Rend Collective Explained

Rend Collective
Landscape:	yes
Origin:	Bangor, Northern Ireland^[1]
Genre:	Contemporary Christian, folk rock, worship^[2]
Years Active:	–present
Label:	Kingsway, Integrity, Capitol CMG
Associated Acts:	Urban Rescue
Current Members:	Chris Llewellyn Stephen Mitchell Wil Pearce Jonathan Chu Bobby Russell Daniel Jones
Past Members:	Bridget Herron Garath Gilkeson Ali Gilkeson Patrick Thompson Will Herron Larry Lease Thomas Ewing

Rend Collective (formerly known as Rend Collective Experiment) is a Northern Irish Christian folk rock worship band originating from Bangor, Northern Ireland.^{[1] [2] [3]} The current lineup consists of Gareth Gilkeson, Chris Llewellyn, Ali Gilkeson, Patrick Thompson and Steve Mitchell.^[2] Their first studio album Organic Family Hymnal was released on 28 September 2010.^[4] Their second studio album Homemade Worship by Handmade People was released on 10 January 2012.^[5] Both records were released by Kingsway.^[2] Their first live album Campfire was released on 29 January 2013^[6] with Integrity. Their fourth album, The Art of Celebration, was released on 17 March 2014. Their fifth album, Campfire Christmas, Vol. 1 was released in November 2014, and the sixth, As Family We Go, on 21 August 2015. Their second live album, Campfire II: Simplicity, was released at the beginning of October 2016. In 2017 they released the Build Your Kingdom Here (A Rend Collective Mix Tape) compilation followed by Good News in early 2018.

Background

The band was established under the name of Rend Collective Experiment between 2002-2003 during a point which drummer Gareth Gilkeson described as "a bunch of us trying to figure out life. Before the formation, most of the members were part of the "Rend" young adults ministry at Bangor Elim Church to where Gilkeson preached and Llewellyn led worship."^{[3] [7]} While the group comprises over 15 members, the band tours and records with 6 members.^{[3] [7]} The remaining members are there for support and to encourage the band "spiritually, musically, and missionally."^{[3] [7]} They explained noticing a sense of hostility from the modern culture towards the church and Christians therefore sought to create music that would draw such individuals spiritually and encourage them to come back to church.^{[3] [7]}

Rend Collective was on the And If Our God Is for Us... Tour with Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels in the spring of 2011.^[1] They toured with Kari Jobe on the Majestic Tour.^[8]

In 2014, Rend Collective toured with the RESET Movement, as part of their musical ministry involving Lacey Sturm (formerly of Flyleaf); spoken-word artist Propaganda; worship leader Dave Lubben; DJ Efechto; International House of Prayer worship artist Matt Gilman; and singer/songwriter Morgan Harper Nichols.^[9]

Music

Campfire includes live, outdoor recordings of songs previously released on Organic Family Hymnal and Homemade Worship by Handmade People. The audience for the recording were crowd-sourced using Facebook and Twitter.^[6] Their third studio album, The Art of Celebration, was released on 17 March 2014.^[10] Their fourth studio album, Campfire Christmas (Vol. 1), released 19 November 2014.^[11] Their fifth studio album, As Family We Go, was released on 21 August 2015. Their second live album, Campfire II: Simplicity, was released at the beginning of October 2016.

Rend Family Records

Their first signee to the label is Urban Rescue, from Los Angeles, California.

Members

Current members

^{[12] [13]}

• Chris Llewellyn – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, ukulele (2007–present)
• Steve Mitchell – bass guitar, banjo, piano, mandolin, guitar, backing vocals (2013–present)
• Wil Pearce – electric guitar, mandolin, banjo, backing vocals (2020–present)
• Jonathan Chu - fiddle (2021 - present)
• Daniel Jones - drums (2024 - present)

Former members

• Will Herron – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, multi-instrumentalist
• Bridget Herron – female lead and backing vocals
• Patrick Thompson – electric guitar, banjo, various strings, backing vocals (2007–present), bass guitar (2007–2013)
• Bobby Russell – bass guitar, piano (2012–2013)
• Larry Lease – backup vocals (2015–2016)
• Gareth Gilkeson – drums, percussion, band leader (2007–2024)
• Ali Gilkeson – keyboards, female lead/backing vocals, auxiliary percussion (2007–2022)
• Thomas Ewing – electric guitar, mandolin, harmonica, backing vocals, violin (2021–2024) left to his band Tenth Avenue North

