ANNE WILSON: Getting Real About Grief, Unwavering Faith + More

Caroline Hobby sits down with Christian musician Anne Wilson on this episode of Get Real. Anne opens up about losing her brother Jacob in a car accident when she was a teenager and her performing for the first time at his funeral. She shares that she heard God’s voice in that moment and knew that she was being called to pursue music. Caroline and Anne talk about her path into the Christian music industry, keeping faith through hardship and more.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
And car She's a queen talking, so she getting not
afraid episode, so just let it.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
No one can quick is sound. I am so excited
to be here today and have Ann Wilson on Get
Real podcast. Thank you so much for joining me.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yes, thank you for having me. I'm so excited.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Okay, so this is kind of different. I don't normally
do this, but with you, I just feel like you
are one of the most inspiring people I have had
the pleasure to meet because of your faith.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
I was wondering if you could just start us in
a prayer because I really want God to like be
in this interview. I want him to guy, I want
his message, like whatever is supposed to come out with
your story, with your life, with your light. I just
really want to make sure that God is at the
center of this interview.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
So will you lead us in a prayer? Yes? I
would love to. Okay, God, thank you so much for today.
Thank you for this opportunity to just get to talk
about life and the things that you're doing through both
of us. Thank you for everyone listening, and I pray
that you would bless this conversation today. Whatever comes of it, Lord,
let it be glorifying and honoring to you, and we
love you so much. It's in your name we pray Amen. Amen.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
So you know, like back in the day in the Bible,
you hear of people like seeing a burning bush, and
then you know there's all these like messages that like
people get from God where he speaks directly to them.
But I feel personally like I've had a moment. I've
had a couple of moments where I felt the presence
of God like speaking kind of to me. I didn't
hear words, but like I knew God was telling me

(01:53):
what I needed to do. But you are kind of
this person who I feel like You're story and you
shared your story so much, but it is such an
incredible story. So I would love for you to share
your story of how you got to being a country singer,
because I was never your dream, never your plan. You
wanted to be an astronaut, which is amazing. But like

(02:13):
God has used the worst tragedy to turn you into
the biggest vessel for him, and you heard him speak
to you in the midst of that tragedy that changed
the trajectory of your whole life. And I just feel
like that's so incredible and you like listened and obeyed.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Thank you. That's so sweet. Well, it started with my
brother passing away in twenty seventeen. I wanted to be
an astronaut, and I had taken wanted to be an astronaut,
wanted to work Varanassa, and then on the music side
of things, I had taken piano lessons since I was
six because my mom forced all three of us. She
was like, if you're gonna be in the family, not
you're kicked out, but if you're gonna be in the family,

(02:54):
you have to take piano lessons. We're all yeah, and
we hated it well and I think too, like growing
up she her mom didn't have the money to get
her in piano and she always wanted to play the piano,
so she kind of wanted to live through us, so
she wanted us to play, which was really sweet. So
she sacrificed a lot growing up, like financially, so we
get have piano lessons, which is obviously so sweet now
being a musician, like, I'm so grateful for that. And

(03:17):
then my brother was tragically killed in the car accident,
which was the most devastating moment of my life. He
was twenty three and I was fifteen, and I think
when that moment happened, a lot came into perspective for me,
I think a lot of people, thankfully, it's like a
good thing in a sense, don't have the perspective that
people have, you know, that have gone through loss, because

(03:38):
it's like you just keep going through life every day
like it's no big deal. But then when someone dies
like that, it really reminds you of what matters in life,
which is spending time with people that you love and
relationships and family and God and your faith. And for
me that really became real when he died. It was
like what am I going to do? Well? First of all,
I remember feeling like life is so short and it's

(03:58):
a vapor.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
That's in a vapor. Yeah, did you just dissolve?

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, just comes vanishous. Yeah, it's like you can't grab
onto it, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Oh, and you think you can. We're so we're so
fooled into thinking we can't know.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah, and so it's a hard concept to grasp. But
I think then I realized, like, Okay, what do I
want to do with my life left? Like if God
does not promise me tomorrow, But like what can I
do with my today to glorify him and honor him?
And that was music and I didn't know that at
the time, but I just trusted him.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
But you had never sung before.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
No, I didn't sing at all, but never enter Christian
radio with that voice that you have.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
I mean, your voice is next level and you had
never sung before.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, I know it's so crazy to look back on.
I know, but I just like loved I loved Christian radio,
I loved country. I grew up listening to music my
whole life. So it's like I would sing in the car,
but like not as loud, not loud enough for people
to hear me in the caring.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Loud for yourself. Did you know you had a voice? No,
so you weren't belting it.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
No, I still didn't even think I had it. Like
I still am, like, wait, can I actually sing so
hard on myself? Like I'm really hard on myself. So
like when I was younger, especially right after Jacob died,
and I was singing, you know, I had never had
voice lesson, so my voice was very like weak, you know,
as any singer's voice would be before you really start
strengthening it. Just like you would have, like other muscles

(05:15):
in your body, it's like a muscle you have to work,
and so it was just really weak at first, and
so I remember just being so hard on myself, thinking like,
oh my gosh, like I'm not you know, I'm not
good at this. And then as I've gotten like more
into singing, and as I've gotten older, I've worked more
on my voice. But at the time, I had never
sing in front of anyone ever, ever. And then I

(05:36):
was singing down on my piano one day. This was
like two days after he died, and I thought I
was alone in the house, and it was my first
moment of being alone, because we had family and friends
at our house like around the clock after he died,
which was amazing, but it was our first moment of
like peace. So I go downstairs. I play this worship
song it's called what a Beautiful Name? And I was
singing and my mom was listening the whole time. I

(05:57):
had no idea she was in the house and she
was cry eyeing her eyes out, and she was like
and first of all, like, where did this come from?
I've never heard you sing? And then like, how are
you even doing this right now? And it was like
a moment for me to go okay, like clearly, like
if she is recognizing this in me, then I need
to be willing to do what she's asking me, which

(06:18):
was to sing at the funeral. She asked you, straight
up asked me.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
That's a huge ask, Like with all those emotions and everything,
you've never sung in your life to sing at your brother.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, and that's truthfully, Like now that it's past, she
always says like she was really nervous for me to sing.
She was like, you've never sang in front of anyone, Like,
how are you even going to go sing? Like aside
from the grief of Jacob, Like, how are you going
to go sing? Just as never?

Speaker 2 (06:41):
You know, seeing that alone in itself without the grief
is a huge thing. Maybe because of the situation you had. Well,
obviously God spoke to you. Yeah, yeah, God was with you.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah. It was crazy. It was a really crazy time.
We had two funerals and both of them I got
through without crying and like completely finished song, which I
don't even know how that. I mean, it was just
God were.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
They and I I would love to hear like what
God said to you, because like at that moment when
your brother passed and you asked your dad did he
die and he said yes, yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
But you heard God's voice for the first time. I
had grown up in Yeah, I had grown up in
a Baptist church my whole life, and then Presbyterian well
until I was four, and then Presbyterian up until then.
So I'd never heard of, you know, nothing against those nominations,
but they just don't talk a lot about like hearing
the voice of God, and I didn't know what that
was like. And then I just, for the first time
ever heard it and it was like very clear.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
What did it sound like?

