About.
From a small town ensconced in the cornfield oceans of rural Illinois, I have been quietly connecting with hearts through song for over 20 years. For a painfully shy and socially awkward small-town boy, music has always been my refuge and a voice that had otherwise illuded me…my songs have always been a way of connecting with people on a deeply human level. Whether it be leading worship at Church, playing a small acoustic show at a coffee shop, or touring in a van with 4 other smelly guys doing rock shows, my goal has always been to connect with people in an honest and authentic way, and speak light into people’s darkness.
It’s not always easy to stay true to who you are called to be as an artist in and industry that tells you need to look a certain way, sound a certain way, and be a certain way in order to be “successful”. In fact, after a long discouraging decade of touring in rock band trying to “Make it” (whatever that means), I stopped writing for several years. I settled into a life of leading worship ministry part -time as my wife, Leah, and I began the new adventure of buying a home and raising a family.
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Two boys later, this most mundane (but not easy) act of “Homing” has brought with it whole new ways to fail…and, in turn gain wisdom (hopefully?). And anyone who works in professional ministry for a good length of time, knows that people are dealing with much more pain than they ever let on.
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All of this new life experience has revived the songwriter within me and brought forth new dreams and new songs to connect with people in the same old ways, but with new vision. It was as if a light had turned back on and my purpose was illuminated more clearly than ever… to write songs that help people be more real with themselves, with God, and each other.
In this social media driven world we find ourselves in, being real is a lost value. We put on our best faces and make posts to show everyone how great, fantastic, and awesome our lives are. We spend our worry comparing our lives to all those other “perfect” posts we see, and we conclude we are not good enough. So, we busy ourselves trying to one-up strangers and be more perfect, do more things, make more money, have more stuff. We pile on mask after mask to cover up our insecurities. We pretend it’s all OK. We present well on the outside, but on the inside we are all a chaotic wreck of undealt with emotions and traumas.
This is why anxiety, depression, and suicide rates are on the rise. And Jesus people tend to be the worst pretenders of them all. My longing is to begin to change that…one song at a time…one heart at a time. It’s only when we slow down enough to acknowledge and get honest about our inner struggles, that we can truly begin to see the hope that Jesus offers.
