Rend Collective Experiment
May 12, 2013

Raucous, folk-rock worshippers Rend Collective Experiment are known for pushing artistic boundaries, daring the faithful to re-imagine worship and community. Inviting their Facebook and Twitter community to join them to record vocals live outdoors (around a campfire) on Ballyholme Beach in Northern Ireland, the band released the resulting 12-track album, Campfire. Remarkably, over three months since its release, the album has for the first time on May 6 hit the No. 1 position on the iTunes(r) U.S. Christian/Gospel chart.
As the momentum builds for the album, Rend Collective Experiment's radio single, "Build Your Kingdom Here," gathers "Most Added" status at AC radio for it's biggest week ever at radio. With KSBJ (Houston), New Life Media (Chicago, St. Louis and other IL markets), KBMQ (Monroe, LA), KLFF (San Luis Obispo, CA) KLRC (Fayetteville, AR), KBNJ (Corpus Christi, TX), WAYR (Brunswick, GA) and more playing the song, the companion video that was debuted by RELEVANT magazine has now been seen by over 375,000. Rend Collective members Gareth Gilkeson and Chris Llewellyn also share their hearts about the song in a new video.
"We immediately heard the buzz after Rend Collective's performance on the Rock & Worship Road Show," says Brian McIntyre, Shine.FM (Chicago/Indianapolis). "That buzz translated to our airwaves, with the song ["Build Your Kingdom Here"] garnering more buzz than any other current. Then research came back showing this as the highest testing song... The song is definitely resonating with our audience!"
Released as a digital only album, Campfire features "Build Your Kingdom Here" along with inventive and often surprising new arrangements of other songs from their 5-Star acclaimed albums, Organic Family Hymnal and Homemade Worship by Handmade People. Campfire is entirely driven by classic, retro folk instruments that could be played by the fire and ocean. The result is an album that captures the raw, rootsy, foot-stomping energy of the Irish worshippers, which has been infectious among audiences across the globe.