Speaker 1 (07:36):
It was? It was like just like this thing in
my spirit. It's so super hard to describe, but it
was just like I knew that it was God and
it was like it was very kind, but it was
also like it was stern. It was like are you
going to trust me? Or are you not, which at
the time was hard for me to hear because I'm like,
my brother just died and you could have stopped him
from dying and all these like just wrestling with God
you know that everybody has. But it was like he

(07:58):
was like, no, Ann, are you going to trust me?
Or are you not like in that exact moment, and
you said, yes, Yeah, I just knew I couldn't get
through without God. I just knew I wasn't going to survive.
So I just turned around faced the doors in that
room while the cops were still at the house. I mean,
everything was it just it happened, and I just said,
I remember, I think I had like my hands like

(08:18):
this on my head and I was crying and I
was like, Jesus, I trust you, Jesus. So it was amazing.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, did you feel something in that moment?

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Totally? I felt like this weight had lifted. And I don't,
I don't know. I just knew I was going to
get through it. I didn't. I didn't in the moment
feel like, oh, good's going to come from this. But
because I had been raised in the church, I knew
scripture and I knew that, like I knew the verse,
that God works everything together for the good of those
who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
And so I just knew that, like some more deep

(08:49):
down that might be me, but I didn't know what. Obviously,
to the scale He's done is like far greater than
I could have ever imagined.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
So then when you were about to sing at the funeral,
you heard his voice.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Again, Yeah, on the stage, So you're nervous. I really
saw so nervous. And I remember getting up on the
stage about to like start the song, and I remember
him saying to me, and this is what I'm calling
you to do. I'm calling you to praise and worship
my name word for word.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
And this is what I'm calling you to do. I'm
calling you to praise and worship my name.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
M hmm. Crazy.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
What do you feel then?

Speaker 1 (09:23):
I just remember feeling like I was just I think
it was a like it was the perfect moment. Obviously
God knows best because in that moment, like I was
about to sing for the first time. This was at
the first funeral, not the second. This was like the
first one, and I was about to sing for the
first time, and I was looking at the casket and
I was looking at all these people that like poured
into Jacob's life. The church was so crowded, like there

(09:46):
were people in the lobby and everything. There was like thirteen,
fourteen hundred people at the funeral, and I just remember
thinking he was and I just remember thinking like wow,
like this is it almost was a distraction in a
sense like of Okay, I can't get up, God's just
called me to this, to music or to singing. I guess,
like I still didn't even really know for sure, but

(10:06):
I remember it kind of being a little bit of
a distraction of going, Okay, I'm going to get through. Wow.
Like during the song, I remember thinking like, wow, God
just called me to this, like as I'm at my
brother's funeral. So there was a lot of like mixed
emotions in there, but yeah, it was a really powerful moment.
And then from that day forward. So that day after
the funeral, my mom's phone blew up obviously with like
we're so sorry but like for your loss, but the half,

(10:30):
the other half the text messages were Anne is going
to do this. Like people were like it, which is
kind of a weird thing to text a mom that
just lost her son. But it was like the whole
room like picked up on the fact that this was
what I was going to do, and I don't even
know how that's possible. People were just messaging me like
Anne's going to do this. We know she's going to
do this, we know she's going to have a career
in music. And then that really from that moment on continued,

(10:51):
which will be seven years in June.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
I just watched the Journey to Bethlehem, the story of
Jesus's birth with like Mary and Joseph, and Mary got
a calling, you know, like an angel actually came and
spoke to her and was like, you are going you
are pregnant with Jesus, the Son of God. And She's like, no,
this can't be. And it's like but she had such faith,
And I feel like, do you did your faith set
you up for this? Did you always know that God

(11:18):
was good and God can redeem and was your faith
always unwavering or did this moment make it unwavering.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
I became a follower of Jesus when I was twelve.
It was very real. I'm very like passionate I had been.
I grew up in the church, but it was always
I hated going to church.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
I fall asleep every time I go. Yeah, I get
this wave of like sleepiness that hits me unlike anywhere else.
And I love God, but I'm like, yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
I know, I know. And I would like color like
when I was young, you know, we'd color like they
give us little drawings and I was so bored in church.
I'm like, get me out of here and just.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Reading the scripture and you're not like connecting even though
it's all around you and it's one. Yeah, you're not
like having a personal experience.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yes, and again nothing against these types of churches, but
the church I grew up to is like Hymn's only
if you raise your hand in church, people are hardcore
going to judge you. So it's very lifeless and just
not passionate. So that was the other thing, was just like, wait,
why are we all coming together like this is.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Just you know, to not have a real time experience.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Yeah yeah, yeah. So then when I was twelve, I
was going down a pretty bad path in my life
and just mean just a normal wild seventh grade kid,
you know what I'm saying. It would have been worse
if I hadn't got hold of myself. Also, I'm probably
like exaggerating it more than what it was, but I'm
really hard on myself.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
So I mean I'm thinking, like, you know, babies and
drinking and yeah, okay, so that was only twelve, okay,
yeah yeah, but on the path okay.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
And so then I had this moment in my Bible class.
When I was I went to a Christian private school
and we had like this Bible class. Normally Bible class
all the years past I didn't pay attention to. I
I got an F in the class of the year before,
like it was horrible a Bible. But then I had
this moment with this brand new teacher. He didn't even
like he just came in and was just he couldn't

(13:05):
say Jesus without crying, and he just like literally couldn't
say that name without crying. And I just remember like
feeling this feeling of like the Holy Spirit in the room.
And that was like the day before ever changed my life.
And so I had had the understanding there. But then
when Jacob died, like I think, you know, I was
raised in a great home, thank God, Like my parents
are still together. They made it so so thankful. Yeah,

(13:26):
they made it through the whole way. And so I
had never really been through anything hard in my life
to where I needed to cling to my faith. And
this was the first moment I do think Jacob's loss
really made me take my faith more serious than ever
and realized, like, Okay, all that is in the Bible
is true, that like when you go through hard times
like where are you turning to? And for me it
was it was my faith. So I do think that

(13:47):
definitely like helped me in that moment.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
So I feel this so deeply in my bones. I
don't always do a great job of this, but like
I believe this to my core, that we all all
have a purpose, that we all came to this earth
to have an experience. We're all gifted, we all have
a contribution to give to make this world a better
place to shine light. But finding it is kind of
difficult sometimes, like finding ig and like finding when you

(14:15):
know you're on the right path, and like when is
it God's will versus ego? And how do you It's
like a giant game that you have to like learn
how to play, you know, and like sometimes and I
feel like for me, like the I'm forty now, like
the first half of my life, I feel like it
has been kind of like trial and error. I've always
known what God is and who God is, but I've
had to like have real experiences to feel him. Yeah,

(14:37):
I've had to like like you know, have reactions. Like
lately I've been tested again. I'm like really hard situations
were coming into my life, and I haven't been reacting well,
and I'm like, oh my gosh, my ego is flaring up.
Oh my gosh, I'm being triggered. Oh my gosh. Like
I have a lesson to learn here, but it's like
I'm having to still make the mistake to like learn
the lesson. But I just feel like if everybody could

(15:02):
figure out how to get in touch with their soul
and like feel when God is guiding them and prompting
them and opening doors and closing doors. It's so hard
to figure that out. But if we all could figure
out that dance and get in that flow, we would
all be so much happier. But the human nature just
like continuously messes it up. Yeah, you know, do you

(15:25):
feel that? Yes, And it's hard to stay in the
flow of God leading, but I feel like, you know,
now you can feel the flow, and I feel like
once people finally click over and they can feel the
difference of oh, this is God and this is my
ego and this is human nature, but it's still so
murky water.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, you feel that, I definitely do. I think sometimes
like when I take my eyes off of him is
the second I lose it. It's like keeping my gaze
fixed on him is super important non stop. Yeah, like
all the time, every day, daily, throughout the day, multiple times,
Like you.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
Pray all day, how do you keep your eyes fixed
on God?

