Christian Music Lighthouse - Joy Williams information

FAVORITE CUT: "If I had to pick one, it would probably be ‘Do They See Jesus in Me?’ because that’s the focus of why I sing -- so that God can be glorified."

FAVORITE DAY: Saturday

FAVORITE MONTH: June

FAVORITE HOLIDAY: Christmas

FAVORITE SINGERS: Celine Dion, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Crystal Lewis, Amy Grant

FAVORITE BOOKS: Perelandra (C.S. Lewis), anything by Dr. Seuss

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Dogs

FAVORITE FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS: Wendy's, In-N-Out Burger

FAVORITE FOOD: Caesar Salad, Pasta, Bread

INFLUENCES: Through she keeps up with current trends in the pop music world, Joy cities artists from Nat King Cole to Billie Holiday to Celine Dion as influences on her self-described "diverse" style. "We’ve definitely got a lot of pop influences on the album, and yet, we’ve tried to be very musical and really utilize a lot of harmonies," she says. The final product is a mix of upbeat, driving pop and silky ballads tied together by Joy’s impressive vocal range.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: A recent high school graduate, Joy is trading one very busy life for another. In addition to touring and recording on weekends, she managed to cram her senior year full of schoolwork and sports, also serving as student body president.

BACKSTORY: At 14 Joy dreamed of pursuing a career in journalism or family therapy, never considering music. News of a standout Christian performance at her church caught current manager Dan Mann’s attention. After hearing Joy for himself Mann suggested she consider a professional singing career. At the time, Joy was not ready to make such a decision and opted to wait and pray. "It’s a funny thing how God intrinsically weaves different desires in your heart, how they grow or wither over time. In trying to follow what God had for me, those desires [for music] began to grow."

GOAL: "I would love for God to use me to impact culture in a way that would direct people that would direct people toward the Lord," Joy says. "I would love for people, once they left the building after hearing me sing, to go ‘Wow, God is so awesome!’"

FUN FACTS:

* Was featured on the Left Behind soundtrack singing "I Believe in You" months before her first album came out.

* Joy loves surfing, hiking and other outdoor sports

* Mark Stuart of Audio Adrenaline says of Joy "I've never seen anyone eat so many Krispy Kremes!"

* Joy says one of her favorite childhood memories is being up early on Saturday mornings, snuggled up between her mom and dad in their bed while munching on a big bowl of Kix and jabbering about life in general. Of course, Joy says, it's not really a distant memory. "I'm 19 and I still do it!"

* Joy is in no big hurry to grow up. That is one reason that she turned down a potential record deal at 14. "I wasn't prepared at the time," she says. "I knew that at 14, when I was in ninth grade, those next four years would be huge in terms of growing mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I wanted to have a high school life." And she did. She played varsity volleyball, went to football games, went to homecoming dances, was student body president and graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. Joy says that she "really really loved" high school.

* Shortly before graduating from Valley Christian in Mount Hermon, California, Joy signed with Reunion Records. Her first CD, "Joy Williams" released in July 2000 and her second CD "By Surprise" released in October 2002.