Ben Shive

At last, the long awaited prequel to Resurrection Letters, Volume II. This thing was a joy to put together. AP would write in the other room while I worked on tracks. That man can write a record in a few days and you'd think he spent a year on it. I don't understand. A highlight of this project was when he played Is He Worthy for me on the piano the first time. What a song!

I was just one of a few producers on this record. I went into it a little intimidated. Audrey is such a great producer in her own right; I couldn't imagine what she would need me for. But I forgot that collaboration isn't always about somebody needing somebody else. It's about a somebody needing to be more than just a somebody–needing, rather, to be part of an "us." It turned out to be a great collaboration and I'm pleased with the result. I'm also floored by the tracks I didn't have any part of on this project. It's just a good record!

One of my favorite moments working on the Prologue EP was when AP and I wrote Last Words. We got that little musical loop going and then we went about adding the last words of Christ, one at a time. Amazingly, we didn't have to backtrack once. We just laid them in place sequentially and when we were done, we were done. Songwriting is not usually so easy. :) 

Inspired moments aside, the real joy of this record was being reunited in collaboration with my dear friend. If you're reading this, AP, I love you.

Ellie has as strong a sense of calling as I've ever encountered in an artist. Hers is a mission to "Sing the truth into the dark," and that's a mission I can get excited about! Red Sea Road is a lovely collection of songs inspired by scripture; songs that defy the lies of the enemy. I'm so grateful to have been a part of it.

I'll never forget the moment when Ellie sang the vocal for "Find You Here." It was just supposed to be a scratch vocal and there were distractions everywhere. Her husband and daughter walked in the studio halfway through. I was pacing around the room. But Ellie never sings anything half-heartedly. When it hit the outro, she started singing this beautiful ad lib: "rejoice, rejoice...don't have to worry bout a single thing...he's gonna carry us through everything." Something happened in that moment. And something happened every time we played that song with that scratch vocal. So we kept it. That song is medicine, incidentally. The whole record is, I think. 

The Hellers are some of my trustiest collaborators. We work so well together and enjoy the work so much. So this record was a blast. We were committed to the greatness of it, too! I think I redid more things on this record (entire songs in some cases!) than on almost anything I've ever done–just because we wanted it to be great and we knew it could be great if we didn't give up.

My favorite moments making this record were recording the vocals with Brown Bannister. JJ is such a pro that often it's easy to hurry through vocals. But Brown doesn't hurry and it was wonderful to see JJ taken care of so well and getting to stretch out and explore. And the proof is in the pudding. She sounds great on this record! 

Coproduced this one with Brown Bannister, which means before it even began it was guaranteed to be SO MUCH FUN. What I didn't know was how much I would love being around this band. We took our dear sweet TIME on this record and I think it shows.

Favorite memory: It's a toss up between the guitar days where we'd spend a whole day on a song (and blow about three hours on lunch) and the vocal days where Bart would make my brain explode--that man can SING.

http://rendcollective.com

I love this band so much. I love THEM. At the beginning of this record, I spent a week in Atlanta with the guys (Ali was away) and every second of it was hilarious and wonderful. It's always scary to walk into somebody else's community, but the guys made me feel almost Irish. 

Favorite memory: It's a toss-up between eating breakfast each morning with Gareth at the General Muir and singing "Ireland's call" at the top of my voice with the guys.

http://www.davebarnes.com

I've been making music with Dave since about 2003. I traveled with him for a while and I've played on almost every one of his albums. Now I'm so thrilled and honored to have had the honor of producing a Barnes record. This album is a departure in some ways for Dave, but it's not the kind of self-indulgent departure that alienates long-time fans. The songs are a celebration of romantic love and of marriage. The music is somewhat folkier than we've heard from Dave before–you might say some of it is in the vein of Nick Drake (never a bad thing). There's an instrumental track. Strings abound across the record. I hope you like it!

