Smalltown Poets, Bell Row, Kevin Lawson

From the venue:

Event Description

Smalltown Poets burst onto the music scene with their Grammy-nominated self-titled debut on Ardent/Forefront Records (EMI) in 1997 and released two more albums with the Memphis based label. Three number one singles and a total of ten top ten radio hits helped garner two Best Rock Gospel Grammy nominations, seven Dove Award nominations (including best new artist) and a Billboard Music video award for the band. Their song "Anything Genuine" was featured on the platinum selling WOW 1999 compilation. In 2004 the band released It's Later Than It's Ever Been on BEC(EMI).

The guys ended a 6-year hiatus from touring and recording in 2011. Over a year in the making, Smalltown Poets Christmas was released November 1st of that year, with their modernized Christmas carol "Good Christian Men Rejoice" reaching Billboard's Top 30 CCM songs for that Christmas season. Since its release, the band has performed dozens of Christmas concerts across the U.S., in places like Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Charlotte, Dallas and many others.

Smalltown Poets have since released a follow-up Christmas album, plus three studio albums of original content, the most recent being 2021's "NWxSE." They continue to perform select dates across the U.S., and are constantly in writing mode, prepping to release new recorded material.

"Through the miracles of modern technology and recording, we have been able to continue creating music as a band through the years, even though the 5 of us all live in different cities across the country," states Michael Johnston, lead vocalist. "We've been playing together for most of our lives. Every opportunity to tour and record together feels a lot like coming home."