Hello friends!

I hope you’re enjoying your summer so far! It’s been the best kind of weather where I live in MN – sunshine but cool everyday. The carnival came to our little town in MN and this was the first year I was home to enjoy it. After a couple of days of eating carnival food and riding the Gravitron with Taya and the boys, I’m swearing off cheese curds and corn-dogs for the rest of the year. But now onto more important summer news…

FREE MUSIC FROM DOWNHERE!
As you may know, I’ve spent the last three touring seasons with the group Downhere and they’ve become one of the Gray family's favorite bands, not to mention close friends. I wanted to let you know about a special opportunity for me to introduce you to their well crafted brand of pop/rock music that is deceptively intelligent and literate. They also have two of the best vocalists in CCM (one who sounds remarkably like Queen’s Freddie Mercury and the other who is reminiscent of Peter Gabriel.)

Downhere is giving away their latest record “Wide Eyed & Mystified” as a FREE download for the month of June! This is Downhere at the top of their game with catchy, melodic, and smart pop/rock tunes – for free! Get the download at www.downhere.com, give it a listen, and hopefully you’ll soon see why the whole Gray family are big fans. Again, they are only offering the album free for the month of June, so don’t miss out (and let others know, too.) And then watch for their brand new album to release in September.

Well enough about Downhere, let’s talk about me now :-)

JASON GRAY NEWS
After wrapping up the Spring tour with Shawn McDonald, I’ve been holed up at home writing songs for a new record that we hope to start recording later this year or early next. So far, I’ve written some of my most personal songs to date. I’ve also been collaborating with friends like Joel Hanson, Sara Groves, Andy Gullahorn, among others. If you’ve read my blogs recently, you know that I’ve been wrestling with a prolonged season of writer’s block, so it’s refreshing to feel the words flowing again and I’m looking forward to making a record for you soon.

In the meantime, we’re also going through live performances we’ve recorded this past year to put together a live recording we hope to make available before the end of summer. It will include some of the stories between songs that so many of you have asked for – I’ll let you know when it’s available!

Looking for good summer reads, music, and conversation? Head over to my message boards to join a conversation with myself and others, and also be sure to check out the Rabbit Room where I’m honored to be a regular contributor on topics such as books, movies, music, culture and the unexpected ways they intersect with faith.

Thanks for being a part of the Jason Gray email community! Watch for news about the Fall Tour – hope to see you out there soon! Until then, be blessed,

Jason Gray

Check "Tour" for new dates to be added soon
Hope to see you this Spring!

For more:
www.shawnmcdonaldmusic.com
www.downhere.com

"I've been a fan of CCM for years, a subscriber since high school, and I'm grateful that the first time I get to be in the magazine, it's with a review like this. I wasn't always the best student, either, so to be honest, I'm just grateful for a grade A - the first A I've ever gotten!" Jason jokes.