Louder Than The Music

Worship leader Tom Read has released his debut solo album 'Compass' this week. As the Worship and Creative Director at Hong Kong's thriving The Vine Church, Tom is also the Hong Kong Worship Central Coordinator, bringing valuable worship teaching and training to Asia.

'Compass' features co-writes with fellow worship central leaders Tim Hughes and Ben Cantelon, plus Marc James and Nick Herbert, and was produced by Dan Wheeler (Cathy Burton, Graham Kendrick, Tom & Olly).

"This album came at a crossroads in my life", Tom explains in an exclusive interview with LTTM. "After leading worship for over 10 years I found myself in a place of frustration and I felt like I had lost my direction. I made a decision that I was going to walk away from the whole worship thing.

That very same day I had a random meeting in Hong Kong with the president of Kingsway music and out of the blue he offered me the chance to work with them. It was definitely a 'God moment' and I knew that this album way my chance to do things differently than I had in the past. I called the album Compass as a reminder for myself to be conscious of what I use to direct my life."

Born in the UK, Tom has spent most of his life in Hong Kong and over the last 10 years has travelled extensively throughout Asia with The Vine Band, leading and teaching on worship. Although 'Compass' is his label debut, Tom has already released three English language albums and two Chinese EPs with The Vine Band. He also collaborated recently with Kingsway Music and Worship Central to produce a Mandarin Chinese album called 'Counting On Your Name', which features worship leaders from around Asia.