Jason Upton (born December 15, 1973) is an American contemporary worship music singer, songwriter and recording artist. His musical creations are mostly inspired by

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Early life

Jason Upton was born on December 15, 1973, in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and was adopted by a Christian family in March 1974. He has Native American roots since his biological father was a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

Musical career

Upton released ''Key of David'' in 2000. It was recorded live in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

that year and was produced by Upton's own Key of David Ministries. Over half of the album consisted of unrehearsed, spontaneous songs and declarations. Later in 2000, Upton appeared at a National Day of Prayer and Fasting event called "The Call D.C." On August 14, 2001, Upton released his second album, ''Faith'', which was recorded live and released on 40 Records. The title track was an unplanned song which Upton referred to in the liner notes of the album as a "Spirit Song". In 2002, he released two independent albums, ''Jacob's Dream'' and ''Dying Star'', his first to have been recorded in the studio. That same year, he recorded "You Are the One" on the collaborative

Keith Green Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter in the contemporary Christian music genre, who was originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. His most notable songs are " There ...

tribute album ''Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs of Keith Green''. In 2003, Upton released the independently recorded live album, ''Remember''. Also that year, Upton led worship at the Onething Conference. Upton released ''Trusting the Angels'' in December 2004. ''Great River Road'' was released through

Gotee Records Gotee Records is a record label founded by Christian hip hop performer Toby McKeehan (known professionally as ''TobyMac''), Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood. The label began as a production company. At the time of the label's founding, McKeehan wa ...

in April 2005, and contained five songs from his independent releases and four new compositions and the song recorded for the earlier Keith Green tribute. This album further included a CD-ROM feature of Upton explaining his inspirations for and reasons behind the songs on the album. Upton's fourth live album, sixth independent album, and eighth overall album, ''Open Up the Earth'' was released in late October 2005. Upton's tenth album, ''Beautiful People'', was released in 2007. It contained piano songs mixing contemplative pop and epic anthems, and includes "Never Alone Martin", which was inspired by a religious experience of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, who had assured that, at the beginning of the

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States ...

, he started to receive threatening calls, and once, he prayed to God at midnight, and afterwards, heard the voice of Jesus telling him He would never leave him alone.

Events and tours

Upton regularly tours leading worship in churches and at conferences, including Onething. He has rarely appeared on television, although he has appeared at least twice on ''

The 700 Club ''The 700 Club'' is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, co ...

''.

Discography

* ''Key of David'' (2000), Key of David Ministries * ''Faith'' (2001), 40Records * ''Jacob's Dream - EP'' (2002), Key of David Ministries * ''You Are the One'' (2002, Single),

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...

* ''Dying Star'' (2002), Key of David Ministries * ''Remember'' (2003), Key of David Ministries * ''Trusting the Angels'' (2004), Key of David Ministries * ''Great River Road'' (2005),

* ''Open Up the Earth'' (2005), Key of David Ministries * ''Between Earth and Sky'' (2007), Key of David Ministries * ''Beautiful People'' (2007),

Integrity Music Integrity Music is part of the David C Cook nonprofit group. Founded as a direct-to-consumer music club in 1987 as ''Integrity Music'', Integrity was at the forefront of contemporary worship music's widespread popularity of praise and worship mu ...

* ''1200 Feet Below Sea Level'' (2008), Key of David Ministries * ''On the Rim of the Visible World'' (2009), Key of David Ministries * ''Family Music'' (2010), Key of David Ministries * ''Live From Dublin - Song, Stories And A Train'' (2010) * ''Glimpse'' (2012), Key of David Ministries * ''Sunday Morning: Live in Winston Salem'' (2013), Jason Upton and Key of David Ministries * ''A Table Full of Strangers Vol 1'' (2015), Jason Upton * ''A Table Full of Strangers Vol 2'' (2018), Jason Upton * ''God Finds Us'' (2020), Jason Upton

Awards

In 2007, his album ''Between Earth and Sky'' was featured among CBN's best Christian contemporary albums of 2007.

Popular culture

* Jason appeared in the documentary film ''Justice Waiting'' which also featured International House of Prayer-KC, Rick Joyner, and Lou Engle.

References

External links

*
700 Club: Jason Upton live performance and interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Upton, Jason 1973 births Living people Regent University alumni Performers of contemporary worship music American performers of Christian music American evangelicals Musicians from Minneapolis