It’s important for you to know that I didn’t plan any of this. I didn’t grow up dreaming of the day I would write music for the Church or perform my religious songs all over the world. In fact, it didn’t even cross my mind…
I just wanted to be a rock star.
When I was a kid, music was life. I bet you can relate to that. I remember lying in bed late at night listening to the radio and recording my favorite songs on my cassette tapes. We would constantly listen to music. Yanni, Enya, Stephen Sondheim, Billy Joel, John Mayer, and Jason Mraz were the soundtrack to my childhood. I’m sure you’ve listened to some of those artists too. I imagined myself on stage in front of millions of people banging on the piano and singing songs from my “Greatest Hits” album. I couldn’t wait for the day when all my music dreams would come true.
You know those moments that change your life forever? I’m sure you’ve had a few of those yourself. Well, one of those moments happened to me right after high school. I was driving my old Saturn S-Series home one night, and I started scrolling through the radio stations. You know those stations at the bottom of the FM dial? I stopped on one of those. It was catchy. As I kept listening, I realized it wasn’t a normal pop song – they were singing about God. I knew about EFY music, but this was the first time I was introduced to Christian music. I pressed and held one of my preset buttons, so I could come back to it later.
I began to listen to that radio station more and more, and something happened. I began to change. I felt the Spirit even stronger than before. It made me feel good, and it made life more fun. I wasn’t listening to pop music very much anymore, and I noticed a difference in what I thought about and the way I acted. I was treating everyone with more love. I felt closer to my family and to God.
You understand what I’m talking about. I know you’ve listened to some good Christian music and felt an increase of the Spirit in your life. When you listen to this music you just can’t help but smile. I bet you’re smiling right now just thinking about it.
When I came back from my mission in Mexico City I still wanted to pursue music and be a recording artist. I had no intention of writing LDS music. Actually, as I was driving to BYU in my ’93 Accord to start my first semester in 2009, I promised myself I would never write that kind of music. Maybe I thought that I would get sucked into the LDS music scene in Utah. The funny thing, is that’s exactly what happened…
While I was at BYU studying music, I had to get an internship, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Some of my music friends were doing an internship with the Church, and since I had no other plans I thought I would check it out. Long story short, I got the internship, and that internship turned into a part time job, then I became a contractor and oversaw the annual youth albums, and I was hired full time in 2016. And then I started releasing my own Christian albums.
I have written more than 100 songs for EFY and the Mutual Albums. That’s a lot of songs. Not to mention all the other songs that didn’t make it on the albums.
My life went in a totally different direction than what I expected.
I’m sure you’ve been there. I’m sure you had a plan when you were younger, and that plan was probably turned completely upside down. You know who else has a plan? God. He has an even better plan. He has things planned for us that we can’t even imagine. And the best thing we can do is put it all in His hands and let Him work His magic. That’s what He’s doing with me, and I’m so grateful because I get to create music like the music I first heard in my old beat up Saturn when I was 18 years old. Music that helps people. Music that inspires others to follow Christ.
And it’s you, the listener, that makes this all possible. As long as you’re listening, I’ll keep writing. I want to thank you for your support, because I couldn’t do this without you.
If you would like to hear the most recent milestone of my journey, click here to listen to my most recent album, Just How I Am.
Wow! Amei a história. Me sinto identificado