July 24, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode, host Brendan Burke sits down with Jordan Merritt, one of the rising voices in Christian music. From his roots as a worship pastor to stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist, Jordan shares the inspiring story behind his new album, “Seasons.”
They dive into the power of storytelling in music, his genre blending style, and what it’s like collaborating with People and Songs. You’ll also hear about Jordan’s experiences performing at Winter Jam, being part of the band Table, and how being recognized as “The next big thing” at the Weeble Awards confirmed his calling in music ministry.
Whether you’re a worship leader, a songwriter, or just love discovering new Christian artists, this conversation will fuel your faith and creative fire.
🔑 Key Takeaways:
• Jordan’s music reflects his faith journey and diverse influences
• ‘Seasons’ is a deeply personal and creatively rich album
• Collaboration and community are core to his songwriting
• Winter Jam was a pivotal platform in his growth
• His heart is set on honoring God through music
👇 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations that spotlight the voices shaping the sound of modern worship.
#ChristianMusic #JordanMerritt #SeasonsAlbum #WinterJam #PeopleAndSongs #ChristianPodcast #WorshipMusic #MusicMinistry #StorytellingInMusic #WeebleAwards #Songwriting
They dive into the power of storytelling in music, his genre blending style, and what it’s like collaborating with People and Songs. You’ll also hear about Jordan’s experiences performing at Winter Jam, being part of the band Table, and how being recognized as “The next big thing” at the Weeble Awards confirmed his calling in music ministry.
Whether you’re a worship leader, a songwriter, or just love discovering new Christian artists, this conversation will fuel your faith and creative fire.
🔑 Key Takeaways:
• Jordan’s music reflects his faith journey and diverse influences
• ‘Seasons’ is a deeply personal and creatively rich album
• Collaboration and community are core to his songwriting
• Winter Jam was a pivotal platform in his growth
• His heart is set on honoring God through music
👇 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations that spotlight the voices shaping the sound of modern worship.
#ChristianMusic #JordanMerritt #SeasonsAlbum #WinterJam #PeopleAndSongs #ChristianPodcast #WorshipMusic #MusicMinistry #StorytellingInMusic #WeebleAwards #Songwriting
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What up everyone, Welcome back to the Christian Music First podcast.
I'm here with the man to myth, the Legend, Jordan
Merritt today.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey, I'm Jordan Merritt. Thanks for having me. I'm excited
to be here. I'm I'm a pretty new Christian artist,
but I've been doing music for a long time. I've
been a worship pastor for years and years and years,
and yeah, just in the past few years felt like
it was time to to start singing my own songs,
(00:28):
and so I've been a writer for years and so yeah,
it's it's a new journey, but it's kind of the
same thing I've always been doing. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
You have two albums out just called Jordan Merritt Part
One and Part Two. Then we have your new album Seasons,
which we'll dive into a little bit later. So if
you haven't listened to Jordan's music, yeah, I really highly
recommend it. You can start with Part one on his
Part one and Part two album, or you can dive
into the Season album. His Season album is really unique
and there's a little different genre and like every song
I hear, like at first of when I first said
(00:58):
the first half I was thinking that was this is
like van Joy, like the Van Joy like in the
acoustic style. This sounds like a Genesis game system starting
up that it goes into like a rock.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So yeah, it's kind of been all over the place.
We we just love making music, and this was the
first record, so we were like, let's throw it all
on the wall and see what happens and see what sticks,
see what people like, but or also just what feels,
you know, natural and honest and authentic. And I'm excited
(01:29):
for the next one now that we kind of found
where we're going.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And this album really a couple of weeks ago, and
it's really exciting to see how many streams this has
gone in so far, and on top of just his
solo stuff. We're going to go back to the album
in a minute, guys, But you're also with the band Table,
who was on Winter Jam this past year, presenting the
album right here if you can see it in the background.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
But and then you have stuff with people's in songs.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So is this cool that you're divers in like different
areas in the music industry.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, No, it's it's kind of hard to stay in
one box for me. I I kind of early on,
Jenny Riddle, the head of our label, said you need
buckets because you do so many different things, and so
I do. I just I love music and I've always
seen the world that way, and so I write all
(02:15):
over the place. I don't write one style, I don't
write one genre. I was a worship pastor, so I
don't just write worship music. I kind of love it all.
So yeah, I got a lot of buckets and a
lot of different things going on, but trying to keep
them all moving.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You know, you're also with people in songs.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
That's another thing, and Jenny Riddle's a great person that
is in charge of it. Can you tell us a
about how you got started in people in the song?
Like I've had clip Press in here, I Phil King,
They've been two artists that's been with people in songs.
