Maverick City Music's Joe L. Barnes

 Maverick City Music's Joe L. Barnes talks being in a group and branching out to be a solo artist, upcoming music, and more

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
What's up, guys, used togirl Alexandria Ikamoni in the studio iHeartRadio with
the one and only Joe L.Bars. How are you doing today?
I'm good, I'm good. Howare you doing? I'm doing well.
We were just talking about this andI want to get this on air,
the whole the whole name and spacingout the L in your first name.
Yeah, what happened? And whydid you decided to sink that? By

(00:20):
the way, I mean, well, back back then, like I didn't
want to be called Joel because it'sactually just j L E L. But
like Facebook wouldn't let me put likea dash, so I had to like
space it j oh E space Lspace Barns. And then I was I
used to work with a guy namedEddie James, and when we would be
on his albums, he decided totake the way it was on my Facebook
and put it on the featuring parton the albums. So it just kind

(00:42):
of stuck from there. I'm like, well, I can't go back now,
so it's just Joe L. Barnchjust kind of like stuck that way,
and I was like, I'm justgonna leave it so that way,
anybody can find me in future reference. So yeah, yeah, very easy
to find. My name is actuallyElijah, it's not even the L doesn't
stand for anything else. You neverwanted to put the E in there somewhere
going on. I get it,I get it. But we love the
name. We love the music.And for those who do not know,

(01:06):
you are a Grammy winning singer andsongwriter doing amazing things as a solo artist.
But in the past you were attachedto Maverick City Music. So excited
As a Christian myself, I'm reallyexcited to do this interview. But I
love me some good music. I'mso excited to have you in the studio.
Okay, you're from Kentucky, Wannaraised. Yeah, but you are

(01:26):
you know Atlanta? Can we callyou a local? Now? I'm you're
gonna claim it. I am.I live in Atlanta now, well specifically
Covington. I'm in Atlantic. Yeahhthe Mats. I love it. So
how do you like, you know, being here in Atlanta? Any favorite
spots and all the good stuff?Oh? Yeah, I love Atlanta like
I have my like I have likea list on my phone of like all

(01:47):
of the different restaurants and places thatI go It's like all ang list of
things. That's my life too.I have my favorite little food spots,
tourmanlicks as a as a classic.Yeah, Calvins with Ris actually put me
on a port. Know, Iprefer JJ's over Jil Crickets. I know
some people think that, you know, but yes, JJ is definitely for
me. Extra powder, by theway, absolutely, you gotta have the

(02:08):
extra powder, you know what Imean. Like, there's a couple of
like low key spots that I goto, painted pins stuff like that,
Like I prefer Bolero because it's verylow key and duck off. You won't
be able to find unless you knowit. That's true. This little stuff
like that. LENNX station is great. Like I personally like Atlanta a lot.
Yeah, it's my little area.But I'm a I'm a country boy,
like from Kentucky, so out skirtsand covetings where it's peaceful, it's

(02:30):
quiet. But I can get tothe city if I need to. I'm
not a city boy. I can'tbusy. It's busy. They people turned
up on a Tuesday out here,and I'm like, ya, don't y'all't
want to peace and quiet? Buton a Tuesday and I have a good
time. Yes, but you gotto make reservations on a Tuesday. That's
a whole other thing, you knowwhat I mean. So, but no,
I love Atlanta, Yeah, Atlantais a good spot. We do

(02:52):
love Atlanta. Of course. Atlantahas a lot of great Christian artists coming
out of here. Now, Iwant people to know you are the voice
by kind of hits like one ofmy favorites promises million little Miracles never lost.
I mean, your list goes onand now you are really focusing on
your own work and putting out thegreat stuff. So first, how does

(03:14):
it feel to be now more sosolo than in a group and working with
other people to create music. It'sI want to say bittersweet, but it's
not a bittersweet. It is sortof bittersweet, like it's it's beautiful and
it's terrifying. It's beautifully terrifying.I'll say that because I was staying earlier.

