The Sound Opinion recently caught up with Brandon Heath, who is currently on The Leaving Eden Tour with Britt Nicole. (*Mikeschair is joining them in select cities.)
Be sure to check out www.brandonheath.net to see if this tour is coming to a city near you!
This tour also includes an added bonus. For just $10 added to the ticket price, fans have the opportunity to attend the “soundcheck session” — a special acoustic performance before the show, where Brandon takes requests to play your favorite songs and shares the stories behind them.
TSO: What do you hope people will take away from this concert?
Brandon: I’m asking the audience three questions every night. The first one is, ‘What is your Eden?’ I tell people to think about a time or a place when they were the most innocent and least worried about the world around them.
The second question is, ‘What is your apple?’ Basically, what’s taking you out of Eden and stealing your innocence.
The last question is, ‘What is your heart?’ What is something you feel like God is calling you to, but you’ve been too afraid to go after?
Those are the takeaways that I really want people to leave with, asking themselves those three questions. I think it’s good for people to ponder those thoughts. It’s like when you’ve gone to see a movie that’s so compelling that you want to keep talking about it.
TSO: Tell about the pre-show event you’re doing — that’s a really unique concept.
Brandon: The soundcheck session is probably my favorite part of the night. It’s where I basically sit down with my guitar, and I tell people that if they have any requests for songs, now is the time to tell me. I give them a little background on the song and then play it. A lot of people have been sharing the reasons why they connect with the songs, which is always cool to hear.
TSO: Do you have any interesting stories from the tour?
Brandon: A few days ago, there was a guy at a concert who had been at a rehab facility for alcoholism. He didn’t normally listen to Christian music, but while he was there, he heard ‘I’m Not Who I Was’ playing on the radio. That song became a comfort to him. Four years later, he came to my show for the first time. As I was singing it the night of the concert, he was singing along and you could tell that it had become his song. That was pretty cool.
There was a woman at one of the shows who shared that her husband’s favorite song was ‘The Light In Me.’ He made her sit down and listen to it one evening. He ended up dying a few days later, so that was a significant song for them. This woman ended up coming to one of the shows, and she didn’t even know my music. I was so humbled by that story. I love being able to hear how the songs are impacting people.
TSO: What are your plans after the tour?
Brandon: I’m going to start working on the next record soon. It’s hard to believe, since I just released Leaving Eden in January — but it’s time to start working on another one!
TSO: Tell about the song, “Bend,” you sang on The Story.
Brandon: I love that song! When I got the song, I started reading more about Joseph in the Old Testament, and I didn’t realize how much my life would compare to his. It was cool to be able to sing that song because it felt personal. I rarely record a song that I didn’t write, but it feels like a song that I would have written.
They did such a good job matching up artists with songs because a lot of people’s personal stories converged with the Biblical ones. This was such a great album to be a part of.
TSO: Tell about your involvement with Operation Christmas Child, and why this project is so meaningful to you.
** Interesting fact — for every pair of shoes that Brandon purchases throughout the year, he commits to fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child. This year, it looks like he will be filling up 5 shoeboxes for OCC!
Brandon: Not only does this project provide gifts for people who normally wouldn’t receive gifts this time of the year, but it is a tremendous opportunity to reach a lot of people and share the gospel, which is the ultimate goal of Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child. It’s a very active way of showing people who Jesus is — through loving the poor and having a heart for children.
I love that it gives people an opportunity to share gifts outside of your own family. Selecting the items to put in the shoeboxes and putting the packages together gives families a wonderful opportunity to work together as they are taking the time to bless others. It can become a fun project and a tradition to teach children about the importance of giving and sharing Christ’s love with others around the world.
* For more about Operation Christmas Child, please visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ/
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