Subscriber Services
Our Journalists
Sports Desk
Our Columnists
Our Writers
Our Writers
Our Photojournalists
Data
More Gazette
Other Links
FOLLOW US
Share this article:
Subscriber Services
Our Journalists
Sports Desk
Our Columnists
Our Writers
Our Writers
Our Photojournalists
Data
More Gazette
Other Links
FOLLOW US
Home / Arts & Entertainment / Music
Contemporary Christian band bringing new sounds to grandstand July 23
Jul. 20, 2023 6:15 am, Updated: Jul. 20, 2023 8:28 am
Martin Cash of We The Kingdom admits it might seem odd that the Christian group chose to make its second album a self-titled effort. That’s usually a title bands reserve for their debut albums.
“I think it’s ironic that it ended up being self-titled because to be honest, in the beginning that option was thrown out because we couldn’t agree on any other name. Someone at some point was like ‘Hey, why don’t we just call it ‘We The Kingdom’ and call it like a day,’ ” Cash said during a recent phone interview.
“At first we were like, ‘Ah that feels like a cop out. That feels like throwing in the towel.’ But the irony is that I really think this album highlights the individual members of We The Kingdom because throughout the album, there were particular people that started certain songs and we all kind of jumped in to finish them.”
What: We the Kingdom and Anne Wilson, with fireworks following
Where: Great Jones County Fair, 800 N. Maple St., Monticello
When: 8 p.m. Sunday, July 23, 2023
Tickets: $30, plus fair admission, greatjonescountyfair.com/2023-concerts-events/we-the-kingdom.php
Fair admission: $5 to $15; free ages 10 and under; greatjonescountyfair.com/visit-the-fair/admissions-information.php
Free hillside seating: Gates open at 8 a.m.; first-come, first-serve to put down a chair, blanket and/or tarp (max. 8 feet by 8 feet) to see the grandstand concert free of charge
Details: greatjonescountyfair.com/
Band’s website: wethekingdom.com/#/
“That, to me, is really cool because I feel like it (the album) highlighted the individual members,” he said. “(It says) ‘Hey, we are a team. We are all in this together.’ As you look down the list, it’s almost like, ‘Ah, I remember, that’s kind of Franni’s song that she started and we came around and finished it.’
“That was a really cool and different, unique thing that happened with the album,” he said, “where it was still collaborative, but there were just individuals who started songs and brought them to the rest of the band that we then all finished.”
It makes sense that the five members of We The Kingdom would grow more collaborative. After all, this essentially is a family band that’s very accustomed to being around each other. The band includes Ed Cash; his brother, Scott Cash; Ed’s son and daughter, Martin Cash and Franni Rae Cash-Cain; and longtime friend Andrew Bergthold.
The story behind how the band happened and has reached a place as one of Christian music’s leading acts is one of the more unusual ones in music.
Brothers Ed and Scott Cash, as teens and in their early 20s, played in touring bands, but when they started families, they left their bands to be parents. Ed went on to build a successful career as a songwriter and producer, working with such Christian acts as Chris Tomlin and Crowder. Martin and sister Franni, meanwhile, took to music growing up, writing songs and singing together. The Cash family also became very involved in Young Life camps and played music at those gatherings.
Bergthold, meanwhile, was pursuing his musical ambitions in Kansas City, Mo.
It was at one of the Young Life camps in Georgia in 2008 that the various musical pursuits merged. Scott Cash had asked the others to help lead worship at the camp. And one night, they convened in a hot tub at the camp and started bouncing around ideas for a song about the beauty of God’s love. The song “Dancing On The Waves” emerged, and the five musicians went on to write several more songs over the next couple of weeks at the camp.
A band was being formed, and over the next year, more music was written, and a sound formed that drew from four decades of musical influences and came to encompass worship music, rock, pop, country, folk and soul.
Ed Cash’s connections in the music industry helped get We The Kingdom showcases in front of labels, booking agents and other industry professionals, which furthered the band’s early development.
“Initially it was a huge blessing to us just with his kind of relationships and connections to (record) labels,” Martin Cash said. “I remember when we kind of made that decision that OK, we’re shifting to making this a full-time thing, we needed to start showcasing in front of labels and booking agencies and management and kind of all that comes with that.