So how did you get started in people in songs?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Man, I've known I've kind of been a part of
people in songs since the beginning in some ways. I
met Jenny in twenty thirteen, I think, yeah, twenty thirteen,
and we just started writing songs and nothing really crazy,
and then they did the Emerging Sound album A well
before that, I had done a couple of conferences with
(03:08):
people in songs. It was Micah Tyler, Charity Gale, David Gentiles,
that whole crew, and I played drums for it. And
then a couple of years went by, they asked me
to come play drums for one of the Emerging Sound Weeks,
the records that they did, and so I did that,
(03:28):
and ever since then, I've just kind of been close
to the whole community. And about twenty twenty one, I think,
is when it was Jenny said it's time for you
to do a record, and the Lord had been telling
me the same thing, and I was like, all right,
let's do it. So that kind of kick started the
whole journey of me being an artist, you know. So
so yeah, people in songs communities, they're all all really
(03:51):
really close to my heart. Everyone who's been connected and
everyone who has come through there, they're just they're great
people and really really good friends.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
That's right setting and people as long as have a tough, whole,
talented roster full of artists. I can't touch on them
all right here because I could list them off for
like five minutes and we probably still want to scratch
the surface. Because there's people that have been there, like
you said, Michael Tyler, Charity Gale, you, Cliff, and there's
many more. So you I also went to the band table.
Is that how did you meet all the guys from
(04:20):
the and Jade, the guys in Jade from the band
table while you write people in songs?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Is that how you all met?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah? So Jinny had us all come to a writing retreat,
and all of us had kind of been coming from
different seasons of life, and we just honestly fell in
love writing. We just we we wrote. I think the
very first code write that I had that week was
me and Jonathan and we wrote a song that's on
(04:48):
the record called thank You for what You've Done. We
wrote that song, and then the next day was she
put me, Cliff and Jonathan in the co write and
we wrote the song called what could have been one
of our singles. And this was before we were ever
a band, This was before we ever had any We
were just writing songs. They were kind of no rules,
(05:09):
no restrictions, so let's just go write songs. So we
just wrote songs. And our friend Saban Flore he he
wrote with us and then we ended up writing. I mean,
there was one day we wrote five songs, and at
the end of that, Jenny status down and said this
is kind of a thing, and we were like, I
(05:29):
don't know, we'll see, uh, And then about six months
went by and she asked us to come back for
another writing retreat, and then we wrote basically the second
half of the record. Most of the songs except for
maybe two or three, were all written in two writing
retreats on accident. Before we were ever a band. Better Road.
I remember, you know, Cliff writing Better Road. We were, Yeah,
(05:53):
I was coming out of a code write. He texted
me said he had a good one, and then all that. Yeah,
it kind of turned into a thing. So I'd never
I'd never met those guys. I knew Jonathan for a
long time and I knew Jade for a long time.
But yeah, there was something special that happened, and Jenny
said this is a thing, and we said, all right,
let's let's pray about it. Let's see if it's the lord,
(06:15):
And sure enough it was and so let's uh, let's
let's get it rolling.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
And here we are, and this is the episodes about you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But if you want to check more about the band
table un your journey, I interviewed quick Press into Offer
with Jordan's band.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
That episode is live on.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
YouTube, Spotify, everywhere stream. That's about a year ago, so
you're gonna have to deep dive into the channel to
find it. But with the band table, you guys were
just on Winter Jam. As a pre jam artist, How
was your experience with Winter Jam? Do you have any
fun stories or any memories from Winter.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Jim too many, too many fun stories. Honestly, I could
say I could talk for a long time about Winter Jam.
But the thing that blew me in I was just
so impressed, one with the culture that the New Song
guys have built and the whole New Song family, the
Carswell family, and it was just a really really like
(07:06):
the backstage was really encouraging, really yeah, uplifting. It was
just I was really really blown away. And all the artists,
you know, you just expect, you know, somebody to have
an ego, somebody to have issues, somebody to complain, somebody
to be frustrated about stuff, and I didn't see any
(07:27):
of that. Honestly, every single artist I just have utmost
respect for it, just the way they handle themselves, the
way that I got to see them interact with people,
behind the scenes, on the stage, off the stage, side stage, everywhere.
It was just in the integrity was through the roof,
(07:48):
and yeah, it was. It was one of the best experiences. Obviously,
it's hard, twelve weeks of tour and you know, especially
for us, we're only doing ten minutes a night, so
trying to figure out how to pack all that into
ten minutes. But but overall, man, it was, it was.
It was a game changer for us. And I think
so highly of everybody that was a part of it.
(08:10):
I'll say specifically to the Skillet crew. Man, I just
I'm I was blown away, blown away by how they
handled themselves on the tour and so I just I
look up to John and the whole crew just so much.
