AMPLIFY PRESS
WHAT IS AMPLIFY?
Amplify is a FREE two-day event that will be held on a 20-acre grass field. The cost of the production and artists is paid for by local sponsoring businesses, individuals, and churches that share our vision for growing the Kingdom of God. Our goal is to gather believers and unbelievers together under the banner of Christ–through contemporary Christian music as a vehicle for evangelism and worship.
EVENT DETAILS
Amplify is open to the public and will be held on 20 acres adjacent to the Saline County Fairgrounds and the Benton Riverside Park. Free parking is available onsite.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Visit amplifyfest.org to secure a FREE ticket to the event and/or learn more about volunteer, partnership, and donation opportunities.
HISTORY OF AMPLIFY
Amplify Music Festival began in 2012. It exists to glorify God by bridging the Church and the world by providing a free event where all are welcome. The event features performances by today's top Christian artists and worship leaders along with Gospel presentations that proclaim the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. This year's 11th annual Amplify will be held August 18-19 in Benton, AR. The event will focus on sharing music from award-winning artists and the Gospel message.
ABOUT PULSE
Founder and President Nick Hall started Pulse in 2006 on his college campus. Since then, Pulse has seen 318 million people impacted by the Gospel and two million people have responded to Jesus through their initiatives. Pulse is a prayer and evangelism movement on mission to empower the Church and Make Jesus Known. Since Pulse’s founding, they have linked arms with hundreds of ministries and churches around the world to fuel evangelistic movements. Whether hosting a big outreach event or providing the evangelistic voice at another organization’s event, training evangelists on American college campuses, or overseas in Africa, the common goal of everything they do is to to Reach the Lost and Unleash the Evangelist. Learn more at www.pulse.org.
Nick Hall is on earth to tell people about Jesus. He started a grassroots movement as a college student and has spent the last 20 years traveling the world to meet people where they are and tell them that they matter. As a student at North Dakota State University, Nick’s life was changed when he wrote a paper titled “Pulse” for his English class, hoping to combat the depression, substance abuse, and suicide that was impacting his friends and their campus. That paper unleashed one of the largest student-led efforts in American history, launching a nonprofit that exists today. Through Pulse events, Nick has shared a message of hope with over 330 million people around the globe. Everywhere Nick goes, he talks to people about faith and the deeper issues of life, because he knows what it feels like to make mistakes, experience heartbreak, and be alone. One of the goals of Nick’s life is to come alongside students who desire to impact their high school or college campus because that’s where this all began. Nick lives in Minneapolis with his wife Tiffany and three children.
SKILLET
On Victorious, one of the best-selling rock bands of the 21st century, two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated, Pandora Billionaires Club recipients, multiplatinum Wisconsin quartet SKILLET—John Cooper [lead vocals/bass], Korey Cooper [guitar/keys], Jen Ledger [drums/vocals], and Seth Morrison [lead guitar]—write the soundtrack to triumph. An undying spirit humbly asserted and affirmed the band as one of this generation’s most successful rock acts. However, as all classic underdog stories do, it happened quietly under the radar. By 2019, they not only garnered a pair of GRAMMY® Award nods and sold over 12 million albums worldwide, but they also took home a Billboard Music Award for the double-platinum Awake. Its breakout single “Monster” remains “one of the most-streamed rock songs of all-time” with over 3 Billion global audio streams. 2016’s Unleashed bowed at #3 on the Billboard Top 200. Going #1 on Rock Radio, the lead single “Feel Invincible” cracked 150 million global audio streams and went platinum. Meanwhile, the gold-certified Unleashed became their fourth consecutive album to receive either a gold, platinum, or double-platinum status. To date, nine original tunes earned RIAA recognition in tandem with high-profile syncs by everyone from WWE and Marvel to ESPN and NFL. Between selling out arenas on four continents, the group performed on CONAN and graced the pages of USA Today and The New York Times, Skillet's graphic novel, EDEN: A Skillet Graphic Novel with Z2 Comics, has become the publisher’s best-selling book of all time. Skillet's follow up graphic novel, Eden II: The Aftermath is out now.
