Lauren Daigle's How Can It Be: Christian Music's Breakout Moment in 2015

Lauren Daigle released her debut album How Can It Be on Centricity Music on April 14, 2015, following years of near-misses and rejections that had tested her faith in her own calling as a recording artist. The Lafayette, Louisiana-born singer had auditioned for American Idol twice without advancing, an experience she has described as both humbling and clarifying. When Centricity finally offered her a recording deal, the resulting album was made with the conviction of someone who had waited long enough to know exactly what she wanted to say.

The record earned Daigle two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016. It also debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, an unusually high chart position for a debut Christian music release, and spent three years on the Christian Albums chart. For Centricity Music, an independent Christian label, the commercial performance was transformative.

The Vocal Identity

Daigle's voice is the central fact of her artistic identity. A deep, warm contralto with gospel inflections and a pop accessibility that recalled Adele and Amy Winehouse, it was immediately distinctive in the contemporary Christian market, which had often favored lighter, more conventional pop vocal timbres.

The production on How Can It Be, handled by Paul Mabury and Jason Ingram, complemented Daigle's voice by emphasizing its weight and warmth rather than trying to brighten or thin it for radio compatibility. The sonic choices reflected a confidence that the voice was strong enough to carry the record on its own terms, which proved entirely correct.

Centricity Music and Independent Christian Label Infrastructure

Centricity Music, founded in 2005 and based in Franklin, Tennessee, was one of the significant independent labels in the contemporary Christian music space. Its roster had included Matthew West and Josh Wilson, among others, and the Daigle signing represented the label's largest commercial success to that point.

The Centricity model reflected the broader independent Christian music ecosystem's strengths: deep connections to the church performance circuit that provided a built-in touring and audience infrastructure, strong relationships with Christian radio programmers, and a cultural alignment with its audience that majors often could not replicate authentically.

For artist-development professionals working in the Christian space, Centricity's success with Daigle demonstrated that a well-run independent label with genuine genre expertise and established church relationships could compete at the highest commercial levels in the Christian market.

Christian Radio and Church Culture Distribution

How Can It Be benefited from a distribution pathway unique to the Christian music market: the church performance circuit. Songs from the album were adopted as congregational worship songs at churches across the country, creating a form of organic radio play and audience familiarity that secular labels could not replicate.

The relationship between Christian recording artists and the worship space has always been one of the market's structural advantages. When a congregation sings a song at Sunday services, it creates an emotional and communal association that commercial radio play rarely produces. Daigle's album benefited from this mechanism in ways that multiplied its reach far beyond standard streaming and radio metrics.

The Crossover Trajectory That Was Beginning

How Can It Be did not yet show the full scope of Daigle's crossover potential, which would become apparent with her 2018 album Look Up Child. But the debut's commercial performance and the reach of her voice outside the Christian market bubble were already visible in 2015, pointing toward a trajectory that would eventually produce one of contemporary Christian music's most significant mainstream crossover careers.

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Frequently Asked Questions

**What Grammys did How Can It Be win?** Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, for music released in 2015.

What makes Daigle's vocal style distinctive in the Christian market? Her deep, warm contralto with gospel inflections is unusual in a genre that often favors lighter pop vocal timbres. Comparisons to Adele and Amy Winehouse were widespread in early critical coverage and reflected a genuine tonal similarity.

What is Centricity Music? Centricity Music is an independent contemporary Christian music label based in Franklin, Tennessee, founded in 2005. Its success with Daigle represented the label's highest commercial achievement to that point.

How does the church performance circuit function as a distribution pathway for Christian artists? Songs that are adopted as congregational worship songs at churches create organic familiarity and emotional association that multiplies an artist's reach beyond radio and streaming metrics. This pathway is unique to the Christian music market.

**Did How Can It Be show signs of Daigle's eventual crossover potential?** Yes. Its unusually high debut on the Billboard 200 and Daigle's vocal identity suggested crossover potential that would be fully realized with her 2018 album Look Up Child.