It was a great season, and one I’ m very thankful for.
[ WM ] Do you remember that concert we did in Vancouver, WA … were you excited to open for Delirious that night?
[ Gabriel ] Heck yes! It is quite literally one of my favorite shows we ever played as a band. That night, we met the Delirious guys and they later invited us to tour with them throughout 2004 in the U. S. and U. K.— it was incredible! The tour also established our band in the U. K. and Europe, leading to a lot of touring in France, Holland, Sweden, Norway and Germany. The U. K. and E. U. audiences really seemed to connect with our music in a deep way. Those were some really special worship times I’ ll never forget.
More than a decade later( in 2018) I was asked by Martin Smith to produce his album, Iron Lung. During those recording sessions we would reminisce about that tour in 2004 … What a dream! And it all happened because of you, Bruce!
[ WM ] Your words are too kind Gabe … but it was something special wasn’ t it? As time went by you had a studio in the NW and then we lost track of each other. Next, I heard you were in Redding, CA and working with the folks at Bethel music. Tell us about those years?
[ Gabriel ] Around 2009 my wife and I had our first baby, a daughter. The first time I left home for a weekend tour after she was born, I was like,“ Ok … I’ m done.” The last thing I wanted to do was leave my family behind. It was awful to leave! Back in those days I used to produce albums for artists when I was in between tours( Violet Burning, Sherri Youngward, Telecast), and always had a steady stream of artists reaching out to me for production help which filled up my“ off tour” weeks. So, in 2009, I hung up the touring hat and jumped into fulltime production work.
Jesus Culture and Bethel Church were doing some pretty creative things in worship music, so my wife and I decided to relocate to Redding to go to the worship school in 2010, and to be closer to what was happening there. I joined the worship team and began helping out with some of the projects— at first as a visual designer. I designed the sets for“ Loft Sessions” and“ For the Sake of the World.” Later I was asked to produce Without Words, Bethel’ s very first instrumental record. That was insane! So much creative freedom! From there I was asked to produce Tides and You Make Me Brave— both of which became # 1 albums on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart, completely independent of a label.
I was also involved in a fair bit of songwriting at the time, and some of my favorite co-written songs were in that season of living in Redding.“ Forever” from Kari Jobe and“ Ever Be” from Kalley Hallegenthal are a couple of my favorites. Oh! And“ For The Cross” with Jenn Johnson— that one is wild. What a great song!
I’ m so grateful for that season living in Redding and working with Bethel Music. Their work continues to influence worship music worldwide, and I’ m grateful to have been part of their journey as a movement.
[ WM ] At some point you started working with the Sight & Sound folks and their
16 May 2025 Subscribe for Free... photo courtesy gabrielwilson. com