CROWDER
Over 3 Million records sold, 1.8 Billion global streams, and 5 GRAMMY® Nominations. Crowder’s first solo album, Neon Steeple, debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, was named iTunes 2014 Christian Album of the Year, garnered multiple radio hits, two GRAMMY® nominations for “Come As You Are” and “Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains), a Grand Ole Opry debut, a Dove Award and numerous K-LOVE Fan Award Nominations. American Prodigal, his GRAMMY® nominated follow-up album, released in 2016, landing at No. 1 on the Christian & Gospel Album Chart, No. 3 on the Digital Albums Chart, No. 5 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart and No. 12 on the all-genre, Top 200 Billboard Chart. The song “All My Hope” brought Crowder a No. 1 radio single, in addition to two Top 10 singles prior to that from American Prodigal. His third project, I Know A Ghost, hit No.1 yet again on the Billboard Top Christian Albums Chart, while also earning his fourth GRAMMY® nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Album. Following in the footsteps of his previous releases, Crowder’s fourth studio album, Milk & Honey (6.11.21), debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Top Christian/Gospel Albums Chart, bringing about a record-breaking year of music for the Texarkana-native upon its arrival. Nominated for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year at the 2021 Dove Awards, the project’s lead single-turned-smash hit, “Good God Almighty,” not only peaked at No.1 at Christian radio, but it also sat atop the Billboard Christian Songs Chart for five consecutive weeks and landed Crowder his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart. Continuing the success, the album’s sophomore single, “In The House,” became Crowder’s fourth No.1 radio single in February 2022 and the project’s third single “God Really Loves Us” garnered a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song. Crowder’s latest release is his first Christmas album Milk & Cookies: A Merry Crowder Christmas. With recent press highlights including GMA, Fox & Friends, Wall Street Journal, PEOPLE Magazine, SPIN, American Songwriter and many more, Crowder is in the studio preparing for his fifth studio album coming in 2024.
For more information, visit http://www.crowdermusic.com.
JEREMY CAMP
Between 2002 and 2023, Jeremy has released twelve albums, five of them RIAA- certified as Gold. He has sold over 6 million albums with 43 #1 singles across all formats. His music has earned him numerous awards and nominations across the Christian and secular music industries, including five GMA Dove Awards, Grammy nomination, three American Music Award nominations, and four ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Awards. Camp was named Billboard’s #2 Christian artist of the decade as well. Outside of music, in 2020 Jeremy had an international theatrical movie release called “I Still Believe” which hit #1 in the box office opening weekend. The film depicted his life story of love and loss of his first wife after a battle with cancer. Camp has always written songs about his experiences and continues to write from the deep places of his heart.
Anne Wilson
One of Nashville's most inspiring young trailblazers, Anne Wilson is a true “rebel” in modern music. The Lexington, Ky. native, known for her transcendent vocal and down-to-earth storytelling, recently released REBEL (The Beginning), a three-pack of songs fusing the heart of Contemporary Christian Music with the sound of Country, and allowing the emerging powerhouse to innovate as her career builds momentum. Co-produced by Jeff Pardo and Jonathan Smith, the project kicks off with two singles bridging Wilson's sonic influences. The hurricane force encouragement of “Rain In The Rearview” stands as Wilson's debut Country single, while the soaring ballad “Strong” will simultaneously aim to continue the success she has earned in Contemporary Christian. Taking the music world by storm, Wilson delivered her first public performance at 15, singing “What a Beautiful Name” at her brother's funeral in a moving expression of faith which soon went viral. A few short years later, her 2021 debut single “My Jesus” became a PLATINUM-certified single and hit No.1 on Billboard's Christian Airplay chart. Since then, she has tallied more than 800M global streams, made her Grand Ole Opry debut and scored a GRAMMY nomination for her 2022 debut album My Jesus. She continues to thrill live audiences, performing over 250 shows in the first two years of her career, and just wrapped her entirely sold-out headlining My Jesus Tour before she heads out with Scotty McCreery in 2024. There's much more to come from this modern musical revolution, who approaches her craft with a purpose and conviction that sets her apart. “I am who I am,” she says. “I'm Anne Wilson. I love God and that's my everything, but I love Country music, too, and I can have a beautiful mix of both.”
KB
As much as glory necessitates gratitude, praise, and respect, it also demands enough faith to let go of control and give in to the greater plan for your life. Throughout a tireless decade-plus grind, KB has done his part and certainly put in the work. Still, it only prepared him to lean on his faith harder than ever and, ultimately, deliver his boldest artistic statement to date. Among many milestones, his anthem “100” garnered “Rap/Hip-Hop Song of the Year” at the Dove Awards in 2014, while he scored four back-to-back #1 debuts on the Billboard Top Christian Albums Chart. Reacting with audiences worldwide, he has notably generated hundreds of millions of streams buoyed by standouts such as “Hold Me Back,” “No Chains,” and “Church Clap” [feat. Lecrae]. 2020 saw him elevate to another stratosphere altogether with His Glory Alone. It cracked the Top 5 of the Top Christian Albums Chart and Top 3 of the Contemporary Christian Albums Chart. Not to mention, “10K” amassed over 18 million Spotify streams and counting.
