Introducing… Marie Miller!

 

We recently caught up with Marie Miller, an exciting new artist that you’ll definitely be hearing more about in the future.

TSO: Tell about how you got started in music.

I started singing when I was seven years old and joined my family band at the ripe old age of twelve! That same year my dad introduced bluegrass music into my life, and I fell in love! My love for bluegrass music led me to pick up the mandolin and acoustic guitar. I started songwriting soon after. Songwriting changed my life, because it gave me an opportunity to turn my ideas and dreams into music.

TSO: What do you hope people take away from your album and from your concerts?

Beauty. God woos His people with His immense beauty. Beauty can elevate our souls to Heaven, to home, to where we belong. I want to be His little instrument to turn heads and hearts to His infinite love though the beauty of music.

TSO: What’s typically your inspiration for songwriting?

My songs are always from big moments, thoughts and emotions in my life. I can’t write a song unless I could sing the song for years to come and still relate to it. Once something hits me, it seems so natural to write about God, people, places, books or poems that I love.
 

TSO: Share some of the stories behind your new songs.

“To Be Loved” is a song I wrote about my five-year-old sister Megan who was born with down syndrome. I am blown away by this little girl every day of my life. She teaches me through her beautiful soul that we are created to love and to be loved. Nothing else will fill the holes in hearts.

TSO: What do you feel like God has been teaching you lately?

We were made to live life in abundance. Mediocrity is not an option as much as I want to make it one! God loves me too much to let me stay the same with all my faults and failings. He is constantly calling me higher. He is such a great Dad!

TSO: What are your upcoming plans?

I will be performing, songwriting, and promoting my new album! I just finished recording a new project with producer Paul Mabury, and I am so excited to begin performing this new music! I’ll also be home as much as I can, so I can spend time with my awesome family out in Virginia.

For more info about this exciting new artist, check out www.mariemiller.net. Also, be sure to check out the music video for her song, “Make The Most of Me” — http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=KGWKD7NX

 

Interview: B.Reith

These days it’s not really that unusual for an artist to sing ad rap. Mat Kearney’s albums are better when he chooses not to eschew his rhymes. Lecrae even showed up in the middle of songs by Chris Tomlin and David Crowder Band at a Passion conference. As a singer/rapper, then, B.Reith is not alone. What’s unique about the Minneapolis native is his ability to write and perform in such a variety of musical genres. Consider two examples. First, there’s B.Reith with a pop-piano gem, “Antidote”:

http://youtu.be/-j3Y82rKDQ0

Now here’s the same B.Reith dropping slick rhymes over a hip hop beat on “Comeback Kid”:

http://youtu.be/1MpmIDums_c

How does that all work out in a music industry that is designed to pigeon-hole artists into tight categories, preferably categories that will sell? And what’s in the pipeline for Reith, following the success of his latest, “How the Story Ends”? We got some very honest answers in our interview.

TSO: You have accessibility to so many different markets and genres. I know that’s a blessing but it must present plenty of challenges. Do you just shrug that off now, or do you write for a different group at a time?

I would call it a dilemma. Not a problem, but a dilemma. I’ve tried before to please everybody, just to see if that was possible. Everybody was pleased, but the result didn’t always blow up or take off. Now, what’s very freeing is I’m at a place where I focus on one area, hit that hard for a while, and see what’s next. I’ve gone through this cyclical pattern of being in seasons when I’m really excited about hip hop and then it kinda phases out. I get back into a pop mode.

TSO: So, what season are you in lately?

For whatever reason I’m in this season now of hip hop. I’ve gotta get this stuff out. I’m squeezing it for everything it’s worth and really looking at is an opportunity to tap into a market that is clearly visible. It’s not underground. It’s very tangible. I wouldn’t say that I have a fan base that’s so huge and was sold on one big single that would be mad because I’m doing some free hip hop stuff.

TSO: Free?

Yes, I’ll be giving away songs from a mix tape I’m working on. The idea is “How the Story Continues”. It’s a combination of songs that I’ve done before that I’m remixing. Switching them up. Rapping over them. And then just totally new songs. It’s a hip hop-driven, more rap-heavy, aggressive mix tape.

I will say this – I wouldn’t just give away bad music! We don’t need music just to take up space on our hard drives. People aren’t even impressed anymore with free music. They can get it. For me, it’s a chance to be really good, but not have to spend the money it takes to produce a full-length record. I can work a lot faster and explore some very current musical ideas. They might be short-lived, but have a higher impact on the front end.

TSO: Rap music has a history of egocentricity, from the earliest days of the Sugarhill Gang taking turns talking about being the “baddest rapper there could ever be”. How does a Christian rapper remain credible in the genre without all the self-aggrandizement?

