B . C . where my brother was the priest . I was leading it for a congregation of about 75 mostly elderly people in a traditional worship service a few years ago . Afterwards an elderly female parishioner comes up to me and says , “ That was a lovely new song – I think it has some potential . You should try and share that in other places .” I smiled and thanked her as I laughed inwardly ; she had no idea the song was already being sung around the world .
And then there ’ s our local prison . Singing that song with inmates has moved me … I think of what was behind the ‘ come just as you are ’ for me when I wrote it , and then I consider what ’ s behind those words when an inmate hears it being sung over them ; that all of us are being welcomed to come just as we are .
[ WM ] Now to mark this significant milestone , you have assembled quite a talented group of musicians and have reimagined the song . Tell us about the band mates ?
[ Brian ] Before I talk about the special guest vocalists and drummer , I want to gush a little on my good friends who live here and have done music with me for decades . Brian Thiessen on guitars . Brian T ( who I affectionally just call ‘ T ’) has been a good friend since we were 5 years old when we met because our Dads were in a gospel quartet together . He plays guitar like no other ; there ’ s so much feeling flowing through his fingers and once again as he has through my whole career and ministry , the guitars are played by him .
Philip Janz grew up in Germany ; we eventually met about 30 years ago through his Dad Ken Janz ( who worked in mainstream music with all the big acts in Europe as a TV presenter and is one of the singers in the Deliverance hit song ‘ Leaving LA ’). Since my first solo worship album You Shine back in 2002 , Philip has been my primary producer , and he co-produces this version . He ’ s an amazing multi-instrumentalist playing drums , keyboards , and all types of wind instruments .
Matt Weeks on the bass guitar recorded his tracks in the UK . He ’ s a phenomenal player with strong musical instincts . His bass parts are a solid and foundational , yet at the same time full of movement and energy . The first time we worked together was on the ‘ Hungry ’ recording for Vineyard UK back in 1999 and we are still recording and occasionally touring together in Europe .
And then there ’ s my son-in-law Luke Vandevert and friend and recording artist Marika Siewert , both of whom played important roles as coproducers of this song . It was Luke ’ s idea to bring in YouTube drumming sensation Cobus ( who hails from South Africa and now lives near Nashville ). It was so fun to talk to Cobus . I found out that he first developed as a drummer in a local church worship band playing ‘ Come now is the time ’, so he was honored to be asked to play on this anniversary edition . We
24 October 2023 Subscribe for Free ...