Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Jason Upton (born December 15, 1973) is an American Christian singer-songwriter, musician, recording artist and composer. His musical creations are mostly Christian worship songs inspired by folk music. Jason Upton is evolving on the margins of the Christian music industry through his own record label Key of David Ministries. However, some of his music has been distributed by major Christian labels such as Sparrow Records (EMI), Gotee Records and Integrity Music.
His multiple tours around the world, his appearances at services in Lou Engle's movement The Call and on CBN’s 700 Club talk show made him known by the American public as well as internationally. His music is mostly covered by Christian media such as Relevant Magazine, Crosswalk, Christianity Today and Cross Rhythms.
Early life
Jason Upton was born on December 15, 1973 in Minneapolis and was adopted by a Christian family in March 1974. He has Native American roots since his biological father was a Cherokee.
Events and tours
Jason Upton regularly tours in the United States, Canada, Europe and South America, leading worship in churches and at conferences, including Onething. He has rarely appeared on television, although he has appeared at least twice on the 700 Club. He is not regularly played on mainstream Christian radio. During worship services he not only plays the piano or keyboard, or acts as the lead vocalist, he also teaches and encourages the congregation.
Musical career
Upton released his first CD, Key of David, in 2000. It was recorded live in Virginia Beach that year and was produced by Upton's own Key of David Ministries. Over half of the album consists of unrehearsed, spontaneous songs and declarations. Later in 2000, Jason appeared at a National Day of Prayer and Fasting event called 'The Call D.C.'
On August 14, 2001, Jason released his second album Faith, which was also recorded live. Post-production work gave the album a high-quality smooth sound. It was his first on a professional recording, and was released on 40 Records. The title track "Faith" was a spontaneous track, an unplanned song which Jason referred to in the liner notes of the album as a 'Spirit Song'. While it differed from Key of David, the album was well received.
In 2002, he released two independent CDs that were his first to have been recorded in the studio, at Dark Horse Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Jacob's Dream contained songs that were more introspective and meditative in nature than his previous works. Dying Star was a larger project and concentrated more on destruction of personal pride and complete submission to what Upton sees as God's plan and not what the mainstream church envisions. That same year, he collaborated with other Christian artists on a Keith Green tribute entitled Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs of Keith Green. He re-recorded "You Are The One" for this project, further exposing him to mainstream Christian audiences. He also led worship at The Call New York that year.
Awards
In 2007, his album “Between Earth and Sky” was featured among CBN’s best Christian contemporary albums of 2007.