Brave New World
By Deborah Evans Price, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
In the music business, reinvention can be tricky, especially for an artist looking to reach a new audience while keeping their existing fan base happy. It’s a difficult balancing act, but one that Jason Crabb handles beautifully with the release of his self-titled solo album June 30 on Springhill Music.
Jason is well-known to southern gospel fans for his years performing with sisters Terah and Kelly and twin brothers Adam and Aaron, as the Crabb Family. The group won 10 Dove Awards and earned three GRAMMY nominations. They toured relentlessly and have appeared on Bill Gaither’s popular Homecoming concerts/DVDs. Jason’s versatility as an artist garnered rave reviews during performances with the famed Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, and at the Rev. Billy Graham’s final crusade in New York City.
In 2006, just when it seemed the group’s career was at its peak, the Crabb Family surprised and disappointed fans, announcing they were disbanding to pursue different paths. By the following year, they had finished up their commitments and Jason was a solo artist.
“We traveled together for 15 years. We sang in places we had never dreamed of, and did it as a family,” Jason tells GospelMusicChannel.com over lunch shortly before he made his debut performance at CMA Music Fest, entertaining country music fans gathered for the annual Nashville event. “You cannot get a better life than doing the things you enjoy doing with the people you love the most. It was an awesome run.”
Even so, he says there comes a point when it’s time for a change. “I remember the day the day my dad came off the road and let me decide what to sing, how to do the line up and what to say. It felt like they had clipped the bandages off my wings and let me fly a little bit and grow. I watched my brothers desire that same thing,” he says of the creative freedom. “They started stepping out and my sisters [were] doing the same thing. It was just a different day. It’s not like anyone got mad. There was no family feud and no one did anything. We are still best friends.”
It’s obvious Jason is his siblings’ biggest supporter. Adam is now a part of the group Crabb Revival, Aaron and his wife, Amanda, are traveling together, and sister Kelly and her husband, Mike, are traveling together.
“They are all doing really well,” he says. “[sister] Terah was with Crabb Revival. She just came off the road to be a stay-at-home mom. She loves being a mama.”
Both Crabb Revival and Aaron & Amanda are on Daywind Records. Mike & Kelly Bowling are signed to Canaan. Though Jason was heavily pursued by several labels, he opted to sign with Springhill. “You really have to get a fit for who sees you for what you do and who you are and understands your goals,” Jason says. “Not everybody catches your vision right off the bat, but with Springhill, Barry Jennings, Bill Gaither, Paul Sizelove, Celeste Winstead and everybody in the office caught my vision and what I wanted to do.”
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In the music business, reinvention can be tricky, especially for an artist looking to reach a new audience while keeping their existing fan base happy. Who are your favorite singers/bands who have made a switch in the type of music they predominantly play and why did you like or dislike the change?
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