MUSIC

KSBJ Special Events presents the Follow You Tour: Brandon Heath & Leeland, with Francesca Battistelli.  Friday, October 16, at Fellowship of the Woodlands.

Grammy® nominee and GMA Dove Award winning Male Vocalist of the Year, Brandon Heath and Grammy®-nominated progressive rock act, Leeland, will co-headline the Follow You Tour in 43-cities this fall, featuring special guest Francesca Battistelli. The Follow You Tour introduces new music from Leeland’s anticipated third album titled Love Is On The Move releasing August 25th, and Heath’s award-winning sophomore album What If We, featuring his Dove Award-winning Song of the Year “Give Me Your Eyes” and Christian AC radio’s current no. 1 song “Wait And See”.

The high-profile touring event kicks off at the Johnny Carson Theatre in Norfolk, Nebraska, September 23rd and wraps up on November 22nd at Samford University in Birmingham, AL.

Along with offering audiences a night of great music and worship with three of the most popular artists in Christian music today, the Follow You Tour also engages attendees with a message close to the hearts of these artists. With a collective mission to love and serve the poor and broken, Leeland and Heath recently travelled to Cambodia. Each night on tour, audiences will hear more about that experience and have the chance to respond to each night’s worship with immediate action offering child sponsorships through Food for the Hungry.

Leeland, Brandon Heath and Francesca Battistelli hope to inspire Christians to engage actively with world need. “We see our calling as a band as two-fold: reaching out to the poor and reaching the ‘up-and-outers’. America’s a rich nation, but we’re spiritually poor,” explains Leeland Mooring. “We want to see God bring a personal revival in the hearts of Americans and transform our nation.”

“After travelling through Asia with Leeland, more specifically Cambodia, I can say that we’ve seen God with the poor,” says Heath. “This tour is about sharing what we’ve learned among the least of these. Cambodia was about going and listening and being changed. We hope that audiences will have the same experience at the Follow You Tour. We’re on the same page with each other,” explains Jack Mooring, keyboardist for Leeland. “Brandon’s heart, like ours, is focused on being about action.”

About Brandon Heath

Brandon Heath is a respected songwriter and considered a radio hit-maker in the Nashville music community. He first began writing at age 13 and his background is rooted in a history with Christian youth-based organization, Young Life, which is grounded in relationship and mentoring. Heath’s most current hit list includes Grammy®-nominated single “Give Me Your Eyes”, from sophomore release, What If We. The song was recently awarded a GMA Dove Award for Song of the Year and spent 14 weeks at No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian AC radio chart, and 27 weeks at No. 1 on iTunes® Christian Song Chart. To date, the album’s breakout first single continues to lead digitally, selling more than 360,000 total downloads of the track across all digital providers. The second single “Wait and See” is the top song in the country this week on the Christian AC Indicator chart.

About Leeland

Often quoted as one of Christian music’s most gripping live bands, the 2006 debut Sound of Melodies and 2008’s Opposite Way quickly established Leeland as a leader in the worship community and beyond. While both previous albums were Grammy®-nominated and drew a combined eight Dove nominations, Leeland’s measure of success has always been the human heart. And now Leeland’s third album, Love Is On The Move is a landmark in the deepest sense.

About Francesca Battistelli

Featured guest for the Follow You Tour is Francesca Battistelli, who received five Dove Nominations in 2009, a remarkable feat for a new artist. Francesca continues to experience chart-breaking radio success, substantial play on popular TV and film and contagious online fan interaction. “It’s Your Life” from My Paper Heart releases on July 10th and follows debut chart-topping single, “Free To Be Me”, which was the first #1 single from a female artist on AC radio since 2005 also ranking her as the most added female artist and new artist in Christian radio history.

“I’m so excited to be part of this Fall tour with Leeland and Brandon,” says Francesca. “This tour is a great opportunity for us to all take a step outside of our comfort zone and move deliberately toward helping others and answering the call to action that the Lord establishes for each one of us, each day.”