(03:34):
Like a lot of times in myhistory, it's been collaborative work.
It was either me and Eddie's andEddie's like stuff, or me and the
mav or me in elevation me elevationrhythm and as holding like. It was
always me like standing next to incrediblepeople, and now I feel like very
exposed because I'm a very in theshadows kind of person. I'm a very
like you know what I mean,But I have to like stand in the
forefront. And it's kind of likea little unnerving for me a little bit

(03:58):
because I'm an introvert by like Ikind of like shy away, but like
now I'm kind of like not exposed, but exposed because it all lands the
way it's supposed to land. Andthere's this duality that you have to have
as an artist and a songwriter thatI have to protect my heart from feeling
hurt if people don't love the music, but also I need you to love
the music, and I need likethe music to like have its weight or

(04:20):
like do what it's supposed to do. So it's like this interesting space to
be in, but it's it's beautifullyterrifying, yes, yes, I mean
in that midst of the beauty beterrifying moments. And you put out some
great stuff, including Alter, yourmost recent hits. Tell me more about
that song and why did you feellike it was necessary to put out a

(04:40):
song like that, Because as akid, I hated Alter calls and be
honest like that one section in church, it always felt like this really heavy
walk of shame. It felt likeI was putting all my dysfunctions, even
like unspoken disfunctions or shortcomings or whatever, on display. I remember just the
feeling of like all eyes are onme, and that as I'm walking to
the altar, or anybody that comesnew to the church that walks the altars,

(05:02):
like you can feel the tension,and I'm like, I hate this.
And then one day after like spendingtime like the four years I'd stayed
with Eddie's ministry, I learned howto like actually dissect the Bible and actually
how to spend time with God inthe word. God started speaking to me
and saying, like, why don'tyou go to the first time an alters
mentioned in scripture and get the contextof the original construct and it's found in

(05:23):
Genesis eight. I believe no stepsoff the arc. He builds an altar
to the Lord the first time it'sever mentioned the scripture, and it's a
place of memories. It's a memorial. He's like, God, every time
I remember where you brought me andmy family from, how you delivered us,
how you brought us out. I'mgoing to come to this designated spot
and I'm going to meet with you. So it was a place of meeting
with the Lord for gratitude and thanksgivingand prosperity. Later on in the levitical

(05:44):
priestood, was it for the cleansingand the purification and all the things like.
But the original construct was meeting withthe Lord. Then you look all
the way through the Levitical order,all the way through the New Testament,
and then there's a veilist in thetemple. It's separated with like God and
man, like the the Altar's HolyMan is not. And it's interesting that
in the Crucifixion it talks about thetemple and how the veil is torn from

(06:08):
top to bottom. And then theologiansagree that that was the signal that God
was saying that there's no longer separationbetween God and man because of the finished
work of the Cross, because ofwhat Jesus did, you are now made
the righteous of God and through ChristJesus through his blood. Right. So
then I'm like, okay, now, instead of trying to run from this
God that we've been taught to beafraid of, we can now run to
him, and anywhere that we are, He'll meet with us. You know

(06:29):
what I'm saying That anywhere it cannow be reconciled into the original order.
You can now turn your bedroom intoyour altar, your living room into your
sanctuary, your dining room table.God can meet you. You're staring with
in your car, God can meetyou. And I'm like, I need
people to understand, like there's nowherein this world that God won't travel to
meet with you. He's not thedistant, dictating tyrant we believed him to
be. He's actually the very present, gentle kind and loving father that we've

(06:53):
never been taught that he is.You know what I'm saying. So I
think it's necessary to get this messageinto the hearts of the people, because
preaching that is dangerous, but singingthat somehow bypasses the dangers of actually preaching
that message anyway. So it reallydoes really resonate with a lot of people
for them to know it's okay,like, don't feel any type of way
for you know, having that meetingwith God, no matter where it is.

