[WM] I think it is a masterpiece. The song evening leading with Tomlin, the Passion Band,
“Golgotha Hill” could be a movie soundtrack and Louie Giglio who have been friends since I
unto its own. You need to do a video on that started at this church music thing, it has been
and just put it out here to preach the gospel memorable.
on YouTube.
The folks that come to Creation come to sing.
[Crowder] I get chills from that one.
I love it. It’s so rambunctious and loud so I feel
right at home and can’t wait to get back there
[WM] The song “Crushing Snakes”, another singing the dark out, and the light in. It’s gonna
stellar moment. be beautiful. Amen!
[Crowder] The main riff on that song is Ray. [WM] We are looking forward to it. David,
(David sings the funky low-end riff out loud) we go way back. You graced the cover of our
very first issue of Worship Musician magazine
songs now for streaming consumption… how
did you write this record?
[Crowder] Well, I don’t know how to think of
music any differently than I always have… which
is like as a ‘whole’. You know, I’m thinking three
records, so I’m not even thinking one record. I
make three! (laughing) I’m still old school.
This thing has a journey. You get bookends
on both sides of I Know a Ghost starting and
finishing at the end. The front end starts with a
really overtly hip-hop foundation as far as the
beat structure goes and it cruises into this R&B/
Gospel section of the record and then it comes
back out and it ends up with this late Country-
fied, Hillbilly, Folk-Hop, Swamp Pop. And then it
cruises on in to the end with a more meditative,
contemplative little landing of the plane.
[WM] At first, I thought that was the bass over 16 years ago. What is the same about
player delivering that part and then I said to your thoughts on worship from way back then,
myself, no – that is his acoustic guitar. It was and what is different about your thoughts now
throwing me off. about worship - 16 years later?
[Crowder] Yep, it is a monster. [Crowder] Wow! (pause) So, I was terrified
[WM] On “Crushing Snakes” how you go into then… and I’m terrified now. (laughing) It’s a
high praises at the end is my favorite part. Your terrifying thing man! It really is. Putting words to
start with almost seeing the steam rise off of the people’s mouths that shape the way we think of
swamp water in Mississippi and wrap it up with each other and God… it’s a scary thing. So that
the high praise sounds of Heaven - it is brilliant! has definitely not changed one bit.
[Crowder] I can’t wait to play this stuff live But I think that back then I was probably trying
man, I am ready to go! really hard to do something… I was making
it too hard. It is way simpler than I thought it
[WM] David, this Summer of 2019 you are was. Although I am saying it is terrifying and
headlining the largest festival of them all - the scary, it is also super easy, because music fits
Creation Festival. You have played there several into a collective. It is made for people to gather
times before. What does the Creation Festival amongst. When people get together music fits
mean to you as an artist and what do you look their gathering. It’s communal.
forward to about playing there?
I felt like I was using music to gather people,
[Crowder] Some of my favorite memories of rather than once people are gathered, music
playing music have been at Creation Festival. just exists in a way that is… I was going to say
From the candlelight services, to performing super-natural, but it is very natural. Modify the
“How He Loves” for the first time ever and word ‘natural’… but it is super natural among
botching it completely, to getting to share an people.
So, it is definitely a ‘whole’ in my mind and I love
I don’t think I understood how much music
how the journey flows. It doesn’t feel disjointed
was ‘in us’ back then. I felt like it was a tool to
if you listen from the top to the end. It feels like a
gather, rather than something to be used once
really nice journey and not disjointed, but if you
we were together. So that might be different. It
were to just take songs out like on a Pandora
feels way different to me now.
station it would be like, “Man, what in the world
is a Latin tune doing right next to an R&B tune?
I don’t understand what is going on here”.
www.CrowderMusic.com
Red Letters
December 2018
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