Hard work. Two words fans don’t usually associate with contemporary Christian music. After all, artists are supposed to step on the stage and deliver a performance that is effortless, seamless, spontaneous – not to mention spiritually significant. But the truth is nothing good happens by accident. Good happens when talented musicians work hard. Great happens when that hard work is combined with dedication, determination, focused attention to detail, and a conscious decision to deflect the credit from themselves to their Creator.

For Nashville-based jam band, Salvador, great music was incubated in the blistering Texas sun, birthed on the road for umpteen days a year, and nurtured by an unwavering commitment to the collective creative process. The eleven songs on their sixth studio album, Aware, amply demonstrate the virtue of the American work ethic in producing fresh expressions of worship that are at once culturally relevant, original, and actually sound effortless, seamless, spontaneous. Yet, this time around Nic Gonzales, the band’s frontman and primary songwriter, discovered Great required more than ever before.

“I have always depended on working hard and being diligent when it was time to get to work,” Nic explains. “My Dad was a ‘roll up your sleeves’ kind of guy. That is the heritage I come from. That was the approach I took for our first five records. But for Aware, I think God really stepped into my life in a different way. This time I leaned so much more on Christ. I had a new wife and we were getting ready to have a new baby. I didn’t have 20 hours a day to just be alone and write.”

Salvador is an amalgam of talent from across the Western Hemisphere. Drummer Ben Cordonero hails from Nicaragua by way of Miami. Keyboardist Chris Bevins, who also handles some of the co-writing chores calls Nashville home. Josh Gonzales on the Bass still resides in Austin, and Nic relocated to Music City after his marriage to superstar, Jaci Velasquez last year.

Whether rattling the rafters with thundering, anthemic rock ‘n’ roll or soothing the soul with a gently meandering ballad, Salvador creates music that scratches an indelible groove in your grey matter. Aware nails that rare synthesis of spontaneity and expertise with an inspired collection of uptempo, pop-rock worship songs. Many in the industry have declared Aware to be the best that Salvador has ever recorded. Nic says simply, “This is what I have to offer. It is the accumulation of the best that I am right now.”