This is a very passionate topic for me. I would never compromise my integrity, or lyrically say something that contradicts my belief in God or is destructive to people. I would be walking in disobedience. Music is to me both a tool and an art form. Specifically in rap, you can use it as a tool to encourage. Talk about your struggles. Give people hope. Ultimately, point people to Jesus. But, music is also like literature, like movies. It’s a vehicle for entertainment. Some people just buy music to have a devotional, but I don’t think it’s that legalistic. Within the context of rap, there are times that I will say things as an MC that are always a little bit tongue-in-cheek humorous, but you’re talking about your skills. It’s almost a language. There is no way that I would be so shallow as to walk around bragging and say, “Hey guys, check me out. I’m the man.” But I might put something in a song like, “Slice that beat, call me Kimbo, like turkey, Istanbul.” It’s a language, and hopefully somebody will take notice because of that language. You’re cutting through to somebody. That’s the fine line, what you’re saying about yourself. I think it all comes down to the heart, to my freedom in Christ to know that I can say that. I prayed just yesterday, “Lord, if what I’m doing is glorifying me and not You, then let’s start over.” That will burn when it’s all said and done. God will judge that. I’m not wasting my life. But I also realize it’s a form of entertainment. I think people get that. It’s the whole context, all of the songs grouped together.

Lecrae is a pioneer now in the sense that he’s been accepted. He’s pushing that now. He’s saying, Christian hip hop is hip hop too. We don’t have to subculture ourselves into a bubble and not reach people in the world. I saw Tony Evans responding on CNN. They asked if he was afraid of being marginalized because of his stance. He was like, “No! Marginalized? I stand before God. I answer to God.” If I’m marginalized from mainstream hip hop because I don’t do what they do, if I’m marginalized from Christian hip hop because I use a rap vernacular, then I still stand.

TSO: You did a remarkable cover of “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby as a tribute to Trayvon Martin. How did that come about?

I played that song at an event called ERACE here in Nashville a few years ago. I always had that song in the back of my mind. I tried to cover it on piano and it looked really corny. When the Trayvon stuff was happening, I thought, this is a way that I can creatively express my frustration with racism without making comments on facebook and sounding like a jerk. I was expressing my frustration with what I saw, even the response to it all, and how divided it was. It took me about a day to learn it on guitar. It was two takes for the video.

http://youtu.be/H7Hj8EcVfz8

TSO: I didn’t know you had those guitar skills. You can’t just go cover Bruce Hornsby on guitar!

I fool a lot of people. I play the stuff I learn. Someone will say, “Why don’t you play it in a different key?” I’ll say, “Give me until tomorrow!”

TSO: So, what’s the first mix tape song to be released?

“Simple Days”. It’s a song off the record, but I completely gutted it out. It’s sample-driven, there’s some rap in the verses, it’s a different song. I’m excited about it.

Look for Simple Days May 29^th at breith.com.

Guest Post from Mocha Club Artist Mark Wagner

Soulful singer-songwriter Mark Wagner releases an EP this week. NEEDLOVE is an album devoted to expressing our need for love and the type of love God offers and desires for us. The album is unique in that its available exclusively through the Mocha Club, a non-profit organization designed to help those in need in Africa. Those who partner with Wagner and Mocha Club, supporting Women at Risk in Ethiopia, will receive his album free, along with an exclusive music video, lyrics and chord charts, as well as monthly communication from Wagner and Mocha Club about how their contribution is impacting lives in Africa. Existing Mocha Club members can also receive NEEDLOVE for free simply by inviting friends to join. 

Watch the sweet video below for his song “Gonna Be With You,” with footage from his wedding.

Mark was kind enough to put his thoughts on paper for us as to how his music and Mocha Club intersect. In this week’s guest blog, Mark has a story to tell you…

In 2008, along with some other friends from the Mocha Club, I boarded a plane in Nashville, flew across the Atlantic Ocean to a small town in Northern Uganda called Gulu.  I remember that flight to Gulu.  I remember thinking to myself, “Where in the world are we?  Am I gonna make it out of here alive?”  Gulu is approximately seventy miles south of the southern Sudan border in East Africa.  I knew that for the past thirty years these Ugandan and Sudanese people had been ravaged by the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army), which was led by Joseph Kony, and was most well known for murdering whole villages of people and kidnapping the children into a life of bondage.  These were their stories, and as I listened to them, their message became clearer to me.  These were stories of desperation and stories of hope.