Favorite memory from the making of this record: Dave and I spent the first hour (or two) of each day talking about the stuff that matters, from money to marriage to work to  the enneagram to generosity. The time we spent together was really rich. Walking away form this project I treasure the friendship even more than the music. 

www.christawellsmusic.com

This album was the first Christa and I have done together. I only met Christa a few months before we started work on this but I became a fast fan of her artistry. Two of the songs in this collection–the Smiths' "Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me," and Depeche Mode's "Waiting For The Night"–were songs that helped Christa survive high school in the early 90's. The other selections–U2's "One," Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight," and Nirvana's "Come As You Are"–are included because they address spiritual issues from an unusual perspective. We tried to be bold not only in our choice of songs, but in our sonic explorations as well.

Favorite moment making this record: I enjoyed poring over the entire canon of late 80s/early 90s alternative rock with Ms Wells looking for just the right songs.

http://www.colonyhousemusic.com

I co-produced When I Was Younger with the multi-talented Joe Causey. Colony House is a three-piece band from Franklin, TN. Great melodies, element-of-surprise arrangements, thoughtful lyrics, and the musical contributions of the individual members (Caleb Chapman on vocals and guitars, Scott Mills on guitars, and Will Franklin Chapman on drums) congealed in a really magical way on this project.

Favorite memory: During a particularly dogged week of work, we created theme days: cowboys and indians, ninja day, super hero day. It was ridiculously fun.

http://www.ellieholcomb.com

Coming in 2014. Co-produced with the legendary Brown Bannister.

Ellie didn't need us to give her a vision. From our very first meeting, she articulated (very…articulately) a desire to make music that drives away darkness by singing the light of the scripture into people's hearts. Ellie doesn't waver from this desire, no matter what room she's in, no matter who's listening. It's awesome to behold. She sings like she was made to do it. And I'm pretty sure she was!

Favorite memory: Vocals. Ellie is the most enthusiastic, fearless singer you can imagine. She doesn't freeze up behind the mic: she frees up! You could tell her to sing it like Cookie Monster and she'd smile and give it her sincere best. And her vocals on this record, IMHO, are magical.
 

Laura Hackett Park leads music at the International House Of Prayer in Kansas City. If you know anything about that ministry, you know that means that Laura has spent thousands of hours writing songs in the moment, praying scripture through music, and singing her heart out. It shows. Laura is a very disciplined musician (she studied music theory, which makes us co-nerds). And I think of her as a prophetic lyricist. All those hours in the scriptures have, for her, resulted in a tendency to sing as though she is singing the very words of Christ.

I love this record. Brown Bannister and I made it together and I have to say that Brown, Laura, and I made a fine team.

http://brandonheath.net

I'm so glad Brandon Heath is who he is, where he is. He's in the thick of the pop CCM mainstream writing excellently crafted songs from his heart. He takes risks without turning his back on his people. What more can you ask of an artist than that he conscientiously care for the talents as well as the audience God has given him?! 

I was thrilled to work on this project with Brandon. We knew each other a little bit from the Behold The Lamb Of God tour. I treasured getting to know him better during the making of this album. And we had a blast. He's a fantastic singer and a wonderful collaborator with a very clear artistic vision. He brought some great originals to the table, notably Just A Girl, which I love dearly.

Favorite memory: Writing Mama Wouldn't Lie with Brandon and Andy Gullahorn. Can't remember who's idea the "gluten free" line was, but we were all like, "Are we REALLY going to do this?" Yes, we did.

Hope Tonight is the second collaboration between Melanie Penn and I. I really treasure this record just as I do her first, Wake Up Love. The song craft here is excellent, rife with careful metaphors and unlikely personifications. But Mel's not just a cerebral, conceptual writer; her songs have plenty of pathos, humor, and heart. Before A Fall will make you feel a surge of empathy for the narrator, who happens to be a melancholy post-Eden Earth. Turnaround (which I've blogged about elsewhere) is a benediction in the unlikely parlance of music theory and song structure. But then on songs like Something My Mother Said and Shadow Of Doubt, Melanie sheds the literary devices and sings it straight from the marrow. Minutes later you're crying on the shoulder of the road or yelling at your radio, as I did. Long live Melanie Penn!

Favorite moment:

We recorded You Can't Choose Who You Love (mostly) live late one night at the Beehive with Melanie's guitarist, Steve Elliot. That was pretty special. I'll also never forget hearing Shadow Of Doubt for the first time in a Target parking lot. Funny how hearing a beautiful song for the first time leaves a stamp in your memory and you never forget where you were.

