VOTA (formerly known as Casting Pearls) is Christian rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska featuring Bryan Olesen, a former guitarist with fellow Christian rock band Newsboys. Several of the band's songs have been featured on rotation with several national radio networks such as K-Love, and are part of the international 180 Tour. Their song "Hard to Believe" was listed at #17 on R&R's May 2, 2009 weekly chart for the United States.

History

Casting Pearls was formed by Bryan Olesen and bassist Case Maranville in 1997 when they joined drummer Shane Coop. After a few lineup changes, the band solidified in 2003 to include Olesen, Maranville, and drummer Scott Rutz. In July, 2003 the band met Peter Furler of Newsboys which lead to Olesen's tenure as lead guitarist for Newsboys from 2003-early 2006 and the self-titled release on Furler's Inpop Records of "Casting Pearls" in 2005. In 2008, the band changed their name to VOTA due to confusion with similarly named Christian artist Casting Crowns.