They're they're they're they were really it was really great
and really inspiring for me to be around them. So yeah,
(08:33):
overall incredible experience.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
When Winter Jam came to my city and my now fiance,
I was like, you know, we have to get here
before the band table start. They're gonna be like the
first man odd, So like we waited it lied.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
In the chicken. It gets cold. It was like maybe like.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Thirty five degrees the day of the show, and I
was like, you know, we have to get in line
that we said hour and a half early. We're gonna
make it decide to watch this. So I was like pushing, like,
let's go. We have to get it lined now, let's go.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, I think it. Yeah, it snowed
that day, and uh I remember all of our crew
kind of coming to the bus wet because they had
a snowball fight with Seu. Uh. Yeah, you were there
on a cold day.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
It was cool, and it's always cool.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
There's only one time they've done it, like past, like
February first and Leinard It's been like once or twice,
and I've been going for like the last ten years
in a row. I'm like, can we please, you guys
should come with us in March when it's actually nice
out go to Florida when it's like.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah we jam, Yeah exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
So if us or any respect to you guys, but
if here do please schedule winner yep for March again,
we would all be so much happier.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
So I don't have to freeze.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
You said you played were playing basketball at Winter Jam
and a couple of Winter Jam and you're a big
basketball fan.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Who's your favorite team? Just curious?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Oh, man, I'm an unhealthy basketball fan. I was a
huge Kobe fan for years. I I love the Lakers,
but I'm not a Lebron fan, so I'm kind of
in a duling. But right now, I love Luka Doncic
and I love the Lakers, but I don't like Lebron
(10:05):
very much as far as a player, and so I'm
kind of in a pickle. But yeah, I love college basketball.
I love Tennessee, Tennessee everything. So I grew up in Knoxville.
I live in Knoxville. I uh, basically anything Tennessee. If
they're doing pickleball, I want to watch it, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
So I'm a big college sports fan too. I'm a
Michigan fans found born, all right. I heard somewhere the
other day that I'm Michigan and Tennessee are actually playing
an exhibition against each other in basketball this year, or
a season game.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I don't remember which one, but I heard that.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
It might have been basketball. Yeah, I saw something about that.
I love talking about basketball.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
But this is about the Christian music basketball podcast. It's
the Christians.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
There should be one of those though.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yeah, like talk about every artist about their favorite team
and if they have that experience, or we can just
really make it sports rada, because there's some people that
like basketball's basketball, and there's like big Day heard football
fans like I'm a diehard football Oh yeah, well NFL
season starts. I'm all in on the Detroit Lyons, even
I'm not waiting for the Detrent Lions to win the
Super Bowl as much as I've been waiting for like
(11:10):
Mercy Me's new album, or like, uh, you just released
your new album, Seasons. Can you tell us little bit
about album, like how that process was.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, well yeah, Jenny. Jenny came to me and said
it's time to do a record. And my my wife
and my best friend had been saying, like, you've got
to sing your songs. I've been a writer for years,
written songs that were cut by different people, and I
just always saw myself as a writer, and they said
it's time for you to, you know, sing your own
(11:39):
songs and produce your own songs. And so they were
telling me that. Then Jenny came and said it's time
for you to do a record, and I was like, Okay,
let's do it. And so that really started the whole journey,
I didn't even know what to write, so didn't I
had some songs that I had, you know, obviously written
before that, but I also had some songs that I
(12:00):
was writing at the time. And that's why the record
kind of feels all over the place, is it's it's
a whole record of me kind of discovering who I
am as an artist. And so that started in twenty
like the end of twenty twenty one, and then we
just wrapped it up, I guess, you know, last fall.
And so that was a really solid three years of
(12:22):
really trying to figure out who am I as an artist? What,
what do I naturally lean to as a writer, what
do I what do I love? What do I what
do I chase? What do I write about? And so
so so much of the album is is just trying
to figure out. It's it's me finding my voice and
finding what I do. And so really the one that
(12:43):
makes the most sense, like the is the last song
I wrote. It was Seasons, That's the title track, and uh,
that was the one that I was like, man, this
this feels like me, This feels like what I want
to say, And so that one's getting pushed at radio
right now and stuff like that, and it's it's it's
(13:03):
available there. So yeah, it's it was just a whole journey,
so that it was cool to see not only the
content of what I was writing, right, the lyric of
the whole thing was kind of the uh, it's a journey, right,
but even musically it's a journey. So the next ones
probably won't be as all over the place, but they
(13:24):
might be who knows. But that's what I when I
look back, that's what I would love about this album
is that it was it was part of the journey,
and it was trying to figure out all the different
expressions that I feel in my body as an artist.
You know, I want to I want to do rock
and roll, I want to do acoustic, I want to
do worship, I want to do all these different things.
(13:45):
I'm a huge student Curtis Chapman fan, and so you
can hear a whole lot of that, you know, And
so that's just you know, I look back on it
and there's a lot of things that I am, like, Man,
I wish I would have chased this song or produced
this song different or whatever. But it's the journey, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Not the age myself, but Steven Curtis Chapman has was
putting out albums before I was even bored.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
It's just like crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Guy's still going strong, and it's just impressive that he's
still going strong tenn to stay. Like you see a
lot of artists just phase out after like ten twenty years,
like they're like, Okay, we're done, But Steven Curtis Chappan
is keeping the ball rolling and he's still going strong
to to stay.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, he's a monster.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Just like you said, like cope with Kobe Buck, Stephen
Curtis Chappins to go.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Season, like the song seasons, you're doing so many awesome
Instagram goes. They're all engaging, and it's just cool to
see you share your heart and like how much you
put love that song and posting it all for social
media as well.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah. Man, it's uh, it's it's kind of been my
family's motto. You know, it's just trusting God with every
season and trusting that he doesn't waste things in your
life and all the hard things, all the confusing things
that there's so many things I look back on in
my past and I have a lot of questions still,
but I trust that he works all things for good,
(15:05):
you know that.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
And it's like how you were saying with all the
different styles, like we kind of taluched briefly on it,
like right at the beginning of that something. So but
like when the new song New Genesis, it sounded like
you're striking up with Genesis and this song. So that's
why it's essentially like you starting up with Genesis from
like about that.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Actually that's uh, I've never I've never connected those dots,
but yeah, it's got I guess.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
It's not like it's like an electrical like outlet like.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And then like that was like a rocky vibe, which
was really cool. And then you have some like worship
vibes album songs like Benjamin Willond Hastings, The Brandon Lakes.