I think Kelly could write for just about anybody in country music. She's got a penchant for lyrics that get to the heart of everyday matters and she writes great melodies. She's developed great creative discipline; she could write a song on command any day of the week, rain or shine, and it'd come out well-crafted with plenty of heart. On top of that, she's quite a singer--and you know that never hurt anybody. When you first hear her voice you'll find yourself making all sorts of lofty comparisons–Mindy Smith, Alison Krauss, Taylor Swift. Eventually you'll have to say, "Nope, that's just Kelly Rae Burton."

Favorite moment:

Kelly and I wrote (or finished) many of the songs on this album over the course of a few very fruitful days. We had a fast-friends kind of collaboration, which is always a pleasant surprise. I look forward to writing more in the future.

For quite a while, folks have been telling JJ and Dave Heller that they need to compile the lullabies they've recorded over the years on a single album. They finally got around to it, but the Hellers decided to do more than just repackage these old songs--they re-recorded them along with a handful of new lullabies.

The recordings are sparse but still very colorful. Guitar, piano, french horn, clarinet, strings, and bells comprise the core of the sonic palette. Much of the music was recorded live, including JJ's vocals!

Favorite moment: The tracking session was really enjoyable--just Dave, JJ and I, with engineer Buckley Miller, trying to make the most we could out of as little as possible. However, I think my favorite moment was when Dave called me during mastering about the sequence of the record. He told me he had been sleep-testing the record and that song four kept waking him up. Sleep-testing! If you know Dave, that's funny.

http://www.slugsandbugs.com

This wasn't my first Slugs and Bugs rodeo. Or should I say, "This wasn't my first flea circus?" I digress. Randall Goodgame is the mastermind behind this sprawling kid-music franchise. I hope he feels sufficiently hyped reading this. We ran into each other at the Rabbit Room and he mentioned he wanted to do this record together and that it would be a scripture record. I said, "If we're going to do a scripture record--and I sincerely want to because it's what the world needs--we cannot let it be anything but uncompromisingly amazing." He held me to my word. We worked hard and then we worked harder. I'm proud of Randall and proud of what we did here. Check out slugsandbugs.com to hear the story of how the African Children's Choir came to be involved in this project. It was pretty amazing to experience that beautiful group of kids.

At the end of the record I told Randall that he was like a prophet sent from God to me bearing this message: "Christ is with me and Christ is all." He truly lives this out and I'm honored to know him.

Favorite memory: High-fiving every time we found a fun, singable hook. My hand was beet-red some days.

http://son-of-laughter.com

SOL is among the most gifted lyricists I have met. He is a vision-first, blood-sweat-and-tears second kind of writer, meticulous as the day is long. We started this album years ago and it only took us so long to finish it because he wrestled every word on this record and would not let them go until they blessed him.

Favorite memory: writing some very involved string arrangements together. I do a lot of arranging on my own, but I much prefer being spurred on by somebody with great ideas. 

http://dannyoertli.com

We should all aspire to be Danny Oertli. Okay, given what I've learned over the years about the Holy Spirit and individual calling, I retract that statement. But I don't retract it toooo far. Danny possesses a humility of spirit I would gladly steal from him (and boast about). Google a fruit of the spirit and his picture pops up. So I like being around him and will make records with him as long as he'll let me. This one was a delight.

Favorite memory: watching Danny's sheer delight the day we tracked drums and bass with Will Sayles and Tony Lucido at Buckley Miller's place.

http://www.jjheller.com

JJ and Dave. Dave and JJ. I am glad they are in the world. JJ was born on the planet Sing, but she is the delightful opposite of the classic diva. Dave is the thoughtful, fastidious husband-manager, but without the small man complex. Together, they're a joy to be around. For Loved we got to add Cason Cooley to the mix (he and I co-produced). It was just too much easy-going in one room! I didn't want it to end. If When I'm With You was the "Isn't marriage with kids fun?!" album this was the, "Well, actually, sometimes being a grown up is kind of hard" album. But of course, JJ and Dave approach the subject with empathy and grace.

Favorite memory: the Hellers took the entire team, including my wife, out to Marché, my favorite French restaurant in East Nashville and we had a really lovely evening. Does that count as part of the record?

http://www.ijm.org

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems - police, courts and laws - effectively protect the poor.