For the first time in my life I saw true desperation.  I met men on the street whose legs and arms had been cut off by rebel soldiers, and who had been left for dead in the burning streets of the villages they grew up in.  I met women who, as young girls, were kidnapped into a life of slavery, continuously raped by young male officers in the rebel army.  I met former boy soldiers who told me that as children they were forced to watch as their parents were murdered, and then they were brainwashed into believing that their mission in life was to do the same to their friends in the neighboring villages.  These people were desperate to tell their stories to the world.

While in Gulu, I visited a men’s Bible study, led by an organization called Action International, called the “Men of Courage.”  They shared their stories.  Theirs were the stories of all who had seen the atrocities of war and had lived to tell about it.  These men were former child soldiers in the LRA, and they had since been rescued from their life of slavery into a new life of going deeper in their relationship with their Creator.  These men were learning the true meaning of redemption, and they had seen, with their own eyes, the face of Christ as they themselves hung on crosses of shame, and they were set free to live a new life, as new creatures.  I was inspired as I listened to the stories of how they escaped, how they found a new home, and how they learned how to live again.  These men had found new life and hope in Jesus Christ, and they longed for their brothers and sisters to experience this same hope.

I returned to Nashville two weeks later and began to re-evaluate some things in my life.  Why do I write songs?  Why do I sing?  I found my answer sitting at a men’s Bible study in Gulu, Uganda.  Those men had found hope in Jesus.  They had experienced new life, and they had lived to tell the story.  Now, my job is to keep telling that story.  My job is to keep telling the story that Jesus Christ lived, He died, and He rose again so that my friends in Gulu, Uganda can experience new life.  Jesus lives so that we can all experience new life.  I must keep telling the story. –Mark Wagner

Click here for more info on Mark Wagner.

Get to Know: David Dunn

The Sound Opinion recently caught up with David Dunn, a talented singer/songwriter based out of Texas. We are sure that you’ll be hearing more about this artist in the years to come.  In addition to writing songs and performing concerts, David serves as the director of contemporary worship at The Woodlands UMC.

TSO: How did you get started in music?

David: My family is drastically musical. As a matter of fact, I can’t recall ever having a Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter holiday without a family round of tunes. I think it all stemmed from my grandfather who was a fiddle champion and always willing to grab a bow and sing at the top of his lungs “How Great Thou Art” or “Just A Closer Walk With Thee.”

I think the first time I decided that I wanted to start being more than a passive family participant in this whole music thing, was in the middle of a mission trip to Mexico I took when I was 15. There was a college kid named Tim who was our worship leader on this particular mission trip, and he was really good at what he did. Naturally, all of my female friends “swooned” over him during any spare time away from passing out tracts.  That’s when I decided that I was going to pick up singing and playing the guitar — so that I too, like Tim, could have females swoon over me…. In retrospect, it’s actually quite embarrassing to admit why I started playing music. J

TSO: When did you feel led to pursue music full-time?

David: When I graduated from college, I really struggled with what I was going to do with myself. I’d been involved in the singer/songwriter circuit in Lubbock, TX and lead worship for a college ministry there. I had some interesting (scary/risky) prospects for doing music, and I’d also done a few internships in my studied field (petroleum engineering) and had a few job offers to consider. Instead of making a final decision, I took 13 months off and moved to Zambia, Africa to do micro-financing and mission work.

When I returned to the states, I made a decision to give music a try because it’s what I love. But I didn’t feel the hand of God pushing me in either direction.

TSO: What do you hope people take away from your album and from your concerts?

David: I hope people are challenged to think about life in a different way when they hear my new album or listen to me play live. I want to meet people in the middle of their struggles and hardships and say, “Yeah, I’m there too! Check out what’s happening in my life and what I’m struggling with in this journey towards Christ! Let’s toil together!”

 TSO: What’s typically your inspiration for songwriting?

David: Conversations with friends and life experiences.

TSO: What’s your favorite part of what you do?

David: Connecting with audiences and hearing stories about the impact a specific song has made. It absolutely makes everything I do worthwhile when I hear a story about how a song has challenged someone in a way they have never been challenged before.

TSO: What do you feel like God has been teaching you lately?

David: Patience. I feel like I am always trying to force God to do things my way, and I always have to re-learn that He doesn’t work that way — and by “that way” I mean “my own way.”

TSO: What are your upcoming plans?

David: Lots of live shows and hopefully a few industry partnerships! Then who knows what else is in store! A new record in 2013?

TSO: Anything else you would like for people to know about?

Currently just wrapped up a 2 month long tour, just put out a new full-length record that’s out on Itunes called “For the Life of Me.” Check out facebook.com/daviddunnmusic, www.daviddunnmusic.com and @davidtdunn for details on live shows and upcoming events! God bless!

