The JUNO Award-winning band, The City Harmonic released their sophomore album, Heart, to critical acclaim on September 3, 2013. The follow-up to I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home) shows a more mature band with members who have spent more time in the trenches of life. From the "living the dream" state that came from getting signed and getting to do music full time to learning to mix life with full-time, "on the road" ministry, they've grown as changes have come their way. And they've been big changes ... since 2011, Aaron and his wife became first-time parents, Josh got married, Elias and his wife had their fourth child and Eric was diagnosed with cancer.
Elias explained how those changes helped to form Heart in a press release. He said, "We set out to write an album ‘on being, and becoming, human,’ but, in a way, it’s about image bearing. By that I mean that yes, we’re human -- and the Bible tells us that we’re made in the image of God and each and every human has an inherited dignity as a result. But there’s more to it than that... God made this universe around us and often refers to the cosmos as a temple. I mean if you stop and think about the role an ‘image’ or ‘statue’ might play in a temple, you begin to see that we humans have quite a role to play. Whatever our present circumstances, the biggest challenge before us is to recognize that in Christ we’ve been given the responsibility and capacity to become like Him, and as we do, we are becoming exactly the kind of humans we were meant to be from the beginning."
One of the most profound songs on the album, "Strong," was written by Elias and Eric, and was based around Eric’s battle with cancer. "I wasn’t really in a place to write anything," Eric shared. "Emotionally, I felt like a child who had been let down by his parents for the first time. I just couldn’t see (my illness) as a blessing. I couldn’t connect with God. To confront that stuff and write, ‘I am strong in my weakness,’ was really difficult because I couldn’t deny how I really felt..." However, one year after a stem cell transplant put him in remission, Eric sees the rest of the picture. "Being on the other side of it, my emotions now line up with what I believe. God really has been there the whole time, using this for the good. It’s a clear picture of God’s people coming together, working together... a profound experience."
The band, complete with Eric on bass, will be sharing the new music on the "Heart Tour" with Shawn McDonald and The Royal Royal. Kicking off on October 5 in Snyder, Colorado, the tour will make 14 stops before wrapping up on November 3 in Mason, West Virginia.
The Heart Tour Dates:
- Oct. 5 - Snyder, CO
- Oct. 6 - Durango, CO
- Oct. 10 - Phoenix, AZ
- Oct. 11 - Carlsbad, CA
- Oct. 12 - Pomona, CA
- Oct. 13 - Murrieta, CA
- Oct. 16 - Coos Bay, OR
- Oct. 18 - Bend, OR
- Oct. 19 - Kennewick, WA
- Oct. 20 - Everett, WA
- Oct. 25 - San Jose, CA
- Oct. 26 - Vallejo, CA (non-tour date)
- Oct. 27 - Santa Rosa, CA
- Nov. 1 - Brant, Canada
- Nov. 2 - Cleveland (Acquire The Fire)
- Nov. 3 - Mason, WV
