I am so very fortunate to be a part of a church full of remarkably talented creatives, including musicians. My church put out its first album in November 2021 and we will be releasing our sophomore album later this spring. I have been established as a songwriter at my church for a while now and I have been heavily involved in the writing process for the songs we will be putting on an album. Throughout November into the first week of the year, I helped create workshopped recordings (demos) for the songs. It was an incredibly fun time collaborating and learning to really trust my coworkers in the process.
Toward the end of last year, I approached the powers that be about my desire to play a larger role in the album creation process, and that landed me a spot on the Album Strategy Team. Since I have become a part of that team/panel, I have been at auditions for staff and non-staff members for the songs.
One of the songs I contributed, “Presence,” which is/started as a ballad I wrote back in April of 2019, was auditioned by a total of six vocalists other than myself. This was insanely flattering and honestly, surreal. When I wrote the original version of “Presence,” I was 26, and definitely never thought the song would go anywhere. My pastor at my previous church, where I worked at the time the song was written, passed on the song being used for a Sunday service. It’s become evident that people have connected to the song and enjoy it. I always wanted to write meaningful, moving songs, and perhaps this is meaningful and moving to them. The intention for our second album is to incorporate these songs into Sunday mornings, so it won’t be long before several additional people are going to be singing lyrics I wrote in the office at my old church. Blows my mind.
As I type this, the Album Strategy Team has made a portion of the final decisions about who will do what on the project. It’s been an exciting conversation to be a part of. I obviously can’t share anything anywhere to anyone just yet, but it won’t be long until the album is released into the world, all polished up and sparkly. That will be a great day.
SARAH HARPER 