Category: Sonfest

Brook Abella Returns To The Sonfest Stage

WNZR’s Ethan Hershberger talks with Brook Abella, senior at MVNU and her band, who are one of the artists performing at Sonfest 2026.

Click HERE to hear the entire conversation, or click the image below!

Brook Abella’s band is made up of Elijah Yoder, guitarist and vocalist, Robert Eggebrect, drummer, and Luke Tibbe, pianist.

Brook Abella grew up in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and found many opportunities to worship in different places in her town.

Luke Tibbe, pianist, is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has been participating in music for about 6 years. Since then, he has really enjoyed being on worship teams and praising Jesus.

Robbert Eggebrect, drummer, is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and an engineer student from Cedarville University. Elijah Yoder, guitarist and vocalist, has been leading worship at his church for about a year and has been playing guitar for about 4 years.

Brook Abella’s music influence has come from sources like Christian radio and artists like TobyMac and Mandisa. She enjoys listening to the messages of inspiration and hope and putting that same message into the songs she makes. When writing and making music, her inspiration comes from God’s Word and the quiet, still moments she has with God.

Brook Abella is looking forward to seeing this year’s Sonfest headliner, Chris Renzema, at MVNU. She is a fan of his musicianship and his songwriting. In her band’s set, they normally perform a song written by Chris Renzema called “Adoni”.

Luke Tibbe, pianist, is also looking forward to seeing Chris Renzema at this year’s Sonfest. He really enjoys Renzema’s music and lyrics, which have played a big influence on Luke.

Elijah Yoder, guitarist and vocalist, is excited to worship at Sonfest this year. With all the preparation the band has done, he is excited to worship with everyone. Robbert Eggebrect, drummer, is excited to meet gio., who is another artist at Sonfest 2026.

Brook Abella hopes that while she and the band are onstage, the audience will experience the presence of God. She and the band invite the Holy Spirit into any atmosphere they are in and hope that people who may not know Jesus will begin to ask who He is and start to learn more about Him.

Luke Tibbe, pianist, wants the audience to know “how livable” The Gospel message is through worship.

Elijah Yoder, guitarist and vocalist, is looking forward for the band and audience to be unashamed in worship. Robbert Eggebrect, drummer, is hoping that the Sonfest artist arrives with an open mind and worship with no limits.

Click HERE for ticket information and more about Sonfest 2026!

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Rock City Worship Returns To The SonFest Stage!

WNZR’s Ethan Hershberger talks with Nathan Montgomery, worship leader for Rock City Worship, one of the headlining artists of Sonfest 2026.

Listen to the entire conversation HERE or click the image below!

Nathan serves as the Central Worship Pastor at Rock City and oversees the worship teams across all of the church’s campuses. He is married, has two children, with another one on the way!

Rock City Church was founded in 2011 by Lead Pastor Chad Fisher and his wife. The church’s primary broadcast location is in Polaris, with additional campuses in Hilliard, Columbus’ Short North district, and Saint Mary’s, Ohio.

While Rock City Worship does not frequently tour outside of the church, the group enjoys taking opportunities to serve its mission of “making Heaven full.” Touring is part of that mission, but their primary focus is equipping and serving their local church. When writing and recording music, the group is intentional about considering what the Lord wants to communicate to their congregation. Their songs are designed to teach people about God through lyrics rooted in Scripture and help listeners develop a deeper understanding of who He is.

Rock City Worship is excited to lead worship at Sonfest this year. The group began writing and recording music with the goal of equipping their congregation with a greater understanding of God through His Word. Their desire is to help people see God more clearly so they can worship Him more completely.

Rock City Worship recently completed recording their new live album, “Rehearsing For Heaven”. The project is inspired by Romans 12:1, which calls believers to offer themselves as “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God”. The album reflects the idea that, as children of God, believers are already living in eternity and we can live with that perspective every moment of our lives—not just on Sundays.

Many of the songs on the new album are centered on what the group describes as “straight vertical” worship, focusing entirely on giving God undivided praise. Songs include themes of declaring God’s holiness, such as singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” The first single from the project is scheduled to be released January 8, with the full album expected to arrive around March.