(07:15):
It's a beautiful message that you aresetting out to people. How different
the world would look if Adam wouldhave ran to God instead of hiding from
him. But anyway, that's aword. Though it's a word, I
love it and speaking a word.The album, the album. We're here
to talk about this new album,running to God really just having those beautiful
moments with him. Heard some ofthe songs here, But tell me more
about this album and the message you'retrying to get across. Man. Listen,

(07:40):
I think the album The Good Shepherdis speaking of alters. Is it's
an altar to like meet with theLord and allow him to reintroduce himself,
because I think it's I didn't knowthis notice this until later. This album
was crafted for the people like usin positions of pouring and giving, positions

(08:01):
of authority, the pisions of leadingthe big cea church, or leading moments
of worship, or leading people likethrough the like the wings and waves of
life. A lot of times we'renot really poured into. We're so like
positioned always shoulder the load. Alot of times we don't have anywhere to
lean. And I realized this albumis crafted for us because sometimes in that

(08:24):
we can become numb. Like Iwon't go into a whole summon right now,
but one of my pastors when ourapostles preached the message about naming and
about how he was very decorated.He was loved by so many people,
but no one would trade skins withhim because underneath the armor, underneath the
metal, underneath all the accolades andaccomplishments, his skin was numb and like

(08:45):
he had leprosy. And he talksabout how leprosy is not the deterioration of
skin. It's the numbing of theskin and puss and stuff comes out,
and by picking it it becomes infected, and the infection is what kills people.
But it's the numbness that's where itstarts. He's like a lot of
people are numb. They're very decorated, they're very well known, they're leading
the charge, they're carrying things,but internally, underneath all the armors and

(09:07):
accolades, the awards, whatever,they're dealing with spiritual leprosy. And I
just feel like for a lot ofus that show thelone we're dealing with the
numbers, or we're dealing with whateveris going on. We don't have anywhere
to lean when we're dealing with depression. We have nowhere to go when we're
dealing with anxiety or low thoughts,like I'm seeing it amongst my peers and
my loved ones, and I'm like, God, I need you to be

(09:28):
the good shepherd that you've always been. I need you to annoy our heads
with oil, like I need youto like give us a space to come
and lean on you and find safe, safety and refuge. So I realized
this album is geared towards one thebig c church, but mostly the pastors,
the worship leaders, the people thatare behind mics and behind cameras and
behind like leading the charge. Likethat's what this album is like, geared

(09:50):
towards anyway. I hope that answersthe question as it does. It definitely
does so very helpful. People aregoing to really gravitate to this because the
music is just so good, sowe are thankful for that. And speaking
of this music and the album themessage, I do want to ask,
though, collaboration wise, who likewould you say it would be your favorite
collaboration if you can pick one?Or really difficult the people what they want

(10:11):
or the message. I know it'shard, but give me something about the
some great people on this album.Incredible people on this Roosevelt Stewart is one
of my favorite people and humans onthe planet right now. He's an incredible
word the songwriter love Leading a rowLove Leading with Aaron Moses and Aaron Cole,
two different errands. And then MaryanneGeorge is an incredible sister. I

(10:31):
love her like he bodied Wind ofLove Man like It's just it was a
really, really amazing album. Butthen I really tell people I have the
musicians like that I didn't deserve,like the infinity gaunt little musicians, because
every one of them are not onlyincredible musicians, but they're priests on their
instrument And I'm like, this wholerecording, this whole album is really special

(10:52):
because of the friends and that helpedme write it and the friends that helped
me create it. Like it's reallyreally special. So I can't say that
I have a favorite. That's fairfavorite. Yeah, all good ones be
love it. You're talking about thewriting and the creativity. Tell me more
about the work and the process,if you will. It took to really
create this particular album, How wasthat like for you? How long did

(11:13):
it take? All the good stuff? It took? It took, it
took a second. Not really superlong, but like once I started like
spiraling with the Lord on like theconcept and like what I wanted to sing
about. It took a couple ofphone calls and we all gathered in a
house in Nashville and we just createdwhat we felt that was honest and true.

