Smalltown Poets is a

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

formed in 1996. It was formed in

Tifton, Georgia Tifton is a city in and the county seat of Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census. The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has ...

by high school friends Michael Johnston (guitars/vocals), Danny Stephens (keyboards), and Byron Goggin (drums), along with (then) Nashville musicians Kevin Breuner (guitar), and Miguel DeJesus (bass). The band started under the name Villanelle.

Career

Smalltown Poets achieved recognition with their eponymous first album, released on

Ardent Records Ardent Records is an American record label based in Memphis, which was founded by John Fry in 1959. Ardent of the 1960s and 1970s featured pop music acts and was distributed by Stax Records from 1972 until 1975. It is best remembered today for Bi ...

in 1997. This release earned the band the first of its two Grammy nominations (Best Gospel Rock Album) and numerous Dove Award nominations. In 1998 they released their second album, '' Listen Closely''. The song "Anything Genuine" from that album became their biggest hit. Their third album, ''Third Verse'' was released in 2000. In 2004 they released their fourth studio album, ''It's Later Than It's Ever Been'' on

BEC Recordings Tooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle where it is today. History Brandon Ebel and Michael Knott conceived the label as a joint venture, before Knott back ...

. Smalltown Poets went on hiatus several months after ''It's Later Than It's Ever Been'', but regrouped in the fall of 2010 to produce a Christmas album, ''Smalltown Poets Christmas'', in 2011 (co-produced and mixed by former Smalltown Poets drummer

Matt Goldman Matt Goldman (born December 30, 1969) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer, and songwriter based in Atlanta, Georgia. Biography Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States, Goldman is a drummer by trade. Goldman c ...

). In anticipation of that full-length release, the band released a Christmas single in December 2010 titled "In the Bleak Midwinter." In 2012, the Smalltown Poets released a digital EP, "Under the New Sun". Smalltown Poets' second Christmas album, ''Christmas Time Again'', was released on November 25, 2014, followed by live performances. They funded this project through a campaign on

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects, such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist pa ...

which allowed fans to support the project and receive a digital download in advance of the release. A new album called ''Say Hello'' was released in May 2018. ''Say Hello'', like many of their early works, was recorded at

Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio was founded in the late 1950s by John King, Fred Smith, and John Fry. Over time, it has become a commercially successful recording studio. ...

in Memphis. The fact that the band members don't all live in the same city makes collaboration difficult for them, although technology has facilitated their continued work.

Band members

Current members

*Michael Johnston –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s *Danny Stephens – keyboards *Byron Goggin –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Kevin Breuner –

s *Miguel DeJesús –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Former members

*Nathan Blackstone –

(1999) *Matt Goldman –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

and loops (2000–2004) *Troy Stains –

s (2004) *Alex Peterson –

(2004)

Discography

*'' Smalltown Poets'' (1997) *'' Listen Closely'' (1998) *'' Third Verse'' (2000) *'' It's Later Than It's Ever Been'' (2004) *''In the Bleak Midwinter (single)'' (2010) *''Smalltown Poets Christmas'' (2011) *''Under the New Sun (EP)'' (2012) *''Christmas Time Again'' (2014) *''Say Hello'' (2018) *''NWxSE'' (2021)

Other projects

*'' Surfonic Water Revival'' (1998) *"

WOW 1999 ''WOW 1999'' is a compilation album of 30 contemporary Christian music hits that was released on October 20, 1998. It also featured three bonus tracks from new artists. WOW 1999 peaked at the 51st position on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart in 19 ...

" (1999) *Sing Over Me (2014)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Christian rock groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups established in 1996 1996 establishments in the United States