Christian musician and songwriter Todd Agnew is making an extra effort to spread the Christmas cheer this holiday season as he prepares to co-headline a Christmas tour and prepares to release a collection of performance tools for churches, using music from his 2006 critically-acclaimed Christmas album Do You See What I See?

While Agnew’s tour across the country with group NewSong won’t kick off until late November, the resource collection he has created will be available starting Sept. 11 along with a repackaged retail version of the album.

Tim McCarty, pastor of Worship Ministries at Edgewoods Baptist Church in Edmonds, Wash., said he was “blown away” by Agnew’s 2006 album and is looking forward to the new resource.

“When I first heard Todd Agnew’s Do You See What I See?, I was just blown away,” he said, according to INO Records, which distributes and markets for Agnew’s label – Ardent Records.

“Besides the stirring music and great vocal lines, I quickly noticed how the entire CD is more of a story than just a bunch of songs. Through the well-thought-out lyrics, Agnew is able to retell the story of Christ’s birth in a fresh, exciting way. I am thrilled to see this new resource set available and I look forward to being able to use this collection in our church.”

The resource collection, packaged as a 2 CD-ROM set, will include a “Full Listening” and “Split Trax Audio” with rehearsal ID points. The “Listening” disc will contain, as an enhancement, sheet music and chord charts both in PDF form and narrations in document form.

The “Split Trax” contains the visual backgrounds and lyric text files for all of the songs. The image backgrounds are designed to help visualize and support the powerful lyrics of the songs, invoke thoughts of what each song means, and inspire listeners to consider what God might have them interpret as they meditate on the story of events that happened so many years ago.

As for Agnew’s engagement with NewSong, “The Christmas Promise Tour” will begin the last weekend of November and run through mid-December. It will also feature U.S. radio-favorite Matthew West and new Ardent Records’ singer/songwriter Joy Whitlock.

“Last year we had the honor of touring with Todd and the enthusiastic feedback we got was overwhelming,” recalled NewSong founder Eddie Carswell, according to INO. “Some of our pastors said this was among the very best combinations of artistry and content they had ever experienced in a Christmas event.

“This year looks to be even more promising!” he added.

Agnew, who not-too-long-ago appeared in the Contemporary Christian market, is best-known for his version of "Amazing Grace" called "Grace Like Rain," which was featured on his first album. He is also known for not wearing shoes on almost every one of his albums, which he says is done to show reverence to Jesus. He also performs barefoot as well.

Used with permission
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