Speaker 1 (16:00):
I think for me, it's like definitely like in my
Bible every day. But then it's just prayer talking to
Like one of the things that my pastor always taught
me growing up was just like talk to Jesus, Like
he's just like your friend in the passenger seat, Like
it doesn't have to be proper, it doesn't have to
be like this planned out prayer. Like Jesus doesn't care
anything about that, Like he just wants to talk to you.
He just wants a relationship with you. So I think

(16:21):
that's helps me a lot, just being able to just
talk to him, and then I always feel better, and
then I always feel like I'm a better person when
I do, Like I feel like I'm nicer to people
and know I was mean and like you know what
I'm saying, Like when you connect back to the source,
it does like it just you continue to like grow
into a better person and then the old things of
you like wash away and you're It's like the more

(16:42):
I'm have my eyes fixed on him, the less I
want anything of the world. You know, It's like it's
like the prize. And I've learned a lot about that
through different mentors like Stephanie Gretz Singer is one of
my favorite people to listen to, and some of the
things that she says, it's just like like when you
fix your eyes on him and you one of the
things like what you were talking abot, like finding your
calling and like staying you know, on path, it's like

(17:03):
keeping your eyes on him is the focus. And then
I think he leads you where you need to go,
versus like when I was younger, it was like, oh,
I want to do this, I want to be an.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Astronaut, I want to do this, but then make it happen.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, And then the second I realized, oh, it's just
a surrender, Like I'm surrendering my life and then you
do what you want with me, then it like then
he leads you, and then he puts you where you
need to be, where you never knew you needed to be.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
That is the difference. Okay, so how do you do
the full surrender because people will be like I was
actually talking to my husband about this and I'm like,
that's really inspired by you. I'm like, babe, it's a
full surrender. It's just a full surrender. I was like,
we're doing great, but we got to just do the
full surrender. He's like, but we got to do action.
But I'm like, it's got to be prompted by God.
I mean, it just has to be the full Like

(17:47):
the full surrender is so confusing sometimes because it's like,
do you just sit and wait for God to tell you?
But like you just keep doing your life as you
would and then wait, how do you know where God
is taking you when you're surrendered? Like how do you surrender?
What is life like for you? Surrendered? Because I feel
like a lot of people struggle with this.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
Well, for me, it started when Jacob died and then
just having a moment of going, Okay, clearly you're calling
me to music somehow, some way. I can't even sing,
Like this is like, what are you doing with my life?
I was fifteen And then it was also like but
then you know, I'm sacrificing what I want.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
I've always been kind of annoyed by this a little bit.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, totally, like I don't want to be a thing
or I want to be an astronaut. So I think
there was a moment and be going okay, like okay,
I'm sacrificing what I want for what you want. So
that was the surrender for me. And then really since then,
it's just kind of been an ongoing thing because for example,
like you know, I get a call to do this, this, this,
like you're going on toward this person and You've got

(18:48):
an opportunity to do this, and I'm like, amazing, thank
you God. But then it's also like this whole thing
of like, okay, God, if this is what you want, great,
if not, show me, but like I'm surrendered to you.
So it is a daily thing. It's like it's just
a continuous conversation of going okay, like I'm not gonna
I try not to hold too tightly onto things, and
I think that's what helps me continue to be surrendered,

(19:09):
is like I tried really hard not to hold tightly
to my career, to my success, to my music, to
really anything in life, even relationships, you know.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
Because you had the experience of them leaving.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Yeah, And I do think like you can you can
just live in fear of you know, what if this
person dies and you know what if this is my
last time with this person and so on, and it
can get so like toxic that it's just that's not
the way you're supposed to live. You can't live in fear.
And so it's like being like in the moment and
grateful for the moment, but also knowing like, Okay, God,
I'm strening my life to you, and whatever you want

(19:41):
to do with me, do it, but I'm not gonna
take the reins because we when we do it always
goes wrong. Always, it always goes wrong. And he knows best.
And I think having the moment of going, okay, if
I believe you're sovereign, which I believe he is sovereign,
and you know best and you hold the world in
your hands, then surely you know what to do with
my life and surely you're going to put me on
the right path. And he always does. But it does

(20:03):
take surrendering your life to him.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Do you still ever get nervous that, like, I don't
know what's happening here.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
I do. I've learned how to live fit a little
bit more.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
Now, Oh my god, I'm surrendered, But like I'm having
human actual fear and my egos clearing up.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's so normal, totally. Yeah, just
moments like that throughout.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
I think though, that You're so right. It's like we
have it so backwards, especially in America. And I love America.
I feel like it's the greatest place to live. But
I'm like, everyone is like, work, work, work until you're dead,
push forced this career to happen. You have to make money,
you have to be a boss, you have to be
working your life way. And I feel like we're starting

(20:53):
to realize the side effects of that are not healthy
and people are having all sorts of mental, physical, spiritual
health side effects because of it. Yep. When really it's
like exactly what you said. People are like, but I
can't just surrender my life over to God because I
gotta make money. I have a family, I have to
feed them. So what do we say to people like
that when they're like, I can't just like surrender to
God because I have three kids and you know, a

(21:14):
mortgage and I have to go work this job that
I hate. So I know that's not God's will because
I hate it. You know, Like, what do we say
to people like that? I always like kind of wonder
like how do you approach that?

Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, I mean I think that's definitely hard. I do
think the country we live in is the hardest, like
in that specific.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
Because God's not God is like in the churches, but
like it's not like in the forefront of our existence here,
you know, like we don't like breathe God in and
out like some of the ancient cultures did.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah. Yeah, I think in the beginning of our country
we definitely did. But over time it's gotten so folks
like if you're not talking about like or if you
are talking about God, it's like somehow you're like the
odd one out or whatever. I feel like you're the rebels. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yes, your new album, yes, title track, Yes, thank you.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
But I think for me, like if you go back
to Scripture, like some of his disciples, I mean all
of his disciples just dropped everything and followed him, and
it was like no matter what they were doing or
what kind of life they had, it was like they
just dropped everything and followed him. And I think that's
literally what we have to do. And it's like He
takes care of the rest, you know, And the scripture
also talks about like he you know, cares for the

(22:20):
birds and all the creatures, and so how much more
is he going to care for us? And he's going
to provide everything we need. So it's like, yeah, if
you have a family or whatever, it's like, you don't
have to just leave your family. That's not what it is.
It's just surrendering your life to him and knowing that
he's going to like give you what you need to
get through because you're in a living in obedience and
He always blesses obedience.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
So your video for my Jesus, like that took me
to my niece. Was that hard to make that video?

Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yes? It was. It was so long ago now it's
crazy to think back.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
And that song, I mean, I know that was from
your first album that was a Christian album, and now
you're making a country album and you're like merging the two,
which is amazing, I mean amazing, But my Jesus is
I mean, and I love the songs on Rebel too,
they're incredible, But my Jesus stops him in my tracks
like it's literally literally just it's like, oh my God,

(23:12):
like he can do anything. But that video was like
a reenactment of your brother's passing and it showed your parents.
It seemed like your parents are really like having a
hard time like connecting to you and each other in
life in that moment, but you kind you were kind
of going to church. Did that bring your parents back
to church? Did they have a hard time finding their

(23:32):
faith after that?

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Not exactly. The video was a little bit of a
more universal I think, for we wanted everybody to be
able to relate with it, and I would say that's
definitely the average. The average is not even standing together
in marriage or anything. It's bestly like it's up been divorced,
and the moment Jacob died, like after the cops left,
I think that was one of the first conversations my

(23:55):
parents had was Okay, we've heard the stories of divorce
and we were gonna choose to like stick together through
this as hard as it is. And I think it
was hard for them. I mean, I'm not going to
say because I wasn't in the situation, but like I
do think it was really hard for them to like
lose their son and then have to like figure that out.
However they did it. I'm so grateful they did, yes,
But yeah, they definitely struggled, and I definitely was the

(24:16):
strength of the family. I took on the way of
the family to get through that time.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
You did.