(11:35):
And I think it took maybe aweek to like start the like really
like putting everything down. And afterthat we're just tweaking lyrics and finding out
what's what. And I remember beingwith my sister. My sister lives in
London. I was my sister's couchand I called I'm manager Taiwana. We're
on the phone with him, mypastor, and we're trying to tweak the
lyrics of Alter and we're just liketrying to make things make sense. And

(11:56):
before I knew it, man,the recording was there and we went for
broke. But the process was reallyreally beautiful, Like it's yeah, anyway,
it's a special one. It isa really special one. And I
hate that because it sounds so clicheand everybody's like this, it really does.
Yeah, I'll say this. Iremember that we were there for the
week of the recording and the recordingwas two was a day. I think

(12:20):
it was just one day of recording, but we literally had a week of
rehearsals. I remember getting up thenext day after the recording and I'm sitting
there in my in my hotel room, and I'm grieving because I'm like,
I don't get to go back tothat room anymore, Like I have to
leave that room behind. And I'mlike, what happened in that room was
so significant. It shifted something inme, and I'm like, I hate
that I don't get to go backthere anymore, Like I have to leave

(12:43):
and like maybe come back for somethingelse, But like this one was it
really changed to get me. Ifelt a shift in my heart. But
anyway, no, I love itand I love hearing you talk about it
because you really can hear and seethe passion behind this body of work.
So if I could ask, yes, favorites off of the album, only
one, I need one. Ineed one, and you gotta tell me

(13:05):
why to man, Okay, it'sgonna sound so cliche. It's okay,
we love it so cliche. Butlike I think right now, my favorite
song is the title track of TheGood Shepherd because I feel like it's the
twenty third song written in our ownlike language per se. Yeah, but

(13:26):
also it's we had to split itinto like three different tracks because I wanted
to leave room for people to likesit in the revelation. Yeah. I
think a lot of times we dolive recordings and we record what happened in
the room, but then we skipa lot of it, and I'm like,
no, we have to leave somuch space for people to like sit

(13:50):
in this. I don't want thisto be rush passing then you're on to
the next song. I want fromthe story that we tell to the actual
record, to the moments and encounterthat happens, let people experience what happened
in the room in their household.Like I think, like we rush past
moments sometimes and I don't want thatto be rushed fast. So I think
Good Shepherd right Now is my favoritebecause of that, like we there's space

(14:13):
and womb for you to like allowthe revelation of like God being the Good
Shepherd to wash over you. Ifyou're listening to your car or if you're
listening in your house or whatever,like you get to sit with him in
it instead of just like moving onto the next song. Because it's an
album and it's a body of work. Like no, no, no,
no, no, take time andlike let that thing resonate and sit and

(14:33):
rest and let it get because whenever, don't we don't really know the context.
We think whenever, like David saidthat annoy, it's my head with
oil. We think it's just alittle couple drops of oil because that's what
we heard in the church. Butlike, no, when they were pouring
oil and Samuel anointed David, theypoured the oil into his entire body was
covered. You know what I'm saying. It's not just a couple drops.
And then you move on like no, that thing soaked into the skin,

(14:54):
and it's soaked into the clothes,like like the clothes are ruined after that
because it's the oi. You willnever get that oil out, And think
like allowing the oil to be pouredover us in this specific record and let
it like marinate like neckball juice.Just let it. I love it.
And it's funny because typically those songswhere you can really just stay in a
space of praise and worship and likehad in that moment with God, they're

(15:16):
typically like the longest song. Sohow long is this particular song? I
just want to know. I'm curiousthe song. I'm gonna be honest.
We sat in that song for probablyforty five minutes, but we we shortened
it a little bit, so Ithink it's somewhere between fifteen minutes all three
together. That's twenty minutes all threetogether, like the story to the song
to a reprise. I think that'sall around twenty thirty minute space. Yeah,

