tobyMac

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular, the #1 tour in the world for the first quarter, is slated to head West this fall, headlined by GRAMMY® winning multi-platinum recording artist TobyMac. Hitting seven major U.S. cities and boasting a line-up of some of the top names in Christian music, Winter Jam West Coast will kick-off November 9 in Ontario, California.

Created and hosted by GRAMMY®-nominated Christian music mainstay NewSong, the tour’s Western dates will also feature RED, Sidewalk Prophets, Jamie Grace, Chris August, Group 1 Crew, Jason Castro, Dara Maclean and Capital Kings, along with a message from evangelist Nick Hall. Following its Los Angeles-area launch, Winter Jam is set to rock Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena; the US Airways Center in Phoenix; Memorial Coliseum in Portland; Sacramento, California’s Power Balance Pavilion; and the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho, before concluding November 18 at Fresno, California's Save Mart Center (Fresno headliner to be announced).

“We’re thrilled to welcome TobyMac back to the Winter Jam stage,” said Eddie Carswell, Winter Jam creator and NewSong founding member. “One of Christian music’s biggest artists of all time, Toby is a showstopper and we can’t wait for audiences to experience this incredible night of music and ministry. Not only has God paved the way for Winter Jam to hit the West Coast again this year, but we’re more exited than ever to bring such a top-notch, diverse line-up along. We look forward to witnessing what God’s going to do in November!”

Earlier this year the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular shattered its own record to become the #1 tour in the world (first quarter) for the second consecutive year, according to Pollstar’s 2012 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales Charts - Top 100 Tours. Headlined by GRAMMY®-nominated alternative rockers Skillet, the 47-city tour saw 32 sold-out concerts and surpassed last year’s record attendance by more than 10,000, playing to a total of nearly 535,000 people.

Promoted by Premier Productions and presented by World Vision, Winter Jam 2012 Tour Spectacular partners include the University of Mobile, Teen Missions International, Premier Christian Cruises, Xtreme Conferences, Camp Electric, The Creation Museum, Wayne E. Bailey Produce, and Texas TransEastern.

With over 11 million units in career sales, sold out tour dates and back to back radio hits, TobyMac celebrated his eighth GRAMMY® nomination this year following his fourth consecutive RIAA Gold certification for Tonight, which also received 2011 GRAMMY® nods for “Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album" and "Best Contemporary Christian Song," an American Music Award nomination for “Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist," three Billboard Music Award nominations including “Top Christian Artist,” and a Dove Award for “Best Rock Contemporary Album of the Year.” Tonight was iTunes® Best Christian Album of 2010 and also garnered him the highest sales debut of his solo career with over 78,000 units and a No. 6 Billboard Top 200 debut. TobyMac's music has been heard universally in major motion pictures such as “Hancock,” and “TRANSPORTER 2,” on ESPN's ESPY Awards and CBS' CSI: NY, while also being featured on Fox sports, The NFL network, WWE, the Golf Channel and on MLB’s 30 Clubs in 30 Days Spring Training Series. TobyMac will release EYE ON IT on August 28th.

Christian music mainstay NewSong has recorded 17 albums, garnering 20 #1 Christian radio singles and a GRAMMY® Award nomination, in addition to being inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, among numerous other achievements. The band’s unparalleled 30-year ministry has been highlighted by such defining songs as “The Christmas Shoes” and “Arise, My Love,” as well as the group’s recent hit single, “The Same God.” The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, created by NewSong in 1995, has become not only Christian music’s largest annual tour, but the top outing in all of music for the first quarter each year. Featuring the genre’s biggest names—including Skillet, Newsboys, Jeremy Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Francesca Battistelli, Tenth Avenue North and Fireflight—Winter Jam has introduced Christian music to new audiences across the country, while providing a powerful platform for the Gospel message.

NASHVILLE, TN - This Friday five-time Grammy® Award winning and multi platinum selling artist TobyMac will perform on ABC's hit daytime talk show The View. At the personal request of co-host Sherri Shepherd, TobyMac and his band Diverse City will perform "Get Back Up" during the episode celebrating Shepherd's birthday. The View airs weekdays on ABC at 11a/10a pt/c, and more information on the show can be found here.

Critics and fans alike bravoed TobyMac upon the recent release of Dubbed & Freq’d: A Remix Project, his first remix album in seven years. Fusing his signature rock-pop, hip-hop and urban styles with a treatment of today’s electronic music uprising, the album offers an outstanding new interpretation of 12 of Toby’s classics to an incredibly wide audience. Immediately upon release, the album made its debut at No. 2 on the iTunes® Christian & Gospel Albums chart.

In addition to the release of Dubbed & Freq’d, TobyMac is closing in on the finale of his unplugged “A Night of Stories and Songs” tour, which will wrap this Saturday, April 21 in Ft. Wayne, IN. He has also confirmed appearances at high-profile festivals this summer including Spirit West Coast, Creation East and AtlantaFest, in additional to many more. See the cities and dates here.