Recommending music to someone is a perilous task. There is
so much preference when it comes to what we like, that we can be utterly
baffled when someone does not love what we love. That said, time seems to sift
out those songs that are objectively good. They stick around for more than a
few years. I think time will prove the songs of Image of God by Christa Wells and Nicole Witt to be in
this camp.
Well, I’ve carried
this a long time
In a well-hidden
bundle on my back
But I’ve realized forgiveness
is weightless
So I’ll leave my
burden on the tracks
How happy I was when Christa and Nicolle released their
new EP Image of God at the start of the year. The album is full of rich lyrical content so perfectly carried along by creative and layered melodies and I think Christa has taken the depth of meaning in her songs to a new level in this work. It has been getting so much airplay in my world that I asked Christa if I
could interview her about the album she co-wrote with her good friend,
Nicole Witt. So, here are 7 questions for
Christa.
--------------------------
The Interview:
Christa, thanks so
much for joining us on the blog today and taking the time to answer our
questions. I wanted to start by asking where the idea for the song Image of God came from?
Nicole Witt and I were co-hosting a retreat with Canadian
writer Ann Voskamp focusing on what it means to live creatively, “In the Image
of the Maker.” We decided to write
a song for those women and that weekend.
So the song “Image of God” was born in Nicole’s living room, with ideas
emailed between us and Ann; we sent the song to the guests before the retreat,
so they could learn it and sing it all together that weekend. It was a beautiful thing, hearing those
voices sing that song together for the first time.
Your thoughtful
description and exposure of idolatry seems to indicate this is something you
have lived through. What has the Lord used to show you your idols and how has
He “left ashes in place of gold?”
That’s a huge question! ☺ Nicole
and I wrote the song together, but a portion of the lyrics had come to me years
ago when God began showing me patterns of pride in my life.
It didn’t look like pride to me at first glance – extreme
performance anxiety (aka people-pleasing) is one example. God used Andrew Murray’s book
“Humility” to begin opening my eyes.
Another day, a fresh reading of Moses coming down the mountain to find
God’s people worshiping a golden calf impacted me, because I saw that maybe
what we most often erect in God’s place is simply Self, our own images, wants,
agendas. My insecurity and fear
was rooted in pride, self-preservation and ego. In essence, I was self-focused and didn’t want anyone to
ever see my flaws – or even, see me as flawed. This affected my ability to share music, my ability to be
free and other-centered in relationships, and ultimately my experience of joy
in Christ.
He gave me eyes to see through reading, conversations,
sermons, counseling. The tearing
down of those idols, repentance and renovation have been a long, slow process,
and he’s used many situations, people, and circumstances. He has allowed me to “fail” and then
used those very moments to bless others more than the moments when I thought I
was doing it all right. His beauty really shines through weakness.
Really, it will always be a temptation to resurrect the
idols we are most drawn to. But
there is a great, big beautiful freedom and joy that has gradually come into my
life because of His work in this area.
When was the “dawn of
grace” in your life? How did the Lord save you?
When we talk about (as in the lyric) the “sweetest day my
heart has known,” I don’t have a specific day to refer back to, because I don’t
recall not understanding that I was loved and saved by God through Jesus
Christ. It seems like He was
always there. I remember asking to
be baptized when I was seven, so I suppose that’s when I felt a fresh awareness
of that relationship.
But having said that, this song (which Nicole Witt and I
wrote with Tony Wood) also points to the daily saving that He does – rescuing
me from my persistent drive to try to earn His love, rather than receiving a
Love I can’t possibly deserve. It goes back to the pride/idol
conversation. We want to think
we’re worth it because we’re good enough. But we can’t keep the Law, and grace
dawns on me every time my eyes return to the face of the One who did it for us.
What comes first for
you, melody or lyric? Or are they born together? Or does one drive the other?
I typically write lyrics and music in tandem, although I
need at least a solid scrap of lyric to kick off the whole process. After the start, each line of lyric and
melody affect the shaping of the next.
Where does
songwriting fit into the life of a busy wife and mother?
I really want to be fully present when I’m with my family,
and it’s a challenge once wheels start turning on a new song. Or when opportunities to share or
record come along. Just making
time to get to the piano is difficult, and comes and goes in seasons. During some seasons, I carve out
specific chunks of time into my routine, and my husband is awesome about
that. During other seasons, I fit
it in in random pieces, slipping into the piano room on breaks from other activities. God has been so very gracious to allow
impactful music to come from a relatively small amount of writing.
If pressed, what is
your favorite song out of all the ones you have written and released? Why?
Oh, that’s so hard!
I might have a special one from each project: “Garden Gate” from my
first project (A Rogers/Wells Project: so much to tell you), “A Thousand
Things” from Frame the Clouds, and “How Emptiness Sings” from the recent EP.
I’m a sucker for ballads and really find pleasure in singing
them, but more than that I enjoy the phrasing, word choices, and melody lines
in these certain songs. I’ve never
really tired of them.
How did you and
Nicole Witt end up working together on the Image of God EP? Where did the idea
for the album come from?
Well, Nicole and I work together on so much, it was natural
after writing “Image of God” for us to write a few more and record them. We do a lot of our performing together
and are often asked to lead at least a few songs of worship.
Neither of us has really written for corporate worship
before. I really hadn’t felt the
desire to do so before now. We
felt it was something we could do together with integrity. It was very meaningful to both of us to
pour simple music over these profound spiritual concepts and create something
that we hoped would lead others to deeper reflection and prayer.
Well, sister, thank
you for taking the time to let us into your world a little. It has been a joy!
--------------------
The Contest:
Conclusion and
CONTEST! (Win a copy of Image of God!)
And for those of you reading at home, you can download
Image
of God from
iTunes or
Christa’s online store. Or, you can try and
win yourself
a free copy of the CD! Here is how
it will work. Leave a comment here on my blog and on Friday I will pick the two
I like best and, courtesy of Christa, send you a copy of
Image of God. Tell me
why you think I should send you a copy, or what you have loved about Christa’s
music, or something original. I will announce the winners in another post.
You can also
download two songs from Christa's album,
How Emptiness Sings, from Noisetrade.
