this place . It ’ s obviously something that we ’ re created to do .
There was this amazing young woman in the church that I grew up in , which if 20 people on a Sunday were in attendance it was like revival Sunday ! Her name was Kim and she was very small and had a bit of more of a soulful voice tone , even just in a breath and I will never forget . She came to our church when it would ’ ve been around the same time that I was playing piano . So , I was just 10 years old and she opened her voice , and she sang “ Amazing Grace ” in a way that I ’ d never heard before . She opened-up and the resonance and the vibrato … I wanted to sing like that . It was singing with conviction , but it was the tone . It was soulful . It was soul and I remember going home going , “ I want to sing like that .” There was just something that I hadn ’ t experienced . So I went home and I think I just opened up and started to sing with vibrato . I remember that had a deep profound impact on me as a singer .
And Kim ’ s a worship leader now in Portland , Oregon and I ’ ve gotten to see her since then , but I ’ m just so grateful for just her expression of worship through music , whether she was singing the name of Jesus or not , it had it such a profound impact on me .
[ WM ] I ’ m very intrigued by the lyrics of your song , “ Canticle ”, from your new project , Taya . It sounds like a perfect offering for what many in the Evangelical church refer to as high church congregations . High church being defined as a church with an established , historical liturgy . What can you tell us about this song ?
“ Christ , as a light Illumine and guide me Christ As a shield Overshadow me Christ Under me Christ Over me Christ Beside me On my left and my right ”
[ Taya ] Yes , well I have got to admit my naivety
TAYA - Canticle ( feat . Jon Guerra )
to high church . That is a kind compliment . I would say from what you ’ ve described is people who have solid theology , which is beautiful .
I ’ m a very simple person . It ’ s just my expression of who Jesus is , but I do love that it was kind of a crazy gift of a song , “ Canticle ” that would be on the album as well . It is actually Saint Patrick ’ s prayer of protection . It ’ s been prayed for over 1000 years easily and my producer and I , John Guerra . He ’ s also an artist in his own right . I call him John the Baptist . He ’ s kind , patient , but potent when he speaks as well . I don ’ t think he eats locusts , but I know he eats honey ! He brought to these sessions that we were doing in Nashville , this beautiful prayer liturgy from this little town church in Northumbria in the United Kingdom .
I ’ ve never been there , but it was something that he was practicing with a friend and his wife every morning during this pandemic to be connected , and then also just to start the day off in silence and waiting for the Holy Spirit to prompt one of them . The first line is , “ Who is it that we seek ”? And then it ’ s a call and response and it says we seek the Lord , our God , and then it ’ s a question , “ Do you seek him with all your heart ”? Yes , Christ have mercy . “ Do you seek him with all your mind ”? Yes , God have mercy . It ’ s just beautiful and there ’ s this moment , it updates every day , it ’ s got scripture , but then it just has the prayer of protection . Christ is a light , illuminate and guide me . Christ is a shield , overshadow me and we kind of put that prayer to melody .
And then we wrote this small little chorus that we just sing over and over at the end and I remember texting my husband because he
was out at the time . He was there just for that first week of writing and I texted him and I said if I ’ m never known for another song for the rest of my life , other than this one that we ’ ve just written , I would die happy because how could I want to sing anything else other than , “ Christ before me , Christ beside me , Christ on my left or my right , Christ , whether I ’ m kneeling , whether I ’ m standing , Christ , all the days of my life .” A fun little thing that came out of that moment was that we were meant to be working on production . We had a few other songs that we had written , yet this was the first time I met my producer in the flesh .
Because I wrote the album previous to this , all on Zoom . I know not everyone loves it , but I have a sweet love of Zoom . I ’ ve been here quite a lot over the last two years and it was amazing getting to write this little expression and then because we ’ re in person , we decided to do some gang vocals for this song and my husband ended up singing as one of the gang vocals too , which is ridiculous because unbeknownst to me , he was not really a singer . He can play a little bit of piano , but not because he ’ s reading music just from his ear and learning things on YouTube . So , it just felt like such a sweet gift of a song that feels theologically rich and something that I am happy to sing for the rest of my life because it ’ s just Jesus . It ’ s a form of his name and just declaring his sovereignty and his goodness and his kindness . I do love that .
[ WM ] I must ask you about the song , “ Getaway ”. What an amazing concept to ask the listener ; “ Are you burnt out on religious things ? Are you worn down , lacking inner peace ?” The lyrics , from God ’ s perspective , seem to distinguish between a man-made church and a God-made church . What ’ s the story behind this song ?
[ Taya ] Yes , “ Getaway ” is a secret favorite of mine because it felt like a real gift . We were coming to the end of three weeks of writing , trying to write and see what came and see if we could finish this record and I was writing with