Excited to announce Shawn will be out with Downhere on the How Many Kings Christmas Tour! Check out the tour dates section for more details.

Shawn will be playing as part of Celebrate Freedom at Jim R Miller Park in Atlanta, GA on Saturday.

Get more details here: http://www.celebratefreedomatlanta.com/

Looking forward to playing both Creation East ( 7/1) and Creation West (7/22)- check out the website for more details.

http://www.creationfest.com/

Thanks so much for all the support with the new record! We're at #2 at iTunes. If you haven't picked it up yet- you can HERE

Here is what people are saying:

The critically acclaimed Christian singer/songwriter emerged from a prolonged hiatus more resilient than ever, and more tuned in to the type of artist that suits him best." - AllMusic.com

"It's a strong album musically and the message is undeniable, making it one of my favorite albums of the year." - AlphaOmegaNews.org

"Closer draws on how tragedy pulls saints and sinners alike closer to Christ. Above all, listeners will be encouraged that hard times are inevitable but God's grace is everlasting." - CBN.com

"Stamped all over with his earthy signature sound... Closer is a brave and courageous peek inside his heart." - ccmmagazine.com

"Thoroughly engaging and endlessly creative, Closer is most remarkable for taking difficult, deeply personal ideas and making them accessible to the masses, a trick that takes some awfully huge chops. McDonald, obviously has them in spades." - Christian Musician magazine, Mar./Apr. 2011

"With confidence, I can say this is the best album I have ever heard! And, this is definitely the BEST of the six other Shawn McDonald albums. Leaving Shawn's last album, Roots a very high second place in my book. I could seriously go on and on about every song on this album but I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise that Closer has for you. Be ready to receive Shawn's story and I pray that every listener would be as blessed and as encouraged as I was." - ChristianMusicReview.org

"All in all, this is a very good and expectedly diverse album from Shawn McDonald. The music has many facets and the lyrical content is very strong while being personal." - JesusFreakHideout.com

"I recommend you buy this honest album on March 22, 2011 and look for some gems that are surely to be found there." - Melodic.net

Here is also an interview I recently did with Charisma Magazine

We're so excited to finally share "Closer" with everyone TOMORROW!!

If you haven't pre-ordered yet, you can do so at iTunes

Here are also some reviews of the new record to check out:
Christian Music Review
CBN
Alpha Omega

You can now PRE-ORDER "Closer" on iTunes- releases 3/22!

Get it HERE

I've been blogging a bit more lately and have some new entries if you haven't looked in a while.

Hope you enjoy!

The current radio single, "Closer," is also available to consumers today with its retail debut on iTunes ®. To purchase the single, visit iTunes.

Closer comes as the newest recording from McDonald in three years. The album offers themes of hope and redemption through the storms of life. Though many of the songs were written by McDonald, he also teamed up with the likes of Ben Glover ("The Lost Get Found" and "Before The Morning"). Produced by Christopher Stevens (tobyMac, Sanctus Real) Closer contains 13 songs from the singer/songwriter such as "Don't Give Up," "Storms," "Rise," and "Better Way."

"Sometimes God has to break us down in order to build us into the art pieces he intends for us to be," explains McDonald. "I am very excited to bring you a very honest and vulnerable record about the breaking of the human condition and the healing of a mighty God. These songs have been and still are being used in my life as a tool in the healing and beckoning of my heart as I fumble my way to Christ. I hope and pray that these songs can and will be used in your own journeys, your own brokenness and in the lives of many others."

I am a lover of coffee! Some say I am obsessed a bit, not sure if it is the fact that I do not function properly in the morning until I get my cup or the fact that if I am driving down the road and see a coffee shop, it takes everything in me to keep my eyes on the road and keep driving. Not sure if any of you have ever seen a bugs life, but if you have and can remember a scene where the bug sees the light of the bug zapper "the light is so pretty" as his friends yell "look away" "don't do it" zzzzzzzzztt!! Pretty much me in a nutshell. I have tried to wean myself from the gravitational pull of the bean goodness but lets just be honest, this is not going to happen. If it is true what they say about "you are what you eat" then I most defiantly am a coffee bean.

I frequent a local coffee shop not far from my house on a regular basis to read and write and just clear my head. I love to be in the hustle and bustle of people even if I do not know anyone. I think it is a just the comfort of knowing that I am not alone.

Speaking of not being alone there is this woman who is always at the shop who I believe is certifiably crazy. She sits in the middle of the coffee shop and has full conversions with herself or someone for that matter. She is always here, in fact if she is not it kind of throws me off a bit. Sometimes I wonder who she is talking to, if she can really see them, and if she really hears them talking back to her. I wonder what has brought her to this place of craziness. The thing is she seems to be having the time of her life, laughing and smiling and enjoying the company of her invisible friend/friends. It reminds me of the scene from Patch Adams where Patch is in the mental hospital and his roommate will not leave his bed because he is afraid the squirrels are going to get him, so patch proceeds to get an invisible gun and start shooting the squirrels. The scene goes on as patch and his roommate yell and laugh as they extinguish the invisible varmints and overcome his fear of squirrels. A beautiful scene of helping the helpless. I watch people in response to her as they realize she is crazy. I think she makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable, and rightly so it is not everyday you encounter people like her. It is a sobering reminder to know that God loves her as much as he loves anyone of us. I would like to believe that the person she is talking to is Jesus. Maybe he is wooing her, sitting with her, talking to her cause know one else will. I might never know whom she is talking to but I know that God is speaking to me. Teaching me to love the loveless. Teaching my heart to have compassion on the people whose lives are different than mine. Teaching me to open my eyes to see that he is moving in and around our lives like a raging fire.

There are a lot of broken people in this world, in fact I would say that all are broken, but only a few admit it. We like to believe we are all right, that we have it all together; it makes us feel better about ourselves. It's all right to be broken! It's there that we become who we are meant to be. It's not until we can lay down our own efforts, pride and control and rest in the fact that God is the healer, the author of life, that we can experience life the way it was intended. At least I believe this to be true. I pray that God would do in us the things we cannot do for ourselves, that he would help us to trust that he knows better than our best thinking.