COLTON DIXON
Colton Dixon turns personal truths, stories, and experiences into universal anthems. He first emerged as a phenomenon after finishing in the top seven on Season 11 of Fox’s American Idol. Delivering a series of fan favorite albums, 2013’s A Messenger achieved “the biggest first-week sales by a new solo Christian act” and catapulted into the Top 15 of the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart, not to mention, joining the iconic company of Harry Connick, Jr. and Billy Joel as a Steinway & Sons artist. A year later, Anchor yielded his third and fourth #1 hits on Christian Hot AC with “More of You” and “Through It All.” In 2017, he returned to #1 on the Christian Albums Chart for the third time. He has collected a pair of Dove Awards in the categories of “Rock/Contemporary Album” and “Recorded Music Packaging.” Following an invite from the White House, he also shined at the 2019 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in addition to performing on Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and in the pages of People magazine. During 2020, he embarked on a new chapter with Atlantic Records ignited by the self-titled Colton Dixon EP and runaway hit “Miracles”—one of his most popular tracks to date. 2022 saw him make his show-stopping debut at the Grand Ole Opry in the midst of kicking off another era, and experiencing a creative breakthrough with “Build A Boat.” Between the original and duet version with multiplatinum country songstress Gabby Barrett, it reeled in over 20 million streams. It stood out as “the longest running Mediabase Christian AC #1 song of 2022” and locked down #1 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs Chart and Christian AC Airplay Chart. People premiered the accompanying music video and hailed it as “inspiring” for its depiction of the work of medical charity Mercy Ships. Now, Dixon captivates once again on his 2023 EP, Canvas [Atlantic Records], introduced by the top 10 single “My Light.” Colton Dixon is ringing in Christmas early with the debut of the original track, "Home For Christmas," out now.
BLESSING OFFOR
Since the debut of his album My Tribe, two-time GRAMMY® Award nominee and GMA Dove Award winner Blessing Offor has established himself as a true artist’s artist with a voice as bright and authentic as his personality. My Tribe debuted in early 2023, and quickly hit Top 20 on THREE Billboard charts. It is the BIGGEST STREAMING DEBUT from a solo male artist on Capitol CMG. The album’s title track was featured in a global Coca-Cola ad campaign, his “The Goodness” with TobyMac became his first #1, and My Tribe’s lead single “Brighter Days” became a bastion for mainstream radio, hitting top 25 on the mainstream AC radio charts with over 100M views on TikTok. Blessing has won two 2023 GMA Dove Awards for Pop / Contemporary Song of the Year, and Short Form Music Video of the Year (Performance), has appeared on Good Morning America, Kelly Clarkson and The Jennifer Hudson Show and was named both an Amazon Breakthrough Artist and Pandora Artist to Watch. Blessing will hit the road in February 2024, the support act on Lauren Daigle’s Kaleidoscope Tour.
BEN FULLER
Ben grew up in Southern Vermont on his family dairy farm working along-side his fathersinging to old classic country tunes to pass the time. Due to generations of hurt in his family,Ben struggled with certain aspects of growing up and turned to cocaine and alcohol at ayoung age. However, in 2017, Ben abruptly lost his best friend to a heroin overdose whichdrastically changed his life. Motivated to change, he moved to Nashville to pursue countrymusic, but it was when some friends invited him to church one Sunday that everythingchanged. He began writing songs with a burning desire to share what God did to turn his lifearound, knowing in his heart he would sing Christian music for the rest of his life. Today, BenFuller is sober while sharing his story filled with hope, mercy, and grace.
UNSPOKEN
It’s been three years since Unspoken released a full-length album. In those three years, a global pandemic forced them off the road, their drummer nearly died from COVID, and they suffered multiple lineup changes. All of this transpired amidst a cultural backdrop of division and hatred. Taking both their personal hurdles and their mutual grief into the studio with them, the band began crafting their next record. The theme that quickly emerged? Love. While it might sound trite or simplistic, the reality — as the group soon discovered — is that it’s everything we need.
INTERVIEW & MEDIA OPS
To request an in-person or virtual interview with artist, please reach out to amplify@seesparkgo.com
MEDIA CREDENTIALS
A limited number of media credentials are available upon request for members of the media interested in covering Arkansas State Fair. Please email amplify@seesparkgo.com
PRESS CONTACTS
Amplify event coverage, Nick Hall interviews, and regional or national media inquiries.
Kaci Pollack, See.Spark.Go
678-895-4488