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Brave New World

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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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For Jason, that vision included moving in a more country direction. “I grew up on country music and I love the way they are doing things today,” says Jason, whose first single to country radio is the thought-provoking “Somebody Like Me.” “I love the message in this song. So many times we wait around thinking ‘it’s somebody else’s job to love on people who are hard to love’ when that’s what we’re put here for.”

The album also includes “Ellsworth,” a touching song about a woman battling Alzheimer’s,  featuring Vince Gill on vocals. “I thought it might be a tune that would work on country radio,” Jason says. “I [could imagine] his voice on it, so I asked him. He came in and he just nailed it just like he always does. He said ‘I ain't never come in this early for anybody.’ It was real early that morning. I still owe him big. I don’t know how I will ever re-pay him.”

In addition to Gill, Jason Crabb also features guest appearances by the Gaither Vocal Band and Sonya Isaacs. The album was produced by country music veteran Norro Wilson, known for his work with Reba and Kenny Chesney, and Tommy Sims, who has worked with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. The album includes songs from some of the top writers in Music City, among them Bobby Pinson, Neil Thrasher, Vicky McGehee and Trent Tomlinson. Jason’s father, Gerald Crabb, one of southern gospel’s most awarded songwriters, also contributes the poignant “Sometimes I Cry.” The project also includes a new version of “Through the Fire,” a Crabb Family hit penned by Gerald.

“I think I have songs that our old Crabb family fans are going to love and I hope new people will grasp what I am doing,” Jason says. “It has something for the family, for the church and for everybody. I just wanted the whole family to be able to sit down and listen and enjoy it – from the young to the old. I want people who don’t even listen to gospel music to grab a hold of this. This has always been one of my dreams to do a record like this and Springhill allowed me to do it.”

Though he’s looking to expand his audience, he doesn’t intend to leave behind the fans who have supported him faithfully over the years. “I have not abandoned anybody. I have just broadened territory,” he says. “My first love is gospel music. That is what I grew up in, and I have seen lives changed through the lyrics."

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About the Writer

Deborah Evans Price has covered Christian/Gospel music for Billboard magazine since 1994. She also contributes regularly to Country Weekly, CMA Close Up, Devo’Zine, Christian Single, HomeLife, BMI Music World, and other publications.

A Nashville resident since 1983, Deborah has held editorial posts at Radio & Records, Country News, American Songwriter and Billboard. Amy Grant, Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley, Charlie Daniels, 3 Doors Down, Third Day, Don Henley, Bon Jovi, Chris Rice, Sandra Bullock, Mercy Me, Alan Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Steven Curtis Chapman are among her many interviews. Additionally, she's a sought-after music industry analyst who has been interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, TNN, The Today Show, and ABC PrimeTime Live, among other outlets.

Deborah is a member of the Gospel Music Association's board of directors and a graduate of Leadership Music. She resides south of Nashville with her husband, Gary, and 19-year-old son Trey.