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions							Sales
		UK ^[14]	UK C&G	AUS ^[15]	CAN ^[16]	US ^[17]	US Christ. ^[18]	US Heat. ^[19]
2010	Organic Family Hymnal Release date: 28 September 2010 Label: Kingsway Format: CD, digital download	—	—	—	—	—	47	—	US: 428,000
2012	Homemade Worship by Handmade People Release date: 10 January 2012 Label: Kingsway Format: CD, digital download	—	6 ^[20]	—	—	—	23	14
2013	Campfire Release date: 28 January 2013 Label: Independent Format: CD, digital download	—	1 ^[21]	—	—	97	7	—
2014	The Art of Celebration Release date: 17 March 2014 Label: Integrity Format: CD, digital download	28	1 ^[22]	—	—	13^[23]	1^[24]	—	US: 75,000^[25]
	Campfire Christmas, Vol. 1 Release date: 17 November 2014 Label: Rend Family Records/Capitol/Sparrow Format: CD, LP, digital download	—	1	—	—	61	4	—
2015	As Family We Go Release date: 21 August 2015 Label: Rend Family Records/Capitol/Sparrow Format: CD, LP, digital download	19	1 ^[26]	—	21	33	1	—
2016	Campfire II: Simplicity Release date: 7 October 2016 Label: Rend Family Records/Sparrow Format: CD, digital download	—	1 ^[27]	—	—	99	3	—
2018	Good News Release date: 19 January 2018^[28] Label: Rend Family Records/Sparrow Format: CD, LP, digital download	85	1 ^[29]	97	51	70	1	—
2019	Sparkle. Pop. Rampage. Release date: 30 August 2019 Label: Rend Family Records Formats: CD, digital download	—	3 ^[30]	—	—	—	—	—
2020	Choose to Worship Release date: 27 March 2020 Label: Rend Family Records/Capitol CMG Format: CD, LP, digital download	—	1 ^[31]	—	—	—	3	—
2020	A Jolly Irish Christmas (Vol. 2) Release date: 23 October 2020 Label: Rend Family Records Format: CD, digital download	—	2 ^[32]	—	—	—	—	—
2022	Whosoever Release date: 26 August 2022 Label: Rend Family Records/Capital CMG/Sparrow Records Format: CD, digital download
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions			Certifications	Album
		US Christ. ^[33]	US Christ. Airplay ^[34]	US Christ. AC ^[35]
2012	"Second Chance"	24		—		Homemade Worship by Handmade People
2013	"Build Your Kingdom Here"	12		19
2014	"My Lighthouse"	17	22	24	RIAA: Platinum^[36]	The Art of Celebration
2015	"You Will Never Run"	19	18	21		As Family We Go
2016	"Joy of the Lord"	25	21	20
	"Every Giant Will Fall"	—	40	—
2017	"Rescuer (Good News)"	15	9	20		Good News
2018	"Counting Every Blessing"	8	4	6
2019	"Your Name Is Power"	13	7	8		Choose to Worship
	"Revival Anthem"^[37]	50	—	—
2020	"Sing It from the Shackles"	—	—	—
	"I Choose to Worship"	44	37	—
	"This Is the Saviour's Day"	—	—	—		A Jolly Irish Christmas (Vol. 2)
	"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"^[38]	—	—	—		non-album single
	"My Advocate"	—	34	—		Choose to Worship
2021	"Year of Victory"	—	—	—		non-album single
2023	"Hallelujah Anyway"	—	—	—		Whosoever

Awards and nominations

!|-| 2018| Good News| Worship Album of the Year| | ^[39] |-| 2019| "Counting Every Blessing"| Song of the Year| | ^[40] |-|-| 2020| Sparkle. Pop. Rampage.| Children's Album of the Year| | ^[41] |}