Nathan and Rock City Worship are looking forward to returning to the Sonfest stage this year. They enjoyed being part of last year’s event, which Nathan described as a time when people could encounter the tangible presence of God. He remembers the Sonfest audience being ready and prepared to worship the Lord and is excited to return, reconnect with familiar faces, and meet new friends.

This year, Nathan hopes the group’s time at Sonfest will help people see God more clearly and, as a result, worship Him more completely. He hopes that each person who sings along with the songs will walk away having learned something new or gain a deeper understanding of who God is.

Nathan also encourages listeners not to miss this year’s Sonfest. Last year marked his first experience at the festival, and he was amazed by the way he saw the Lord move throughout the event. He also appreciated the wide variety of musical genres represented by the many artists who participated.

If Nathan had to choose his favorite Rock City Worship song, he would select “Renew My Mind,” which will be featured on the new live album. The song focuses on the daily decision to choose praise over worry and to intentionally renew our minds each day. Rock City Worship will bring “Renew My Mind” with them to the Sonfest stage this year.

You can purchase tickets to SonFest 2026 HERE and find more information about this year’s schedule and lineup!

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WNZR talks with a member of Elevation Rhythm ahead of Sonfest 2025!

We are so excited to get the opportunity to share a conversation with Davide Mutendji, a member of Elevation Rhythm! Davide and his crew will be performing at Sonfest 2025 here at MVNU tomorrow and you are not going to want to miss this extremely powerful event.

Davide shares his background, gives us an insight on the songwriting process, and he talks about big upcoming news for the band!

Ethan and Davide also have a good time playing rapid fire!

For more info on Sonfest 2025 click HERE!

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Rock City Worship comes to Sonfest 2025 at MVNU

Rock City Worship is coming to Sonfest 2025 at Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday, September 20.

Rock City Worship is the expression of worship at Rock City Church in Columbus, Ohio. With a focus on writing songs that paint a vivid picture of who God reveals Himself to be in His Word, this group of pastors, worship leaders, and songwriters believes that the more clearly we can see God, the more completely we can worship Him.
Their sound blends passionate, modern worship with anthemic melodies and Christ-centered lyrics, aiming to lead people into authentic encounters with Jesus. Rock City Worship’s music has been shared in churches and streaming platforms across the country, encouraging believers everywhere to worship with all their hearts.

Nathan Montgomery of Rock City Worship talks with WNZR about the origin of the church and their worship team. He also talks about their approach to songwriting and creating a worship experience for anyone attending a service or a concert. Rapid Fire reveals his favorite worship songs and that he is a Star Wars fan.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation with WNZR’s Ethan Hershberger.

You can see Rock City Worship at Sonfest at 3:45pm on Saturday.

Click HERE for all the details about Sonfest 2025.

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John Mark McMillan comes to Sonfest 2025 at MVNU

John Mark McMillan is coming to Sonfest 2025 at Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday, September 20.
John Mark McMillan is something of an anomaly: an artist and Platinum-selling songwriter bending genres and defying categorization by carving out his own unique and independent path. With an ear for melody and a poet’s eye for metaphor, no topic has been off-limits. While each of his albums over the past decade have continued to explore new territory, it’s McMillan’s ability to give lyric and language to the human experience that many consider his greatest gift.

John talks with WNZR about his approach to songwriting, his history in music and how God has always part of his journey in life and music. Rapid Fire reveals the first concert he went to and his favorite movie and snack.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation with WNZR’s Ethan Hershberger.

You can see John Mark McMillan at Sonfest at 6:30pm on Saturday.

Click HERE for all the details about Sonfest 2025.

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Brook Abella is Opening at MVNU’s Sonfest 2025

Brook Abella is playing at Sonfest 2025 on September 20th and she talks about how she grew up in Bellefontaine.

She’s a double major in Communication and Media and Visual Art. She also has a minor in Music.

She talks about how she grew up around music, what she is looking forward to at Sonfest, and some of the opportunities she has had in the music industry so far.

Click HERE for more information about Sonfest.

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Tyler Maddux Ready to Open for MVNU’s Sonfest 2025!