Speaker 1 (24:22):
Yes, I was like the one that kind of led
not to like in a like you know, I did
this way. I'm just like literally factual.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Like God gave me.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
It was like God gave me the strength to get
like the family through. However, that did come back and
bite me in the butt because like two years later
I hadn't dealt with any of it, and then I
was like, you know, signing a record deal and writing
songs and then had never even grieved the loss of
my brother.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Did you grieve through the songs?

Speaker 1 (24:47):
I did, But I had to go to some intense
counseling Like that was really like I had a moment
of going, Okay, I've got to face the reality.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Of this, because I was a nervous breakdown.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, And I was like bedridden on holidays and stuff
like I would be like in for weeks just because
I couldn't. Like the depression was so much with Jacob
and I hated Christmas. Oh my gosh, it was horrible.
It was like I people would ask me in interviews
like what's your favorite Christmas memory? And I would just
want to like cry my eyes out, and like it
was it was the worst thing.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
These great memories you had now were probably way too
can yeah, I think.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
And then holidays are really hard without your loved ones,
if it's like your first few holidays. But now I'm
in a great place now. But it took me a
few years to kind of get through that and counseling
and like figuring out like how to move on from
his loss and stuff. But but yeah, in the moment,
I was the strength. So that part of the video
is definitely accurate, and just I think me kind of
being the first. I was the first one to kind

(25:40):
of commit to God. We all committed to God in
different times. We didn't even talk about it, like we
talked about it months after he died, but we all,
for me and my sister, mom and dad had a
moment where we equally like in the same way kind
of committed to God. So it's really cool.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
So then what happened. God just put you on a
rocket ship and now you're like you made a Christian.
It won Billboard Christian Album of the Year. What was
that mind blowing? You go to the Billboard Awards and
your album with Christian country album of the Year, after
you had never even wanted to be a singer, and
then God gives you this assignment and you do the

(26:15):
assignment and he's like, Okay, let me show you what
I'm about to do with you. And now you're like,
how did you decide then to switch to country or
was it just natural? Because you're you're very deeply rooted
in christian You started off in Christian music, but now Rebel,
your second album that's April nineteenth coming up. Yeah, it's country,
but it's Christian. Yes, So how did you walk this road?

(26:35):
Or is God just guiding you? How do you know
what to do?

Speaker 1 (26:38):
It's been really fun. It's been like so amazing for
me because I started off, obviously with the My Jesus album,
which is Christian but like country sounding, and then I
realized early on in writing for my first album that
the label kind of starts you out on a path
and they just want you to kind of figure out
who you are. And at the time I didn't know.
I was seventeen, I wanted to be an astronaut. I'm like, wait,

(26:58):
what kind of john like Christian, but like, what kind
of genre do I want to write or sound like
I guess, and my voice has always been more country.
Growing up in Kentucky, I grew up on bluegrass music
and country music and like so it was all encompassing
all around me at all times. So that was really
like my foundation, and then as I got into writing,

(27:19):
it was like, okay, it's Christian country. I just knew it,
Like this is what I'm supposed to do. And I
also grew up on Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton, but
then I also grew up on, like, you know, some
of the classic CCM artists, So it's like I had
a really equal amount of both in my life, which
really helped shape the first album. Second album comes along
and I was just doing my thing and then Cindy

(27:40):
made from Universal Nashville Calls and was like, hey, we
want to give you an opportunity to put a song
to country radio. So literally it was very unexpected and
we were just like so blown away and so excited,
and and basically was like, Okay, we want you to
be who you are, but we just want to give
you an opportunity to reach more people with your second album.
So we started write and started working on the album

(28:02):
and naturally, it just has gotten more country as the
older I've gotten in just more the things I've learned
in the way of matured and my love for country
music has grown being in Nashville over the last few years,
for sure, But it's still the same. And it's like,
I don't look at it as switching to country and
leaving Christian. I look at it as just a continuation
of my music. It's it's just the older and it's

(28:23):
twenty two year old and versus you know, seventeen, eighteen
year old, and and there's a big difference in the
two and what I've learned in the ways that I've
you know that I've written these songs are a lot
to run than the last, but it's still the same.
And I think it's like the common thread line through
all the songs is the faith based message and the
Christian side of it. But then it's also there's a
few songs that are a lot more country than the

(28:43):
first record, which really, for me, is authentic. But also
I just wanted to reach a lot more people on
this album. I wanted people to be able to listen
to it even if they don't have faith, you know,
I want I want seeds to be planned through my music.

Speaker 2 (28:56):
So that was your mission? Is that your mission?

Speaker 1 (28:58):
Totally?

Speaker 2 (28:59):
When you're on stage and you're singing, like what's running
through your head? What's running through the human and and
then what's running through the spiritual? Guided? And is there
is there two different versions happening here?

Speaker 1 (29:10):
I don't know. That's a great question.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
I think for me, like when I'm on stage, well,
my biggest motivator is Jacob obviously, like I can passing
me away? I do?

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Can you feel him?

Speaker 1 (29:20):
I definitely can't.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
Are there's signs that you know he's near? Yes, totally?
What are his?

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Like? Butterflies are really common for me, like just seeing
them everywhere I go. But there's also times where like
fans in the crowd, well, like there's this one time
like well, actually this has happened twice I think now
where a guy looks just like him and like he'll
just have like a smile and he'll just be staring
at me the whole time, and I'm like, oh my god,
it's like torture because I'm like, in like a sweet way,
it's like wait, obviously this isn't like Jacob, but it's

(29:47):
like it like reminds me of him, and then it
like makes me really sad, but then it also makes
me really happy. And then it's just like or like
there was this little boy that came to a show
and he was like five or six dressed up as
a cowboy, and you know, he just reminded me of
brother when he was that age. And so it's just
like seeing little like moments like that through fans is
really sweet, and like having God kind of like give

(30:08):
me that as like a gift, you know, keeps me going.
And but on stage, I think for me, it's my
end goal. Mission is definitely just to when people listen
to my music, for them to experience hope and joy
and then ultimately to lead them to Jesus and for
them to experience his presence through my music. And I
think there's different ways of doing that with different songs.

(30:30):
You know. For me, it's like some songs, I want
to reach the world. I don't want to just reach
this small, little, you know, audience. Yeah, I think certain
songs I'm just like, yeah, like I just want to
I want this message to be a little bit more
broad because I want it to reach people that I've
maybe just gone through really broken like church environment, and
they don't have faith and they don't want anything to
do with it. But this like could maybe be a

(30:51):
little message of hope for them, you know. So for me,
it's like that's my end goal is obviously reaching people
for Jesus, but there's depending on the song kind of
depends on.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
My goal, if that makes sense you internal meter, Yeah,
Like it's like God's kind of telling you can turn
the volume up on this one. This one is for
this little group, like uh huh, like you're just you
just feel it.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Yes, I'm an emotional, big emotional person. Have you taken
the Enneagram Tex?

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yes, I'm a four.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
Okay, I'm a two, but I sometimes i'm a four
depending on the day, like I score both. But I'm
very like I can feel like emotions and I've always
kind of been that way, so I try to like
do that with my music too.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
Man. I mean, your story is just so big. It's
like it's so divine. It's so hard. It's so hard
to like process it all because immediately things have just
been happening for you, Like your first tour sold out.
I mean it's so hard for people to have a
sold out tour right away. It's sold out, like right
when it went online. And then you've been named like CMTS,

(31:52):
Next One of Country, Next Woman of Country, Spotify, Pandora
the Opry. It's like boom boom boom boom boom. Do
you just feel like Gosh saying okay, I'm just lining
it up for you, Like do you feel any pressure?
Do you just feel like, okay, that's God just like
bringing them in, Like I have this message to share
because I mean I feel like with you, it's like
it is all divine. I really feel like everything that

(32:12):
happens like you're supposed to have a large presence because
you are so clean and pure for God, and like
it's such a clear vessel. But it's like things just
keep getting stacked up of opportunities like big ones, and
people keep coming and voting for you, and you keep winning,
and like one of your best friends is Landy Wilson
and she's on your new album and you just did
a big show with Chris Tomlin and it's just like

(32:34):
everything is just You're just like in these big spotlight
positions from the start with the biggest stars.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, I know, I can't believe it. It's crazy. I'm
so grateful. It's just amazing what God's done in my life.
And I'm just I truly can't believe any of it.
Like I do think it's divine for sure. I mean
there's no like other explanation. My first song ever, my Jesus,
came out and in twenty four hours had like nine
million views on facebo book.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
What.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
Yeah, it was crazy and it just went viral overnight
and my life forever change. And I was like, Okay, God,
like clearly you're doing something.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
And then since they feel pressure that God's using in
such a big way, I mean like this is like
it you're yeah, chosen one, like you were, like you
are chosen, like we are all special and divine, but
like you've been chosen handpicked for a big message. Is
that scary?

Speaker 1 (33:23):
I think if I think about it too much, it is.
But if I don't, then I just I guess. My goal,
like I mentioned earlier, is kind of just like keeping
my eyes on him because if I get to like,
it's easy to kind of get swayed away with like
the fame and the success and the career. You know
that sometimes sometimes but most of you, I not know
because I don't do you like the fame and then

(33:45):
the tension.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
I don't, you don't Why don't you like it?

Speaker 1 (33:48):
I guess it's just because I don't do it for myself,
you know, I do for God. So it feels kind
of like weird to me.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
It's like when people are fawning over you. I fond
over you. Sorry, I literally like, because you're just so amazing.
It's so amazing to be in your presence. I mean,
I'm not trying to put you on like weird holy pedical,
because I know that's not why you're doing it, but like,
you just don't meet people at this day and age
who are following the assignment of God in this chosen

(34:16):
I just feel it like you're just such a like
you're such a chosen soul to be this light, especially
in this very dark world that we live in. What
do you do when people fawn over you and they're like,
oh my God, Ann, Like you're saving my life. Your
music is healing me, and like that's so your story
is giving me hope that you know there's redemption and
good things can come from suffering, because so many times

(34:38):
people get stuck in the suffering and they can't get
out of their pin.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
Yeah, when people say things like that, it really does
mean a lot. Like I never take for granted people
are always like I know you probably hear this a
million times, but like, no, I want people to tell
me their stories, Like that's what keeps me going. I
think when when it's more about me and less about
like my music or what God's done. I always just
one of my friends told me one time, like she
kind of used it as like every time someone gives

(35:03):
her a compliment, it's like a flower, and then at
the end of the day, it's like a big bouquet
and at the end of every day she hands it
to God and it's like, here's my bouquet of flowers
for the day. So mentally I do that on show days,
Like if I've done a meet and greet and I've
met a ton of people and they're saying super sweet things,
it's like I just kind of give it back to
God because it's not mine anyway, you know, it wasn't
ever to begin with, so it's just like, Okay, thank

(35:24):
you so much. Like it does mean a lot to me.
But I think if you're not careful, you start to
really like believe it, which it's good to believe it,
Like Okay, I'm yeah, I believe God's using me, but
like you don't want I don't ever want to let
it get to my head. So it's just a continuous
like Okay, God, you can have it, it's not mine,
you know, which then takes pressure off because then I'm
reminded like, oh wait, I don't have to like continue

(35:46):
to like prove myself or do this and this and this,
Like you've already gone before me. So all I got
to do is just surrender and trust and you're going
to continue to guide me. Which back to what you
said about like all the crazy things happening in my life,
It's like that's what it is is, because.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
That could be very overwhelm for a human if you're
just in your human being, that could be very overwhelming,
like all of a sudden, like oh my gosh, all
these eyes are on me, all this attention is on me,
I'm having all these accolades on me. A lot of
times people have like nervous breakdowns because they feel like
they have to keep it up or like the pressure.
Do you feel that or if you feel it, do
you immediately just know how to turn it over.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
I feel it a lot. I don't always know how
to turn it over. I think it just depends on
the like the day I really try to. But I
do definitely get a lot of anxiety and like, just
you know, it's just it is a ton of pressure.
What for sure?

Speaker 2 (36:32):
What is your anxiety? Like, where does your anxiety stem from?

Speaker 1 (36:36):
I think it's just all these big things that happen.
It doesn't make you feel like, wait, I'm not equipped
to that. Like me, like I'm not able to do this.
Like I'm just a little and from Kentucky. I still
feel like I'm fifteen with braces on high school, you
know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, dude, I do think I'm forty years old and
I still feel like I'm seventeen in Wago, Texas. And
I'm like, what in the world am I do? Like
raising a kid and having responsibilities? Yeah, I don't. Yeah,
uh huh.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
It's crazy, isn't it. It's just like going from that
to this and such extreme differences.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
And people looking up to you so much.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
Yes, and the pressure of that, which is a beautiful
it's a good pressure. It's like, Okay, this is amazing, Like,
I'm so glad I can be a role model for
these little girls and people. But yeah, I think just
for me, it's just been kind of anxiety just from
just carrying the weight of all of it. Is a lot,
but it's good. It's like the beautiful parts of it,

(37:26):
and there's obviously hard parts of it. Being an artist
is not always like the glips in the gland.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
That's like all like not it at all at all.
Being an artist is so hard.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
It's very hard.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
It's so grueling and taxing and draining. Would have been
the hardest parts. What have been the best parts and
the hardest parts.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
The best parts are definitely getting to meet people and
hear stories, like I live for that, just getting to
hear how God has chosen me to bring people to him,
Like I can't believe I'm just a small part of
the story. Like it's amazing. I love getting to meet Also,
I have all these little girls like bands that are
so precious.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
You started a whole thing called hey girl to like
girls have confidence and find their faith. Yeah, and I
know I love little kids.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
I've always loved kids. So getting to see like little
girls come to my shows dressed up like me is
like the cutest thing ever, And I love that part
of it, the hardest part. I had no idea when
I started how much you sacrifice, Like first of all,

(38:31):
how much you're gone. I did not realize that.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
And you like traveling?

Speaker 1 (38:35):
I do, but not I don't know.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
Do you get nervous on the bus? I always get
nervous on the bus that we're gonna crash when we're driving,
Like do you have any of that, Like do you
get Like I.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
Got into a bus accident on my first ever tour,
so yeah, that wasn't the great. Well we survived, but barely.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
It was bad wreck.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
Yeah, we almost like the bus almost flipped. It was
really bad and all the people in the top bunks
fell out on like during the accident. It was really bad. However,
the bus was still drivable and like nobody got hurt
and it was just like such a god thing. We
were just like this is I mean, it was crazy.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
What did you take away from that experience? Like why
this is the thing? Like why do those things happen?
Like everyone's fine, why did that happen? I know, why
do these things happen?

Speaker 1 (39:17):
No, it's crazy?

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Do you know why these things happen, No I.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Wish, I know.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
I'm like, what is the point of this life? Sometimes
I'm literally like I have to get I'm so grateful
to be in the physical form because I know, like
to be a human and to be in this moment
and to have this life and have the opportunity to
have a life is such a blessing. It's a miracle
to be here, so I know, like what a miracle
does to be here. But sometimes like what is the
point of all of this? It is so hard out here,

(39:46):
the suffering, the way we treat each other, you know,
the pain, and like humans, we just are such a
mess with our emotions and our feelings and tragedies and
to sort through it all, you know, like what do
you think the point of all is? Like why are
we not just like in heaven, Like why are we
doing this earth experience?

