“I think naturally, and maybe subconsciously, I go into writing about how good and faithful the Lord is because I need to remind myself in those seasons.” We have bonus episode out today with Josh Baldwin! He speaks on the Isaiah 43 inspiration for the songs on his latest record, the spiritual reminders he needs in seasons of depression and anxiety…

CeCe Winans is back on the podcast today! She shares how she prepares and gets out of her own way before leading worship, never forsaking Him in order to perform for the people you’re leading and how we’re living in a time where the Church needs to make more noise. She and Chris Baker also discuss her powerful versions of “Goodness of God,” “Holy F…

“Singing or praying the Psalms is a performative act. Saying them to God alters one's relationship in a way that merely listening does not.” Robbie Seay discusses his journey from The Robbie Seay Band all the way to being involved in the first original project from The Worship Initiative, multi-generational collaboration, healthy leadership, and wr…

Episode TEN of Season 5 is here with Henry Seeley and Andrew Holt of The Belonging Co. Henry and Alex Seeley were our very first podcast guests, so it was special to revisit that moment and celebrate ten years of The Belonging with them: the selection process and approach in re-recording these quintessential songs, leading creative people well, fos…

Temitope is a singer/songwriter and activist based in Nashville. His name “Temitope” means “mine is thanks” and originates from the Yorùbá tribe in Nigeria, where his dad grew up. Through his Nigerian dad and British mom who both immigrated to the United States, TEMITOPE experienced the beauty of diversity within his multicultural household. He and…

The Lead Worship Well podcast is back! Today we share an episode with Grammy Award-winning songwriter, producer and musician, Dwan Hill about the impact and influence of the gospel choir. A little over a year ago, he started The Choir Room in Nashville. Its purpose is to bring choir back and inspire a diverse group of people to unite in song and mi…

Michael Freeland Miller is the lead pastor and founder of UPPERROOM in Dallas, TX. The prayer movement that UPPERROOM first sparked in 2010 has now reached every corner of the globe. His book His House, His Presence serves as a timely reminder for believers worldwide to prioritize intimacy with God and embrace the power of prayer. Michael and Krist…

While at our office to record sessions of their new songs on Crown Down, Kristian sat down with Hope Adams and Josiah Funderburk to talk about their creative team’s songwriting process and how they’re able to write songs that not only bless their church, but travel beyond the walls of Gateway. Enjoy this insightful and encouraging conversation toda…

Worship leader and Gospel-influenced artist Anna Golden has a heart for worship teams of the local church. We were honored to release her latest album CHURCH early this year on the Lead Worship Well platform, which is all about the revival Anna believes is coming to the local church, in a way we have yet to see. Anna returned to the church she grew…

Tyler Christian Roberts joins us today to speak into leading worship from a healthy place, drawing from his own experience as worship pastor at Red Rocks Church. He also shares the story of Red Rocks Church’s beginnings, finding God in unlikely places, and how the Church is not defined by its buildings or physical spaces, but by the presence of God…

Pastor, worship leader & songwriter William McDowell joins us on the Lead Worship Well podcast today! Based out of Orlando's Deeper Fellowship Church, McDowell first gained wide attention with 2009's number three Billboard Gospel Album, As We Worship Live, and continues to release some of the most notable music in the gospel music space today. He a…

Cody Carnes joined us to share some stories and encounters that inspired the songs on his latest album, Firm Foundation, the day before is was released into the world. He and Kristian also dove into the idea of worship being a weapon, and how we can lean into its power as we’re met with difficult seasons. Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe were our second e…

The Lead Worship Well podcast is back! To kick off Season 5, we revisit a roundtable conversation we hosted in February on the past, present and future of Gospel Music. This roundtable features one of our podcast hosts Chris Baker (Grammy Award-winning producer and our Gospel Brand Manager), EJ Gaines (Sr. VP of Marketing & Co-Executive Director at…

Since his major-label debut in 2008, Matt Maher has become a staple in the artistic and songwriting community. A 9x-GRAMMY® nominee and 3x-GMA Dove Award® winner, he has written such impactful songs for the church including “Lord, I Need You,” “Because He Lives (Amen)” “Your Grace Is Enough,” and more. Matt came by our office during the Texas leg o…

Jeff Sandstrom started his career as an independent music producer and engineer, and produced several Dove Award-winning projects in the studio. From 2007 to 2016, he was the Front of House engineer for Chris Tomlin and Passion Conferences. He’s also toured with Matt Redman, Lauren Daigle, Steven Curtis Chapman and others, and has been a sought-aft…

Kristian Stanfill is a part of Sixstep Records/CCMG as an artist and songwriter and has been an anchor worship leader with the Passion movement since 2005. He’s written and led songs such as “Glorious Day,” “God, You’re So Good,” and the RIAA Gold®-certified track “One Thing Remains.” Kristian and our Kristian discuss the inspiration behind Make It…

Israel Houghton is a Grammy award-winning recording artist, songwriter, producer and worship leader, as well as a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He formed Israel & New Breed in 1995, which was started to be more of a movement than a music group. Chris Baker has a unique interviewing perspective as he’s been a part of Camp New Breed for years. …