Tyler Maddux is playing at Sonfest 2025 on September 20th and he talks about how he grew up in New Philadelphia.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation!

He’s a worship arts major and has a minor in youth and family ministry; he’s hoping to become a worship pastor when he graduates. He talks about how he got into music in 7th grade and around high school he decided to go all in on music.

Some of Tyler’s biggest influences in music are bands like ‘Colony house’ and ‘Sons of Steven Curtis Chapman’ and it inspires him for when he writes his music. For a long time, his style was acoustic guitar, it wasn’t until he started making his second album that he started to find his style of Rock music. He draws inspiration from his own personal life experiences to come up with his song lyrics, he also likes to write songs about the bible.

Tyler talks about what he’s excited to see at Sonfest, he’s excited to see people who are impacted by the music outside of his regular friends and family, it helps inspire him. Tyler Maddux is opening at 1:35pm at Sonfest on September 20th.

Tyler talks about his new album he released in late January, he’s really proud of it because of how it defined the sound that he like to use. You can stay connected to Tyler Maddux on Instagram, Facebook, and on TikTok. Tyler talks about the purpose behind writing his music, he likes to write about how he feels at the time of his writing; he’s getting married soon and so a lot of his music he’s writing is about how he feels about that. He’s got a few songs he’s been writing recently and a few songs at Sonfest and hopes to record and release them soon.

Tyler goes over some rapid-fire questions, his favorite worship song is ‘tear my house down’ by Chris Renzema. The first concert he ever went to was a ‘Colony house’ concert in college in his freshman year. He’s a night owl, he likes cats, he likes coffee and he normally gets a caramel ice late, his favorite snack is cheez-its and his favorite movie is called ‘about time’.

Click HERE to find out about Sonfest 2025!

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Sonfest 2025 Announcement!

We got to talk with Zoe Bricker and Ben Slater from MVNU Admissions, for the big announcements about Sonfest!

They share everything about Sonfest including:

  • Where is it?
  • When is it?
  • How can I get tickets?
  • Who is performing?

We are excited to welcome ELEVATION RHYTHM, John Mark McMillan, Citizens, and more to MVNU’s campus, as a part of the concert lineup!

For more information or to get tickets, click HERE!

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The Morning Thing Friday Favorites 9/20/24 – we are ready for Sonfest!

For our Friday Favorites this week, The Morning Thing hosts shared their favorite songs from artists coming to Sonfest 2024! We hope to see you on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday! Gates open at Noon!

Click HERE to hear from our hosts.

Xander loves Running Home by Cochren & Co.

Marcy loves Perfectly Loved by Rachael Lampa and TobyMac

Alyssa loves The Prodigal by Josiah Queen

Shawn loves Somebody to You by Rachael Lampa and Andrew Ripp

Here is the Sonfest Schedule:

  • 12 PM – Gates Open
  • 1 PM – Tyler Maddux & Co. (Main Stage)
  • 1:35 PM – Lights & Sounds (Side Stage)
  • 2:35 PM – Josiah Queen (Main Stage)
  • 3:05 PM – Cold Streets (Side Stage)
  • 4:05 PM – Rachael Lampa (Main Stage)
  • 4:50 PM – Monarchs to Oblivion (Side Stage)
  • 5:45 PM – Cochren & Co. (Main Stage)
  • 6:30 PM – SafeKept (Side Stage)
  • 7:45 PM – Hulvey (Main Stage)
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Blessing Offor is coming to Sonfest 2023 at MVNU

Sonfest is this Saturday (9/16) at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. All this week, The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive are featuring conversations with the artists coming to Sonfest this year.

Today, we talked with Blessing Offor. He shares some of his favorites with us including coffee, favorite snack while touring, favorite book and some of his best memories while being on the road. He also talks about some of his favorite artists that have worked with him on some powerful collaborations.

Blessing Offor gives us a preview of Saturday’s show and encourages everyone to come and have fun at Sonfest. He is passionate about creating music for everyone!

We also play Rapid Fire with Blessing Offor and learn what instrument he would like to play and the song he wishes he had written.

Click HERE for more details about Sonfest 2023 and to see the complete schedule.

Click HERE to connect with Blessing Offor.

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