History (Matthew West album)

Matthew West began recording in studio for History in early 2005.[5] He co-produced the album along with Kenny Greenberg and Jason Houser.[6] West wrote six of the album's tracks himself, and co-wrote the other five songs with the album's producers and others.[4]

West's theme for the album and its title track "History" was inspired by seeing an R&R music news headline that stated "Matthew West Makes History", in reference to his first album, Happy.[7] He noted, "It's not every day you read a headline like that with your name in it that calls you a history maker. I remember thinking this was one of those moments in my career that I needed to soak up."[7]

The album was released through Universal South Records in the United States on June 21, 2005.[4] On June 20, one day before the album, the first single "Next Thing You Know" was released to radios.[8]

Starting on September 14, 2005, West began his own 30-city headliner History 101 tour, which was named after the album. History 101 was the first tour that he had headlined, also featuring Christian artists Shawn McDonald and Paul Wright.[9]

The next singles released off of the album were "Only Grace" and later the title track "History".[10][11]

History charted at No. 17 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums and reached No. 26 on the Top Heatseekers chart.[12] The album's first single "Next Thing You Know (Thirteen)" reached No. 3 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart[13] and also No. 3 on the Hot Christian AC chart.[14] The second and third singles, "History" and "Only Grace", reached No. 13 and No. 6 on the Hot Christian Songs chart, respectively.[15]

• Matthew West – lead vocals, backing vocals (1-4, 6-11), string arrangements (1, 5), acoustic guitar (3, 8)
• Tim Lauer – keyboards (1, 3-7), acoustic piano (1, 3-8, 10), string arrangements (1, 5, 7), programming (5), Hammond B3 organ (10)
• Kenny Greenberg – electric guitars, acoustic guitar (1-6, 8-11)
• B. James Lowery – acoustic guitar (1, 5, 7)
• Mike Payne – acoustic guitar (2, 11), electric guitars (2, 5, 9, 11)
• Mark Hill – bass (1-7, 10, 11)
• Costa Balamatsias – bass (9)
• Chris McHugh – drums (1, 3, 5, 6, 7), percussion (3)
• Ken Lewis – drums (2, 3, 4, 10, 11), percussion (2, 3, 4, 11)
• Matt Payne – drums (9)
• Eric Darken – percussion (1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10)
• David Angell – strings (1, 5, 7)
• Monisa Angell – strings (1, 5, 7)
• David Davidson – strings (1, 5, 7)
• Pamela Sixfin – strings (1, 5, 7)
• Kristin Wilkinson – strings (1, 5, 7)
• Mike Casteel – music copyist (1, 7)
• John Catchings – cello (3)
• Jason Houser – backing vocals (1, 10)
• Sam Mizell – backing vocals (1, 5), programming (2)
• Joel West – backing vocals (1)
• Bob Bailey – backing vocals (4, 10)
• Kim Fleming – backing vocals (4, 10)
• Vicki Hampton – backing vocals (4, 10)
• Ashley Cleveland – backing vocals (6)

• Kenny Greenberg – producer
• Jason Houser – producer
• Matthew West – co-producer
• Miles Logan – recording, mixing
• Aaron Chmielewski – assistant engineer
• Adam Deane – assistant engineer
• Ben Strano – assistant engineer
• Ken Love – mastering
• Jan Cook – art direction
• Tim Frank – art direction
• Clark Hook – design
• Thomas Petillo – photography
• Lori Turk – hair stylist, make-up
• Emily West – wardrobe stylist
• BrickHouse Entertainment – management

Studios

• Recorded at East Iris Studios, Ken's Gold Club, The Hum Depot, Quad Studios and Studio 917 (Nashville, Tennessee); The Sound Kitchen (Franklin, Tennessee).
• Mastered at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee).