Having been a worship leader in the UK for 40 years, The Song that I Song draws on experience and also addresses some of the doubts and struggles that many people struggle with. The following is an interview detailing my own thoughts on this album. 1. What makes this album different from all others The focus on “The Song that I Sing” that makes this album distinct, for me, is that I’ve tried to put into music and words something of where I am in my stage of life These are, if you like, songs of experience. Having had many blessings but seen around me much of the struggles and pain that many people go through, I’ve tried to journal what being a follower of Jesus is and not be afraid to address some of the doubts and fears that I’m sure we all encounter. There’s a big vision in the focus and the destination is clear but I hope by avoiding some of the clichés that we use in our Christian vocabulary I’ve shared an authentic faith. 2. What makes this album different from every other worship album out there? Rather than go for big anthemic production values that tend to be the popular trend right now, I’ve chosen to take a different course. Looking instead to build the songs around my guitar and voice, supplementing that sound with brass, strings, piano and percussion. I hope by doing this it will help encourage others to think more creatively about how they express worship and draw from a broader palette of sounds and styles that is currently on offer. I feel there is a lot of scope for thinking ‘outside the box’ musically when it comes to developing our worship styles. The 2nd thing is it was produced by son Jon. I reckon that’s a first, to have their son a producer of a major worship release in the UK. Dan, my other son, plays percussion on this as well, which is really great. 3. What are the core themes of the album? What grace really means. Our identity in Christ; that we respond not out of coercion but willingly because we are learning to trust our heavenly Father. There’s a great deal about our inheritance, our destiny or where we’re going, and, I hope, there’s a sense of vulnerability that makes me nervous about how some listeners might respond, but I want my faith to be real. 4. What led you to write your first worship song? The first worship song I wrote, Abba Father, came out of an encounter with God. It pointed me towards the really important aspect that we sometimes lose sight of – God is our Father; that’s who Jesus came to show us. It’s a truth that is so profound and yet so simple and it breaks through all cultural and educational barriers. 5. How did you first get started as a worship leader? I took my first steps as a worship leader, I guess prompted by God, but certainly with lots of encouragement from people around me, many of whom were older in years. They saw the potential in developing something unrefined, certainly raw, material and under their guidance my gift began to develop. Spiritual fathers and mothers are what is so needed in the church today. Sometimes I feel we are guilty of a disconnection of the generations. God’s way is certainly a reversal, or should I say countercultural, to the breakdown we see in society when it comes to age. 6. Were there any training resources to equip you? Not many! Bert Weedon’s “Play in a day”, “Youth Praise” and a pack of guitar strings! But there was lots of love around. 7. How did this album come about? Over the last couple of years I’ve been doing a number of one-man acoustic shows around the country called “Tales of a Troubadour”. Basically, it’s an evening where I share my songs and story. It helped refocus me to see that it’s the song that’s the important thing and how music can touch the deepest part of our hearts. Running parallel to this were some songs that I’d written with a more worship theme, so I asked my son, Jon, to help me record the demos. Once these were recorded we began to see that some of the songs needed a little more than just acoustic guitar and voice and I enlisted Jon as the producer to help me develop the shape and style that would make this album distinct. Some of the demos morphed into the foundation of the material with more instruments added, and other songs were restructured. Of course, quite a few along the way were discarded, not because I didn’t feel they were any good, but because they didn’t align with the musical direction the album was going in. 8. Who are your personal musical heroes and why? There’s a great story about Sam Cook, an outrageously gifted singer in the early 1960s who was once complimented about his beautiful voice. His response was to say “Please don’t compliment me for my singing; I want you to be impressed that I sing truth”. In the mainstream it’s artists who do just that who inspire me: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Neil Young. Van Morrison, who I recently saw in concert, is so fluid in his interpretation of his songs and somehow in the act of vulnerability acts as a lightning conductor to those assembled to hear. It’s people who sing truth that lift me up. This coupled with strong lyrics and strong melody never fails to win me over. 9. How do hope the album will be listened to specifically? It’s always amazing when people pick up on songs and make them their own, so I hope the album will be a conduit for others to make their own expressions of faith. I hope also that it will encourage us to see that we are on a journey where all of us are heading for the same destination, but whether we enter into fully our destiny really depends on how we receive some of these core biblical truths. I also hope it will bring comfort to those who don’t have all their questions resolved. 10. Why record another album? Because I’ve always got songs bubbling up, and for me another album represents a completion of a cycle; a sharing of a season. The apostle Paul used an amazing statement in the New Testament when he referred to the Good News as “my gospel”. He certainly wasn’t saying he’s twisted the facts for his own interpretation, but he was simply sharing that the gospel, for him, had become incarnational. My hope is that this album communicates an authentic expression of worship.