And then you also have like the acoustic indie folk vibe,
which has been a big I think that genre has
exploded in the last six to eight months, maybe the
last year, but no artists like Kahan band Joid all that.
(15:53):
My personal favorite song was Lack on album. So I
just like the story vibe of it, like the fact
how you were telling a story dude.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
That one. That one's very different. I didn't intend for
that one to be on the record. We were at
a writing retreat and Jenny had said, write a song
about creativity, and so me and Buck, the guy I
wrote it with, we were like, what if it's about
a boy named Lack? And honestly, I was just writing
it for I don't know, just to write it. It
(16:22):
just kind of an exercise. And then it kind of
became like, oh, this is this is part of my life.
You know, most of my life I've kind of looked
around at everybody else and said, oh, they have this,
they have this, I don't. I don't And that kind
of shifted from why don't I have everything? Too? I'm
gonna do what I see in my head with nothing,
(16:43):
you know, And so I actually while we were on
Winter Jam, I don't know if you could see I
got that too. It says lack across the middle, because
it's there's there's part of my life that feels like
I'm that little boy who just wanted to go do
something special but didn't really have the tools and the resources,
but wanted to go do it. And so that's that's
(17:04):
really what the the heart of the whole song is
that people would stop looking at their limitations and look
at their creativity, you know, And.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I think, like it's just unique commeriorted the rest of
the album too, so it just like where we stood
out with, like I guess the story element and everything.
So you don't get a lot of Back in the day,
you got a lot of songs like with story elements.
Like there's a lot of old country songs I would
tell a story, some pop songs that tell a story,
maybe some rock songs here and there, but you don't
hear it much nowadays modern day music or like Christian music,
(17:36):
you just see the stories.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
And in between that, before putting out the album, you
were nominated for the Next Big Thing at the Beople Awards.
I think you performed, If I'm not mistake. I never
got to watch a whole sermon because I couldn't make it.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
But how is that experience?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Oh it was great. I'm so grateful for Kevin and
Jake and the whole the whole new release today crew.
It really caught me off guard. You know, I live
in Knoxville. I don't live in Nashville. When you live
in Nashville, you're kind of in the bubble. I lived
there for seven years and you see people all the time,
and you see you have different interactions. Living in Knoxville
(18:13):
is very different, and you kind of get to a
point where you're like, does anybody see what I'm doing?
Does anybody care what I'm doing? Is it? Does it
even matter? You know? And so honestly, just the fact
that even be nominated was a big deal to me,
just because I I It showed me that, you know,
I didn't need to stop, I needed to keep going,
(18:34):
and and that people saw what I was doing and
the Lord would you know, unhide it. He would reveal
it when it was time. And so that was a
big deal for me because it encouraged me to keep going.
But I you, that whole team, I'm just so grateful
for him. The way that they've believed in me and
(18:55):
championed me and and help share what I'm doing is
just I'm so grateful for them. They will always be
one of the first people that kind of said, hey,
we want to help you know, connect dots for you.
And so, yeah, it was it was a great experience.
The people there were incredible and incredible all the all
the performers were great. It was a really great time
and uh, but yeah, I'm just I'm grateful for new
(19:18):
release today. They're they're they're instrumental for the life of
what I've done so far.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So not so which I know it's a collegehund not
for University of Tennessee is but it could be wrong.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I'm obsessed with BUCkies. Is there a BUCkies there?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
There's the BUCkies in Crossville, which is like right in between, uh,
Knoxville and Nashville, and then there's a BUCkies in Severeville
where Yeah, I think that's the biggest. I could be wrong,
but I think that might be the biggest one in
the world right now.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Said now, it's the biggest one. I'm just obsessed with BUCkies.
I actually wore BUCkies one down one of my episodes recently.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
So, hey, my wife hates how much I love BUCkies.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Buckets is life? Are going to put that in writing? It?
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Did? I? I? Uh, I had to stop getting the
sandwiches because because they're so good, I had to I
had to find healthier options.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Just really, season, what do you think any more? Future goals?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Like you said you're gonna start working on that second
album soon. Do you have, like any goals you're working
on personally, music wise, writing wise.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
As far as goals, I don't. I have dreams. I
have things that I've told the Lord I would love this,
I would love this, I would love this. Obviously, There's
so many things that I would love, but I don't.
I don't approach them as goals. I approach them really
as like, Lord, this is what I want to do.