(15:39):
I think I don't even know.It's it's an interesting, it's great
special. Yes, yes, Ihonestly personally love those songs to really stay
in the moment. So I thinkit's fantastic and it's great. So we
love that. Okay, So nowwe're talking about your album. This is
your first album coming out before you'veworked with other people, including Maverick City,
So do you want to talk aboutthat just a little bit. One

(16:02):
question, why did you decide toleave Maverick City. What was the situation?
Like there were just one of thedifferent things. I think, like
I felt God calling me away tolike be more intentional with my family,
more intentional of my relationships. Becausewe did the first tour, so first
of all, I snuck in amath. I was not invited every like
that into a group well, becauseback then the the writing camps were invited

(16:23):
only, so I think my friendat the time, Dante, had a
invite, so I snuck in withhim and it was sixty people that would
back and forth between three days,so no one knew I wasn't supposed to
be there. Nobody didn't. Nobodyknew. So my second day we write
promises and then we record that Januaryof twenty twenty. It comes out April
of twenty twenty, and after thatit just kind of like spread like a

(16:45):
wildfire to kind of like solidify myplace, even if I wasn't supposed to
be there originally. But then wedid the first tour in twenty one,
and after that tour, I noticedthat my relationships were starting to like like
crack and crumble a little bit becauseI get tunnel vision when I'm working.
So I was still learning how tobe better in my relationships, which is
the reason the entire reason I movedto come into in the first place,
to be closer to my mentor.I'm like, I need someone to teach

(17:07):
me how to be successful in myrelationships because I don't want to be successful
my career and it cost me myrelationships. I've seen that happen with Quincy
Jones, he was married and divorcedfour times because he was successful his career
but not in his relationships. I'veseen it having with Billy Graham, successful
in his career but didn't recognize hisown daughter and when he would come home
because he was gone that long.It's like, I don't want to be
successful in one area and failing theother. So when I started noticing that,

(17:30):
I called my pastor, I calleda few mentors of mind. I'm
like, I think I'm going togo home. I need to focus on
the relationships that are around me.I need to make sure that the foundations
are laid properly. I need tomake sure that I know what I'm doing,
because one day I'm going to bea husband. One day I'm going
to be a father. I don'twant them to know me as a man
on the stage when I'm like,I want them to know me as husband
and father in the household. SoI decided, like I'm going to take
a break. I'm going to stepaway. I'm gonna let you guys go

(17:52):
ahead and do what you're gonna do, and then I'm going to go and
be more president in my relationships.So that's why I decided to transition.
Yeah, and speaking of those relationships, it a blossom. Are we a
husband yet? Are we're not ahusband yet? Okay, not a father
yet. We're on our way.We'll make we'll make it makes sense.
Like my mentors are really on mycase about making sure that I'm in the
right setup. So yeah, we'reon my way almost there. I love

(18:12):
it. I love it one.Okay, So now you're talking about,
you know, separating doing your ownthing here, how would you say the
creative process is different from you workingby yourself versus working with the group.
Even though you said you had tunnelvision, I'm sure, of course your
input is pretty much the only inputthat truly matters. I mean, of
course you have like labels and whatnot, But you know, it's a whole

(18:33):
different process in my opinion. Sohow was that like for you? And
how do do you feel like it'sa better process. No, it's the
same process. It's like you,like, I think the process when I
was with MAV, when I waswith Eddie's process would now it's the same
thing. I invite my friends likeI call my friends up because they're incredible
song where as incredible musicians. SoI'm like, hey, I'm creating a
project. Can you find some timein your schedule. I'm trying to come
to Nasville and do this and dothis and do this. And they're like,

(18:55):
oh, let me know, letme know what you need. Because
like I think when you what Iwill say that I like, God is
a good grace for me. Islike I'm very good at trying to like
handle relationships well and I try tobe genuine and authentic and honest and loving
and invitational. So that shows whenit comes to my people. So when
I call certain people are like hey, I'm doing this. They're like you

