Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Through adversity, Casting Crowns' Mark Hall 'points to Jesus'

Casting Crowns lead vocalist Mark Hall's recent struggles with cancer and vocal complications appeared dark at the time, but "God brought us through it."

This month, Hall is celebrating being four years cancer-free. His latest personal battle involved recovering from vocal surgery during Christmastime.

It required a cancellation of the group's Christmas tour, which Hall said had him "pretty low" during mandatory vocal rest. Third Day's lead vocalist Mack Powell filled in for him, Hall said.

"Even going through cancer, this might've shaken me up a little bit more," he said.

It was an unpredictable season for Hall, but he said God taught him "a lot of things" through the experience.

"I would do the verses and [Powell] would do the choruses, because I couldn't do the notes," Hall said. "I had paralyzed vocal chords."

Hall, now fully recovered, will be performing with the rest of his band, Austin French and Zach Williams on April 4 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

And so far, he said, the crowds have been great on tour.

"We've seen a lot of families there, all different ages, which is kind of fun. It's like walking into church," Hall said.

And all the lyrics are on the screen so nobody is left in the dark, he added. He said it's cool to see people given hope and truth at each of the shows.

The group's latest record, "Only Jesus," stems from Hall's experience as a youth pastor in South Atlanta. Ministry is what Hall said he's been involved with for most of his life.

"Only Jesus" is Hall's favorite album, he said, because of what he went through in the midst of producing it. During the album's beginning stages of writing, Hall said his car was broken into.

"My journal was stolen and my Bible was stolen and the phone I had all my vocal notes in the last few years were all gone.... There were a lot of things in the middle of this record that felt to me that it was shutting it all down," Hall said.

There also are some songs on the record more raw than others, he said. And for that reason, "it makes this record important."

"Any song that I write comes from what I'm preaching, things that are happening in families and things that are happening in lives here at our church," he said.

That's also why he said the band's songs resonate with fans. The songs are "just about real life," he said.

With several kinds of music available talking about life, Hall said, the goal of Casting Crowns, through music, is to say, "Hey, it's a bad day, but God is good, and He's going to walk with you through this."

The idea of "Only Jesus" was derived from Biblical preacher John the Baptist, he said.

"He was known to always be pointing to Jesus, even when his mother met Mary. John the Baptist was in the womb still, and [the Bible] said he leapt in his mother's womb when she walked up to Mary, and Jesus was in Mary's womb."

Hall said the apostle had been pointing to Jesus since before he was born. Hall's goal is similar.

"The whole point of John the Baptist was pointing to Jesus; everything he did was about Jesus," he said.

And that's something the world needs to hear, Hall said, adding, "there is a purpose for us being here."

He said that's the hope families need right now.

When Hall starts writing, he's never really sure what the name of the record is going to be or what the theme is going to be, he said. He's just focused on writing.

For the Cape Girardeau show, Hall said there's quite a bit of integrating with Austin French and Zach Williams, even if half of the songs he's written never have been played in concert.

"Because when you go to a concert, you want to hear your favorite song," he said. "That's just the way it is. It's not my night; it's that family's night that's coming."

Another goal of Hall is to be transparent on the stage, he said, and "let people know we're just a bunch of dorks, too."

"We're tripping over life every day, and we've messed up everywhere you can mess up," he said. "And I think that's very important to people."

More information for the "Only Jesus" tour can be found online at showmecenter.biz.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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