David Crowder Band is a 6-piece Christian electronic rock and worship band from Waco, Texas.
The band began when David Crowder from Waco, Texas, realized that almost half of the students at Baylor University were not attending church, which he found surprising since it is a Christian university. He and Chris Seay started University Baptist Church in 1995 while he was still a student. Crowder led worship there and continued to do so throughout the year. The church's congregation grew, as did the band's lineup.
Crowder began writing songs to incorporate into the worship times at the church and eventually the church released an independent CD, Pour Over Me, followed by All I Can Say in 1999. These CDs brought the band to a wider audience and invitations to festivals and events followed. The band was signed to sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records and has released six more albums to date (see discography). The band tours the United States continuously, but make it back to their home church in Waco, Texas, almost every Sunday. It has been said that Kyle Lake, University Baptist Church's former pastor and also longtime friend of the band, had a strong influence on the band's music in terms of content and inspiration both during his life and after his tragic death.
With their September 2005 release, A Collision, David Crowder Band explored a new realm of musical diversity. The album houses a mix of bluegrass, folk, alternative, and worship, woven together with a touch of electronic ambience. This release landed them the #2 spot on the iTunes Music Store and the #39 spot on Billboard 200 only one day after its release.
On the same day as the release of A Collision, their song "Turkish Delight" was released on the Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia compilation CD. This song, which is a reference to the magical Turkish Delight in C. S. Lewis's book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has an old-school disco feel.
On March 19, 2007, the band officially started recording its newest album. Titled Remedy, the band also revealed the album's website, http://www.remedyiscoming.com/, which allows fans to follow the band via live webcams, and discover more about the album. Famously controversial rock musician Ted Nugent made a special guest appearance on the album, on the song "We Won't Be Quiet". Remedy was released on September 25, 2007. The day after its release, it reached #4 on the iTunes Music Store.
On July 16, 2008, the band announced via its website that it would be releasing a brand new live album and DVD set on August 19, 2008. The title was announced as being 'Remedy Club Tour - Live', and the cover art was released along with a trailer for the DVD.
The band also created the theme music for Dr. James MacDonald's radio program Walk in the Word.
David Crowder Band received another Dove Award for their participation in Special Event Album of the Year - Passion: Everything Glorious
David Crowder Band received their first Dove Awards at the 37th Annual Gospel Music Awards:
David Crowder has authored two books:
According to Crowder himself, it is improper to refer to the band as "The David Crowder Band". The group prefers to omit the article, as they do not want to make the band appear so definitive and concrete as "The David Crowder Band". The group may revisit this issue if other groups named "David Crowder Band" begin performing and may in fact, should that eventuality occur, insert "The Original" in front of the band's present appellation.
The addition of the asterisk (*) to the name (rendering David Crowder*Band) is a common occurrence evoking much mystery; however, the band uses this convention only in some logos. In text on their website and other media, the asterisk is omitted, which only adds to the lore. It is uncertain what the asterisk denotes reference to, or what metaphorical annotation is intended. The asterisk, however, can be seen on the David Crowder*Band music video "Foreverandever Etc...". No opinions on the asterisk's purpose are reliable at this point and time, although theories arise from time to time. One theory is that it helps slow readers find their place if, while reading the name of the band, they must leave and then come back and somehow try to pick up where they left off.
Astute observers concerned with said asterisk have pointed out the similarity of the band's name to Dave Matthews Band, and along with Crowder's Matthews-influenced acoustic guitar riffs, have suggested the asterisk alludes to a long-standing joke about the band's creativity. This is consistent with the band's writings, which have long-employed witty, subtle, and self-effacing humor. And while somewhat conjectural, yet the most convincing piece of evidence to surface pointing to the truth in this is the fact that the UBC Band's All I Can Say has thirty-four tracks, with tracks twelve through thirty-three serving as silent filler tracks leading up to an acoustic rendition of "Come Thou Fount," an oft-overlooked mimicry of Dave Matthews Band's album Under the Table and Dreaming, which also has a total of thirty-four tracks, with tracks twelve through thirty-three serving as silent filler tracks leading up to the song known as "#34."
