Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His first Christian album, “Hope in Front of Me,” hit number one on Billboard’s Christian charts and yielded three Top 20 singles.

His “Christmas Is Here” album from last fall cracked the Top 10 on the Christian albums chart and earned Danny his first Dove Award for Christmas Album of the Year.

Now he’s preparing to release his followup album, “Rise.” It’s available for pre-order now and will come out Jan. 13.

Of course, you won’t have to wait that long to listen to some of the new music. Danny has released three of 12 tracks already, including “Better Than I Found It,” which hit iTunes on Friday.

The other songs already released include the title track and “If You Ain’t In It.”

Oh, and that title track has Danny in a familiar position. This week he’s at number nine on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart. That’s up from number 10 a week ago.

Danny also just announced a Friday, April 28, show at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. That show will also feature Casting Crowns and Unspoken.

Casting Crowns is the headliner. Tickets are on sale now and range from $15 to $75.

The same tour will stop at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore on Feb. 16. To check out all of Danny’s upcoming tour dates, head to his Facebook page.

Danny finished third on Season 8 of American Idol, then took a detour into country music before releasing “Hope in Front of Me.”