Every year, the Asbury Worship Collective releases an album of original songs that a select band has created. After composing a collection of songs, the band typically performs for Asbury students and hosts a live recording of the album. This year, the live recording will be at 8 p.m. on both Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 in the CLC Luce Auditorium.
The title and theme of this year’s album is “Before the Throne,” a phrase to challenge listeners to ask themselves where they are in relation to the throne. They began with a general theme of “Abide,” which then went through a change as they meditated on John 15 and its imagery of the vine and the branches before they finally came to the mutual abidance present in Christianity.
Producer Laney Hill said about the journey, “It’s more about the kingdom of God and how we abide in that, and how He abides with us and how we interact with Him. If you look at our set list, there are three sections to it: interacting with Jesus, where you are before the throne and being with others before the throne.”
The theme was only decided on during Christmas break, but the team has been working together since the beginning of the 2024 Fall semester. As part of the album band, the group of 10 was required to come back to campus a week early from summer break, which they used for late-night writing sessions under the Wilmore water tower and hikes at Shaker Village, where they would sit around near a creek and write.
“You have to be so open with each other when writing songs, and especially when they are Christ-centered worship songs, you have to be open with the people that are in the room with you,” said Hill, who is in her third consecutive year on Album Band. “You have to be authentic about where you’re at on your walk with Jesus, where you’re at in that specific moment, on that specific day. We just embrace it and tie it into songs, because plenty of people who follow Christ experience doubt, experience hardships, fill in the blank with what you want. I think that really helps us grow closer.”
Out of the nine original songs that the band has made, three have already been revealed to Asbury students either via Chapel or social media, including “Higher & Higher,” “With Me” and “The One.” They will be covering the worship songs “Worthy,” “I Will Exalt You” and “Breathe” on top of the nine new ones.
The rest of fall semester was dedicated to writing various songs for the album and practicing for Chapel performances. Over Christmas break, they began to really narrow things down so they could come back to school in the spring and begin rehearsing. Once returning from break, they had just over 10 rehearsals before the live recording. Now, the band just has to play.
“Not to be cheesy, but the purpose is to bring glory to God through such a creative art form,” reflected Hill. “If no one showed up on those nights and we just played those songs in that room, no microphones, no anything, God would still get all the glory. But this is a new outlet that we are able to interact with God in and people on campus can have such a personal relationship with the songs because they will be some of the first people to hear it.”
Tickets are available for $8 for students or $10 for general admission, and they can be purchased online prior to the performance or at the door. After the recording, the album will be available on all major music streaming platforms.
Photo courtesy of Laney Hill.
