The group featuring Cash, his children, Franni and Martin, his brother, Scott, and family friend, Andrew Bergthold, was sparked by the decision to write one song. This collaboration led to a flurry of original compositions and the next logical step: forming a band.
“I really do believe it was God’s idea,” Cash said. “This was not anybody’s brainchild. We literally went to worship for some kids at a camp. It’s laidback and something we’d done for years. We thought we should write these kids a song and tell them how much God loves them. ‘Dancing on the Waves,’ was the first of those (songs).”
Watch the official music video for “Jesus Does” by We The Kingdom:
From concept to chart success
We The Kingdom signed with Capitol Christian Music Group. The aforementioned debut single, “Dancing on the Waves,” was released in 2019 in advance of the group’s debut EP, “Live at the Wheelhouse.” The song didn’t chart but the next single, “Holy Water,” reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Christian chart. The group was named New Artist of the Year at the 2020 GMA Dove Awards.
The group’s debut studio LP, “Holy Water,” was released in 2020. It received the 2021 Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year. The Doves also named We The Kingdom Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year. In 2021, “Holy Water” was also nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the Grammy Awards and Top Christian Album at the Billboard Music Awards.
A string of releases followed, including the holiday EP, “A Family Christmas,” and the album,” “Live at Ocean Way Nashville,” both in 2021. We The Kingdom, which released its self-titled sophomore studio album in Sept. 2022, has placed 10 other singles in the Top 40 on Billboard’s Christian charts. Two of those hit the upper reaches of the Top 10, with “God So Loved” at four in 2020 and “Child of Love” at five in 2021.
“It’s all truly beyond words,” Cash said. “I’m so incredibly thankful to God and to everybody involved, our label, management and booking, and to the fans for listening. It’s just been incredible. What a gift.”
Avoiding the sophomore slump
Before forming We The Kingdom, Cash worked steadily with singer Chris Tomlin. He also produced artists such as Steven Curtis Chapman, Rend Collective, Crowder and Needtobreathe. Cash was named “Producer of the Year” at the Gospel Music Awards (GMA) a half dozen times but entered a new phase with the family group. Even those accolades and experience didn’t prevent Cash from fretting over recording the band’s second album.
“I was producing other artists for years, so I’d see them go through the process of that sophomore record,” Cash said. “They’d get so stressed out. They’d had their whole life to write all the songs and make that first album. Then, you get out on the road and start touring that record, and then you have to do a second record in the context of having started a touring career. It just gets challenging. Praise God we’re so thankful of the success of ‘Holy Water,’ both as a song and an album, and ‘God So Loved’ and all those songs on there. It was honestly quiet a learning experience to let go of the fear, which was the greatest challenge, and try to get back to that original wild freedom that started the whole thing.”
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Embracing an organic approach
Embracing that wild freedom helped We The Kingdom’s second LP reach No. 2 on the U.S. Christian Album chart and also led to other releases. The group has dropped two projects in 2023, the acoustic EP, “The Factory Sessions,” in May, and the album, “Live from the Ryman,” on July 21.
“We’re always pushing forward,” Cash said. “You don’t want to go too far off the beaten path but at the same time we’re always up for exploring. Some of the best ideas to come up are the things that happen organically at soundcheck or as we’re just sitting around and messing with stuff rather than trying to do something different.”
The musicians have already started developing material for the next album.
“We’ve written quite a few songs,” Cash said. “We have about five we actually started recording and I am as excited about those as I’ve ever been about anything. I love what’s coming and we’re actually playing a couple of those new songs live. One of them is called ‘Church Music’ and it’s a rowdy good time. The other one, ‘The Plans,’ is more of a worship song. Man, we really love both of them.
“There’s some wisdom to playing songs live before you’ve finished recording them,” Cash added. “There’s just something about the live experience. When you’re in the studio, in that clinical environment, you get instincts about things but until you actually share a song with a group of people, you don’t have a total sense of how it’s going to connect, especially on a live level. So, anyway, we’re amped about these new songs and we’re excited to share them with people in Kettering.”
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
Who: We the Kingdom with special guest Anne Wilson
Where: Fraze Pavilion, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
When: Tonight; 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $35 lawn & terrace, $48.50 orchestra, ticket prices increase $5 day of show
More info: 937-296-3300 or www.fraze.com
Artist info: www.wethekingdom.com
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