Mark Schultz

Schultz is contemporary Christian music's surprise songwriter of the new millennium, a new Michael W. Smith without stealing thunder from the old one, with a strong enough musical identity to blaze a totally new, unexplored chapter of the genre. Schultz first gained notoriety when worship leaders started earning platinum records and Nashville began playing closer attention to the Sunday morning music scene. He blasted past expectations, instantly becoming Christian contemporary music's prized cross between James Taylor and Billy Joel. He calls himself a storyteller, influenced by the storytelling nature of his Heavenly Father and citing that as the inspirational magic behind his music. But it's impossible to lose when you lace a voice as clear and enthralling as his over well-crafted lyrics and such a deft hand on the piano. His cover of "Kyrie" put the song back on mainstream radio, and if he keeps this up, that will be just the beginning of his well-deserved mainstream attention.