** Check out David Dunn’s music video for his single, “Ready to Be Myself” — http://youtu.be/L-5MHSckeU8

Interview: Eric Peters, Part 2

[See Part 1 for Peters’ description of writing his latest, Birds of Relocation]

I spoke with Eric Peters following a recent benefit performance with Andrew Peterson. We sat in what would normally be called the Green Room, except these walls were painted like a forest. This was “backstage”, church-style. Peters had just packed up his own gear and carried it to another random Sunday School room. He had retrieved his own cell phone from his merchandise table where it was being used with a little magnetic stripe reader attachment to process credit card purchases. (He admired Peterson’s newer card-reader gizmo and learned that it was available at Radio Shack and not too expensive.) And now we sat, chatting, beside the crock pots and plates of homemade goodies. Such is the life of an indie artist. No guitar techs, no roadies, not even a proper credit card machine. At least there’s home-cooked food!

I asked Peters about some of the unique challenges in the life of an indie artist, and he was quite honest. I don’t want this to come across as a gripe session – Peters would be the first to tell you how grateful he is for the opportunity to write and play music – but I do think it’s valuable to peek behind the veil of the stage and the record to see the necessary machinations that made them.

 

TSO: I imagine that a lot of people don’t realize all that’s involved in being an independent musician. Out of all the details of the job, what’s the worst part?

I think most indie artists would say that booking themselves is the worst part, and I would agree with that. I’ve probably been grumbling about booking for years – people canceling, or people flaking out, saying, ‘Yeah, we’re interested,’ and then falling off the planet. It’s time consuming, but worse than that it’s self-promotion, which I’m terrible at. It’s like going to look for a temp job every single day. Recently I’ve found somebody who was a fan, and she brought me in for a couple of shows, and I saw how organized she was. I knew she was coming off another job, so I asked if she was interested in helping with booking. It’s been great. I still sort of do it, but it’s awesome now because I can point people in her direction, which is such a gift, it’s such a break.

TSO: What’s the best part?

What I love is playing live. It feels like a home when I get to play these songs that I’ve written. I can’t imagine not playing music. I certainly hope I get to keep playing live, and singing in front of people, however small it might be. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

TSO: What are some things you have to do as an indie artist that might surprise people?

For one, we have to drive ourselves. There’s no tour bus! We also have to ask to get paid, and talk about money. That’s really awkward for me. I would say, “Sure I’ll come play for five dollars. Is that too much? I’ll come down!”

The reality is, I’ve got to have some other income. For me, I started a little side business in lawn care. I’m busting it, working hard.

There’s no label. It’s a lot of work. What is the work? You make a record. You have to write songs for it. With a family, where’s the time for that? What income are you not earning while you’re doing that? There are the day-to-day and month-to-month finances; that’s super-stressful at times. There’s the finding of shows. I think people think shows just happen. They’ll ask, “Why don’t you ever come play out in Topeka, Kansas?” Well, nobody’s ever invited me. People think, just come. It’s not that easy. Part of me loves getting to educate people in the process. I’m thrilled that you would want me to come play, but that’s passive. Let’s make something happen.

TSO: What about the record-selling aspect?

Probably Monday I’ll have 1,000 CDs arrive, all packaged up and pretty. There’s a part of me that still thinks that’s really cool! On the other hand –I don’t know if people think that’s a lot, or not very many, but 1,000 CDs in your house – I have this realization of, “Oh my gosh, what are we going to do with these?” The only way these are going to leave is if I go out and play shows. They’re not going to a store. There are a zillion artists out there now, and the digital world has made it a very big musical landscape. Just trying to get heard, to rise above it a little bit, to get people to take notice, is daunting. I remember a time when it was a big deal to have a record, to put out a CD. Now, everybody and their grandma can have one. It’s a super-saturated market that way. Even having done this for 15+ years, I don’t know how to get heard. I’m really thankful for the Rabbit Room and Andrew and these guys who want their fans to know my music. In a way, that’s how I have a career: guys like that who love what I do and want their fans to hear my music. It slowly builds upon itself. There’s nothing stable about what I have and what we do. I mentioned 2009. That was me having done music for over ten years. There’s nothing that’s a given.

TSO: Apologies in advance for the trite question, but with all the challenges, what motivates you to keep going?

Deep down, it’s because I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I feel like in some ways, I was meant to write songs. More specifically, I feel like I was meant to write these songs, that they might speak into people’s lives, that hopefully I’m bringing something lasting and good and hopeful in to the world. One of my favorite things is performing the songs. It’s nice to write songs in my living room, but part of that feels incomplete, just being a song, until I get to play it for people, and share it. That’s the gift of it for me, and hopefully it’s a gift for whoever gets to hear it and is edified by it.

