“It is really a collection of songs paying homage to
several of the great Christian thinkers of our time,” she explains.
Though some of the words may be centuries old – she uses the writings of
St. Augustine and St. Catherine of Siena among others -- Sarah gives
them a contemporary boost with her own sound, but also one which can be
easily done in a worship setting.
“Songs like ‘You
Are The Lord,’ ‘Come True Light’ and ‘Renew’ were pretty specifically
geared toward worship,” says Sarah. “’Come True Light’ is a favorite
because the lyric is stunning, thanks to St. Symeon, the New Theologian,
and because it so beautifully works for just about anything.”
So, it not
surprising that another song that Sarah is particularly close to is
“Restless.” “My life is so all over the place, upside down, and time is
so frequently not my own,” she explains. “I struggle, as I know so many
of us do, with juggling work, family, faith, and keeping all the balls
up in the air. So those lyrics really6 resonated with me...my restless
heart, my restless spirit, my restless life and schedule; and my
inability to rest until I learn to rest in the
Lord. Still...perpetually...working on that one." Then, Sarah adds,
“plus, musically it’s my favorite.”
Sarah worked
with contemporary writers, also, in bringing the album along. “Rapport
with writers of like mind is extremely important, especially on a
project like this where the ideas and concepts are of a weighty
spiritual nature,” Sarah says. “Dwight Liles and Marc Byrd are both
brilliant and can talk me under the table on theology any day.”
Sarah credits her producer, Jeff Thomas, and mixer Richard
Dodd and others, for the spectacular sound of the new album. “I am
actually half the vocalist in reality Jeff helps me to be in recording,”
she claims.
“These guys [including the musicians]
are so ridiculously talented. We’ve been friends for so long I feel
comfortable telling them what I like and what I don’t in the studio,”
Sarah says. “An artist really needs to be able to do that.”
The most important contributors, though, Sarah says, are
“my hubby and kids. Family always seems to be left out of the image
people have of an artist, which is maddening; I know without a doubt
that their contributions and sacrifices are the most meaningful of all."
Though Sarah is very giving when it comes to credit, there
is no question that she maintains artistic control -- one of the
reasons, she says, that she is loyal to her label, Spirit and Song.
“They are so amazingly gracious about letting the artist BE the artist,
and that is such a rarity,” she says. “They are attuned to the fact that
artists have their own style, and they encourage us on that path
without putting boulders in the way.”
With so much
talent, and centuries of contributors, it’s no wonder that the album
seems blessed. “There is so much great writing out there covering 2000
years of Christian history that has been lost,” says Sarah. “I just
wanted to bring a little of it back.”
--
Julie Carr and Nate Lee
