What about New York inspired you to create Your Mercy ? I don ’ t know if New York inspired me to do that , honestly . Seriously , I wouldn ’ t give it that much credit . I think that I ’ ve been fortunate over the years to be a worship pastor in a local church , and out of that weekly experience . Just that repetition of years and years of getting up each Sunday , hearing sermons , and being part of the local church … that ’ s really what inspires new songs . New material comes from teachings , or hearing a phrase while someone is praying .
Way back in the day , one of the first songs I wrote was “ Open the Eyes of my Heart ”, and it was inspired by a prayer that a pastor read before he preached . He said , “ As we go into the Word tonight , we pray that you open the eyes of our heart to help us to comprehend your Word tonight .”
I thought , “ Huh .” I always write down little words or phrases … little possible title ideas … or trying to be alert for that .
So I would say the Lord inspires me anywhere from New York to France to Singapore . He inspires me on airplanes , a lot . When you are stuck in seat twenty-eight D , all you can do is leaf through your journal , or through the Word of God . You just find these little phrases or nuggets . That ’ s usually what inspires a new song .
Aside from the sound , how is Your Mercy different than your previous albums ? The sound was intentional . I wanted to do a project that was under produced- not overproduced . I wanted to do what the Bible refers to as “ the simplicity of devotion to Christ ”. It ’ s that place where we feel the Word resonate in our personal lives , and I just felt like I should carry this over into this project . I didn ’ t want to complicate it by crowding each track with too many instruments . That was a really conscious choice as to what we can do with a handful of people in the studio- sort of a warehouse studio . That was the idea , here . Oftentimes we just go back into the studio and just record another ten guitar tracks . You just keep filling it up , and filling it up .
What role did your son , David , and wife , Rita , play in this album ? David was involved with a lot of the pre-production . Oftentimes , before I record , I ’ ll go in the studio and experiment with various arrangements to try to find the one that just feels the most appropriate for that particular song .
So David was involved in the pre-production as well as on the album he played the French horn , the trumpet , and played some bass .
Then , Rita , has always been such a great vocal arranger . She spent many years with Integrity Music , and Maranatha Music- she did a lot of the vocal arrangements for those albums .
She ’ s not singing any solos on this project , thought . It ’ s funny , over the years , she ’ s been very quick to sort of , urge me , to find the next generation of singers , and to give them a shot . So there is a girl in there … Madison … she sings on a couple of tracks . She is a nineteen year old worship leader that we think is great . She ’ s not anybody you would know- she ’ s not wellknown or anything … Even Integrity was suggesting that we get a Natalie Grant , or Mandissa … which I get . I understand , but it ’ s just fund to find these next generation talented musicians , worship leaders , etc .
How do you go about finding new talent ? I think it ’ s in the midst of travelling . I still probably spend about one-third of the year traveling to various worship conferences , and various churches throughout the United States and Canada . We ’ ve toured Canada many times .
Along the way , you just kind of come across a few people where the Lord taps you on the shoulder and says , “ I want you to be available to that person .” That ’ s a word that I get from God- to just be available- to encourage them . It kind of starts there .
So do you and Rita ever collaborate on albums ? Yes , we collaborate on everything . This is our life , and this is what we have done over the last thirty years … marriage , ministry , music , kids , and recordings . There is not way not to collaborate .
It becomes part of our family culture- it always has been . Even our kids … even our local church … is always part of our family culture . We are always thinking about songs , ideas , or