Latest christian music: Nineteen albums into his career and less than a year from his 50th birthday, Michael W. Smith continues mixing up his creative palette. On the brand new Stand, the famed singer/songwriter leader merges contemporary pop, praise and a newly developed organic feel—courtesy of producer Matt Bronleewe and co-writer Leeland Mooring, the 18-year-old front man for Leeland, who contributes to seven tunes. Though the messages vary throughout eleven songs, Smitty makes a bold call to the church to not only stand up for its beliefs while reaching out to the world, but also being confident of God's love for his people, despite the Devil's distractions. We talked to Smith about Stand and its concepts, how the church can take a stand, and his take on the current state of Christian music.
How were you able to make the record so quickly, especially after the Healing Rain tour, your family and church duties, plus releasing the movie The Second Chance?
Smith The biggest thing was that The Second Chance was supposed to come out in the fall of '05 and was bumped to February '06, which is when I was supposed to focus on nothing but the new Smitty record. But from January through June, I was traveling around the country promoting the movie, so that was the biggest thing that put me behind—and then trying to find some time to get creative and back into the saddle.
I thought there was no way to get the record done in time for a fall release. The only way to pull it off was to take some risks. I turned over all production responsibilities to somebody else, and felt the need to co-write. I wrote with a 17-year-old kid [at the time] named Leeland [Mooring] and Matt Bronleewe produced the whole record. We cut it in 45 days, and I really like what happened.
Tell me about the more organic direction.
Smith There's no veneer and I think it's very authentic. There's not a synth on the record and it's very transparent and very personal. I think you hear that, especially when you hear me singing and there's not a whole lot of reverb. Although I didn't plan it, the record at least feels like more than just a bunch of songs. It feels like an experience, especially through that middle part that starts with a song I wrote for my daughter called "How to Say Goodbye" through "The Stand" and "Come See." It all feels like I could've done that in church and it would've worked straight through.
How did you discover Leeland and invite him to contribute as a writer?
Smith I heard about the band Leeland through my management and they were having a showcase at The W in Franklin. I caught probably the last three songs of their set and was blown away, not only by the music and songs, but what I saw on stage—the authenticity and heart, especially of Leeland, this kid who didn't even want to become rock star. It was just an anointing—and I don't say that often—and I knew there something extremely special about this kid.
I met him afterwards, got a seven-song CD the next day, and two days later I said, "I've got a wild idea: What if we brought in Leeland to co-write for three or four days?" So I called him up, and he came to town and started writing away. Since then we've become very good friends, and all my kids have fallen in love with him and the whole band.
I had some ideas, Matt had ideas and Leeland came with tons of ideas and we couldn't hit "record" fast enough! In the studio, I was on a little Wurlitzer piano, Matt was on guitar and Leeland on guitar. We just jammed and got excited. Across three days, we had ten ideas that were down and we ended up taking a bunch of them that made it on the album.
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