Speaker 1 (40:04):
I know, Well, I think it goes back to the
garden obviously, like in the beginning of Genesis of just
the fall of mankind and like you know, Adam and
Eve sinning, and like it was we were meant for
a perfect world. We were meant for no death, no suffering,
no loss, no sin. We were meant for basically just
heaven or what it is now, at least until we sinned,

(40:27):
and when we did, that's like when everything changed. And
so now it's like we suffer in this lifetime, but
we know that when we get to heaven it's no
more suffering, So it's like we that's the other thing
is like when you go through hard things or when
you lose so many love or whatever the situation is.
That's why it's like it feels like it's so against
your physical body or your mental like you can't like wait, why,
like why am I experiencing so much pain? And it

(40:50):
all goes back to the beginning that we our bodies
were not designed to have to go through this. So
the only thing we can cling to in those times
is Jesus and it's the only thing that's gonna help
us get through. So that's that's why to look at it.
I mean, obviously we don't know the answers and we
never will. Well, I mean we will when we get
to heaven. Maybe we'll see I think it'll make sense
when we get there one day, it'll kind of like
all come together and make sense. But I tell then,

(41:12):
it's just doing the best we can.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
We just have to wake up and do the best
we can, right, That's it, there's nothing else to do.
How do you manage fear? Because like I get very
worried about stuff. My husband's in a band, he travels
a lot too, and like I try not to think
about like random horrible things happening, you know, on stage
or on the road, or like, how do you deal
with your fear? Do you just because there's a lot
to be afraid of when you're in the public eye,

(41:35):
do you just the same kind of thing? Is it
just all the same process, just like turning.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
Over fears like something I I struggle with, not as
much as other things maybe, but I guess for me
it's just fearing, you know, I more like if I'm
going to mess up or you know, things like that.
Like I still get nervous when I go on stage
and stuff, and I still have I've played so many
shows now, but I still get in my head about it.
So when I get anxious or when I'm afraid, I

(42:03):
just remind myself of of the fact that it's all
going to be okay, Like the God's already gone before me,
And that thought helps me a lot. Like, Okay, I'm
here for a purpose and a reason. You've already gone
before me. You've already like planned out my day for me.
I don't even have to do anything. I just have
to follow and then it's all going to work out
in the end because I've gone through a loss though,
I do have that understanding, whereas like most people wouldn't

(42:25):
because if you haven't gone through anything like that, it's
hard for you to I mean, it really is if
you don't have the like evidence that he does always
come through. But for me, with what I went through
with Jacob, I literally have evidence like I would not
be sitting here with you right now if my brother
hadn't passed away, you know, and so like I have
the evidence of the good out of the bad, then
I can live in every day and hopefully inspire other

(42:46):
people to do the same.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
So oh, man, man, So tell me about some of
the coolest moments you've experienced, like your k level wards
when you sang on that stage. Was it at the
Grand oled Opery? Yeah, in your red dress, red dress?

Speaker 1 (42:57):
That was so fun.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Oh my gosh, you saying, my Jesus, You've kind of
started off with a little acapellallow. Were you freaking out?

Speaker 1 (43:04):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (43:05):
I look down and Lauren giggles right in front. She's
like your favorite yes, and you are kind of a
little bit.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
Yes, I love her.

Speaker 2 (43:12):
Is there going to be a tour one day? Yes,
there will be.

Speaker 1 (43:14):
I sure hope so, but there has to be.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
There has to be.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
Yeah, I love her.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
And she's just been a great mentor to you.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
Mm hm.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
Has she like giving you some good wisdom?

Speaker 1 (43:23):
Yeah? She has?

Speaker 2 (43:24):
What has she shared with you?

Speaker 1 (43:26):
A lot of stuff? I think the biggest is just
like how to set boundaries for yourself in this career.
We're both like just younger, and you know, we've kind
of had this like quick success.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
She's kind of the same way like hers is for God, Like.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
Yes, the same as you like she very similarly.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
She's very much God gave her an assignment and she's
doing it and she's following it for God, not for herself.
Even though she's freaking gorgeous like you, I mean, are
stunning gorgeous. I mean you could you could easily slip
into your ego if you wanted to, and so could she.
But it's like you can feel that with her as well.
It's like for God.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yeah, so she's given me a lot of good advice
on how to deal with anxiety and all.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
That kind of stuff.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
What does she say in the industry, A lot of
just coming back to God and like really like making
sure I'm connected with Him and not falling into other things,
and when I'm anxious, going back to Him as the source.
So that's been amazing.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
But it's probably nice to have someone who's done it
before you too.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
Yeah, Oh, totally, because she's had so many years of experience.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
Now.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
I think it's been like I want to say, like
eight years since her first album, or maybe it's been ten.
I can't remember, but but okay, the coolest thing you
ever I've ever done? Is that what you asked or
something like that? Probably all the award shows. But then
when I got nominated for a Grammy, that was really
really cool and freaking out album?

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Was it for the whole album?

Speaker 1 (44:48):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (44:49):
For my Jesus album.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
Wow, I was so shocked.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
He was the only female in that category.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
Right, trying to think, Yes, I think I was the
only female in that category.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
Yes, So here you are nominated for Best Christian Album
at the Grammys. Yeah, talk about God making waves with
you immediately. I mean he didn't like, let's not slow
roll this thing, Let's just jump to the top immediately.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
It was so crazy.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
What was like being in the room with all those celebrities, Like,
didn't I didn't get to go. We didn't go.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
I didn't get to go. I had a show.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
I was on a winter jam.

Speaker 1 (45:24):
Oh, I wasn't able to get out of the show.
And I was hard, like, but if I want a Grammy,
I know, but I didn't get to go, and I
was so sad. Oh, I know. But it's all good now. Yeah, Yeah,
hopefully there's another one that I'll get to go. But
I had a custom dress design and everything and it
was so pretty and I didn't get to wear it. Well,
maybe you can wear something else, Yes, totally.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
So tell me about Rebel this album because it's coming
out April nineteenth. You got some major cool duets with
Laney Wilson. You have Chris Tomlin on there, and Jordan
Davis that just came out your song. Tell me about
this album and what this album means to you, the
inspiration behind it. Sixteen songs, you co wrote all of them.

(46:07):
Matthew West used to be my neighbor. Really, Yeah, because
you wrote like every song with him. Yes, he's amazing.
He's an incredible Christian artist. Yeah, he used to live
across the street from me.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
Oh, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
He's so cool. Yeah, tell me about this album, what
it means to you, what the songs are about, how
you are, your inspiration.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
So we started out with Rebel. We wrote that in
the fall of twenty twenty two, and I'd had that
title on my phone for a while and I'd really
been wanting to write something along the lines of that,
but I didn't know what that meant.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
And it's not like rebel like people think. It's like
you're a rebel against the herd of people who are
living their life in accordance to themselves. You're like, I'm
gonna go with God.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
Yeah, it's like basically a rebel to the world in
the world's eyes. It's like, no, I'm not gonna be
I'm not gonna follow the world. I'm going to follow Jesus.
And in doing so, that makes me rebel because he
was one. So I was studying scripture. I was really
diving deep into like the way he would act and Jesus,
like the things he did were so against what people
thought he would do. He would go spend time with

(47:04):
the least of these and the prostitutes and the tax
collectors and all these people that like the Pharisees would
look down on and like it's basically like in the
equivalent of today's world, like you know, to the least
of these, and he would go love on them and
spend like he would prefer that over the religious people.
And I remember reading about all these stories and being like, Okay,
this is what I'm called to do. This, Like I'm
called to take the Gospel into the world. So for me,

(47:25):
that looked like, you know, putting a song to country
radio but not losing the message of my faith. So
that made me feel like a rebel. And then there
were so many other parts of it that kind of
came into play. But we decided on this concept and
then started writing the record in twenty twenty three, after
twenty twenty two was a crazy year, and then twenty
twenty three was on a tour for the first three
months of the year and the year Scotty A. Creery

(47:47):
that was with Winter Jam. This was last year twenty
twenty three, and then we started writing in May, I
think of last year, and we wrote forty songs cardy sixteen.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Yeah, so they just flow out of you. That's a
lot of songs to write.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
Well, the first record I wrote one hundred and fifty.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
Are they just coming?

