Avalon

Posted on by katrine

In 1995 Sparrow Records’s A&R Director Grant Cunningham had a vision for a new vocalist group that could sing tight harmonies. The first artist recruited for the new group was Michael Passons, who Cunningham saw perform at a coffee shop. He was quickly joined by Janna Potter (now Janna Long), a singer in the mega-group Truth. She suggested a former member of Truth, Jody McBrayer, who also joined the group. Nikki Hassman (now Nikki Anders) was the forth and final member of the newly formed group, Avalon. Their self-titles debut album was released in ’97.

Their second album A Maze Of Grace came out in 1998. It featured such songs as Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Adonai, and of course Testify to Love. After completing the album Nikki left the group to pursue a solo career. She was replaced by Cherie Paliotta (now Cherie Adams). In A Different Light was the first album with a new voice, followed by a Christmas album Joy. In 2001 Oxygen was released which included the songs Make It Last Forever, Wonder Why and Undeniably You.
The group mixed things up in 2002 with the album O2: Avalon Remixed after which Cherie then left the group to start a women’s ministry. She was replaced by Melissa Greene. In 2003 after the release of their greatest hits album, Michael Passons left the group. Janna’s husband Greg Long took his place. The Creed was the first album with Greg. He says Avalon is such a big part of his family’s life that taking work home is inevitable. Greg and Janna make it work by bringing their kids on tour with them and occasionally having date nights with “no talking about Avalon”. In 2006 Avalon released 2 albums Stand and Faith: A Hymns Collection.

Avalon’s album Another Time, Another Place: Timeless Christian Classics was released in February 2008. The whole album is a tribute to classic Christian artists. They put a new spin on classics like El Shaddai (Amy Grant), Place in This World (Michael W. Smith), The Basics of Life (4Him) and Testify to Love (Avalon). By the time this album was released Jody McBayer had already announced he was leaving the group due to a heart condition. Jeremi Richardson in the newest member of Avalon.In 2009, Avalon released a greatest hits album as well as the album, Reborn. They hope to release a new album in 2011.