(19:17):
let me know what you need,and I'm there. Because when people call
me, I'm like you let meknow what you need, and I'm there,
Like I will move things around toshow up for you, Like if
it's my people, I'm there.So because of that, it's you reap
with yourself. So I've sown likeseas of being present for people. So
when I call people, they decidedto be present for me, and I'm
like, this is incredible. SoI'm like it was the same kind of
process I call friends, they pullup, we write, we create,

(19:40):
and we make a body of art, a work and alter. They helped
me build this thing and it wasreally really a beautiful process. So same
process. I love it. Ilove it. Short answer, the same
process, No big deal. Sowhat advice would you like to give to
others who are trying to really,you know, focus on the music and
becoming successful in that, but alsoin their personal life relationships of all sorts.

(20:03):
How do you feel like is thebest way to handle that and balance
it and be successful in both ifyou will be honest in both, be
authentic in both. I think,don't try to be something in one that
you're not in the other. Ithink, I'm writing music from the places
that I'm in or the places thatI've been in, and I write the
music. I try to write themusic that I need in those seasons.
Like when we wrote Promises Me CarringtonGains, Kela Larado, her husband and

(20:26):
Will. We sat in the roomand we're like, I'm writing a song
that's going to carry me through theseason of waiting to see the promise that
God made me, because right nowthe waiting's difficult. So I need something
that's going to carry me to thenext season while the waiting is difficult,
and I'm not trying to rush thelord because I'm like, I'm not holding
you hostage to the promise you mademe, but I am saying I'm human
and waiting gets hard. So whenI'm when the waiting is hard to see

(20:48):
the promise, I'm going to singthis song to encourage myself. Like we're
just writing songs that we needed tohear, and I continue that same process
when we did the Good shipperd I'mlike, God, this is the things
that I need. I need toknow that you will travel any road to
get to me. I need toknow that you're good and there is no
dark side, Like I need tosing this over myself sometimes because sometimes in

(21:11):
my humanity I doubt it. Sometimes. I've grew up believing that you were
distant and dictating in a tyrant.I grew up believing that you hated me,
and if I did what you asked, you would hate me less like
I grew believing that you had awhite cloak. What a lightning vote readed
is at me, and that's nottrue. So I need to remind myself
every day by singing songs that remindme of your goodness, your faithfulness,
your kindness, your genuine heart towant to love me and accept me and

(21:34):
embrace me. You know what I'msaying that. I think a lot of
times we think someone said, like, does that mean that every road leads
to Jesus? And it's like,no, not necessarily, it means that
there isn't any road that Jesus won'ttravel to get to you, you know
what I'm saying. So I thinkI would say the advice would be be
honest, be genuine, even ifthat honesty is kind of blunt, even

(21:56):
if that honesty is kind of likeabrasive, Like be honest, be off
the to be genuine and be thesame person on both sides. Like what
you see is what you get withme. Like, I'm just as emotional
in my everyday life as I amin these records, because this stuff is
very real for me. I needto know that God will meet me in
my living room because I don't wantto walk down to the altar sometimes because
I'm like these people about this think, oh that boy's backsliding. He just

(22:19):
needs no no, no, nono. Sometimes I just need to get
to Jesus. You know, sothat's that would be my advice. Yeah,
I love it. Great advice thatyou know, people can really work
with and be able to take andapply to their own lives because the message
is powerful and a transcends across theboard. But just switching gears really quick.
You are also signed to r cA. I did sign an RCA.
Okay, congratulations on that. Howhas that been? How did that

(22:41):
come about? And we're the millions. I love it you snug into.
I met with a guy named RonHill at the time and told him the
vision. I'm like, look,I'm trying to release this record that I'm
working on called The Good Shepherd.I'm literally about to create this and this
and that, and I'm like,I would love to like partner together if

(23:03):
you're open. He's like, well, let me let me go talk to
some people. And then before Iknew it, I'm in the office talking
with like the great President Holly Zakaand talking to Karmen and talking to the
team, and it's been incredible.They let me be me. They let
me say the things that I needto say and be authentic and fight for
the things I need to fight for. They like really believe in me.
They show up for me, thepresident for me. I have no complaints.

