Chris Tomlin‘s latest album, Chris Tomlin & Friends, is out! The record, which includes guest appearances by Thomas Rhett, Lady A, Brett Young, Russell Dickerson and more, also features Florida Georgia Line. The duo, made up of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, co-produced the record, which is only fitting since the idea for the 13-track project began because of a chance encounter between Chris and Tyler, while they were both on vacation in 30A, and happened to be working out at the same gym at the same time.
“You were a huge impact in me learning how to play music, learning how to play guitar, learning how to sing,” Tyler told Chris during a livestream in advance of the album’s release. “I literally learned how to sing to worship songs, on stage in church. The same for BK. We actually sang together the majority of the songs when we started singing together were worship songs for youth kids. So after we met, I remember kind of like, ‘Cool, good to me.’ And then we went back to working out for a minute, and I was like, ‘Holy cow, he seems really cool. I’m gonna go ask him if he wants to go on a bike ride after this.'”
Not only did the two singers go on a bike ride together, but they began talking about what eventually evolved into Chris Tomlin & Friends.
“I think God took over,” Tyler said. “For me, I was like, ‘Let’s just see what door opens.’ I think God was in control the whole time. The fact that we were both in a gym. We’re the only two people at the gym. We’re at the beach … I just think the whole thing is really, really wild, the whole journey, and then how the whole puzzle was put together after that. It was super organic, and it went from just a couple of songwriting sessions to ‘Hey, let’s put out a song,’ to ‘Let’s put out three songs, to ‘Why don’t you just do an album, and why don’t we just bring a bunch of people in, friends of ours, country music artists, outside of your world a little bit.’
“I knew, as much as BK and I had been impacted by you and your life and your music, a lot of our friends have as well, our other artist friends,” he continued. “I felt like it would be a no-brainer, and just a fun project, and it really turned into something bigger than I could have imagined. I’m super grateful for us all having the courage and the bravery to follow the lead here and let the Lord work a little bit.”
Chris and Florida Georgia Line have performed together at a couple of concerts since their friendship began. FGL also planned on joining Chris at his Good Friday service this year, which had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. But regardless of when they get to sing on stage together, Tyler is incredibly proud of the finished album.
“I think this is the most special project we’ve ever done, we’ve ever been a part of,” Tyler said. “We still listen to it every single day. Our kids dance in the living room every single day, and then we almost cry every single day, and then we worship every single day. It’s just a really special, special project. With each song and each collaboration, how it just unfolded throughout the process was basically God, and here we are. We’re just going to let you lead the way.”
Chris Tomlin & Friends is available for purchase via Amazon