A Chris Tomlin Christmas

It may be just a day after Labor Day, but Christmas album news continues to roll in. Chris Tomlin just announced his first ever holiday project, Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship, releasing October 6. The album will feature several familiar favorites ("Angels We Have Heard on High," "O Holy Night,"), four new tunes, and even an old twist on a classic: "Joy to the World" appears in all its holiday glory, though Tomlin has added a new refrain.

The album will feature several guest collaborators, including longtime Passion pals Matt Redman and Christy Nockels, along with singer/songwriter Audrey Assad and producer Ed Cash. The project was recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville (formerly a church), which Tomlin filled with several of his friends and fellow worship leaders to provide inspiration during the sessions.?

"Christmas is a time when people who may not have sung a song the whole year, or their entire life, begin to sing," Tomlin said in a press release. "There is something about a Christmas song, whether it's sung at church or heard by carolers on the street, that gets people to join in song. They sing these timeless songs proclaiming that God has come, has entered this world and made a way for us."

For the second straight week, Skillet scored well on the secular charts, landing its new CD Awake at the No. 2 spot of the Billboard 200. The project sold 67,611 copies in its first week, also No. 1 on SoundScan's Contemporary Christian sales chart. Meanwhile, the single "Monster" was chosen as the theme song for the ACC college football season, as part of the soundtrack for MTV's Bully Beatdown, and in the upcoming video game "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010."

A teaser single hit online sites in June, but since then, BeBe & CeCe Winans have been mum on the reunion news. However, the famed brother/sister duo broke their silence to officially set the October 6 street date for Still, which marks their first studio CD together in over 15 years after each pursuing solo paths. The project features eleven new songs, including the already released "Close to You," along with guest appearances from Marvin Winans and Mary Mary.

The fifth annual Guitar Player's Guitar Superstar competition, set for Saturday, September 12 in California, will feature a Christian guitar wiz, Krisz Simonfalvi, whose amazing fretwork can be seen in this video.

Relient K, now on the Mono Vs. Stereo Records in the Christian market and JIVE Records on the secular side, continues in its pop/punk direction on Forget and Not Slow Down, landing October 6. Check the band's recent "In the Studio" webisodes to see their progress—and look closely for a cameo from legendary country star Vince Gill.

Veteran rock band Third Day just scored the 27th No. 1 single of its career with "Born Again" (featuring Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley). The news comes on the heels of the group's recent induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, which finds them alongside Ray Charles, Otis Redding, James Brown, Little Richard, Dottie Rambo, Gladys Knight, R.E.M., Alan Jackson and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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