GRAMMY, AMA and five-time Dove Award-winning Group of the Year Casting Crowns is announcing plans to continue its highly-successful “Until The Whole World Hears” Tour in 41 more cities this spring. Kicking off on February 4, in Kansas City, Mo., the tour features a brand new lineup with special guests Kutless on dates in February and March, and Tenth Avenue North rounding out the tour’s final segment of shows in April and May. Indie rock band CALEB, featuring brothers Caleb and Will Chapman, will also join the tour roster.
 
The spring leg of the “Until The Whole World Hears” Tour follows a well-received, 41-city run of fall dates on which Casting Crowns played in front of nearly 150,000 people at multiple sell-out performances. The spring tour also comes on the heels of the record-breaking release of the band’s new studio album, Until The Whole World Hears, which recently sold more than 167,000 copies in its first week, making Casting Crowns the highest-debuting Christian music artist in SoundScan history. The album landed at No. 1 on the Nielsen SoundScan Current Contemporary Christian Album Chart and No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart behind John Mayer and Norah Jones.
 
The Atlanta-based Casting Crowns has established itself as the top-selling artist in Contemporary Christian music in recent years. To date, all of the band’s projects are RIAA certified, with a monster tally of two RIAA platinum albums, two RIAA platinum DVDs, two RIAA gold albums and a gold DVD. The group has generated nine No. 1 songs at radio including the latest single, the title cut from Until The Whole World Hears. Remarkably, the band’s seven members also continue to work in student ministry in the Atlanta area, with lead vocalist Mark Hall serving as a full-time youth pastor. Casting Crowns tours and records around its weekly commitment to mentoring teens.
 
“This year, we had sold-out and near-capacity crowds in six cities with Casting Crowns,” says concert promoter Dan Fife of Awakening Events, LLC. “Every night the ministry is strong and we walk away hearing stories where attendees were blessed and received a message that changed their lives. I think the new CD is giving Casting Crowns an opportunity to carry a message of hope across America at a critical time. We are excited to provide a platform for this band and want to encourage people to bring their neighbors and friends to hear the message in song this spring.”
 
Promoter Greg Carnes of Sugar Spring Productions adds, “Casting Crowns continues to deliver worship music that is touching folks in such a way that it has never been about a concert or entertainment, but more like being at church. We have been promoting Crowns concerts since they came on the scene and we are big believers in their ministry. That is why we continue to do so, and look forward to this next tour in 2010.”
 
The “Until The Whole World Hears” Tour is sponsored by Christian humanitarian organization World Vision (www.worldvision.org). World Vision provides assistance to approximately 100 million people in nearly 100 countries by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Casting Crowns has helped to generate a total of 44,334 child sponsorships for World Vision to date.
 
CASTING CROWNS “UNTIL THE WHOLE WORLD HEARS” SPRING TOUR 2010
*Dates, markets and venues subject to change without notice.
 
FEBRUARY
(Dates in February and March feature special guests Kutless and CALEB)
2/4           Kansas City, MO             Sprint Center
2/5           Tulsa, OK                        Spirit Bank Events Center
2/6           Oklahoma City, OK          Crossroads Church
2/11         Bossier City, LA              CenturyTel Center Arena
2/12         Birmingham, AL               Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center
2/13         Tupelo, MS                      BancorpSouth Arena
2/18         Baltimore, MD                 1st Mariner Arena
2/19         Rochester, NY                 Roberts Wesleyan College
2/20         Newark, NJ                     Prudential Center
2/21         Portland, ME                    Civic Center
2/23         Binghamton, NY              Broome County Arena
2/25         Plymouth, MI                   Northridge Church
2/26         Wyoming, MI                   GR First AOG Church
2/27         Pittsburgh, PA                  Mellon Arena
2/28         Hershey, PA                    Giant Center
 
MARCH
3/5           Woodstock, GA                First Baptist Church Woodstock
3/6           Baton Rouge, LA             The River Center
3/11         San Antonio, TX               Municipal Auditorium
3/12         Cypress, TX                     Berry Center
3/13         Lake Charles, LA             Christian World
3/25         Huntsville, AL                  Von Braun Civic Center
3/26         Pensacola, FL                  Olive Baptist Church
3/27         Winter Park, FL               Calvary Assembly of God
 
APRIL
(Remaining dates below feature special guests Tenth Avenue North and CALEB)
4/1           Dayton, OH                     Nutter Center at Wright State University
4/2           St. Charles, MO               The Family Arena
4/9           Des Moines, IA                First Federated Church
4/10         Sioux Falls, SD                 Sioux Falls Arena
4/11         St. Paul, MN                    Xcel Center
4/13         Cedar Falls, IA                 Mcleod Center
4/15         State College, PA             Bryce Jordan Center
4/16         Charleston, WV               Charleston Civic Center
4/17         Lynchburg, VA                Thomas Road Baptist Church
4/22         Fayetteville, NC               Crown Coliseum
4/23         N. Charleston, SC            North Charleston Civic Center
4/24         Greensboro, NC               Greensboro Coliseum
4/29         Nacogdoches, TX             William R. Johnson Coliseum
 
MAY
5/1           Grand Prairie, TX             Air Hogs Minor League Baseball Stadium