Paul Baloche
Genre: Pop/Worship
Official Web Site
Paul Baloche Bibliography: (click on each album cover to view tracks and Paul Baloche lyrics)
Paul Baloche Biography Paul Baloche is best known for "Open the Eyes of My Heart," recently named by Christian Copyright Licensing International as the most popular worship song in North American churches today. The worship pastor for Community Christian Fellowship Church in Lindale, Texas additionally received a Song of the Year Dove Award for co-writing "Above All" with Lenny LeBlanc. His wife Rita is also a popular worship songwriter, responsible for favorites like "Rock of Ages" and "I Will Celebrate." They lead worship together on Offering of Worship, recorded live at Regent University in Virginia Beach.
Like most of today's worship albums, Offering of Worship is good for a couple of outstanding tracks among a bunch of likeable though forgettable songs. The highlight here is "Offering," a solid pop ballad of gratitude to the Lord that could potentially be the songwriter's next "Above All." (It fades out quickly during Baloche's closing prayer, which is a bit uncharacteristic of a worship album.) Other standouts include the strong praise rocker "All for You," the upbeat Easter anthem "All the Earth Will Sing Your Praises," and the memorable melodic rock of "My Reward." There's also a fine rendition of "You Are the One," which Baloche co-wrote for Lincoln Brewster's 2002 release, Amazed. But apart from these, this 12-track recording is unremarkable, delivering conventional melodies and patterned pop arrangements with the standard worship rhetoric. A good and well-intentioned album, there are nonetheless hundreds of others available from Integrity and Vineyard that sound just like Offering of Praise.
As a Dove-Award winning songwriter, Paul has written hundreds of songs that have been featured on a variety of albums including the platinum selling WoW Worship CD's and the Time Life - Songs 4 Worship series. He has written many popular songs including "Open the Eyes of my Heart", "Above All", "Praise Adonai", "Offering", and 'My Reward', which was the top charting song on Inspirational Radio in 2004.
You have probably sung his songs in church or heard his music on albums from well known artists such as Michael W. Smith, Sonicflood, and Randy Travis.
An accomplished songwriter, worship leader, and producer for Integrity Music, his album credits include 'He Is Faithful', 'First Love', 'Open The Eyes Of My Heart', 'God of Wonders', and his most recent album, 'Offering of Worship', a live worship CD/DVD recorded at CBN's Regent University in Virginia Beach. In addition to these recordings, he has produced four albums for Maranatha! Music's Praise Band.
As a worship leader, Paul's unpretentious and approachable style has encouraged many to draw near to God in worship. 'I want my music, and more importantly my life,' Paul explains, 'to inspire people to pursue a sincere, authentic relationship with Christ.'
Paul was introduced to Dan and Kelly Willard, and later to Lenny LeBlanc. As a guitarist and vocalist, he accompanied them on worship events. 'Their lives taught me so much about humility, honesty, and presenting a sincere faith,' says Paul.
A longtime member and producer of the Maranatha! Praise Band, Paul has traveled the world teaching and leading others in worship. He has performed in South Africa, Europe, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, where many of his songs have become favorite choruses sung by people of all denominations.
In addition to his songwriting success, Paul has been playing guitar and teaching professionally for over 20 years. He is a graduate of The Grove School of Music in Studio City, California and recently developed the 'Modern Worship Series' DVD's that are designed to help worship leaders and musicians expand their guitar-playing skills, equipping them to play some of the more challenging praise and worship styles of today.
For fifteen years he has served as the Worship Pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, Texas, where he lives with his wife Rita and their three children. In addition to being a songwriter, he is also a musician, clinician, recording artist, and producer.
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