8 May 2008

An Interview with Laurianne Cates

by Jeff Bourque

On Sunday, May 11th at 6 p.m., we will have the Future Grace Celebration Concert to celebrate Future Grace and all that it means for our congregation. During the concert, you will have the opportunity to see David Spencer, Ben Shive, Wendy Wills, Laurianne Cates, Josh Wilson, and Paul Bogart perform some of their songs with a full band. The remainder of this post is an interview with Laurianne Cates. Check this site later this week for interviews with the other artists.

Laurianne is a native Nashvillian (well, Franklin really) who shares her music regularly in Nashville’s music scene. She has just released a great EP titled “Something Real,” and I’ve had it in my car since she released it (meaning it’s one of about five albums I’m currently listening to).

How long have you been at Grace, and what made you decide to make it your home church?

I have been at Grace for seven years. I had been studying Religion at Belmont University and was really searching for answers as to why I believed what I believed…not just because I grew up in the church and that’s what I was supposed to do. When I started visiting Grace I heard the Gospel, I mean, really heard it and began to find those answers. I wanted to be a part of and invest in Grace Community to continue to grow, learn and apply the Gospel in my life.

I know that your experience with the music business has had its ups and downs. If you had your ideal situation as an artist, what would it look like?

I would love to be on the road, touring, playing shows every night. Eventually, I’d like to sign with an independent record label and keep making music for as long as people buy music! (PS-Downloading music is bad and illegal. Support the artist. We have to eat too!)

How do you look at music impacting culture? As an artist who is also a believer, how would you like to see God use you?

Music, I think, is universal. It can cross cultures and impact them. We are in a culture where musicians are elevated to the extreme (American Idol, America’s Got Talent, etc.) and have a platform, whether constructive or destructive. As a believer and artist, I want to be a part of God making His glory known to all the earth and to every generation through song; Lord willing, to have a platform to promote Him. The thing is, a song can say things sometimes a person can’t. It has the potential to speak right to the heart. I want to write those songs. They may not say anything directly about Jesus, but they speak truth. I want to be able to speak life and be a light in the dark places.

What songs will you be doing on Sunday?

I’ll be doing three songs: Louder, Red Wagon, and Everything Right.
Louder is a song that is all about a relationship with Jesus and how it feels to be in it. Red Wagon is a sweet little song I wrote with my brother, Jess, and his wife Mandy. It is about a movement into relationship with another person with all the good and that bad that goes with it. And Everything Right is kind of an anthem that communicates that no matter where you are, what you’re going through, what you’ve done, how low you think you’ve gone, Love does and always will make everything right.

Category: Invitations.

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