Christa Wells

The path to singer-songwriter Christa Wells' present success was non-traditional. Instead of spending her twenties networking and performing at showcases, Wells married early, started a family, and moved away from Nashville to Raleigh, NC. Motherhood, performance anxiety, and advice from veteran songwriter Dwight Liles led her to focus on her writing. In 2006, Wells was named Songwriter of the Year by the Gospel Music Association for Natalie Grant's recording of "Held," a heartbreaking and inspirational song about the loss of a baby boy.

In 2009, Wells returned to the stage, overcoming her performance anxiety along the way. Since then, she has performed upwards of fifty dates a year, frequently with collaborator Nicole Witt. Wells has also written for and with recording artists Point of Grace, Plumb, Selah, Sara Groves, Nicol Sponberg, and Jessica Campbell. "Day by Day," a song Wells co-wrote with Plumb, was recorded by Point of Grace and reached #1 on the Contemporary Christian Market charts. Additionally, a song of Christa's recorded by Plumb, "Need You Now (How Many Times)," has been on the Billboard Christian Overall Airplay chart for over a year, with a remix of the song released to dance radio in June 2013 already at #27 on the Billboard Club chart.

The Raleigh, NC-based artist is set to release her next album, Feed Your Soul, on August 13, 2013. Feed Your Soul was recorded at Zodlounge Music in Nashville. The album represents a departure from her past records: from the title track's horn lines to the driving kick drum and rhythmic hits on "The Way That You Love Me," it's a bigger, sassier record.

Feed Your Soul-which is full of Wells' trademark honest, piano-driven pop songs about family, home, grief, and hope-explores a sub-theme of giving and receiving love. For this project, the award-winning performer received plenty of love from her fans: a successful Kickstarter campaign raised over $15,000 to cover recording expenses. Despite the outpouring of support, Wells found the process terrifying. About the campaign, she says, "You feel so vulnerable and exposed and indebted and needy." The experience influenced her writing. On "Being Loved," for example, Wells sings: "Being loved is a hard thing to take / I will try, I will try, while the song's cinematic bridge conveys vulnerability: We are born unclothed / As we came, we will go."

Prior to Feed Your Soul, Wells recorded one solo album and two EPs (Frame the Clouds, Before the Tree Comes Down, How Emptiness Sings) and collaborated on several other projects. In spring of 2013, Wells and fellow songwriter Nicole Witt released an album of folk-inspired music under the band name More Than Rubies. Wells' 2011 EP How Emptiness Sings received excellent reviews. NewReleaseTuesday.com's Kevin Davis called it "one of the most captivating albums I've ever heard."