UPPERROOM

Dallas-based faith and worship collective Upperroom crafts exuberant folk, pop, and rock sounds rooted in Christian themes. A wave of viral videos first drew widespread notice online during 2018. After several EPs, the ensemble delivered its debut full-length album, To the One, in 2019. The group sustained its momentum through the following decade via uplifting projects such as Love Note and Arbor.

Upperroom originated in 2010 and draws on the contributions of more than 100 singer/songwriters and musicians who lead faith and worship gatherings at the ensemble’s founding location in Dallas and its additional church in Denver. Among the featured worship leaders are Meredith Mauldin from Dallas and Elyssa Smith from Denver. For several years the collective concentrated on live performances and musical ministry before issuing recordings, the first of which was the 2014 album God You Are. Online video postings soon began, among them a live rendition of Smith’s composition “Surrounded (Fight My Battles).” That clip spread rapidly, attracting the interest of Grammy Award-winning vocalist Michael W. Smith, who added the song to his own concert repertoire and featured it on one of his live releases. The exposure broadened Upperroom’s audience further.

Subsequent EPs appeared, among them 2018’s Moments II and 2019’s Moments: Color 003. The full-length To the One also arrived that year. Additional 2020 output included the EP Santa Espiritu (Te Amamos) and the album You Hold It All Together, while 2021 brought Move Your Heart, Love Note, and the instrumental set Arbor. The live recording Marantha 1 surfaced in 2022.