Interview: Eric Peters, Part 1

File under: Artists you don’t know but should. In today’s dense musical landscape, that file is as large as ever. I first heard Eric Peters a few years ago in Nashville and realized right away that I needed to make space for him in my musical attention span. He performed a song written from the perspective of a rusty old bicycle chained to a rail at a subway station, and he had just the right touch of frailty that I like in a singer-songwriter’s voice. I wanted to hear more.

On May 1, Peters releases what I count as his best work in over a decade of making music, Birds of Relocation. It’s a “statement record” that finds Peters declaring to the world, “I have been through darkness and despair, and I am through with it. There is light and hope and life.” It’s by no means sappy; instead, let’s call it “informed optimism”.  To quote a review by S. D. Smith (I’m allowed to do that because this is an interview, not a review!), “It’s the airborne travelogue of a grateful, singed survivor, the record of one songbird whose shining eyes are turned suddenly skyward.”

I caught up with Peters in Chattanooga after a benefit show he played with Andrew Peterson for the Richmont Community Counseling Center. As the show ended, one of the Center’s counselors noted how much the previous couple of hours had felt like a counseling session all their own. Indeed. I’ve divided our interview into two parts. First, Peters talks about the new record. Tomorrow I’ll post part 2, in which we learn what it’s really like to be an indie artist.

TSO: Explain the title of the new album, Birds of Relocation.

As I was writing these songs, this theme of coming out of darkness emerged. It’s the story of the last 2-3 years of my life: this theme of relocating, being found again. At one point during that dark period, anxiety had me frozen, paralyzed. I remember at one point just not being able to move. I didn’t know what to do. It was really strange. I kept trying to hang on to staying present, not wishing away the days. Knowing that it takes a tiny amount of light to break darkness. Deliberately making an effort to move from this place of despair. I talk about this and I realize I don’t ‘have it’ yet, but, that’s the idea. For me, painting was one of these actions of moving forward.

I started painting in the last year and a half. I had never painted before, but I sure love artists like Van Gogh, and Arthur Dove. I love what they do with colors, and seeing the brushstrokes. I said, “I’m just gonna try it. I may be terrible at, I may fail, but I’m just going to try it. Enough with fear. I’m moving forward. Relocating. Moving from these boughs of hopelessness and despair and saying, Enough!” One of the first pieces I painted was a little 8×8 of what would become the album cover. Orange sky, a low shrub in the bottom right, some birds flying off. I called it “Birds of Relocation”.

TSO: I appreciate that when you took your mental stand and decided to do something, you chose to create. I believe we’re made in the image of a Creator God, and when we take part in that, we’re somehow sharing in His work.

Part of the story is that I read a biography of John James Audubon, the painter and naturalist. I don’t really like the word ‘inspired’, but to read his story, I saw so much of myself in him. He was an entrepreneur. He came over from France, moved to America, married and went to the frontier, which at the time was Kentucky. The middle of nowhere. He set up a business but it utterly failed. He lost everything. He had been drawing and painting as a hobby, all up until that time. He decided to lean into his talents, this hobby that he loved. He published Birds of America, which was this immense work that took him 14 years of his life. I just took great – I have to use the word inspiration – from that. I recognized that I love creating, and this is a new outlet for me to be able to create. ‘Cause I sure don’t know what else I’m going to do with my life.

TSO: Your new album opens with a song called “The Old Year”, and later responds with “The New Year”. Is there a line of demarcation between the old and new seasons in your life?

Yes and no. Yes, in that 2009 was a really psychologically brutal year for me. I had released Chrome. It’s a pretty dark record, and those songs were part of that story. I had a brand new record out and I had no shows to tour with it. Nothing. I was really flummoxed, distraught. I didn’t know how I was going to take care of my family. There was a temporary teaching job that opened up, and I had tried everything I could to avoid having to take it. I did not want to do it. I wound up having to take it, and it wound up being really enjoyable. I loved the students. I was terrible at the facilitation and being a teacher, but it was great relationally, and it was work! I wrote “The Old Year” in January 2010, as if to say, “2009 was a terrible year, see you later, good riddance.” But I didn’t want to leave it at that. There’s so much to be thankful for.

TSO: You said Chrome was a dark record. Would you call Birds a happy record or a sad record?

A joyful record. It’s a reawakening album. I feel like I’m writing songs that are me. I don’t know how to expand on that yet, but there’s something about the songs, and playing them and singing them that just feels like they’re in the pocket. I’m in my place.

TSO: Was this songwriting process cathartic?

