The release of Caedmon's Call's "In the Company of Angels II:  The World Will Sing" is still two months off, but beginning this week eager fans can get a sampling of the upcoming album with the first single. The worship tune "Great and Mighty" is making the rounds at radio and is also available for digital download here at SongTouch.

We sat down with Cliff Young & Co. when the Texas-based band was in Nashville recently to preview the new album for label staffers and media. Topics ranged from "why another worship album?" to India's caste system and the band's relief work with Dalit Network.

As for that worship question, it will be an ongoing thing. "We should be able to put out a record a year of worship songs," Young says not just of Caedmon's but of all Christian musicians and songwriters. But their mission as a band goes beyond that just feeding the proverbial flock.

"We have a responsibility to encourage missionary work and also edify the church," band member Garrett Buell explains. That two-fold purpose is lived out in the music the band is making. After the release of this second "Angels" disc, they already have plans to dive into "Share the Well II," a follow-up to their "Share the Well" disc, which focused on global outreach and aid, inspired by their work with the Dalit Network in India.

As far as the band is concerned, that emphasis on outreach will only grow in coming years. They imagine putting on Dalit Freedom Festivals in the U.S. where they bring together colleges and churches for two-day events featuring concerts, breakout sessions, speakers and native musicians from India. They also plan to transform the venues to look like an Indian market. There would also be missions trips to give stateside Christians a firsthand look at the dire situation India's poor find themselves in.

It's obviously a cause that is consuming for the band. But right now, their focus is on "In the Company of Angels II." The full album will release March 7 and the band will hit the road on a Compassion International-sponsored tour that is also scheduled to feature Bebo Norman, Geoff Moore, John David Webster and Aaron Shust.

Despite all their good works, though, the band sees what they're doing as business as usual. "We've been given gifts and we're supposed to use our gifts and abilities to further the kingdom of God, to continue the great commission," Young says, matter-of-factly.

 
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