Inspired by Football Campaign Slogan, Baylor Alum David Crowder Pens 'Rise Up'

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After hearing Baylor Football's "Rise Up" commercials this summer, Baylor alumnus and award-winning recording artist David Crowder was inspired to not only write but record a new song, also titled "Rise Up." Crowder offered the song to Baylor, and fans at Floyd Casey Stadium this fall will hear it as the Bears take the field immediately prior to each game.

Crowder's "Rise Up" will make its debut during Baylor's home opener Sept. 4, and Crowder will make the song available immediately after the game as a free download just for Bear fans at www.baylor.edu/riseup.

In addition to the song, Crowder shot some video segments for BaylorVision and will appear in the video board introduction. As the Baylor football team runs onto the field, they will do so to the powerful images and rhythm of "Rise Up."

In an interview Thursday on "The John Morris Show" on 1660ESPN Radio, Crowder said the "Rise Up" commercials, which were produced by BaylorVision, immediately stirred his imagination.

"The first one I saw was with Art Briles, and I was ready to put pads on myself," Crowder said. After watching two more "Rise Up" commercials with football student-athletes Danny Watkins and Anthony Johnson, "You can't watch it and not feel something inside," he said.

With the "Rise Up" them in his head, Crowder said he went to sleep, and that's when the magic happened.

"I don't want to talk about Manifest Destiny, but... I woke up the next morning and I'm sort of in a dream state with this song in its entirety. Later in the day I remember I had a song in my head when I woke up, and I started talking to a guy I work with. I said I feel like I had a dream, something about Baylor football, and I started reciting lyrics to it. About halfway through, I go, 'This is a good song. I gotta go, I gotta record it quick before it disappears.' So that day I recorded it and sent it to some folks in the athletic department, and they got pretty excited. I was already excited, so we went ahead and polished it up, and it'll be part of the opening video sequence."

A Baylor alumnus, David Crowder has served as worship leader at University Baptist Church in Waco since its start in 1995. He and his group, David Crowder*Band, are signed to sixsteprecords/Sparrow Records and have released five studio albums on the label since 2002, the last two of which have earned Dove Awards as "Album of the Year." (For more about David Crowder, check out this feature from the Summer 2008 issue of Baylor Magazine.)

Media contact: Lori Fogleman, director of media communications, (254) 710-6275