Worship Musician June 2019 | Page 49

gets added. If you start with a great song, to choose each other over and over again, and your chances of getting a great recording are it feels the same way with God. You don’t have much higher. One might even argue it would to search long for examples of people who be a great idea to record a stripped-down have bailed on that relationship. I’m only saying acoustic version first, and then bring that to that because, is the song about God? Yes. Is it your worship team to workshop through series about marriages? Yes. Is it about friendships? of rehearsals and Sunday mornings. That experience is another surefire way to realize Yes. But I just remember singing that line over Pat Barrett // “Sails” and over again in my house, and really the only the right arrangement before you step into the thing that I had were those verse chords. studio with the expectation of getting the mix With that in mind, I made it a mission to reach you’re looking for. out and see if Pat would share his thoughts When I stared writing for my record, in my mind on this experience for you. Whether you’re a I knew I was going out to California and I knew Before the late John Carter aka ‘Carter’ was songwriter, musician (that includes singers), I was going to be around Amanda and Steffany. my manager, he was the VP of A&R at Capitol arrangers, engineer, producers, pastor, or And I don’t know why, I just knew they were Records, where he was responsible for the all of the above, there’s a reason that I didn’t going to help me with the song. So, I went out singing of and production for Tina Turner’s have to eat my shoe. Pat has grabbed a hold there and we started writing on this thing and comeback album Private Dancer. He brought of the reality that moments are what make life probably within a couple of hours we had the Jeff Beck in to play on the record, and at one special and to make special music you have song in the form it’s in now. There were just point the engineer was trying to clean up some to be willing to be step into a moment and let little tweaks along the way that just felt really spots on Jeff’s tracks where you could hear that moment speak for itself. Pat also has the powerful. The bridge used to say, “I let down his hands sliding as he changed positions uncanny ability to distill things into words that the sails of my heart/Lead me to where you on the neck. Carter promptly stopped the not only inspire, they enable us to take that leap are”, but it changed from that line to, “I let engineer pointing out that the slides were part of faith where we dare to live (and record) in the out the sails of my heart/ Here I am/ Here you of the track. The concept of keeping something moment… are”. Like we’re here in this moment, this is the feeling human, ‘warts and all’ is one of the challenges that perfectionists face. moment we’ve been given. That present tense [WM] Pat, although the main focus of what openness to God for me was a very illuminating I’m hoping to cover is the actual recording of moment of the song. As I was writing this article, I kept thinking “Sails”, I also think it would be a great benefit about the video for Pat Barrett’s “Sails” with for the people reading to know about the The tendency for us that we all feel to present Pat (guitar and vocals), Amanda Lindsey Cook trajectory of the song starting with the moment the most polished version of ourselves, the (piano and vocals), and Steffany Gretzinger you started writing it and the driving inspiration. Photoshopped version of ourselves. The (vocals) in a room singing and playing their Instagram filtered version of ourselves and hearts out. Besides the spontaneity and [Pat Barrett] I’m thinking back to me pacing pretend that it’s the reality, that’s a reflex we interaction, the sound is totally amazing and around my house and I don’t know, but I all have at the human level. What this song would arguably be ruined if you added anything kept singing “Falling is easy, staying in love is did for me was it gave a cure for that, or at else to the mix. In a world where overdubs and hard.” For me, it felt like it hit something really least a way of thinking and a perspective of painstaking edits are the norm, it’s awesome true, not just with marriages or with God, just acknowledging how difficult relationships can to watch three amazing artists being artists as relationships. And the work, and I’m saying be and acknowledging that it’s a very daring only artists can. This isn’t about the sound of work in a precious and caring way. The work thing to be yourself in your own skin and a veritable sea of Strymon-laden guitar tracks of relationships is towards longevity, and I be vulnerable with somebody else. There’s (which I love), this is about the sound of music, think in scripture we’ve been given the tool freedom in not hiding, that was like the ancient sweet music, and capturing that single moment for forgiveness and letting go, and second sin of humanity, Adam and Eve, we hide. We in time. If you think about revelation, it almost chances and reconciliation towards longevity feel we do something wrong, we miss the always happens in an instant, and the reason of relationships. I think in pop culture, The mark, and then we feel this ancient instinct to this version of “Sails” moves me so much is Bachelor, The Bachelorette, TV shows about hide, from ourselves, from one another, from that it captures a special moment of revelation falling in love, we don’t really have a falling God. We take our little proverbial fig leaves and in raw fashion that floors me every time I watch in love problem, we’re pretty good at that. we hide from each other. and listen to this video. It’s staying that’s really hard. I’ve felt that in marriage where you hit points where you have June 2019 That song went from the beginnings in my living Subscribe for Free... 49