(23:26):
They are an incredible team. Theyhave put the gas behind me in
certain spaces. They've let me bemy very deep self because I will nose
dive in a second, and theylet me like do that authentically and they
don't restrain me or tell me whatI can and can't do. They're like,
what, however, you see this, you go and you chase it,
you believe it, and we're goingto back you anyway you want to
go. So I'm like, thisis incredible. So I personally love RCA

(23:48):
Providence. Yes, my people,I love it, and we're wishing you
all the best with them, especiallyyou know, taking it to New Heights
for the career. And we knowRCIA has you know why genre of talent,
so it's a great that they haveyou know, another Christian artist in
the mix. But I do wantto talk about you know, the genre
as well, because now there areso many different subgenres with you know,

(24:10):
gospel rap and then there is gospelR and B and gospel soul and gospel
country. And you also like withyour music you have you're able to explore
a little bit with especially on thisGood Shepherd album. So tell me more
about your thoughts on having all thesedifferent subgenres and how it really just pulls
people from all over in. Yeah. Absolutely. I think like for the
longest, at least from my experience, we were kind of like boxed into

(24:32):
like at least when I was comingup, I was so blind to think
that Christian music was segregated into twodifferent entities. Basically, you had gospel
and you had CCM. And theway that I looked at it, it
was the Whinings, Kirk Franklin,Fred Hammond, Israel Holten, Yolana,
Animals. It was everything gospel right, and then it was casting crowns.

(24:53):
I had no idea there was anythingdifferent. Yeah, you know what I'm
saying. I didn't know until Istarted traveling with Eddie James and I got
everything. That's when I got exposedto Hillsong and Bethel and Jesus Culture and
I Hop and all of these amazingother entities of music. And I was
like, this a whole entire world. And I think that a friend of
mine, Josh Holliday, said thatlike worship has had its golden age,

(25:14):
and I think we have to allowthe golden nature to be what it is
and what it was and appreciate it, and then the sub genres can form
and then they'll have their beautiful things. And I think it pulls more people
in because there's certain people that won'tlisten to a castle and crowns, but
they'll listen to an Aaron Cole,you know what I'm saying. Like there's
a lot of people that won't necessarilylisten to a Jesus culture, but they
will listen to a dough and theywill listen to a KB. They will

(25:37):
listen to you know what I'm saying, like even a fran Forced Frank,
Like, they will listen to allthese different vibes that don't necessarily fit the
mold of what worship was back inthe golden age of it. But the
content is still Christian. It's notthe message that's being changed. It's the
method. And I think that it'sokay for the method to change. It's
okay as long as the message isstill the same. You know what I'm

(25:59):
saying. All of us trying tolead to Jesus, all of it.
So yeah, I love it.I love it too. And you're talking
about all the other artists and justreally being able to have diversity, for
people to really gravitate to what theylove and still get that message we love
it. My favorite artist right nowthat's about to come up is Body.
Oh my God, holding on.Yes, Body's music is about to be
crazy. Aeron Cole's music is aboutto be crazy. Like, there are

(26:22):
some artists that are about to releasesome amazing Christian content. Are those some
of your favorites? Some ofing moreabout some of your favorite artists and any
subgenre? Oh, man, LikeI said, Love, Body, Love,
Aaron Cole, Love Dough, I'ma big fan of KB, Lucky
Lucky Love Hovey. Hovey's a reallysolid, solid artist that's coming up right
now. Man, it's a lotof great content. MJ. Of course