“And so that was a huge blessing in the beginning — just to have people to reach out to like ‘Hey, would you make some time for us and come see us play and give us your thoughts,’ which we were super grateful for.”
Newsletter Signup
Delivered to your inbox every Thursday
You will begin to receive our weekly Hoopla Events updates. Add newsletters@thegazette.com to your contacts.
The band got signed by Capitol Records’ Christian Music Group, and debuted in 2019 with the six-song concert EP “Live at the Wheelhouse.” That release contained a version of the song “Holy Water,” which went to the top of the Christian Airplay singles chart.
The studio version of that song became the title track for the “Holy Water” studio album, and in April 2020 the song landed atop three different Christian music charts. Two more Top 5 singles, “God So Loved” and “Child of Love,” followed, as We The Kingdom became one of the fastest rising acts in Christian music.
So far, the self-titled album has generated a Top 15 single in “Miracle Power,” a Top 30 single in “Jesus Does,” and more singles could still be released.
In making the “We The Kingdom” album, the five band members not only grew more collaborative as songwriters, they drew on some different influences — Martin mentioned Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and the Smash Mouth hit “All Star” as prime examples — and experimented with new tones and sonics. In the end, the band emerged with an album full of strong songs that are a bit more energetic overall than the “Holy Water” album.
Rockers like “Deep End” “Left It In The Water” and “Life Is Good” give the self-titled album an edge, and the soft ballads that were peppered across the “Holy Water” album aren’t as prevalent on the second album. Instead, most of the slower songs (“Jesus Does,” “Mine” and “God Is On The Throne”) come with some heft.
Cash said doing a second album presented We The Kingdom with plenty of questions about the next musical step the band should make.
“With our first album, you’re starting from zero. You have no reference for what people like from you, the sound,” he said. “If say, they gravitate toward ‘Holy Water,’ you struggle with should we write more records like ‘Holy Water,’ that same sound? But then the creative in you is going, ‘No, we’ve already done that. How do we continue reinventing ourselves and pushing the envelope, but still offering the same sound people fell in love with?’
“So that was a struggle with the self-titled album. I’m personally super pleased with how it turned out.”
We The Kingdom is closing out the Great Jones County Fair in Monticello on Sunday night. The band is back out playing headlining shows after starting the year co-headlining the multi-band Winter Jam, one of the year’s biggest Christian music tours.
That outing initially caused the band some concerns, because when We The Kingdom took the stage, it was later in the evening and they were seeing a significant number of people who were either leaving during their set or before We The Kingdom took the stage.
After a number of discussions, Cash said they came to feel people were leaving for logistical reasons — perhaps they needed to get home to meet up with babysitters, or the younger fans had curfews. He feels that experience will only help the band, even with headlining shows.
“There was talk of like are we playing the right songs? Should we play more songs that are hooky, kind of cheap tricks you can get into to get people to stay? But at the end of the day, the point is not to force them to stay. It’s to play to the ones that are there,” Cash said. “It’s a lesson, but it’s a good one.”
Erin Jordan
Lyz Lenz
John Steppe
Music Jul. 20, 2023 8:03 am59d ago
Things To Do Jul. 20, 2022 1:39 pm424d ago
Things To Do Jul. 20, 2022 11:46 am424d ago
Music Sep. 14, 2023 6:30 am3d ago
Music Sep. 14, 2023 6:15 am3d ago
Music Sep. 14, 2023 6:00 am3d ago
Books Sep. 17, 2023 6:00 am17h ago
People & Places Sep. 16, 2023 6:00 am1d ago
Things To Do Sep. 14, 2023 5:45 am3d ago
News Sep. 8, 2023 6:00 am9d ago
Things To Do Sep. 7, 2023 6:30 am10d ago
Music Sep. 7, 2023 6:15 am10d ago
FOLLOW US
The Gazette has been informing Iowans with in-depth local news coverage and insightful analysis for 140 years. Support our award-winning, independent journalism with a subscription today.
© 2023 The Gazette | All Rights Reserved.
Previous Post
Next Post