But my my ultimate goal is just to be faithful
(20:43):
to what God's called me to and most of the
you know, what I feel called to do in this
season is to steward the songs that He's given me
and write new ones. And so I want to get
out and you know, excited to go play these songs,
to share these songs. And but at the end of
the day too, I'm a pastor, and so I've been
a pastor for years and I care really deeply about
(21:07):
meeting people and not only you know, sharing my songs,
but ultimately leading people to Jesus and worship and and
maybe for the first time, you know, So those are
my goals is really you know, steward the songs that
He's given me and then write the next record, and
(21:30):
so I have plenty of dreams. I mean, there's so
many things I would love to see happen. There are
so many things that I, uh, I think would be
really really cool. But at the end of the day,
if I lay my head down at night and my
family is healthy and I have a good a good marriage,
and uh, I'm doing what God told me to do
and I'm being faithful to what He's what He's put
(21:50):
in front of me, then and that's that's the goal
for me.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Afar.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Those who are watching streaming or whatever, make sure you
were to check out Jordan's new album Season. It's a
fantastic album for start to finish it. I just listened
to it for the second time within the last couple
of days. And Jordan, I want to thank you for
your time joining today and everything.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, man, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on
What up everyone, Welcome back to the Christian Music First podcast.
I'm here with the man to myth, the Legend, Jordan
Merritt today.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey, I'm Jordan Merritt. Thanks for having me. I'm excited
to be here. I'm I'm a pretty new Christian artist,
but I've been doing music for a long time. I've
been a worship pastor for years and years and years,
and yeah, just in the past few years felt like
it was time to to start singing my own songs,
(00:28):
and so I've been a writer for years and so yeah,
it's it's a new journey, but it's kind of the
same thing I've always been doing. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
You have two albums out just called Jordan Merritt Part
One and Part Two. Then we have your new album Seasons,
which we'll dive into a little bit later. So if
you haven't listened to Jordan's music, yeah, I really highly
recommend it. You can start with Part one on his
Part one and Part two album, or you can dive
into the Season album. His Season album is really unique
and there's a little different genre and like every song
I hear, like at first of when I first said
(00:58):
the first half I was thinking that was this is
like van Joy, like the Van Joy like in the
acoustic style. This sounds like a Genesis game system starting
up that it goes into like a rock.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So yeah, it's kind of been all over the place.
We we just love making music, and this was the
first record, so we were like, let's throw it all
on the wall and see what happens and see what sticks,
see what people like, but or also just what feels,
you know, natural and honest and authentic. And I'm excited
(01:29):
for the next one now that we kind of found
where we're going.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And this album really a couple of weeks ago, and
it's really exciting to see how many streams this has
gone in so far, and on top of just his
solo stuff. We're going to go back to the album
in a minute, guys, But you're also with the band Table,
who was on Winter Jam this past year, presenting the
album right here if you can see it in the background.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
But and then you have stuff with people's in songs.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So is this cool that you're divers in like different
areas in the music industry.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, No, it's it's kind of hard to stay in
one box for me. I I kind of early on,
Jenny Riddle, the head of our label, said you need
buckets because you do so many different things, and so
I do. I just I love music and I've always
seen the world that way, and so I write all
(02:15):
over the place. I don't write one style, I don't
write one genre. I was a worship pastor, so I
don't just write worship music. I kind of love it all.
So yeah, I got a lot of buckets and a
lot of different things going on, but trying to keep
them all moving.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You know, you're also with people in songs.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
That's another thing, and Jenny Riddle's a great person that
is in charge of it. Can you tell us a
about how you got started in people in the song?
Like I've had clip Press in here, I Phil King,
They've been two artists that's been with people in songs.
So how did you get started in people in songs?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Man, I've known I've kind of been a part of
people in songs since the beginning in some ways. I
met Jenny in twenty thirteen, I think, yeah, twenty thirteen,
and we just started writing songs and nothing really crazy,
and then they did the Emerging Sound album A well
before that, I had done a couple of conferences with
(03:08):
people in songs. It was Micah Tyler, Charity Gale, David Gentiles,
that whole crew, and I played drums for it. And
then a couple of years went by, they asked me
to come play drums for one of the Emerging Sound Weeks,
the records that they did, and so I did that,
(03:28):
and ever since then, I've just kind of been close
to the whole community. And about twenty twenty one, I think,
is when it was Jenny said it's time for you
to do a record, and the Lord had been telling
me the same thing, and I was like, all right,
let's do it. So that kind of kick started the
whole journey of me being an artist, you know. So
so yeah, people in songs communities, they're all all really
(03:51):
really close to my heart. Everyone who's been connected and
everyone who has come through there, they're just they're great
people and really really good friends.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
That's right setting and people as long as have a tough, whole,
talented roster full of artists. I can't touch on them
all right here because I could list them off for
like five minutes and we probably still want to scratch
the surface. Because there's people that have been there, like
you said, Michael Tyler, Charity Gale, you, Cliff, and there's
many more. So you I also went to the band table.