Songs have always been a catharsis for me. They’re my free counseling sessions. They always have been. The older I get, the more I do this, the more ironic it seems that these songs I write are about hope, and that’s the thing I struggle with the most. These songs are not pep talks – that’s an awful way to describe them – but I think it’s interesting that these are the songs that come out of me, as if I’m having to remind myself.

Birds of Relocation releases May 1^st, available here. Digital download available now.

[Coming in Part 2: What’s the most surprising thing about the life of an indie artist?]

Interview: Christy Nockels

Christy Nockels is stuck in traffic. She has a car full of kids, construction has blocked an easily-congested suburban Atlanta street, and she’s scheduled to do interviews about her new album, Into the Glorious. Hardly a glorious morning. Or is it?

For Nockels, a significant component of writing and recording this album was the recognition of just what it means to experience “the glorious”, not just from a stage in front of 42,000, or at a women’s conference of 300, but in the everyday, the stuff of carpools and traffic jams. Read on as Nockels shares what’s she learned, and what it’s like to be thought of as a new artist after a career that has spanned more than a decade.

TSO: Into the Glorious is your second album as a solo artist, but Watermark [Christy’s band with husband Nathan] debuted in 1998. Do you feel like an industry veteran, or is the solo piece still like a new venture?

I definitely feel more like a veteran. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been doing this forever!. So it is funny when I read descriptions like, “her sophomore project.” Honestly, it doesn’t feel different from Watermark. Just yesterday someone said, “Do you think there will be a Watermark reunion tour?” It’s funny, because we are Watermark. On the road, it’s the same configuration.

But also, I love the turn it’s taken. I get to do a lot more conferences and ministry events with women. Even Nathan notices – I feel a different freedom when I’m able to just minister to women. It’s a different kind of joy, I love that. That’s not something we did a whole lot before. I’m able to spearhead that relationally, and Nathan gets to hang with the band, and be the musical director. I think he enjoys not having to do the artist role in all that. We’ve really enjoyed this season of our lives, me doing the solo thing, him getting to produce. I can tour some – I’ve toured on Tomlin’s last several tours – and Nathan’s able to hang at home, keep the house rolling with the kids, and he loves it.

TSO: Given your long career, how does the new album reflect what you’ve learned and how you’ve grown?

This record is special because of how it began. I started writing for it in 2010. I had released a record in 2009, so I felt that natural pressure that I should probably start writing in late 2010, so sometime in 2011 we could have this thing finished and released. I probably put that pressure on myself. The label wasn’t breathing down my neck or anything. But I kept hitting a wall, and couldn’t gain any traction with songwriting. We even tried to make some demos and track some and it just fell short. There came a point in January 2011 where I realized, “I’ve got to lay all this down. We need to put the brakes on. I’ve got to stop everything and really just seek the Lord.” I really knew that it wasn’t time. My brother Eric took me through a three month discipleship program that was focused on identity, learning as an artist to separate yourself from what you do. Learning to have all your identity and acceptance in who Jesus is and the covenant you have with Him. You get into these patterns when you’re looking at yourself by what you do. For three months, by phone, I walked through this with him, and it changed my life. He was learning too. We’re both pastor’s kids, and we were telling each other, “We’re supposed to know all this!” Deep down, you know the truth, but it’s like the Israelites – you forget, over and over, who you are.

Eventually, I couldn’t stop singing and I knew for sure that it was time. By the time I hit summer of 2011, the songs were just there, coming out while I was driving to the grocery store. Actually, most of the songs on this record were written while running errands! Going through everyday life. That’s why it’s called Into the Glorious, because of that invitation that’s there in the mundane for your life to collide with Majesty, to really move from the ordinary into the extraordinary. He’s right there.  My car is a sanctuary.

TSO: What’s it like writing songs while running errands?

I invited my kids in to the songwriting process. I wanted to help them not be compartmentalized in my life, to invite them into it all. I don’t know that my songwriting process will ever be the same. I prayed for the songs the minute I got the idea for each one. I prayed for the people who needed to hear that truth, that God would develop it all the way through. I remember singing the vocals for these songs and either weeping or smiling the whole time, still believing that truth that God would use them in people’s lives.

TSO: Musically, there are some fun new moments. Life Light Up opens with big, bright strings, while Into the Glorious opens with banjo! Is that taking a risk for you, or something very natural?

