 track reserved.<\/p>\n<h5>Music with a mission<\/h5>\n<p>The California native knew at age 13 that music was his gift. He was a senior in high school and already playing with a band when a member of the heavy metal band A Current Affair asked him to join them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got a MySpace message from a dude who had heard me play an acoustic show at a coffeehouse,\u201d Feliz said in a recent phone interview from his home in Nashville. \u201cHe said, \u2018My band needs someone to play keyboards.\u2019 I was in a band at the time so I said no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But over the following weeks, \u201cI felt like I needed to meet them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were using right lyrics, good lyrics, talking about Jesus in ways not many others were [in music]. I\u2019m not a huge metal person, but I loved their mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was with them for about five years until they disbanded. A Current Affair played on the Warped Tour and also performed at other prominent national music venues, which opened some doors for Feliz.<\/p>\n<h5>The rest is His story<\/h5>\n<p>After his time with A Current Affair, Feliz was worship leader at a church and felt compelled to write Christian music but with his own sound. Growing up listening to R&amp;B artists like Sam Cooke and Earth, Wind &amp; Fire, Feliz knew those early groove-funk-soul singers were the kind of influences from which he wanted to draw.<\/p>\n<p>Packing up the car, he and his wife, Jamie, headed to Nashville \u2014 without enough money to make the trip. He picked up gigs along the way and actually ended the trip with a little cash in hand. But finding people in the industry excited about his plan was not as easy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did get some resistance,\u201d he said. \u201cIt took about two years to find a producer and songwriters that believed in me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He found kindred spirits in producers Josh Silverburg and Colby Wedgeworth (who also co-wrote \u201cThe River\u201d) and songwriter Paul Duncan (\u201cWitness\u201d co-writer).<\/p>\n<p>While the music flowed for his debut EP, Feliz hit a wall with the second album. Still, despite the challenges, \u201cThe River\u201d had captured accolades from fans and the music industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt did really well,\u201d said Feliz, now 28. \u201cI was stoked about that record and seeing people enjoy the songs on it. Then I realized I have to do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A couple of interviewers had asked him how it felt to look back on what was probably the best work of his career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt kind of messed me up \u2014 I actually started believing it,\u201d Feliz said.<\/p>\n<p>Anxiety plagued him for about six months as he imagined all his plans for his family would come crashing down.<\/p>\n<p>In a songwriting session with Wedgeworth and Duncan, the friends questioned him about his doubts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPaul said, \u2018Hey dude, your complete future has already been worked out by God,\u2019\u201d he explained. \u201c\u2019You cannot control your success or failure. We just want to do the things God wants us to do with what He has given us.\u2019 I tricked myself into thinking that if I had control, it would be better. [What Paul said] was like a weight lifted off my shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Forty-five minutes later, they had written the song \u201cWitness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s how \u2018Future\u2019 came to be,\u201d Feliz said. \u201cI felt this new source of energy and excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That excitement and release of fear is evident in the uplifting lyrics and fresh, upbeat music of \u201cThe River\u201d and \u201cFuture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWitness\u201d is a reminder that \u201cno matter where you are in life, we have the Creator of the Universe, God, who we know to be the Sovereign,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about acknowledging God\u2019s sovereignty in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The song \u201cAll Along\u201d is, perhaps, his favorite track on the album. The autobiographical song is one he wanted to write since moving to Nashville six years ago. But every time he started writing, it came out as a slow ballad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want it to be that,\u201d Feliz said. \u201cJesus has been with me my entire life. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m depressed about it. I\u2019m excited about it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lyrics also mention meeting the girl who would later be his wife, whom he met on vacation when he was 15. She lived in Chicago, he in California.<\/p>\n<p>In the video for \u201cCount That High,\u201d which talks about all the blessings of God in life, Feliz, along with his wife and daughter, Jolie, now 3, pose with a sonogram photo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, that was our baby announcement to the world,\u201d he says with a laugh. Baby Judah was then born in August.<\/p>\n<p>On stage, Feliz said he just keeps it real.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy hope is that [the audience] will just experience Christian music in a new light and a new way, and experience the joy of Jesus,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to share the love of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Can he get a witness?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jordan Feliz rocked the contemporary Christian music market with his 2016 album \u201cThe River,\u201d which solidified him as one of CCM\u2019s fastest-rising artists and earned him a Dove Award for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":1371895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,12],"class_list":["post-1371894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-concerts","tag-festivals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1371894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1371894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1371894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1371895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1371894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1371894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1371894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}