About
Jason Nelson

Gospel artist Jason Nelson says he is a “worshipper at heart” and you can’t help but worship the Lord right along with him on his latest CD, Jesus Revealed.

Just one listen to this recording and you realize you are in the presence of an anointed gospel performer. Nelson is both worshipper and teacher as he reminds listeners of the power of God.

There is so much to embrace on Jesus Revealed. “This record gives you so many different sides of what praise worship can be,”he says. “You can’t compartmentalize worship.  It is God-centered, the subject matter points to God.”

You might find yourself turning up the volume on the rocking, foot-stomping anthem God Is Great. “The greatness of God should be matched by our praise,” he notes.   Or you might find yourself shedding tears of joy as you hear and recognize the message of the hit single, I Am. Nelson sings with soft confidence and authority: “He can bring you out no matter what it looks like.”

Nelson, who is a bishop and pastors The Tabernacle at Greater Bethlehem Temple in Randallstown, MD, recalls that I Am was the first song he wrote for the record. “I taught a series on the names of God at my church and that message penetrated the church in such a way, the Lord kept driving that thought in me. I kept hearing I need to write this. I pulled out my pen and pad and wrote down all of the things that I Am represents:  I Am the Creator, I Am the Voice, I Am All Power, I Am the Way Maker, the Door Opener. I put those ideas down and made them lyrics. When I showed it to songwriter Dana Sorey, he said, ‘I can feel God.’”    

The popular contemporary praise and worship artist hopes the Jesus Revealed CD will reintroduce listeners to the Biblical Jesus. “We get back to the fundamentals of Christ,” he explains. “It’s about His heart, His love and His grace. We want people to have a deeper relationship with God as they listen and hear how God has expressed himself and revealed himself.”

Nelson recorded the new CD in front of a full capacity audience that included his twin brother, fellow gospel performer Jonathan Nelson and artists Tasha Cobbs, Livre and Maurette Brown Clark at the Mt. Olive Freewill Baptist Church in Baltimore. Sunday Best winner Tasha Page-Lockhart joins him on I See The Lord. “Tasha is a friend of mine. I thought she would be amazing on this song and she was.”. “I See The Lord encourages you to allow God to pour himself into your life.”

Each song is a piece of a story that Nelson weaves together throughout the CD. The Intro sets the stage for Jesus Revealed. “The Intro was designed to draw people’s minds in and give them an overview understanding of Jesus.”

Other highlights include the up-tempo Pour Out Your Spirit. “This is a song of the Lord. It just happened spontaneously in a moment of worship.” His brother Jonathan joined the songwriting team on Can’t Stop Calling Your Name after hearing an early take of it.  “This is one of the finest songs to sing. The drive of the song, the music pushes you.”

Way Maker forces you to have confidence in God that He will indeed make a way, Nelson explains. Never Ending Worship captures the moment of high praise and high worship during the recording while I Can Run woke him up at 5 in the morning. “I heard the song in a dream. It was written in my head before I opened up my computer and started singing,”he recalls.

So In Love stands out with its unique, catchy folk sound. “I was mesmerized when I heard the song, how it was written. I knew we had to do this song. It deals with the grace of God, I am so in love with you because of your grace.”

He co-wrote most of the tunes with songwriting partner, Dana Sorey.  He gives a shout out of gratitude to Sorey in the album’s liner notes. “What can I say about the guy who hears a heart and produces a sound based on what he hears. Bro…You are amazing and I’m so grateful that GOD connected us.”

A self-proclaimed “church baby,” Nelson grew up singing and playing in the same church that he pastors today. His father was the former pastor.  His early influences include the Winans, especially Marvin Winans, Fred Hammond, Donny Hathaway, Eric Dawkins, Dawkins & Dawkins and Kim Burrell.

Nelson established himself as a major new voice and anointed songwriter in 2005 with the release of his first solo project, I Shall Live. He went on to write the title track of Marvin Sapp’s top-selling CD, Thirsty, that included Sapp’s signature hit, Never Would Have Made It. Nelson had no idea that his Thirsty tune would be the title track of the album that would contain Sapp’s biggest hit. “We are really good friends and he heard me sing Thirsty at a service and he said, “I have to record that song. I did not know it would be part of such a monstrous record. I didn’t know until Never Would Have Made It started blowing up. The Lord has been good to me.”

Nelson’s Shifting The Atmosphere won a coveted 2013 Stellar Award for Praise and Worship CD of The Year. “I didn’t expect to win,” he admits. “I thought, ‘there is no way in the world I am beating these guys in the category. . It was a very humbling experience. It is amazing to know that people respected what I did.”

Nelson says one of his greatest accomplishments is his family, wife Tonya and their children, Jaelyn and Jason Christopher.