I guess it was a risk for my audience. For us, it’s actually closer to who we are than most people know. I was raised on southern gospel and country. It might just be the age that I am – late 30s, – but I’m really trying to avoid being someone I’m not. I decided to do a record that’s who I am when I sit down and share what God’s doing in my life with about 300 women. That’s my absolute favorite thing to do: just Nathan and me, maybe another acoustic or percussion player, just telling stories and ministering to a group of women and praying for people afterwards. These songs fit in that moment, rather than the huge, “No Not One” strings. That’s too big for such a moment. I had to get to the basics: what do I feel called to do in this season of my life? Yes, I have this platform of singing in front of thousands of college students, and I absolutely love that, and we have the Passion record as an outlet for that – but for Christy Nockels, I love encouraging women in their 20s to 40s with where they are in life and in motherhood. I wanted to make something they would want to put in their car and listen to all the time.

TSO: Finally, I can’t help but ask. Did someone actually draw that cover art on a chalkboard?

Yes! The artist’s name is Dana Tanamachi. She’s a believer from Brooklyn New York. She’s done stuff for Oprah’s magazine, and Ralph Lauren ads, so she’s really getting some recognition. It was a joy to meet her. Our art director from sixsteps had reached out to her to say, “Hey, I love your work,” and she was like, “Oh! I was at Passion ’05!” It was neat how that all came together. We wanted something organic and earthy. It’s breathtaking.

[Note: here’s a fascinating time-lapse of Tanamachi creating art for a Dave Barnes project: http://vimeo.com/32102813 ]

Interview with Dave Barnes

Following the success of Dave Barnes’ 2010 release, What We Want, What We Get, featuring the GRAMMY-nominated song “God Gave Me You,” his newest album, Stories to Tell is sure to pull on heart strings as well — with the song, “Mine to Love,” which beautifully captures the emotion and excitement of this new chapter in his life being a first-time dad.

After you grab a copy of his new album, check out Dave’s tour schedule on his website (www.davebarnes.com) to see if the “Stories To Tell Tour” is coming to a city near you.

TSO: Tell about your background in church and how you got started in music.

My dad is a preacher, so my family laughs that all the kids were kind of ‘born into the baptismal.’  He’s been a pastor for as long as I’ve known him, and I’m 33 now.  He started preaching before I was born, so he’s been preaching a long time.  I grew up in the church, and every time the doors were open, we were there.  We moved to Knoxville, Tennessee where my dad planted a church, and he and my mom are still there today.

We came from a tiny town in Mississippi that didn’t really have a music scene at all.  When I moved to Knoxville, I played drums and started playing with some guys pretty regularly and we started a little band for fun.  That’s what started me on this musical journey.  When I got to college, I started playing guitar and writing songs, which was a completely new thing for me.  That’s sort of what led me to where I am today.

TSO: Talk about how your faith in Christ keeps you grounded in the music industry.

With everything I do, my faith in Christ is the biggest thing that keeps my feet to the ground.  It’s an interesting profession — playing music in mainstream.  People live by different rules and values, so it definitely makes for interesting conversations.  I feel so encouraged that God has continued to guide as I walk this road.  There have been times that I’ve wondered, ‘Is this where I should stop?’ But He’s been faithful to keep leading.

TSO: What do you hope people will take away form your new album and from your concerts?

That’s a great question.  This is probably the most versatile record that I’ve made subject wise — there’s fun songs, contemplative songs, encouraging songs.  The album is called Stories To Tell, and I think the overall theme to becoming a parent was closing one chapter of life and starting a new one.  My wife and I did some traveling and different things before we started this new chapter, and it kind of became the theme of the record — closing one chapter in life and starting a new one.

TSO: What’s your inspiration for songwriting?

It really varies.  When there are new challenges, exciting things or even hard things in life, they often become great subject matters for songs.  It was so fun writing for this record, because I got to tackle different subjects that I had never written about before.

TSO: What’s your favorite part of what you do?

Getting to create.  Someone asked me back in college, ‘What’s the one thing you think that you would go crazy if you couldn’t do?’  I really think it’s getting to create.  It’s a necessary part of my life, and the fact that I get to do this for a living, is just absolutely beyond me.

TSO: What do you feel like God has been teaching you lately?

How much time do you have?  It’s a lot about this new season in life with our baby boy Ben.  My wife and I had this lifestyle where we thought we had everything figured out, and it was awesome.  It was like everything had settled in the snow globe.  With Ben coming into our lives, it’s like God violently shook up that snow globe — it’s actually great, but it’s like nothing we’ve experienced before.  We’re like, ‘How in the world do we do this?  How do you adjust to this new life and schedule?’  The encouragement is that everyone I know has gone through this when they have kids.  So there’s no new thing of me going, ‘What do you mean?  It’s supposed to be easy and normal, like it was before…’ It’s a real struggle because time is so spoken for, but now even more so, I realize how important it is to spend time before the Lord, pray and just clear my mind to make decisions.