This was without a doubt the most remarkable project I've been a part of. Nobody involved in this record--not the artists, labels, musicians, producers, mixers, mastering engineers, or retailers--made a dime off of this project. Every dime went to freeing the slave and defending the widow. And every person that I came in contact with worked at it with their whole heart, as if serving God and not man. We kept the tracking musicians till 3 am one night and I didn't see a single soul look at his watch one time. It was a beautiful experience and I'll be forever grateful to Brown Bannister for letting me in on it.

Favorite memory: I was excited to work with Matt Maher on this record. I'm a big fan of his work. The artists on this record were giving their time for free and to us, that was more than enough. This was a christmas record, so we were relieved that all the artists had to do to prepare was pick a carol and show up. But Matt showed up having written a beautiful chorus for Holy Holy Holy! He was adamant that neither he nor his publisher would make a dime in royalties. And when he played it for us, there was a wonderful electricity among the players. This was beautiful music for a beautiful cause and it brought us together.
 

http://jeremycamp.com

I am so glad I got to know Jeremy through the making of this album. This was the first time Brown Bannister and I ever officially collaborated on a record (the first unofficial time was when he helped produce Matt Wertz's vocals with me on Snowglobe). Brown and Jeremy knew each other, but when Brown brought me in I was a complete stranger to Jeremy. It is always amazing to me when an artist who has no reason to trust me trusts me anyway. Jeremy did that. But beyond the ease of our collaboration, I was amazed at Jeremy's character. Here is a man who does not take himself too seriously but takes God very seriously. He wants to do ministry in the world. That's it. Everything else is secondary. Also, he's like a little kid when he gets excited about something, and that's contagious.

Favorite memory: when Jeremy and his manager Matt Baum played the pencil-break game in the control room. They were acting like 10-year-old boys and it struck me that this is how people should act but they've forgotten how.

www.andrew-peterson.com
www.rabbitroom.com

What can I say about this album? It's my favorite AP record for a number of reasons. The song craft here is a cut above his already excellent body of work. The sonic landscape is more developed (maybe by far) than on any of his previous albums. The scope of the album is enormous. He channels all the people I want to hear him channel: Bon Iver, Josh Ritter, Tom Petty. It was certainly a joyful record for me to make. Cason Cooley and I did this one together. I remember Andrew smoking his pipe a lot and sitting behind Cason and I, his body language and demeanor saying, "Knock yourselves out! Make it great!" We were inspired by the songs and by his ambitious vision for the sound of the album.

Favorite memory: We designated a spot behind Cason's studio as our outhouse (#1 only) and we killed every living thing in that area over the course of the record. Also, I remember Will Franklin Chapman beating the snot out of the drums on Come Back Soon. Speaking of that song, the first time AP played it for me was at an SCC show and I think I'll always remember that.

Jon sent me a few demos and I really connected with the understatement of his songs and vocals. He reminded me (he's sick of me saying this) of Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) and I reached out to him to make this record. He's still got a lot of music-making ahead of him but he's off to a great start.

I made this record at the tail-end of a prolonged obsession (I mean OBSESSION) with The Beach Boys' lost-and-found masterpiece, Smile. Smile was an extremely dense piece of music with a make-your-head-spin concept, recorded in tiny pieces like a jigsaw puzzle to be assembled later; the pressure of finishing it arguably drove Brian Wilson crazy. I was captivated not only by the music, but Brian's unique tragedy of art. I wanted The Cymbal Crashing Clouds to be dense and ambitious. I didn't mean for it to be tragic.

My concept was far simpler than Smile's. I could sum it up in a word: parables. I've always been fascinated by Jesus' employment of parables. Why would he want people to "be ever hearing, never understanding?" Did he not want them to believe? Or was it that the kind of faith he wanted from his followers was too precious to be easily attained. Indiana Jones finds the grail in the temple, protected by all manner of booby traps--it must be incredibly valuable! 

So I opened my mouth in parables. I hid my meaning under metaphor. It took me four years to write 35 minutes worth of music. I recorded at night and on the road. I wrote a fully-illustrated book of essays about the songs. I may never do it again, but I DID IT.