David Crowder Band

David Crowder and band launched in college when Crowder and a friend realized that more than half of the Baylor student body weren't going to church (Baylor's a Baptist University). In response, Crowder became a kind of Christian pied piper, playing trailblazing worship sets and deeply personal rock that draws you in through a million unique points. Listening to Crowder is like a reunion with something you didn't know was missing: his voice is solid, raspy at the right moments and replete with personality. He loves to throw in playful "la las" and "yeah yeahs", but makes them musically substantial and even rooted. His songwriting is refreshing and needed; he's introduced several new praise and worship tunes while giving existing P&W songs like "Heaven Came Down" entirely new interpretations. While rhythmically he marches to a different drummer, the beats are never obscure or hard to relate to. The band is comparable to Dave Matthews' with strong instrumental influences, including strings and live acoustics. Still, it's hard to say whether or not he's most celebrated (or at least most noticed) for his awesome, shocked-out hairdo.