Jay DeMarcus is returning to his roots with the launch of a new Christian music label, Red Street Records.

At a Wednesday (Oct. 24) afternoon press conference, DeMarcus announced Red Street Records and his first signings: veteran Christian hitmakers Avalon and newcomer Lauren James, a worship leader at Joel Osteen’s Houston mega church.

“It’s been a long time coming. I’ve thought about doing it for several years and the timing just never seemed right and now the pieces fell into place,” DeMarcus tells Billboard, sitting in his spacious man cave at his Nashville home. “When you don’t have to force the pieces and they fit together naturally, it pretty much means the timing is spot on. I’m really happy about it.”

DeMarcus feels it’s a good time to launch a new indie Christian label, and though he had talks with major labels about starting his venture as an imprint, he decided being totally independent was the way to go. “I feel like the business model has changed so much that you can do so many new things these days that you couldn’t even do 10 years ago,” he says. “With Christian music in particular, I feel the real estate is wide open for a new company to come in that really is unconventional and not beholden to a larger label that is controlled by a larger label and has to move slowly. We’re small enough and streamlined enough I feel we can move quickly on something when we are passionate about it.”