Speaker 1 (48:07):
It's like, well, turning on that.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
Choice, blowing out.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
That was mostly by like people telling me I needed
to go write more songs, but it was definitely like,
so forty compared to one fifty is a big like
step in the right direction for me because it was
like forty quality songs versus like one hundred and fifty,
like you know, one hundred and twenty of those were
probably it was just me discovering who I was.

Speaker 2 (48:27):
You had to do a lot of self discovery, so
you wrote an yeah, and then you could find okay,
this is actually my sound yep.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
And so this record was forty only forty, but we
cut almost half of them, you know, and we probably
will cut more, probably from the songs we wrote. So
it's like it was just a really good time of
writing and got to work with some really cool people.
Matthew and Jeff and me wrote the kind of the
core of the record.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
What you y'all's dynamic how did j'aw become the little Trio?

Speaker 1 (48:54):
So Jeff used to play piano for Matthew on tour,
and then Matthew hired him because keyboard player. And then
I loved Jeff and I loved Matthew and I reunited them.
I take all credit for it because I did it.
I reunited them, and ever since then, they've written like
so many number one songs for all these Christian arts.

Speaker 2 (49:12):
Okay everything? Yes, do you get a percentage?

Speaker 1 (49:15):
Yeah? That's so. Yeah. So we we're like best friends And.

Speaker 2 (49:21):
Did you just meet through writing?

Speaker 1 (49:22):
And yeah, I just like through the industry and where
Jeff works for or as a writer on my label.
And then Matthew like just you know, his first love
is songwriting, so he always writes with all the upcoming
Christian artists and he's so like kind to young artists,
which I just loved him for that. And I used
to go see him in concert as a kid. So
I'm a cool is this Matthew s fan?

Speaker 2 (49:40):
How cool is that to all of a sudden be
with people that you like looked up to and now
they're your friends and your peers and you're actually changing
your life bringing them back together I know, you know
made I know, is that wild?

Speaker 1 (49:52):
Yeah? It's crazy. Yeah. And so we stuck together with
the three of us, and then we added some country
writers in like the Colegallley and Emily Wise Band, Lauren Hungate,
Acey Bethird.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
The list goes on, and Emily Wiseman just dropped a
song Champagna and sushi.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
Oh that's a good song.

Speaker 2 (50:16):
I've had five miscarriages and so she said two and
I'm like, I've never heard it put in Oh it's okay,
but it's okay, it's part of their journey. But I'm like,
I have never heard it put into a song so perfectly,
you know, I know. It's where the power of a
song can like heal you so deeply, because I'm like,
oh my god, this is every woman's story.

Speaker 1 (50:35):
Who has song is so through that. My manager Maggie
sent it to me and I was like, I've been
listening to it.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Like, lets stop listening o'clock.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
I know I can't relate in any way, shape or form,
but it's just like pain, a beautiful song.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
It's perfect.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:49):
That's why the power of music, it's like it transcends
in a way that like words can't just words, you know. Okay,
so she wrote on your album too, Yeah?

Speaker 1 (50:59):
Yes, So a lot of really an incredible country songwriters
came on the album to work.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Jaron Johnson. I loved Jared.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
Yes, Jaron's amazing.

Speaker 2 (51:07):
He's so funny.

Speaker 1 (51:08):
It's like the og.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
He's coming on this podcast at some point. He's like
the og rock star of this town. Yeah, I mean,
been here for so many years.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Is so badass he is, he really is. I love him.
He's crazy all over the place, but I love it.

Speaker 2 (51:20):
And he has your single right yeah I ran in
the review. Yes, okay, so you had fun just like
getting to know all these songwriters.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
Oh yeah. It just was so fun just getting to
like have their perspective on the record, which was the
country side of things. And then my you know, Christian
like bass, Matthew and Jeff because it was like, okay,
let's keep ann who she is, but then and introduce
like this new country thing to it. So it was
really cool. And then Jonathan Smith too co produce the
album with Jeff Pardo every song on it. That was

(51:47):
so fun. Fact, I really love like just getting to
like work on production and stuff. I don't like I
like that more than songwriting. So when we worked on
the album, I was like super involved in the co
production of all of it, which gives me life. So
it was super fun.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
Tell me how you would describe your sound because you
are this like I feel like it has not been
a regular thing for Christian artists to be fully emerging
into country music and be so accepted and welcomed, and
it has been like no problem for you, obviously because
you've been chosen. But it's like it has just been
like this this easy. Has it been an easy transition
over to country, has it? Yeah? Because you have a
single yeah Strong at Christian radio while you have a

(52:23):
single like country radio and Rand and the rear View.
That's wild that they're both going at the same time.
I feel like that never happens. Yeah, does it?

Speaker 1 (52:31):
I don't think it's ever happened before.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
I don't think it has either.

Speaker 1 (52:33):
Yeah, first time. So we're it's exciting. We're figuring it out.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
But and Strong, it's like, like, is it number one already?
Because it's like, I.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
Don't think it is yet, but I think it's I
don't know. I can't keep up, but I'm my team would.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
Know it's top thirty one. Yes, that's incredible. So here
you are climbing the charts in the Christian world while
you're doing Is it harder? Are you having to work
both of the industries at the same time. Yes, you
haven't do all the same things you did for the
Christian industry and now all these things for the country.
Are you do you have any time off?

Speaker 1 (53:03):
No, it's it's crazy, it's really crazy.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
You feel equipped. You just can handle them.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
I guess. I'm like, I guess I'm supposed to be
doing this.

Speaker 2 (53:11):
You're going to all the Christian show you're doing, You're
still playing Christian shows, going to the award shows. You
what do you?

Speaker 1 (53:16):
What is your well? Like we did like Scotty McCreary
and then like I'm headlining in the fall, so like
we're doing both and then like in the summer we're
doing half Christian half country festivals. Okay, it's the same
set on both stages. It's not like a different and
on the country that it is on the Christian it's
it's the same exact set, so just me, but just
in two different environments, which is the same exact show.

(53:37):
It's just label. The difference is a Christian or a
country festival. That's the only difference. Same thing with the tours. Obviously,
the headlining tour will be like a lot more of
my story because I have more time every night. But
you know, on the Scottie it was like the same
set we do. Which is so cool to be able
to do both and be welcomed in the country space
and have my faith like still be able to be

(53:57):
talked about and stuff.