External links

• • Artist page at News Release Tuesday
• Artist page at AllMusic

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rend Collective Experiment Tour With Chris Tomlin. CMSpin. 31 March 2011. New Release Tuesday. 8 May 2012. dead. https://archive.today/20130119081422/http://www.cmspin.com/newsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=6296&z=54. 19 January 2013.
2. Web site: Rend Collective Experiment artist profile. Jesus Freak Hideout. Jesus Freak Hideout. 8 May 2012.
3. Web site: Rend Collective Experiment: Bringing a fresh approach to worship music. Cummings. Tony. 26 February 2010. Cross Rhythms. 8 May 2012.
4. Web site: Organic Family Hymnal album. Jesus Freak Hideout. 28 September 2010. Jesus Freak Hideout. 8 May 2012.
5. Web site: Homemade Worship By Handmade People album. Jesus Freak Hideout. 10 January 2012. Jesus Freak Hideout. 8 May 2012.
6. Web site: Campfire by Rend Collective Experiment | CD Reviews And Information . NewReleaseTuesday.com . 17 June 2013.
7. Unrestricted: Finding Community in Organic Worship. Hoernschemeyer. Emily. 1 October 2010. CCM Magazine. 8 May 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131212154856/http://www.ccmmagazine.com/magazine/2010/oct/38.htm. 12 December 2013.
8. Web site: Kari Jobe Reveals Majestic Tour!.
9. http://www.turningpointpr.com/story/unprecedented_national_reset_movement_launches_this_fall RESET Movement description, incl. Rend Collective
10. Web site: Album Release Dates, CD New Releases . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 16 January 2014.
11. Web site: Campfire Christmas (Vol. 1) . 17 November 2014 . iTunes . 19 November 2014.
12. Web site: BIO. Rend Collective. 17 December 2019.
13. Web site: Instagram. Instagram. 24 June 2024.
14. Web site: Rend Collective. Official Charts Company.
15. Web site: ARIA Chart Watch #457. auspOp. 27 January 2018. 27 January 2018.
16. Rend Collective Chart History: Canadian Albums. Billboard. 30 January 2018.
17. Rend Collective Chart History: Billboard 200. Billboard. 30 January 2018.
18. Rend Collective Chart History: Christian Albums. Billboard. 30 January 2018.
19. Rend Collective Experiment. Billboard.
20. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of January 5, 2015. Official Charts Company. 10 September 2019.
21. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of May 18, 2014. Official Charts Company. 10 September 2019.
22. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of March 29, 2014. Official Charts Company. 10 September 2019.
23. Billboard 200: 5 April 2014. Billboard. https://web.archive.org/web/20161211051903/http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2014-04-05. 11 December 2016. dead.
24. Christian Albums: 5 April 2014 . Billboard.
25. https://web.archive.org/web/20150819025550/http://hitsdailydouble.com/new_album_releases. 19 August 2015 . Upcoming Releases. Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures.
26. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of September 3, 2015. Official Charts Company. 10 September 2019.
27. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of 20 October 2016. Official Charts Company. 10 September 2019.
28. Web site: Good News by Rend Collective on Apple Music. iTunes Store (US). 19 January 2018.
29. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of 1 February 2018. Official Charts Company. 10 September 2019.
30. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of September 12. Official Charts Company. 10 September 2019.
31. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of April 11. Official Charts Company. 9 April 2020.
32. Web site: Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart — Week of November 6. Official Charts Company. 9 December 2020.
33. Web site: Rend Collective Chart History (Hot Christian Songs). Billboard. www.billboard.com. 22 January 2018.
34. Rend Collective Chart history (Christian Airplay). Billboard. 9 June 2018.
35. Rend Collective Chart History (Hot Christian AC Songs). Billboard. 9 June 2018.
36. United States. Rend Collective. January 4, 2023.
37. Web site: Revival Anthem (Single) by Rend Collective. NewReleaseToday. 4 October 2019.
38. Web site: I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas (Single) by Rend Collective. NewReleaseToday. December 29, 2020.
39. Web site: 2018 Nominees - The 49th Annual GMA Dove Awards. doveawards.com. 8 September 2018.
40. Web site: 2019 Nominees The 50th Annual GMA Dove Awards . 14 August 2019 . . 18 August 2019.
41. Web site: 2020 Nominees The 51st Annual GMA Dove Awards . . 14 August 2020.