Downhere, one of Christian music’s premiere rock bands, is scheduled to release their first full-length holiday album, How Many Kings: Songs For Christmas, October 6, 2009.   The new project was produced by Downhere and will be distributed by Word Distribution.

The idea to record their first Christmas CD grew over the years for Downhere as they performed several holiday concerts in their hometown of Franklin, TN, beginning in 2001. (Glenn Lavender is the only band member who still resides in Canada).  Then the thought grew to fruition with the success of the single, “How Many Kings,” which went to #4 on the Christian AC charts in 2007, followed by the Bethlehem Skyline tour last year with their labelmates on Centricity Music. 

How Many Kings: Songs For Christmas features the timeless classics of the Yuletide season that are recorded with the Downhere style. “Basically we made a giant list of Christmas songs and narrowed them down to our top choices, realizing that every one of them was at least a hundred years old,” says lead singer, Marc Martel. “We all really resonate with a love for good lyrics, the classic ones that are going to last, so we do a lot of really old Christmas carols.  However, we also tried to make the old stuff sound new.”

How Many Kings: Songs For Christmas kicks-off with “How Many Kings” and flows into Christmas standards such as “God res Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Silent Night,” “What Child Is This,” and “We Wish You A Merry A Christmas,” to name a few.  The songs are a mixture of fun and religious tunes but the majority of songs resonate with the true meaning of the season.

“We didn’t want to pack a whole Christmas record with ‘Jingle Bells,’ ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ or anything that was considered all that fluffy,” explains drummer Jeremy Thiessen. “We were very selective in wanting to pick songs that actually said something than simply ‘it’s Christmas let’s party!’ We’re just trying to get people to pay attention and unplug from all of the running around.”

During their illustrious ten-year career, Downhere has garnered GMA Award nominations for New Artist of the Year, Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year and a GMA Award for Modern Rock Recorded Song of the Year.  The group has also won three JUNO Awards for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album Of The Year in 2009 (Ending Is Beginning), 2008 (Wide-Eyed & Mystified) and for their self-titled debut in 2002. Downhere received GMA Canada Awards in 2002 for Rock Album of the Year and Rock Song of the Year.  Fans and radio continue to keep their singles at the top of the charts with “Here I Am” and “Hope Is Rising” peaking at #5 and #17 on the AC charts, while “My Last Amen” peaked at #5 on the CHR charts.  And media accolades heralded Ending Is Beginning as one of their finest projects, which included such Christian outlets as ChristianMusicToday.com, JesusFreakHideout.com, Beliefnet, and Christian Single.

For more information on Downhere please visit their website, www.downhere.com or www.myspace.com/downhere.