Fake Christian Artists That You Should Listen To, Vol. 2
(Please leave a comment and tell us what these artists sound like in your head. Volume 1 is here.)
Kassadee
For identical twins Bracelyn and Gracelyn Kurtwood-Light, music has been a way of life. Raised in the Nashville suburb of Belle Meade, the sisters began writing songs at an early age.
“We saw so much,” says Gracelyn, 18. “So much pain all around us. We really looked at each other and said ‘let’s make a band; it’s now or never.’”
Encouraged by their agent at the Kisker & Fisk Agency, where the twins modeled, to rebrand as a trio, the sisters recruited their cousin Janey Lee Stillwater, 19, to complete the group.
“Janey’s been modeling with us for four or five years, so it really felt like a natural thing. A musical thing,” Bracelyn explains.
Kasadee’s debut album GIRLHOPE is available now, and they will be joining the DiverseCity Minority Voices tour for select dates, along with John Reuben, Thousand Foot Krutch, and KJ-52.
Grace United
What do you get when you combine the members of digital influencer collective Brat Boyz, TikTok viral singer Aqua Ellison, and the daughter of the teaching pastor of Nashville megachurch Cedar Creek Crossing?
If the engagement numbers are any indication, the answer is Christian music’s hottest new act, Grace United.
Guitarist Kaden “Money” Talmadge attributes the group’s early success to their chemistry: “We just kind of came together through various collabs, and we realized that we were all, like, pro-God. It was wild.”
The final piece would be the musical piece:
“We had to learn how to do instruments,” explains lead drummer Cayden “Killer” Nesmith. “It has to look real when we’re on stage, for the cameras.”
As of now, Grace United has only one song, “Rock Your Church: The Anthem, Part 1 (A.Rizzy version, feat. Seb Jonas, Apostle Streezy remix) which they will be performing on the Influencers Unite! Tour, headlined by Christian illusionist Maxx Jasper.
Laceland Avenue
When the Christian rock quartet Laceland Avenue shot to internet fame in 2022, all four members were in high school. The girls were making hard rock covers of CCM songs and posting them to YouTube, where a video of the band performing “Life Song” by Casting Crowns got noticed by VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer. Vischer retweeted the video to his followers on Twitter, which brought Laceland Avenue to the attention of several interested labels.
Now, two years later, the members are still in high school, at exclusive Brentwood (TN) prep school Faith Life Academy. But the girls aren’t letting that slow them down: later this year, they plan to release their debut album The Things We’ve Seen, featuring a guest appearance from a Nichole Nordeman sample.
“All of our dads were in Christian bands,” says bassist Malia Grace Leatherwood. “None of them were, like, popular or anything, but it’s cool because now they are pushing us to make that happen.”
Next year, when the members of the band graduate, they are scheduled to tour with Petra United, which will feature all 53 members of Petra on stage at once.
Kid Miracle
Born Samuel Rehoboam O’Brien, Kid Miracle grew up in Oak Hill, Tennessee, the son of two record label executives. It was this rough upbringing that pushed him toward the genres of hip hop and EDM.
“Nobody gave me anything,” he says now. “I’m one of the lucky ones: I made it out.”
Now 20, Kid Miracle is already a veteran of the underground Nashville Christian hip hop/EDM dance hall fusion scene. In 2023, his remix of the MC J5SUS track “Tithe Boy” was featured on the Best of Nashville Compilation Mixtape JT Daily. His debut album The Final Word is being produced by Ronnie and Jason Martin, and will feature several covers of Dance Hall Children, Starflyer 59, and Joy Electric songs.
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No but seriously that remix album when...?
Kid Miracle is objectively bad. He's the nepo artist, so his strength is his marketing team. He'll have to re-brand completely for each album, because each genre keeps catching onto his lack of talent.