Paul Baloche

Paul Baloche

Paul Baloche in concert at St. John Lutheran Church-Ellisville, MO, USA
Background information
Birth name Paul Baloche
Born June 4, 1962
Origin Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres Worship, contemporary Christian
Occupation(s) Worship leader, singer-songwriter
Years active 1992–present
Labels Integrity
Associated acts Don Moen, Rita Baloche
Website leadworship.com
Notable instruments
Acoustic guitar

Paul Baloche (/bəˈlɒʃ/ bə-LOSH; born on June 4, 1962) is an American Christian music artist, worship leader, and singer-songwriter. A native of Maple Shade Township, New Jersey,[1][2] Baloche is currently the worship pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, Texas. Baloche composes on piano and acoustic guitar, favoring guitar when leading worship. His wife, Rita Baloche, is also a Christian songwriter. Baloche is one of the writers for Compassionart, a charity founded by Martin Smith from Delirious?.[3]

Baloche's songs have been recorded by several artists including Michael W. Smith,[4] Casting Crowns,[5] Rebecca St. James,[6] Phillips, Craig and Dean,[7][8][9] Anthony Evans,[10] and Sonicflood.[11][12] Baloche has co-written songs with Aaron Shust,[13] Kari Jobe,[14][15] Meredith Andrews,[16] and Lincoln Brewster[17][18] for use on their respective albums. Some of Baloche's songs rank among the most-performed songs in services according to CCLI.[19] Top-ranked songs include "Open the Eyes of My Heart", "Hosanna", "Your Name", "Today Is The Day", and "Above All".[19][20] Baloche has received numerous Dove Awards over the years. He was nominated for Song of the Year in both the 2002 and 2003 Dove Awards, and in 2002, Michael W. Smith's version of the same song won Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year. Baloche was also nominated for Songwriter of the Year in 2002.[21] In 2009, Baloche won a Dove Award for Inspiration Recorded Song of the Year as co-author of "A New Hallelujah" with Michael W. Smith and his wife Debbie Smith.[22]

Baloche has been a pioneer in providing visual instructional resources for church worship teams. In 1995, he released The Worship Guitar Series, a set of three videos. Between 2002 and 2006, he released The Modern Worship Series, a set of eight instructional DVDs focused on helping church worship teams increase their skill and confidence. In 2005, he released the book God Songs, a practical resource for worship songwriters, currently in its 8th printing.

His catalog of twelve albums is focused on providing worship music for churches to use in their Sunday morning services. His albums are released by his publisher Integrity Music. In addition to songwriting, Baloche participates in several seminars for worship leaders and musicians throughout North America and Asia.[23]

The 2006 release A Greater Song is a live recording featuring songs by Baloche, some co-written with worship artists including Matt Redman ("A Greater Song") and former Integrity Music president Don Moen ("Thank You Lord").[23]

The 2009 release Glorious featured the single "Just to Be With You", which Baloche explained "is simply about intimacy with God."[24]

On April 3, 2012 Baloche released album The Same Love featuring the single "The Same Love".[25]

On October 29, 2013, Baloche also released a live Christmas worship album featured old and new songs suitable for use during the Christmas season.[26]

In November 2013, Baloche won a GMA Canada Covenant Award for International Album of the Year for "Glorieux", a French language worship album.[27]

Discography

Videography

Books

References

  1. ↑ Price, Deborah Evans. "Higher Ground: 'Greater' Collaborations for Baloche", Billboard, May 13, 2006.
  2. ↑ O'Connor, Dave. "Just in time for Easter, a new worship ‘masterpiece’ from Paul Baloche", Intelligencer Journal, April 6, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2013. "Baloche, a worship leader and Maple Shade, N.J. native, has enlisted the help of a virtual who’s-who in Christian music with 'The Same Love.'"
  3. ↑ Compassionart: The Album 2008.
  4. ↑ "Michael W. Smith - Worship". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Casting Crowns - Peace n Earth". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Rebecca St. James - Worship God". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Phillips, Craig & Dean - Fearless". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Phillips, Craig & Dean - Let My Words Be Few". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Phillips, Craig & Dean - Top Of My Lungs". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Anthony Evans - The Bridge". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ "SONICFLOOd - SONIC FLOOd". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  12. ↑ "SONICFLOOd - Sonicpraise". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Aaron Shust - Morning Rises". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Kari Jobe - Majestic". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Kari Jobe - Kari Jobe". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Meredith Andrews - As Long As It Takes". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Lincoln Brewster - Real Life". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Lincoln Brewster - Today Is The Day". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "CCLI Top 100". Church Copyright Licensing International. July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  20. ↑ "CCLI Top 100 Christian Worship Song Trends". PraiseCharts (Sonreign Media, Inc.). Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  21. ↑ 33rd Annual Dove Award Nominations Announced Today, January 24, 2002
  22. ↑ 2009 Dove Award Winners 2009.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 New Paul Baloche CD And Tour Dates, 2006
  24. ↑ "Just To Be With You Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  25. ↑ Ham, Robert (March 13, 2013). "The Same Love - Paul Baloche". Allmusic. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Exclusive: Paul Baloche talks about new Christmas album, ‘Christmas Worship’". The Underground. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  27. ↑ "2013 - 35th Annual Covenant Awards". Gospel Music Association of Canada. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Paul Baloche, "Glorious" Review". Jesusfreakhideout.com. November 3, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2013.

External links