Is that how did you meet all the guys from
(04:20):
the and Jade, the guys in Jade from the band
table while you write people in songs?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Is that how you all met?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah? So Jinny had us all come to a writing retreat,
and all of us had kind of been coming from
different seasons of life, and we just honestly fell in
love writing. We just we we wrote. I think the
very first code write that I had that week was
me and Jonathan and we wrote a song that's on
(04:48):
the record called thank You for what You've Done. We
wrote that song, and then the next day was she
put me, Cliff and Jonathan in the co write and
we wrote the song called what could have been one
of our singles. And this was before we were ever
a band, This was before we ever had any We
were just writing songs. They were kind of no rules,
(05:09):
no restrictions, so let's just go write songs. So we
just wrote songs. And our friend Saban Flore he he
wrote with us and then we ended up writing. I mean,
there was one day we wrote five songs, and at
the end of that, Jenny status down and said this
is kind of a thing, and we were like, I
(05:29):
don't know, we'll see, uh, And then about six months
went by and she asked us to come back for
another writing retreat, and then we wrote basically the second
half of the record. Most of the songs except for
maybe two or three, were all written in two writing
retreats on accident. Before we were ever a band. Better Road.
I remember, you know, Cliff writing Better Road. We were, Yeah,
(05:53):
I was coming out of a code write. He texted
me said he had a good one, and then all that. Yeah,
it kind of turned into a thing. So I'd never
I'd never met those guys. I knew Jonathan for a
long time and I knew Jade for a long time.
But yeah, there was something special that happened, and Jenny
said this is a thing, and we said, all right,
let's let's pray about it. Let's see if it's the lord,
(06:15):
And sure enough it was and so let's uh, let's
let's get it rolling.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
And here we are, and this is the episodes about you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But if you want to check more about the band
table un your journey, I interviewed quick Press into Offer
with Jordan's band.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
That episode is live on.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
YouTube, Spotify, everywhere stream. That's about a year ago, so
you're gonna have to deep dive into the channel to
find it. But with the band table, you guys were
just on Winter Jam. As a pre jam artist, How
was your experience with Winter Jam? Do you have any
fun stories or any memories from Winter.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Jim too many, too many fun stories. Honestly, I could
say I could talk for a long time about Winter Jam.
But the thing that blew me in I was just
so impressed, one with the culture that the New Song
guys have built and the whole New Song family, the
Carswell family, and it was just a really really like
(07:06):
the backstage was really encouraging, really yeah, uplifting. It was
just I was really really blown away. And all the artists,
you know, you just expect, you know, somebody to have
an ego, somebody to have issues, somebody to complain, somebody
to be frustrated about stuff, and I didn't see any
(07:27):
of that. Honestly, every single artist I just have utmost
respect for it, just the way they handle themselves, the
way that I got to see them interact with people,
behind the scenes, on the stage, off the stage, side stage, everywhere.
It was just in the integrity was through the roof,
(07:48):
and yeah, it was. It was one of the best experiences. Obviously,
it's hard, twelve weeks of tour and you know, especially
for us, we're only doing ten minutes a night, so
trying to figure out how to pack all that into
ten minutes. But but overall, man, it was, it was.
It was a game changer for us. And I think
so highly of everybody that was a part of it.
(08:10):
I'll say specifically to the Skillet crew. Man, I just
I'm I was blown away, blown away by how they
handled themselves on the tour and so I just I
look up to John and the whole crew just so much.
They're they're they're they were really it was really great
and really inspiring for me to be around them. So yeah,
(08:33):
overall incredible experience.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
When Winter Jam came to my city and my now fiance,
I was like, you know, we have to get here
before the band table start. They're gonna be like the
first man odd, So like we waited it lied.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
In the chicken. It gets cold. It was like maybe like.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Thirty five degrees the day of the show, and I
was like, you know, we have to get in line
that we said hour and a half early. We're gonna
make it decide to watch this. So I was like pushing, like,
let's go. We have to get it lined now, let's go.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, I think it. Yeah, it snowed
that day, and uh I remember all of our crew
kind of coming to the bus wet because they had
a snowball fight with Seu. Uh. Yeah, you were there
on a cold day.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
It was cool, and it's always cool.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
There's only one time they've done it, like past, like
February first and Leinard It's been like once or twice,
and I've been going for like the last ten years
in a row. I'm like, can we please, you guys
should come with us in March when it's actually nice
out go to Florida when it's like.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah we jam, Yeah exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
So if us or any respect to you guys, but
if here do please schedule winner yep for March again,
we would all be so much happier.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
So I don't have to freeze.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
You said you played were playing basketball at Winter Jam
and a couple of Winter Jam and you're a big
basketball fan.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Who's your favorite team? Just curious?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Oh, man, I'm an unhealthy basketball fan. I was a
huge Kobe fan for years. I I love the Lakers,
but I'm not a Lebron fan, so I'm kind of
in a duling. But right now, I love Luka Doncic
and I love the Lakers, but I don't like Lebron
(10:05):
very much as far as a player, and so I'm
kind of in a pickle. But yeah, I love college basketball.
I love Tennessee, Tennessee everything. So I grew up in Knoxville.
