Kari Jobe - Texan Singer/Songwriter/Star

Kari Jobe (pronounced ‘marry robe’, rather than ‘sari toby’) is a thirty year old worship leader from Southlake, Texas. In recent years she has experienced success as a singer-songwriter, releasing two hit albums.

Kari is someone you should know about, so here’s a rundown of all you need to know... and perhaps some pointless trivia as well.

Childhood

Kari Jobe was born to parents Mark and Sandy Jobe in Waco, Texas. Moving around Texas during her childhood, Kari grew up with her parents and two siblings (Kristen and Caleb) in the small towns of Watauga, then later, Hurst. These moves came about because of her father’s engagement in full-time ministry. Singing from the age of 3 and becoming a Christian at age 5, perhaps some predicted that Kari would go on to enter the Christian music industry. Much was to pass prior to this eventuality being achieved though, with Kari attending school before continuing her education to attain a degree in Pastoral Studies and Psychology having studied at three universities.

Worship Leading

With plenty of experience already under her belt, Kari was asked to become an Associate Pastor for Worship at Gateway Church, Southlake. Though only 10 years old, Gateway Church has grown enormously, with over 20 000 people attending services each weekend by the end of 2010. As a result, they have an extensive staff team, that not only includes Kari, but also her father Mark as well.

Since starting at Gateway, Kari has been heavily involved in leading worship, writing songs and developing the skills of younger worshippers. As a result of this work and the recording of previous stuio albums, Gateway released the live album ‘Wake Up The World’ in 2008, as is an increasing trend among mega-churches. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart, signalling its great reception amongst worshippers.

Recording / Albums

Gateway Worship have recorded more than ten albums since 2003, with Kari featuring on many of them.

Her first real taste of solo recording came in the compilation album ‘Kari Jobe’ (2005) then again in ‘Bethlehem’ (2007) - a Christmas album.

Success really hit for Kari with the release of her self-titled album ‘Kari Jobe’ (2009) with its Spanish language version ‘Le Canto’ - these releases propelled her to worldwide fame amongst Christian listeners. This achievement was recognised by the industry, as Kari won three Dove awards in 2010.

Highly anticipated, Kari’s second major album ‘Where I Find You’ was released in January of this year - its success so far has been unprecedented, hitting No. 1 on the iTunes album chart, making its debut at No. 10 on the Billboard 200.

Writing Style / Themes

Kari primarily writes worship songs, exploring themes within her relationship with God, thanking God and enacting exposition of the description given of Christians in the Scriptures.

‘We Are’ does the latter, proclaiming ‘We are the light of the world, we are the city on a hill, we are the light of the world and we gotta let the light shine’.

‘You Are For Me’ describes the Father God ‘So faithful, so constant, so loving and true, so powerful in all do. You fill me, you see me, you know my every move, you love for me to sing to you.’

Playing piano or guitar, Kari usually plays and sings when worship leading. Furthermore, this musical ability enables her to write the backing parts for her songs, creating a sound that allows her voice and instruments to really complement one another.

What to Do

Keep checking the Eden.co.uk blog for more updates on Kari Jobe as her career takes flight; we can expect much more to come from this gifted young Texan.