Creative Trust Worskshop Indie Label Announces First Signing

Creative Trust Workshop (CTW), an independent label of the umbrella company Creative Trust, Inc., has signed singer songwriter Warren Barfield as the label’s first artist. Barfield, a North Carolina native, will release his first album, distributed by Provident Music Group, in early Fall 2003.

“Warren is really special. He has the whole package: transparency, enormous talent, an engaging personality and a huge heart for God. We waited patiently to find the right artist to be Creative Trust Workshop’s first and are glad to have found Warren. Warren’s art and personality will capture the attention of music fans and the industry for all the right reasons and we are eager to share his extraordinary gifts on a large scale,” said David Huffman, COO of Creative Trust, Inc. and Creative Trust Workshop.

While the album on Creative Trust Workshop will be Barfield’s first with major distribution, Barfield has been working on his craft as a singer, songwriter and musician for several years. He has performed hundreds of self-booked dates a year at churches and youth camps across the country and has become a regular at many national, regional, state and local youth conferences, schools, and colleges. Barfield has also opened for a number of Christian music artists including Clear, Russ Lee, Scott Krippayne, Anointed and Crystal Lewis.

Barfield’s music is an energetic blend of acoustic rock and aggressive pop that could be compared to artists like John Mayer or Dave Matthews. John Mays, an independent consultant, is providing A&R for Barfield’s project. Mays has previously been responsible for the debut recordings of Nichole Nordeman and Point of Grace. Three-time Dove Award Producer of the Year Brown Bannister (Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant) and Mark Hammond (Nordeman, Janna Long) will share producing duties for Barfield’s debut.

“Wow! It’s hard to imagine that the journey I’ve been on for the past few years would bring me to Nashville, to Creative Trust and to the opportunity to make my music with incredibly gifted people like John, Brown and Mark. Growing up, I would write songs that I thought were just for me. To see that these songs might be used to reach out to others from all walks of life is an amazing thing. I will be elated when we have the album finished and I can begin sharing the new music in live settings,” said Barfield.

Barfield will begin sharing his new music this spring as the Spotlight Artist with Christian Music Network (CMN), a youth-ministry focused organization that provides more than 2000 youth leaders nationwide with a resource of Christian music’s latest artists and projects. CMN will sponsor Barfield on an exclusive tour across the United States.

“We are very fortunate to have time to set up Warren’s debut effectively and the Christian Music Network is an example of the long-range planning we are employing. By the time Warren’s record releases in the fall, we want to have already exposed him to retail, radio and touring so that he is not just another new artist, but one whose release becomes a ‘must-have’ for Christian music fans,” said Gabriel Vasquez, director of Sales and Marketing for CTW.

Barfield has also signed an exclusive management agreement with Creative Trust. He will be managed by Terria Saunders, associate brand manager.