With Petra's retirement at the end of 2005, Bob Hartman (guitarist and founder) and John Schlitt (lead singer) are continuing Petra's 33 year legacy as “II Guys from Petra.” Their aim is to fill a need within the church - that of creating a time of exciting yet reverent worship of our Lord - led by two of Christian music's most experienced musicians.

The newly released “Vertical Expressions” is a collection of praise and worship music popular in the church today. Along with an international tour, “II Guys from Petra” is an opportunity for an intimate, interactive worship experience, filled with praise music, Petra classics, stories and testimonies.

Hartman wrote all the arrangements, which he describes as “jangly rock.” The CD also includes the live Petra version of “Lord I Lift Your Name on High,” and a live bonus track of “Judas Kiss” by Petra.

The concept for the album and subsequent tour started innocuously enough, by chance.

At the time of Petra's retirement the future was unclear for Hartman and Schlitt. Both were pursuing other ventures outside of the music business when Hartman received an invitation from Canada to lead worship for a youth retreat. He immediately thought of teaming with Schlitt, much to the delight of the sponsors. As Hartman began arranging popular worship songs for the duo to perform, it became obvious that it wouldn't be much harder to make an album together. After several months of work it was time to christen the new venture. Should they call themselves Bob and John...or Schlitt and Hartman? They elected to call themselves what they suspected people would call them inevitably..."Oh...that's two guys from Petra"!

“Bob and I were sort of curious as to where we fit in God’s plan after Petra’s retirement,” Schlitt said. “We thought about how praise and worship is very, very important in the church, especially in the acoustic style. So we decided to do a project that is totally praise and worship—and along with that, creating a concert performance geared towards close, personal relationships with the audience. We think it’s going to be very useful in the church body.”

The “Vertical Expressions” CD and tour is the first time that Schlitt and Hartman of Petra, recipient of four Grammy awards, 10 Dove awards, two RIAA certified gold albums and the first Christian rock band inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame—have played together since Petra’s retirement.

Order “Vertical Expressions” at www.petramerchandise.com. Also visit www.myspace.com/iiguys to hear sound clips and a live performance, and www.johnwschlitt.com.