Speaker 2 (53:58):
So so I know you talk I don't know if
you've talked about it on songs or a certain song
in particular, but you know, sometimes Christianity gets a bad
rap because people can be super judgy, people can use
it as a weapon sometimes. How would you define Christianity
and how would you what would you want to tell
someone who's had a bad experience with the religion part
of it, not the actual faith in what Jesus is

(54:19):
in God, but like like sometimes institutions can kind of
like people, we can mess things up. You know, you
can get it a little bit wrong. It starts off
with such a good point, but then it goes through
the human filter and it can become actually a negative
thing for someone. How would you describe Christianity and people
who've necessarily had a bad experience, like what is your Christianity?
You're Jesus.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
Well, I think for people that have had a bad experience,
I'm so sorry for them because it's like I totally
understand like how that can make you want nothing to
do with it. And I think that's the reality for
most people in the world that have turned away as like, well,
we had a really bad church experience, so we don't
want anything to do with it. But obviously that's not Jesus.
And I think it's like we as humans are going

(55:01):
to make our own churches and our own institutions, and
then it's like, well, if Jesus is not present there,
then obviously it's not going to be him, and so
it's just figuring that out is kind of hard. But
I think when you realize that's not him, that's not
his nature, then I hopefully you'll be freed from that
and find a church or a community that is actually
following Jesus.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
Because it's hard when you have the power because even
like look at yourself like you've been chosen, you've been called,
and you still have to like remind yourself to like
clear the ego, like you know, like when you get
the anxiety like to go through your checklist, and like,
I'm sure preachers and people in charge of faith they
have a human experience and egos that it filters through,
and if you aren't checking yourself and keeping that vessel
clear all the time, it could be easy to get

(55:43):
your own desires and your own ego involved with it. Yeah,
totally as the leader.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
Yeah, but uh, I would say, just I define it
as just following Jesus. I think, fun fact, christian the
word Christians only used in the Bible like three times,
and it's it's like, actually not about that. It's totally
not about the religion. It's about following Jesus or being
in a prentice of him. So it's like, what does
it mean to like follow him, which is literally just

(56:09):
loving your neighbor as yourself, loving Jesus, serving him, glorifying him.
But I think Christianity and like the whole church as
a whole, has boxed it up as religion. And that's
what I couldn't stand when I was growing up in Chach.
I didn't want to go and just check it off
my list, but then next morning, like live this worldly
life that didn't match up it was like, wait, how
can I People were just coming to church just to

(56:31):
say they went to church to make it into heaven.
But that's not what it's about. And then when I
realized that, like the God of the universe loves me
and he sent his son to die not just for
the world, but for me, and he loves me and
he cares about me, then like that's when I found
true freedom. So I think if people can just realize
that's that's the goal. It's not about going to church
just to go to church. It's like actually having an

(56:53):
experience with him and a relationship with him, just like
you would your earthly father or a friend. It's like
you can talk to him like he's your friend because
he is your friend and he wants to talk with you.
That's all he wants is just to have you and
to hold you. And I think when you realize that,
then it takes the religious part out of it, because
I just I don't like viewing it as that. Like
for me, that was so unattractive. It was like I

(57:13):
don't want to just go to church and like wear
a fancy dress every Sunday.

Speaker 2 (57:17):
You know, like I just do what somebody tells me.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Yeah, I just want to like experience it for myself,
and when I did, that's when my life changed.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
So yeah, okay, So tell me what you're most excited
about right now, what's going on with you? Like, what
are you like enjoying the most, What are you loving
the most? What's the most life giving thing in your
life right now?

Speaker 1 (57:36):
Honestly, the songs on the album really are, like I'm
not just saying that, Like I really love these songs
and I'm really proud of them, and I listen to
them all the time as just like pure inspiration for
my own life. I never feel like my song I
always feel like my songs are just like a gift
from God, like every song we write, and like, thank
you God for this gift, because it's not mine, it's
clearly ears and the songs that He's given me on

(57:56):
this album have helped me through the last six eight
months of life. So I love just that. Right now,
I'm so excited about this album coming out. We have
all me and my team have worked super hard getting
it out and just it's going to feel so good
when it's finally out and the songs just hopefully obviously
they reach people. But then I have a really exciting
tour in the fall that I'm.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Really looking forward to tell us about it.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
It's a headlining tour. I can't give more details, but
I'm very excited about it. And that's like we're just
working on that and just planning it all. And I
love production of tours. I love getting to like do
the stage design and the stage plot and work with
like my production manager and like all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
So they can tell us there like any kind of vibes, Well,
what is your Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:40):
Yeah, yeah, it's just going to be like the album.
But that's all I can say. It'll just be around
the out of feel like the album.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
It'll feel like that album, the album manifested in physical form. Yeah,
like you singing? Do you have a favorite song on
the album? The one that I hear the most?

Speaker 1 (58:55):
Milestones?

Speaker 2 (58:56):
Tell me why you like that the most?

Speaker 1 (58:57):
I love that song because it's very accurate to my
life right now, and I think it felt like nobody
was really talking about the subject that I know every
artist feels deep down inside.

Speaker 2 (59:06):
What is a subject?

Speaker 1 (59:07):
It's basically like what it means to sacrifice your life
for your career and like missing milestones, to make it
in the industry or to like, it's not even about
just industry, it's everybody can relate with it. It puts
things into perspective. It's like, what does it mean to like,
you know, have a career, but also like, you know,
cherish time of family and like put that above your career,

(59:30):
because I think the world we live in, there's nothing
wrong with this but America and just in general, it's
like career over everything, career over family, career over marriage,
career over kids. And I'm on the other end, I'm
like family over career, Like that's like, that's that's it.
Because when you have a loss in your family like
I did, it puts everything back into perspective of just

(59:51):
like cherishing your family. And so this song is really
a lot about that, just like how I view it
all and how I view my career versus family life
and how to manage them both. And I really love
the song and it was like it was like therapy
getting to write it for me. So I hope people
can relate with it, even if it's not an you know,
industry person that I think it's a broad enough message.
I'm hoping people get really with it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
So do you feel like you found a balance?

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
I do, now you do?

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Yes, What is your balance?

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
I think just like if I have something that's important
to me, just just putting in on the calendar, you know,
like blocking off things like whether it's like a wedding
or a graduation or whatever.

Speaker 2 (01:00:28):
Even if a Grammy award and appearance shows up, you're
gonna stick with it. Well maybe not maybe not Grammys,
but anything other. Yes, and you're going to put that over.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
You're prioritize knowing that like saying no is not gonna
be the end of the world. Saying no is not
going to end your career in five seconds. You know.
It's like just saying no is a good thing sometimes
and setting boundaries. So that's what we've learned to do.
And my team's been amazing about it too.

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
So yeah, and you're amazing. I feel so honored to
sit next to you and talk to you and hear
your story and just so amazing see how you walk
in your faith and how you have turned just this
tragedy and to following God and blessing others and helping
us all. Like it's incredible to be in your presence
and hear your story. So thank you for coming, thank

(01:01:12):
you my podcast, thank.

Speaker 1 (01:01:13):
You for having me. It's been awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
I always wrap up with leave your Light, and it's
just open ended. What do you want people to know?

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
Oh, that's so sweet? Hm, maybe that, like I guess,
just to continue to push through whatever hard circumstances they're
going through. Like no matter what you're facing, whether it's
a loss of a job or a divorce, or a
cancer diagnosis or a loss of a loved one or whatever,
that you would just remind yourself that God's with you.

(01:01:44):
Just keep going, like the days are gonna get brighter.
Like my song ran in the Room. It is such
a message of just like there is hope for the future.
It's not always going to look this dark, and there
will be a day where the sunshines and it's you know, beautiful.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
So, okay, can you stick around for like a few
burning questions just a qui little bit this episode like
ten minutes. Okay, so y'all sit around on Thursday. It
is an answer some brning questions. And I cannot wait
to hear your answer because you are amazing. Thank you
so much for Joy and Wilson. Y'all check around on tour,
her new album, April Nineteenth comes out. Rebel so exciting.
You're amazing than you, You're awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
Thank you