This week’s buzz once again centers on Winter Jam. We will look at the tour’s history, check in on the success it is having this year, and hear from an artist new to the lineup — Lecrae.

Since its formation by NewSong in 1995, The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular has featured many of the top names in Christian music, including TobyMac, Third Day, Newsboys, Steven Curtis Chapman, Skillet and more! Originally called January Jam, Newsong has been bringing this high-energy tour to Fayetteville for nearly 20 years now. When NewSong began Winter Jam, it was based on the idea of removing cost barriers, so more people could attend, be encouraged by the music, and hear the gospel. That continues to be the emphasis to this day.

It has become so successful that Winter Jam has been the most attended tour in the world for the first quarter each of the last three years! Earlier this month the tour was attended by around 18,000 people in both Knoxville and Greensboro, and was enjoyed by more than 30,000 people at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

New to Winter Jam this year is hip-hop artist Lecrae. Recently featured on the My Hope America project produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Lecrae loves to tell his story everywhere he goes.

He recently shared how some of his friends responded not long after he decided to give his life to Jesus. “My friends said, ‘You are just changing. I don’t know what’s going on with you. You want to do the right thing all the time.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’ And they were like, ‘Man, I can’t wait til the old Lecrae comes back.’” Lecrae continued, “I’ll never forget hearing that sound. They were scared they had lost me. And they were like, ‘Man, you’re giving up everything!’ And I was like, ‘Actually, I’m gaining everything!’”

About the Winter Jam tour, Lecrae says “It’s awesome! It’s slowly becoming a little family as we get to know each other better. Myself and another artist, I won’t mention his name, have even started to do some collaborative work together. It’s been a blast just being able to hang out. I just give God the glory.”

Lecrae joins headliners the Newsboys along with Tenth Avenue North, Thousand Foot Crutch, Plumb, Newsong, Colton Dixon, Love & The Outcome, Everfound and Derek Minor as Winter Jam comes to the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville on March 13th. The cost is only ten dollars at the door.

Get all the details you need at www.jamtour.com.

Photo: Lecrae