(26:45):
she's on the album and George ison the album. So incredible artists,
Aaron Moses, There's some There's somefriends of mine like Kayla Thompson and Race
that are like in the pop spaceof it. Also really really amazing artists.
So these are some of the artiststhat I listen to personally. They're
great. Definitely a great artist.So I know we're talking about you know,
more so gospel, praise and worshipsub genres in that space, but

(27:07):
the whole music industry as a whole. I love getting perspectives on just how
the music industry is right now andwhere do we see it going. There's
just a lot out there, youknow, so definitely want to know your
thoughts on like some of the mostpopular artists who are out right now and
so forth. You know. Ithink that the music industry is interesting because

(27:33):
I think that the businesses always tryto keep up with the music, you
know what I mean, So thebusiness has always been one step behind the
creativity of the music. It's likesomebody drops something creatively and then that becomes
the standard, you know what Imean. I remember when Her dropped two
EPs then put them together, putsome songs in the middle, and create
an entire outum, and that becamethe standard. That became the rollout.

(27:55):
It's like, all right, great, drop an EP, drop another EP,
put themselves. I saw so manypeople do that after that because that
became the format. And I'm like, that's not necessarily the format. It's
just that what I've learned is thatall these artists, the creatives, they
do something that's authentic and it works, and then you try to make that
the map or the layout. I'mlike, that's not how it happens.

(28:15):
The layout is authenticity, Like beauthentic and it will work. But if
you're trying to like fit the moldfrom someone else, it might not actually
work, you know what I mean. And I think that the industry is
on a very interesting, like plateauintrojectory right now. We don't really know
what's next and what's the planned,you know what I'm saying, Like,
at least for me, I thinka lot of things were starting to sound
the same for a while, andnow we're starting to see new sounds emerge

(28:40):
and come out of the like thetrenches. And I'm like, I really
like the direction that it's going,and it feels really like promising, but
we'll see, we'll see. Ithink the big artists like they're guarantees,
you know what I mean. They'regoing to create content that's authentic, and
they have a support system and agroup of people, their audience is loyal,

(29:00):
right, But these new artists,I'm like, you people don't know
it yet, but you're about totake over in a way that people don't
even under Like they're not even readyfor yet, So I don't know.
I have a lot that I cansay about the industry, but I'm gonna
reserve that because I'm get in trouble. Oh man, be like a little
bit of trouble. It's okay.I saw the smile, you had a
grin on your face. Okay,we'll keep it. We'll keep it safe,

(29:22):
no worries, no problem at all. Okay, have the album singles
doing well? What's next for youfor the rest of twenty twenty four?
Are we just focusing on life afteryou put out the album? I actually
have no idea what's next after thatalbum. I mean, I have other
like projects in my head that I'mthinking through to try to see if that'll

(29:44):
makes sense and trying to make senseof it all, but I have no
idea. Like, I'm sure we'llfigure out a tour it sometime. I'm
sure they will try to like bepresent and show up in some people's cities
and just kind of like, youknow, sing to Jesus and kind of
creating a for people to discover himas the good Shepherd. But I don't
know, I have no idea what'shappening at the Friday. Well, Friday

(30:07):
is yeah, we'll see yes,yes, yes, yes, We're excited
about it. We love it.We cannot wait for the whole world to
hear this album and it do God'swork. So super excited about the message
you have going on with that one. Once again, Alexandria Emmoni with Joe
L. Barnes. How can peoplefollow you? Oh? All my platforms
are the same. You can findme and I am Joe Underscore, l

(30:30):
all digital platforms and if you're lookingfor the music, it's on Spotify,
Music, Amazon, Google Play,at Joe Space l Space Bars, Joel.
We love it. Any Les's wordsfor the people, trust God.
That's it. That's it. Staywith the Lord, as my mom would
say, mm hmm, simple andpowerful. Yeah. Well, thank you
once again so much for coming in. We appreciate having the studio. Yes,

(30:52):
once again, Alexandra COMMONI in thestudio. iHeartRadio.