Matt Redman is a GRAMMY®-Award winning worship leader and songwriter who has been a leading contributor to the global Church’s songbook over the last 20 years. He joins us to speak on the evolution of songwriting in the worship space (the growth of co-writing and how it’s being taken more seriously) and how the theme of the cross has been a common …

Faith City Music is a collection of worship leaders whose united gifts are marked by a diverse sound, passionate creativity, high energy, and authenticity. This eclectic group was formed by Grammy Award Nominated Artist and Vocal Powerhouse Tim Bowman Jr., and includes a range of dynamic artists like Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Maranda Curtis, Bri Babinea…

“I’m a person trying to pull Him down and pull you up.” We were honored to host Todd Galberth on our latest episode! Chris Baker and Todd talk about how to follow “the river” over simply following the setlist while leading worship and how to balance the identities of being an artist, but more so being a worship leader. He also speaks on some powerf…

We are excited to share our first episode of 2023! Recorded right before the Christmas holiday, Chris Baker spoke with Nate Moore, Kirby Kaple and Ryan Ellis of Housefires as they unpacked the conception of their group: how Housefires grew out of a desire to create approachable resources for their community and how they’ve fostered humble collabora…

Grammy-nominated Gospel artist, author, and speaker Anthony Evans is known for songs that merge a message of faith with a contemporary sound. The son of Dr. Tony Evans, founder and pastor of Dallas, Texas' Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, as well as a high-profile radio and television host, Anthony Evans started his career in 2001 as a background singer…

Jackie Brewster is a certified Enneagram coach and Experiential Specialist. Jackie focuses on helping individuals, couples, leaders and teams uncover and discover who they are and how to grow towards health in their personal lives as well as in their corporate roles through the teachings of the Enneagram and Biblical truths. Jackie gives us an over…

Christine D’Clario is an award-winning Latin CCM artist and worship leader. In her formative years, she suffered significant abuse and loss which eventually led her to the church. After straying from her faith in college, D'Clario suffered an extreme bout of depression and contemplated suicide. Citing a divine interaction, she eventually pulled her…

Yancy is a Dove Award-winning worship leader, songwriter and producer of hundreds of songs that make Jesus loud. She is a powerhouse at leading and teaching kids how to worship and creates popular worship resources for churches and homes around the world. Kristian and Yancy caught up at Experience Conference on the authenticity of kids worship, how…

Our closing guest for SUMMER OF SOUNDS is none other than Luke Anderson. Luke was a part of Elevation Church for over 10 years and has played drums on several Elevation Worship albums and tours. Luke is also a drum instructor, a sessions musician, and creates drum samples for MultiTracks.com. Mike and Luke chat about Extremely Small Drums (our Apri…

Leonard Ray is a keyboardist, producer, and composer based in Las Vegas, NV. He's worked extensively on various tours, studio, and live recordings with artists such as Matt Redman, Aaron Lindsey, Israel Houghton, Tori Kelly, David & Nicole Binion, William McDowell, Tasha Cobbs-Leonard, and many others. Leonard is extremely passionate about sound de…

Welcome our first drummer guest, Aaron Johnson of River Valley Worship, to Summer of Sounds! Aaron is a Minneapolis-based drummer, producer and instructor. With over 20 years of experience in live performance, recording sessions and teaching, he has always had a deep passion in building and serving the local church. He has played drums and been the…

Welcome Aaron Robertson to our next Summer of Sounds podcast episode, hosted by Mike Graff of @coresoundpads! Aaron Robertson is a producer, composer, and keyboardist at Elevation Church. He’s one of the original members of Elevation Worship and has been involved with producing many of their albums. He has a passion to reach people through music an…

Welcome Peter James to our second Summer of Sounds podcast episode, hosted by Mike Graff of Coresound! Many consider Peter James to be one of the most influential sound designers and keys players in modern worship, and the pioneer of creating software instrument templates for live use. He has contributed to over 45 Hillsong albums and has had his s…

The Summer of Sounds series, hosted by Mike Graff of Coresound, is here! In addition to 25 years as keyboardist, musical director, and producer for Michael W. Smith, Jim Daneker has had a diverse musical career. He has produced albums, arranged and written music for film (including trailers for Hollywood blockbusters such as the Fast and The Furiou…

Geek out with us on all the technical aspects of capturing Elevation Worship’s latest album LION featuring LJ Mitchell (Music Director) and Jonathan Mix (Head Audio Engineer)! Every Elevation Worship album sonically reflects where their church is right now, and LION is no exception. LJ and J Mix discuss why Elevation calls their live recordings “Ni…

“I write my best songs when I get lost in His presence” - Jonathan Helser. Jonathan and Melissa Helser long to empower those they encounter with the truth that Jesus died to be with us and vibrantly lives inside of us. In 2007, The Helsers hosted their first discipleship school called the 18 Inch Journey, named for the distance between the head and…

