The Witness Tree by Wendy Matthews

The Witness Tree is the third solo studio album by Australian singer Wendy Matthews, released in Australia by rooArt on 14 November 1994. It is a non-traditional gospel album, with Matthews stating "the spirit of gospel is so uplifting, I have a lot of faith, but for me it's more nature and the elements." The Witness Tree debuted inside the Australian ARIA Albums Chart top twenty, but sales fell considerably short of those of Matthews's 1992 album Lily. The album was nominated for an ARIA Award in 1995 for "Best Adult Contemporary Album" and yielded three singles; "Standing Strong", "Love Will Keep Me Alive" and "Say a Prayer". The Witness Tree had minor commercial success in Australia. In mid November 1994, it debuted at number sixteen on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, becoming Matthews's fourth top twenty album. The album dropped out of the top fifty after two months, and spent a total of twenty-one weeks in the top one hundred. The Australian Recording Industry Association awarded the album a platinum certification for shipping 70,000 copies. At the 1995 ARIA Awards, the album was nominated for "Best Adult Contemporary Album" but lost the award to "I've Got a Plan" by My Friend The Chocolate Cake.