After a 10-year hiatus, platinum-selling recording artist Carman is set to release a new studio album, No Plan B, on May 27 through his independent label Norway Avenue Records and Capital Christian Distribution.
On May 13, the No Plan B presale launches with an instant download track. In support of the new release, Carman hits the road May 29 on his “Live Across America Presents: No Plan B Tour,” making stops at venues across the country, bringing new music to friends and fans nationwide.
“The main message of the whole album can be found in the title track, ‘No Plan B,’ which is how I’ve lived all these years,” Carman says. “Even if I only have a few more on this earth, I’ll still be preaching, giving altar calls, winning souls for the kingdom and singing the songs that have the power to bring deliverance into people’s lives, whether it be in front of 20 people or 20,000 people. God doesn’t call us to be popular. He calls us to be effective and that’s always been my goal, effective right up to the end. Jesus is Plan A. There is no Plan B.”
No Plan B includes 12 tracks penned and performed by Carman, and is produced by Carman and his production partners Ted T and Tre’ Corley. The CD and tour were made possible through the unprecedented fan response to the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter campaign he launched after opening up on social media about a cancer diagnosis in 2013.
The campaign was wildly successful—the second-most-funded Kickstarter music campaign ever—and set the tone for the momentum behind the release of No Plan B and the major national tour. Carman found a renewed vision and purpose for his ministry when the fans spoke, and a Carman buzz was rekindled that inspired the artist to record a new CD and tour again.
“I was diagnosed [with cancer] in 2013 and was planning on having two or three good years left, but I didn’t want to keep it a secret,” confirms Carman. “I posted the news on Facebook and wanted to be honest and upright about it with anyone who asked. So many people started sharing stories of what they went through and posted photos of their heads wrapped up because their hair was gone. When I hear a story like that, my instinct is to reach out and cheer them up.”
Carman’s collection of songs features the title track “No Plan B” and “God Made Man,” the latest of Carman’s many cheeky character songs featuring a Sopranos-styled mob cast, but with an Italian accented narrator who’s wholeheartedly committed to Christ; the gripping patriotic ballad “The Flag,” which sends a very well-timed reminder that we will always be “one nation under God” and our faith can never be silenced; and an updated version of “Jesus Heal Me” with new production, a true touchstone of the album that’s bound to continue its role as a concert standard.
“I’ve always sought to minister to the best of my ability. I wanted to help win as many souls for the kingdom as I possibly could,” Carman says. “Now I meet people who say, ‘My life was so messed up 20 years ago, but I went to your concert, got saved and now I’m a worship pastor.’ Stories like that just go to show you how somebody’s life can completely turn around. I’m like a soldier who serves their country. I just want to serve people, and if just one guy gets it, then it’s all been worth it.”
The first set of dates for Carman’s “Live Across America Presents: No Plan B Tour” are on sale at iTickets.com. For the latest on No Plan B and the tour, visit Carman.org.