[ WM ] Noting that your self-titled debut album was just released , you ’ re best known for being part of Housefires . Although you ’ ve been releasing albums since 2005 , the 2014 Housefires II release included “ Good Good Father ” which Chris Tomlin also went on to cover . Considering the Housefires version you lead has 25M plays on YouTube compared to Chris ’ 32M , people are nearly as familiar with your worship leading as they are with your songs . You ’ re not only the first artist to sign to Chris ’ Bowyer and Bow label , he also produced your album . Ironically , at the time of this interview you had 1,300 followers on Facebook and 4,800 subscribers on YouTube . Given the strength of your album coupled with your upcoming tour with Chris , chances are the number of people following you on your social feeds isn ’ t the only thing that is about to change . Can you describe the feelings you have going into all of this as well as some of your expectations for this disc ?
[ Pat Barrett ] OK , some of the feelings I have – excitement , pure joy , and crippling self-doubt ( laughs )! I ’ ve been gearing up for this for the past two years , so I ’ ve gone through every range of emotion . When I started this whole process , I never had it in my mind that I would do a solo record . There ’ s part of me that feels like I ’ m doing the same thing that I ’ ve always done – writing songs , leading worship , and connecting with leaders . There ’ s nothing really new , per se , about any of that . But releasing it under my name makes me feel all of the good butterflies that remind you that you ’ re alive . That you care about what you ’ re doing , and that you don ’ t know how it ’ s going to turn out . There ’ s something about that feeling that I really love . What Meg , my wife , and I have said over and over during this process is that it feels like faith again . And it ’ s not like it didn ’ t feel like faith before , necessarily , but something about this phase of my life reminds me of when I was 18 . The start of something brand new reminds you of all of the unknowns you ’ re about to walk into . It just forces you to depend again ; depend on God , depend on the people in your life that help to give you strength and encouragement
Pat & Chris Tomlin at Red Rocks
when you need it . There ’ s a dependency that ’ s amazing that I think is happening .
My expectations ! I decided early on in this process that I wasn ’ t going to worry myself with things that I couldn ’ t control . On my best days that has actually worked ( laughs )! I can ’ t control if someone likes a song or wants to share a song . As an artist and songwriter , I want to be as honest and transparent as I can . I want to be sharing things with people that I actually connect with myself so I ’ m excited to share them . These songs have all come from life experiences . I needed to sing them . They brought hope , peace and perspective to my own life in a way that has been really meaningful to me . It ’ s easier to share things that have been really impactful and really helpful to you . Then you are just sharing something that you love , as opposed to , “ I ’ m only going to love this if you love this too .” These songs have been part of my daily walk with Jesus for the past
years , so I ’ m excited to share that with people . How it goes over , who knows – those are expectations . I don ’ t think human beings are meant to worry about as much as we do .
[ WM ] As an appropriate and telling juxtaposition to how many YouTube subscribers you have is that fact that the video for “ Sails ” has over 300,000 views . Amanda Cooke and Steffany Gretzinger weren ’ t just co-writers , they also sang on that track with you . People are obviously connecting with how their style of worship is intersecting with what you are doing . What did it mean to you to have them come along side you to be part of the album ?
[ Pat ] Amanda and Stef are such a gift . I had the first line of the song “ Falling is easy / staying in love is hard …” and that ’ s all . I had a couple other ideas around it , but weirdly , I felt in my heart that Amanda and Stef were supposed to help me with this . Months later we wrote
“ Good Good Father ” // Housefires “ Sails ” // Pat Barrett with Amanda Cooke and Steffany Gretzinger
August 2018 WorshipMusician . com
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