[WM] And so many different folks working
together! Back in the early 70’s, the Nitty Gritty
Dirt Band brought together legendary country
and bluegrass artists alongside themselves, a
young country rock band, in order to create
a profound piece of music, Will the Circle Be
Unbroken. Your project reminds me of this
same dynamic by creating a broader net to
impact a broader audience. In fact, you’ve
previously stated that Chris Tomlin and Friends
is about, “breaking down walls of the Christian
genre and allowing the music to be accessible
to a wider audience”. What thoughts can you
share on this?
[Chris] It truly is, and things are so used to
staying in their boxes, and staying in their
lanes, and I thought maybe the connection of
us opens up doors and opens up places for my
music to go that it’s never been. I can tell you
my favorite comments that I’ve seen since the
album has been released have been these two
comments back to back. One person wrote in
and said, “I had no idea. I do not like country
music so I did not think I was going to like this
record, and I had no idea how much I would
love it and how much I would love these artists,
and now I want more of this music.” And then
the next comment was, “I do not like Christian
music, and did not think I would like this record,
and now hearing this record, I had no idea
how much I would like this and want more of
it.” So, it is so beautiful to see both sides and
notice you have people leading towards one
in this combo together. I’m not saying it’s for
everybody, but I think a lot of people saw that
this music is cousins, they are closely related,
and to put that together is really special.
The heart behind these artists too is what’s
really special, because they’re artists that have
the same like minds, like heart, and like faith
who really want people to bring glory to God.
We talked about that every time we went to
sing or record, to bring glory to God, to be a
light, to help people to experience God in a
way that we’ve never done before in our music.
The opportunities of them stepping into my
world has opened up a lot of opportunities in
their world, and me stepping into their world
has definitely opened up opportunities that I
have never known before. I love that, that’s the
reason we’re in this is to share the good news
and to share the love of God with as many
people as we can.
[WM] And the point of all of this is that God
is working everywhere. When those Country
artists’ heads hit their pillows at night, they
too have anxieties, thoughts, feelings, and
consciences like those in the “evangelical”
church. Many years ago, I was on tour in Richie
Furay’s band. I remember on two of the tour
nights while opening for Leon and Mary Russell
in Austin and Houston, Willie Nelson joined
the stage with Leon, and sang two hymns;
“Amazing Grace” and “What a Friend We Have
in Jesus”. These were both hardcore, rock and
roll, arena crowds heavily drenched in a thick
cloud of illegal smoke. But when Willie and
September 2020
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