Sara Groves, a former high school teacher in her native Rosemont, MN, burst onto the gospel scene at the dawn of the new millennium with her fresh vocals and spiritual songwriting. She's been compared to the likes of Shawn Colvin and Rich Mullins, however, Groves defines her own musical demeanor. She cannot be limited to one exact label, for her contemporary Christian hooks also mold into delicate pop. Signed to Epic, Groves issued her debut, Conversations in early 2001, followed by a string of successful albums including All Right Here (2002), Other Side of Something (2004), Add to the Beauty (2005), Tell Me What You Know (2007), O Holy Night (2008) and Fireflies and Songs (2009).

The Christian pop group Casting Crowns formed in 1999 as a student worship band in Daytona Beach, FL. Led by singer, songwriter, and youth pastor Mark Hall, the group's initial lineup also included violinist Melodee DeVevo and a pair of guitarists, Juan DeVevo and Hector Cervantes. The musicians relocated to McDonough, GA, in 2001, and expanded their lineup by adding bassist Chris Huffman, keyboardist Megan Garrett, and drummer Andy Williams. This augmented version of Casting Crowns released two independent albums on CD, both of which were well received in the Atlanta area. One of the albums then found its way into the hands of Mark Miller, lead singer for the country group Sawyer Brown, who was struck by Casting Crowns' driving pop/rock style and Hall's vocal delivery of his hard-hitting but devout songs. Miller signed Casting Crowns to his fledgling Beach Street Records, a division of Reunion Records with distribution by the Provident Label Group, and took the group into the studio along with co-producer Steven Curtis Chapman, himself a popular artist on the CCM musical scene.

The resulting album, Casting Crowns, was released in 2003 on the Beach Street imprint. It fared extremely well in Christian markets, eventually going platinum and peaking at number two on the CCM charts. A sampler with five songs, Live from Atlanta, was released on Reunion Records in 2004, packaged with a bonus DVD containing band interviews and a music video. Lifesong, released in August 2005, became the band's most successful record yet, cracking the Top Ten in the secular market while maintaining the band's religious fan base as well. Like its predecessor, the record went platinum, and Casting Crowns' increased popularity helped send their follow-up album, 2007's The Altar and the Door, to number two on the Billboard album charts. Meanwhile, the single "East to West" spent a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks atop the Christian charts. A Christmas-themed album, Peace on Earth, appeared in 2008, tiding over the group's fans (and yielding a number one hit, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day") while Casting Crowns readied another LP of original material. Until the Whole World Sings arrived late in 2009.

One of the leading artists on the contemporary Christian scene, Jeremy Camp has gained a sizable fan following for his passionate, well-crafted rock songs and heartfelt testimonies of faith in spite of life's obstacles. Jeremy Camp was born on January 12, 1978, in Lafayette, IN, where his father was the pastor of the town's Harvest Chapel church and taught his son to play guitar. After completing high school, Camp attended bible college in Southern California and developed a keen interest in music, influenced by the likes of U2, Jars of Clay, Delirious?, and Creed. When one of the worship leaders at the school heard Camp playing with some friends at his dormitory, he urged him to become involved with their music ministry program, and soon he was performing at Christian music events all over California, recording a self-released disc called Burden Me in 2000. At one such appearance, Camp met a young woman named Melissa, and the two stuck up a friendship that blossomed into a romance. When Melissa broke off the relationship after a few months, Camp was crushed, but when he next saw her, her life had taken a serious turn -- she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was in the hospital. When Melissa went into remission, Camp married her, but after their honeymoon, they discovered the cancer had returned, and in early 2001 she passed on; she was only 21. Camp poured both his sorrow and the faith that helped see him through into his music, and in 2002 he was signed to BEC Recordings, who released his first nationally distributed album, Stay; it was both a critical and commercial success, and five songs from the disc reached the top of the Christian singles chart. While touring in support of Stay, Camp met singer Adrienne Leisching, former singer with the Benjamin Gate; the two hit it off, and in 2003 they were married, and have since been blessed with two daughters. In 2004, Camp released his second album for BEC, Carried Me: The Worship Project, which matched the gold record success of Stay, and Camp won two Dove Award trophies for Best Male Vocalist and Best New Artist. In 2005, Camp released two albums -- a studio set, Restored, which rose to number 45 on the Billboard Top Albums chart and spawned three number one Christian singles, and a live disc, Live Unplugged from Franklin TN. Camp also recorded the song "Open Up Your Eyes" for the soundtrack of the hit film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which earned him another Dove Award. The fall of 2006 brought another studio set from Camp, Beyond Measure, which reached number 29 on the Billboard charts and produced two more hit singles. Speaking Louder Than Before arrived in 2008, followed by the concert album Jeremy Camp Live in 2009.