Acappella

Acappella is an all-male Contemporary Christian vocal group that was founded in 1982 by Keith Lancaster, who has variously played the role of singer, songwriter, and producer throughout the group's history. The group is best known for its song "Army of the Lord." In 1988, a group of former back-up singers formed a spin-off group called AVB. Members of Acappella have included Keith Lancaster, Rodney Britt, Gary Moyers, Duane Adams, George Pendergrass, Wayburn Dean, Robert C. Guy, Steve Reischl, Kevin Schaffer, Gary Miller, Ken McAlpin, Barry Wilson, Nic Dunbar, Matt Nunnally, Gary Evans, Sean Samuel, Jordan House, J.J. Blevins and Allen Brantley. The current lineup is Anthony Lancaster (Keith's son), Zac George, Zach Wilson, Robin Brannon, and Wes McKenzie.

Acappella is far and away the most popular musical group to have come out of the Churches of Christ in the U.S. The song "Acappella" from 1986's Conquerors was the first to achieve widespread popularity within the Church of Christ and the 1988 album Sweet Fellowship has become their all-time best seller. AVB's breakout Song in My Soul was released almost concurrently, and the number of like-minded a cappella vocal groups within the church of Christ grew almost exponentially after these two albums. Acappella experienced their first mainstream success outside the church of Christ with 1993's Set Me Free. This album also had a song licensed for use in a Super Bowl commercial (with the refrain "They are more precious than gold").

The line-up changed for the second time in the group's history after this album. Since that time, membership in the group has changed almost on a yearly basis; in addition, The Acappella Company (the umbrella organization of several a cappella groups and musical projects that was formed directly from the successes of Acappella and AVB) has released a variety of Christian a cappella music albums that vary in spirit and line-up, with some albums being very similar to the original group and others being very distinct.