Big Daddy Weave spreads ‘Beautiful Offerings’ to its audience

In Christian music circles there are big acts – and then there is Big Daddy Weave.

The contemporary Christian rock group, helmed by namesake Mike Weaver, headlines the Beautiful Offerings Tour, which stops at the Gallo Center for the Arts on Monday. Joining them on the road are fellow Christian acts Jason Gray, Citizen Way and Lauren Daigle.

Weaver met his band mates in college at the University of Mobile in Alabama and they signed their first record contract in 2002. The band’s debut, “One and Only,” hit No. 22 on the Billboard Independent Album chart. The band’s next four releases all made it into the Top 20 of the Christian Album chart, with the latest album, “Love Come to Life,” charting at No. 8 and its single “Redeemed” topping the Billboard Christian Song chart.

The group’s work earned it a nomination for the best new artist Dove Award in 2002 and a win for album with “Christ Has Come” in 2010. The group’s lineup includes Weaver on lead vocals, his brother Jay on bass, Jeremy Redmon on guitar, Joe Shirk on sax and keys, and Brian Beihl on drums.

The Beautiful Offerings Tour will make its way through churches, festivals and performance centers this spring and summer. Weaver said he wanted something different from the band’s typical shows of the past. And touring with the other acts was a way to help showcase them as well.

“The Lord really started to show us groups of artists that we believed in and had the same heart. The concept came from us realizing whether solo artists or groups, we are all individuals … , uniquely made by God,” Weaver said in an email interview. “The Lord has put part of himself in us. The beauty is in our offering. … We are all sons and daughters of God and we have the opportunity to worship him not only with singing and playing, but together with the audience. So we all play and sing on each other’s songs through the night and we all worship together with the audience.”

Weaver said that while the show features four artists with different styles, their messages are all about knowing God’s love.

“We want the audience to know that they are important to God. We are all human and because of that, very limited. But despite all that, God loves us,” he said. “We are valuable despite our limited human resources.”

Weaver said all the artists on the tour complement each other as well. Big Daddy Weave and Gray have worked together as artists for the Christian international humanitarian and advocacy group World Vision. Gray got his start releasing his music independently and then in 2006 began releasing his work on a professional Christian label.

“People sing louder during his songs. And something happens and people are singing their guts out for his songs. He goes to such a vulnerable place,” Weaver said. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot from him. I stand up front during his set and he shares about pain and his walk through stuff that hurts. Wow.”

Illinois-based Citizen Way had its first No. 1 Christian single in 2013 with “How Sweet the Sound.” The group is made up of two sets of brothers. Relative newcomer Daigle’s first full album came out last month. “How Can It Be” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Albums chart and No. 29 on Billboard’s Top 200.

“The heart of her song ‘How Can It Be’ really encapsulates the entire night. That’s why we are beautiful offerings, because of what Jesus has done for us,” Weaver said. “She’s fun and young and brings that spirit to the table which is refreshing for us older folks.”

Not that the so-called “older folks” are slowing down either. Since the band’s 2013 release, “Love Come to Life,” they’ve been working on new music. Weaver joked that, “Lord willing,” their new album will come out in September.

“Writing has been sweet. We haven’t stopped writing after the last record. I’m excited about the message of the songs. There are important songs in there to me,” he said.

Still, for Weaver, the label “Christian artist,” particularly the “artist” part, feels strange.

“I don’t feel like an artist. I feel like Christian music has been a way of communication, more so than art. We’ve received something from the Lord that is continuing to change us, and we want to share that,” he said. “Our sound changes based on whatever we are listening to. It becomes the backdrop of what we share, which is the reality of Jesus. The music is also an important way of communication between us and God.”

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Big Daddy Weave spreads ‘Beautiful Offerings’ to its audience."