TSO: What are your upcoming plans?

We’re doing this tour which I’m super excited about.  It’s always fun playing shows and getting to meet people.  There’s two experiences with new songs.  There’s the record version where people sit in their car or on the subway listening to it, and then there’s the live experience where it’s a kind of a different take on that song, so it’s fun to get out there and see how people react to the songs.

Catching up with Anthony Evans

We recently caught up with Gospel singer Anthony Evans, who has a unique opportunity to showcase his stellar vocals and his faith on NBC’s reality show “The Voice.”  His father, Dr. Tony Evans, is pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.

Anthony has been chosen for Christina Aguilera’s team on the show.  Be sure to watch “The Voice,” Monday nights on NBC!

TSO: What led you to audition for the show?

I was sitting in my living room with Jeremy Camp.  He told me about the show, and said that I should audition.  That was during season one, but I couldn’t make it work then because of a lot of different things.  I didn’t really think anything of it, but then I got asked again for season two — so that’s how it came about.   I thought it was something exciting, new and different — that’s why I tried it.

TSO: For your audition, you performed the song “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye.  How did you choose the song for the audition?

There’s a lot of people auditioning for the show, and the producers want to know about your story.  Due to clearances and all the legal things you have to go through, they help you narrow it down to make sure it’s clear for TV.  It’s a process to figure it all out.

TSO: What do you hope to take away from this experience?

I’m just soaking up everything I can get.  I’m hoping just to maximize every opportunity that I have.  I’m hoping to learn how to think outside of the box.  There’s a box that I’ve learned how to think within just because of the way I’ve been raised and the way my career has gone so far, and “The Voice” obviously takes me far outside of that box.  It takes me out of range from what I’m used to, and I’m learning how to think outside the box by being here.

TSO: What encouragement or advice has your dad given you about being on the show?

My dad said that as long as I’m being true to myself and not compromising what I believe, then I’m doing great.  I don’t know why, but as a Christian artist, I initially felt guilty for doing this show which is kind of weird. I don’t know where that thinking came from, but my dad has reassured me that it’s about standing firm on what you believe and going through any door that opens.  Even my coach, Christina Aguilera, has said the same thing.  We come from different backgrounds, but she has told me to stand for what I believe in and to be myself.

TSO: How do you hope to use this platform to share your faith?

I have been able to make relationships with people that I would have never gotten to know in any other scenario.  In the normal scenarios that I’m in, I would have never been able to meet the folks that I’m meeting.  I’m hoping to connect and really love the people that I’m meeting behind the scenes.

TSO: In the midst of all this, you also have a new album coming out on March 6.  Tell us about that.

It’s pretty crazy timing, huh?  The album is called Home, and I recently moved back home from Nashville a year ago to just reconnect to my roots.  The stories behind the songs and what’s kind of the common theme behind this record is being genuine to who you are.  Home is where I am myself.

For more about Anthony Evans, check out www.anthony-evans.com

 

Christmas Countdown with Josh Wilson

As we wrap up this year’s Christmas Countdown with Josh Wilson, we hope you are enjoying a wonderful day filled with celebration while reflecting on our Savior’s birth!

 

What do you enjoy most about Christmas?

I love being with family, and I love traditions. For some reason on Christmas Day, we always eat Mexican food.  We also enjoy looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve as a family.  On Christmas morning, we read out of Luke 2 to remind ourselves of why we are alive and have hope — because of Jesus.  We’ll share gifts and focus on the spirit of giving, because Christ has given to us.  I have fond memories of Christmas and being with family.

What’s your favorite Christmas carol?  I love “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

What’s your favorite Christmas album?  The Elf Soundtrack

What’s your favorite Christmas movie?  Elf & Home Alone

Are you the type of person who likes to peek at your presents or do you hold out?

This could be incriminating!  I peek…. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten better about waiting.  But as a kid, I would sneak in and unwrap the presents – and then tape them back up!  I do not recommend that!

What do you want for Christmas this year?  I want the new kindle touch.  I love to read, and it looks awesome!

Share one of your favorite Christmas memories.  

I was in high school saving up for a guitar, and it was the guitar of my dreams!  I wanted it more than anything.  It probably would have taken me a year to save up for it.  Every day, I would go into the store and play it.  Then, one day, it was gone.  I was devastated.

Well, fast forward two months later… Christmas morning rolls around and I walk into the living room and there was the guitar!  My dad bought it because he knew how much I wanted it, and he was afraid someone else was going to buy it.  So he snatched it up and didn’t tell me.  I’ve now had this guitar for 10 years, and it still goes everywhere with me!