One can only wonder what the denizens of that glittering, glitzy stretch of Hollywood real estate called Sunset Strip were thinking that night in the early summer of this year, as they strolled past the bright marquee of the world famous Roxy nightclub.
Inside the club, which has hosted some of the biggest and brightest stars in the rock 'n' roll galaxy, a mighty sound was literally shaking the walls. Shouts of praise and worship were loud enough to be heard even over the roar of traffic along the boulevard. A joyful noise was rising up into the neon soaked night and one couldn't help but wonder what mega-wattage celebrity was headlining the show.
The answer: God was in the house. For two historic nights, the stage of the Roxy became a sanctuary of worship for one of the most intense, inspiring and innovative evening of Christian music in recent memory. Fronting a band of A-list players, singer and songwriter {{Kate Miner}} both brought down the house and raised the roof of the Roxy with a combination concert and church service that may well have set a new standard for the freshest, most passionate and relevant worship this side of the sacred/secular divide. Those evenings of powerful and potent contemporary praise, may, in fact, have obliterated that boundary once and for all, with music and a message that reached well beyond the walls of that small club, continuing to resonate with the release of a remarkable new album, Kate Miner - Worship ==Live From The Strip==. Comprising thirteen selections of what could well be considered the cream of contemporary worship compositions, including a lion's share of original songs from this multi-faceted L.A.-based singer and songwriter, Worship ==Live From The Strip== is the debut release from Sovereign Records, a new Christian record label founded and fronted by Carl Tuttle, widely considered to be one of the pioneering fathers of modern worship music. Composer of such perennials as "Hosanna," and "All The Earth Shall Worship," Tuttle left his position at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Anaheim to forge a different kind of Christian music company, dedicated to creating new creative links to a rising generation of committed worship leaders.
"They are everywhere," enthuses Tuttle, from his Southern California office. "I'm thinking of people like {{Matt Redman}}, {{Kevin Prosch}}, the group {{Delirious}} and, of course, {{Kate Miner}}. In my opinion, Kate is one of a handful of the great songwriters and worship leaders we have with us today. And, when I saw and heard what happened that night at the Roxy, I felt sure we were riding the wave of a whole new move of God in music today."
That move took years of preparation, bringing both Carl Tuttle and Kate Miner to a place where collaboration was all but inevitable, considering their constantly crossing paths. "My husband and I have known Carl for a long time," recounts Kate from the San Fernando Valley home where she raises a large and growing brood of kids and works with her husband, well known bassist, composer and producer David Miner, as worship co-leaders of the Malibu Vineyard. "When he was still at the Anaheim Vineyard, he had me down a few times to do a full evening of worship, which was really my first experience in a church setting. It was a great time of learning, discovering how to structure a worship service, which songs worked and which didn't and how to weave in testimony between the music. It was all the beginning of a real change of direction for me." That change would eventually take Kate into full time musical ministry, turning away from the lifelong pursuit of a mainstream musical career to present her gift and talents wholeheartedly in the Lord's service. "I had one foot in each world," she admits, "but the opportunity to be involved in worship was like getting a frying pan upside my head." She laughs. "I got the message loud and clear."
Around the same period, Tuttle had decided to take his own step of faith, leaving a position he had held for two decades as senior pastor and worship leader at the Anaheim Vineyard to pioneer a new record company with a unique vision. "God is moving in worship throughout his church," Tuttle explains, "and starting Sovereign was a reflection of our desire to be a small part of that move. Our goal is simple: to encourage and facilitate people's relationship with God through music. And, as John Wimber used to say, 'We need to communicate eternal truths through contemporary means.' That's what Sovereign is all about and Kate was my first and only choice as our initial signing."
It was through the correlation of their vision and the connection fostered by a long and fruitful friendship, that Carl and Kate conceived of the Roxy live worship project. "I had opened for {{Delirious}} at the club," recounts Kate, "and when Carl saw how well that worked he just put two and two together. What we were both interested in was going deeper with worship, of being able to bring light into dark places without compromise. For example, we decided from the beginning to structure both evenings as purely worship services. It wasn't going to be a Kate Miner concert. It as about inviting God to visit the Roxy."
The invitation was accepted. "We got exactly what we were hoping for," Carl continues. "We had church right in the middle of Sunset Strip and, for anyone that was there, it was an unforgettable experience. I think you can hear what I'm talking about on the album. It comes through loud and clear."
"We wanted it to be an authentic experience," agrees Kate. "We rehearsed it, of course, but when the time came to record, we didn't use overdubs to polish things up. What was important was trying to convey what was happening in that momentto recreate an attitude of worship for the listener." "We'd like to continue this process, in different venues and with different artists," reveals Tuttle. "This is a grassroots move that is going to reach a lot of people who are hungry for an authentic worship experience, one that speaks to them where they live. As long as we can tap into the gifts of artists like {{Kate Miner}}, that's exactly the goal Sovereign is going to keep reaching for."
"We have a shared vision," Kate agrees. "We want to gather the thousands, to start taking over cities for God. The sequence of events that brought this album about is the culmination of a lot of prayer, a lot of walking in the desert. But, now that we've arrived, there's no looking back.
On Kate Miner - Worship ==Live From The Strip==, a innovative and inspired artist comes together with a visionary strategic thinker to open new paths of worship - right down the middle of a place called The Sunset Strip.