I live in Knoxville. I uh, basically anything Tennessee. If
they're doing pickleball, I want to watch it, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
So I'm a big college sports fan too. I'm a
Michigan fans found born, all right. I heard somewhere the
other day that I'm Michigan and Tennessee are actually playing
an exhibition against each other in basketball this year, or
a season game.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I don't remember which one, but I heard that.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
It might have been basketball. Yeah, I saw something about that.
I love talking about basketball.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
But this is about the Christian music basketball podcast. It's
the Christians.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
There should be one of those though.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yeah, like talk about every artist about their favorite team
and if they have that experience, or we can just
really make it sports rada, because there's some people that
like basketball's basketball, and there's like big Day heard football
fans like I'm a diehard football Oh yeah, well NFL
season starts. I'm all in on the Detroit Lyons, even
I'm not waiting for the Detrent Lions to win the
Super Bowl as much as I've been waiting for like
(11:10):
Mercy Me's new album, or like, uh, you just released
your new album, Seasons. Can you tell us little bit
about album, like how that process was.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, well yeah, Jenny. Jenny came to me and said
it's time to do a record. And my my wife
and my best friend had been saying, like, you've got
to sing your songs. I've been a writer for years,
written songs that were cut by different people, and I
just always saw myself as a writer, and they said
it's time for you to, you know, sing your own
(11:39):
songs and produce your own songs. And so they were
telling me that. Then Jenny came and said it's time
for you to do a record, and I was like, Okay,
let's do it. And so that really started the whole journey,
I didn't even know what to write, so didn't I
had some songs that I had, you know, obviously written
before that, but I also had some songs that I
(12:00):
was writing at the time. And that's why the record
kind of feels all over the place, is it's it's
a whole record of me kind of discovering who I
am as an artist. And so that started in twenty
like the end of twenty twenty one, and then we
just wrapped it up, I guess, you know, last fall.
And so that was a really solid three years of
(12:22):
really trying to figure out who am I as an artist? What,
what do I naturally lean to as a writer, what
do I what do I love? What do I what
do I chase? What do I write about? And so
so so much of the album is is just trying
to figure out. It's it's me finding my voice and
finding what I do. And so really the one that
(12:43):
makes the most sense, like the is the last song
I wrote. It was Seasons, That's the title track, and uh,
that was the one that I was like, man, this
this feels like me, This feels like what I want
to say, And so that one's getting pushed at radio
right now and stuff like that, and it's it's it's
(13:03):
available there. So yeah, it's it was just a whole journey,
so that it was cool to see not only the
content of what I was writing, right, the lyric of
the whole thing was kind of the uh, it's a journey, right,
but even musically it's a journey. So the next ones
probably won't be as all over the place, but they
(13:24):
might be who knows. But that's what I when I
look back, that's what I would love about this album
is that it was it was part of the journey,
and it was trying to figure out all the different
expressions that I feel in my body as an artist.
You know, I want to I want to do rock
and roll, I want to do acoustic, I want to
do worship, I want to do all these different things.
(13:45):
I'm a huge student Curtis Chapman fan, and so you
can hear a whole lot of that, you know, And
so that's just you know, I look back on it
and there's a lot of things that I am, like, Man,
I wish I would have chased this song or produced
this song different or whatever. But it's the journey, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Not the age myself, but Steven Curtis Chapman has was
putting out albums before I was even bored.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
It's just like crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Guy's still going strong, and it's just impressive that he's
still going strong tenn to stay. Like you see a
lot of artists just phase out after like ten twenty years,
like they're like, Okay, we're done, But Steven Curtis Chappan
is keeping the ball rolling and he's still going strong
to to stay.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, he's a monster.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Just like you said, like cope with Kobe Buck, Stephen
Curtis Chappins to go.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Season, like the song seasons, you're doing so many awesome
Instagram goes. They're all engaging, and it's just cool to
see you share your heart and like how much you
put love that song and posting it all for social
media as well.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah. Man, it's uh, it's it's kind of been my
family's motto. You know, it's just trusting God with every
season and trusting that he doesn't waste things in your
life and all the hard things, all the confusing things
that there's so many things I look back on in
my past and I have a lot of questions still,
but I trust that he works all things for good,
(15:05):
you know that.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
And it's like how you were saying with all the
different styles, like we kind of taluched briefly on it,
like right at the beginning of that something. So but
like when the new song New Genesis, it sounded like
you're striking up with Genesis and this song. So that's
why it's essentially like you starting up with Genesis from
like about that.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Actually that's uh, I've never I've never connected those dots,
but yeah, it's got I guess.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
It's not like it's like an electrical like outlet like.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And then like that was like a rocky vibe, which
was really cool. And then you have some like worship
vibes album songs like Benjamin Willond Hastings, The Brandon Lakes.
And then you also have like the acoustic indie folk vibe,
which has been a big I think that genre has
exploded in the last six to eight months, maybe the
last year, but no artists like Kahan band Joid all that.
(15:53):
My personal favorite song was Lack on album. So I
just like the story vibe of it, like the fact
how you were telling a story dude.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
That one. That one's very different. I didn't intend for
that one to be on the record. We were at
a writing retreat and Jenny had said, write a song
about creativity, and so me and Buck, the guy I
wrote it with, we were like, what if it's about
a boy named Lack? And honestly, I was just writing
it for I don't know, just to write it. It
(16:22):
just kind of an exercise. And then it kind of
became like, oh, this is this is part of my life.