On the heels of her debut album CLARITY, DOE joins us for an episode on bridging the worlds of secular and worship music. An artist that coalesces several genres into one, DOE declares that “God reigns in both the secular and Christian worlds” and explores the fact that when you communicate with people in the language they speak in, you can reach t…

Carlos Whittaker is a People’s Choice Award winner, a former recording artist, a social media maven, and currently spends the majority of his time writing books and speaking on stages around the world. Carlos fearlessly confronts tough topics and encourages a culture of healthy communication, giving the people who engage with his content the opport…

Zach Neese has been a worship pastor and teacher for more than 20 years. In addition to serving as the Pastor of Worship Development at Gateway Church for 14 years, he also directed the Christ for the Nations School of Worship and helped launch and teach the Worship Leadership programs at The King’s University. Zach has a Kingdom culture perspectiv…

Darlene Zschech, globally-acclaimed composer, worship leader, pastor, author and speaker, joined us to speak on Empowering Women In Ministry and what anchoring your identity in Christ through cultivating a culture of encouragement looks like. She shared with us how leading worship as a woman looked different in certain parts of the world, but that …

Joel Houston, world-renowned songwriter and worship leader of Hillsong UNITED, reminds us that our purpose is “in the dig” and “in the search” of the creative process. Joel speaks to his hope of reaching the person who’s lost faith with the songs God has blessed him with, how success can be an enemy to art, the missional aspects of all the projects…

We are so excited to kick off Season 3 of The Worship & Technology Podcast with this conversation on why Music is Great, but Jesus is Greater with Bob Kauflin! Author of Worship Matters and True Worshipers, and pastor at Sovereign Grace Ministries since 1985, Bob remind us to live in the good of what we’re singing about; to intuit what is happening…

In our Season 2 finale we sit down with David Ware of Hillsong Worship! We learn about his “God adventure,” the evolving mission of Hillsong Worship to be “a global church for the local expression,” and the beautiful behind-the-scenes story of how Fresh Wind came to be. "We can often complicate creativity. God’s truth is simple." David also speaks …

We are so excited to have CeCe Winans on our podcast today. God has trusted CeCe with success and her notoriety has only brought her closer to Him. She shares how her “why” hasn’t changed despite being named the best-selling female gospel artist of all time, and she reminds worship artists that you have to want God more than anything. “Good success…

Today we hear from Aodhan King from Hillsong Young & Free! He talks about how he loves the vehicle of song as a non-confrontational way to evangelize, the birth of Hillsong Young & Free, and how is worship and mission have always been intrinsically linked. He also speaks on the new single and how it’s meant to express the inclusivity of God’s love …

Grammy-winning producer, writer, musician, arranger and MD Vaughan Phoenix is here to close out our Black History Month series! Vaughan is “the ghost and the machine” behind some of Gospel’s biggest, most influential artists (Tasha Cobbs Leonard, William Murphy, Brian Courtney Wilson, All Nations). He shares why being influenced by all genres contr…

11x Grammy-nominated Gospel powerhouse Marvin Sapp (@marvinsapp) is here to talk his responsibility as an artist to deliver “horizontal” messaging that causes people to have a vertical relationship with God, why he always prioritizes singing classic hymns, and most importantly, how he keeps it “churchy and funky.” | For more on Marvin Sapp visit: h…

Grammy-nominated Gospel artist Todd Dulaney (@todddulaney1) comes on our podcast encouraging you to be your authentic self, as that is what God wants you to be and how He will live His purpose through you. Chris and Todd declare together that worship has nothing to do with us and that it’s actually about us getting out of the way. Todd also shares …

We’re so excited to kick off Black History Month 2021 with this conversation between Chris Baker and JJ Hairston. Chris and JJ talk about how artists wanting to echo what’s popular is an epidemic in the music industry today, and that being excited about your unique identity yields more longevity than chasing what’s popular. JJ also encourages all o…

Pat Barrett (@patbarrett) comes on the podcast to break down the songs on his upcoming album and the place they came from. He talks about how the success of “Good Good Father” was one of the truest examples of the notion that someone else can be helped in their faith journey by something you’ve personally walked through, how “true religion is camer…

We’re diving deeper into the technology side of the Worship & Technology podcast today. Season 2, Episode 4 is a conversation with collaborative producer project Bottega (@bottega.bottega), made up of 3 incredible musicians from Hillsong. They discuss how Bottega allowed them to stop “burying things in the sonic graveyard” and how they go about mar…

Chris Baker interviews his friend Jonathan Nelson, a Stellar award-winning, Dove nominated international artist, songwriter, and worship leader. He serves as the Worship Pastor at New Birth Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. This conversation is full of both Chris' and Jonathan's experience and wisdom, and we're sure you will get much out of it. |…

Chris Baker is a Grammy Award-winning producer, multi-instrumentalist, and has toured the world as a musician, music director, and Ableton Live technician. He's a popular and well-known face in the Gospel community. We're proud to announce he is now part of the MultiTracks.com family heading up our new division: MultiTracks Gospel. Listen to this e…