Several contemporary Christian artists are collaborating to create a new album in honor of the late musician Rich Mullins, the Christian singer and songwriter behind the hit worship song "Awesome God," who died 25 years ago.
According to The Christian Post, a Kickstarter campaign for the album Bellsburg ... The Songs of Rich Mullins was launched earlier this year with a goal of raising $60,000. As of Thursday, the campaign has raised over $170,582, nearly tripling its initial goal.
Christian artists Amy Grant, Andrew Peterson, Ashley Cleveland, Jason Gray, Mitch McVicker and Ashley Asad, among others, will deliver performances on the new album in tribute to Mullins, who died in a car accident in 1997.
The album, which is slated to release this September, was recorded in its entirety inside Mullin's house in Bellsburg, Tennessee.
"This 120-year-old farmhouse in Bellsburg was the perfect setting to make this album," Andrew Greer, executive producer of the tribute album, said in a statement. "We are celebrating Rich's life and legacy, and this is the space he lived … and very possibly wrote many songs."
"Recording with this community, in this special way, I believe, gets us closer to the barefooted Rich," he continued.
A trailer behind the album gives viewers into the recording process inside Mullin's house.
"When I compare Rich Mullins to great American songwriters like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, or Paul Simon, it's possible that this more simple folk, acoustic-style would be the lane that Rich would be in today, musically speaking," Chris Hoisington, the producer of the project and co-founder of Old Bear Records, added.
A tribute album was also released on the 20th anniversary of Mullin's death and included an unreleased song by the late musician. The song, "The Joy of Jesus," features vocals from Christian artists Mac Powell, Matt Maher and Ellie Holcomb.
Photo courtesy: ©Jonathan Velasquez/Unsplash
Video courtesy: ©Old Bear Records
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