You know, most of my life I've kind of looked
around at everybody else and said, oh, they have this,
they have this, I don't. I don't And that kind
of shifted from why don't I have everything? Too? I'm
gonna do what I see in my head with nothing,
(16:43):
you know, And so I actually while we were on
Winter Jam, I don't know if you could see I
got that too. It says lack across the middle, because
it's there's there's part of my life that feels like
I'm that little boy who just wanted to go do
something special but didn't really have the tools and the resources,
but wanted to go do it. And so that's that's
(17:04):
really what the the heart of the whole song is
that people would stop looking at their limitations and look
at their creativity, you know, And.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I think, like it's just unique commeriorted the rest of
the album too, so it just like where we stood
out with, like I guess the story element and everything.
So you don't get a lot of Back in the day,
you got a lot of songs like with story elements.
Like there's a lot of old country songs I would
tell a story, some pop songs that tell a story,
maybe some rock songs here and there, but you don't
hear it much nowadays modern day music or like Christian music,
(17:36):
you just see the stories.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
And in between that, before putting out the album, you
were nominated for the Next Big Thing at the Beople Awards.
I think you performed, If I'm not mistake. I never
got to watch a whole sermon because I couldn't make it.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
But how is that experience?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Oh it was great. I'm so grateful for Kevin and
Jake and the whole the whole new release today crew.
It really caught me off guard. You know, I live
in Knoxville. I don't live in Nashville. When you live
in Nashville, you're kind of in the bubble. I lived
there for seven years and you see people all the time,
and you see you have different interactions. Living in Knoxville
(18:13):
is very different, and you kind of get to a
point where you're like, does anybody see what I'm doing?
Does anybody care what I'm doing? Is it? Does it
even matter? You know? And so honestly, just the fact
that even be nominated was a big deal to me,
just because I I It showed me that, you know,
I didn't need to stop, I needed to keep going,
(18:34):
and and that people saw what I was doing and
the Lord would you know, unhide it. He would reveal
it when it was time. And so that was a
big deal for me because it encouraged me to keep going.
But I you, that whole team, I'm just so grateful
for him. The way that they've believed in me and
(18:55):
championed me and and help share what I'm doing is
just I'm so grateful for them. They will always be
one of the first people that kind of said, hey,
we want to help you know, connect dots for you.
And so, yeah, it was it was a great experience.
The people there were incredible and incredible all the all
the performers were great. It was a really great time
and uh, but yeah, I'm just I'm grateful for new
(19:18):
release today. They're they're they're instrumental for the life of
what I've done so far.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
So not so which I know it's a collegehund not
for University of Tennessee is but it could be wrong.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I'm obsessed with BUCkies. Is there a BUCkies there?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
There's the BUCkies in Crossville, which is like right in between, uh,
Knoxville and Nashville, and then there's a BUCkies in Severeville
where Yeah, I think that's the biggest. I could be wrong,
but I think that might be the biggest one in
the world right now.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Said now, it's the biggest one. I'm just obsessed with BUCkies.
I actually wore BUCkies one down one of my episodes recently.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
So, hey, my wife hates how much I love BUCkies.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Buckets is life? Are going to put that in writing? It?
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Did? I? I? Uh, I had to stop getting the
sandwiches because because they're so good, I had to I
had to find healthier options.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Just really, season, what do you think any more? Future goals?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Like you said you're gonna start working on that second
album soon. Do you have, like any goals you're working
on personally, music wise, writing wise.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
As far as goals, I don't. I have dreams. I
have things that I've told the Lord I would love this,
I would love this, I would love this. Obviously, There's
so many things that I would love, but I don't.
I don't approach them as goals. I approach them really
as like, Lord, this is what I want to do.
But my my ultimate goal is just to be faithful
(20:43):
to what God's called me to and most of the
you know, what I feel called to do in this
season is to steward the songs that He's given me
and write new ones. And so I want to get
out and you know, excited to go play these songs,
to share these songs. And but at the end of
the day too, I'm a pastor, and so I've been
a pastor for years and I care really deeply about
(21:07):
meeting people and not only you know, sharing my songs,
but ultimately leading people to Jesus and worship and and
maybe for the first time, you know, So those are
my goals is really you know, steward the songs that
He's given me and then write the next record, and
(21:30):
so I have plenty of dreams. I mean, there's so
many things I would love to see happen. There are
so many things that I, uh, I think would be
really really cool. But at the end of the day,
if I lay my head down at night and my
family is healthy and I have a good a good marriage,
and uh, I'm doing what God told me to do
and I'm being faithful to what He's what He's put
(21:50):
in front of me, then and that's that's the goal
for me.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Afar.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Those who are watching streaming or whatever, make sure you
were to check out Jordan's new album Season. It's a
fantastic album for start to finish it. I just listened
to it for the second time within the last couple
of days. And Jordan, I want to thank you for
your time joining today and everything.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, man, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on
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