Taste and See, 2024
Taste and See began as a song on a drive between a retreat center in rural Pennsylvania and my cousin’s studio back in Pittsburgh. I had been visiting my sister, Lucy, and sharing with her some of my new songs— songs from my then new album, The Color Green.
I was writing new songs, recording songs I was proud of, and driving about— getting free coffee and playing music for friends and family— ‘twas a heady time for me.
I was grateful for everything God was showing me, and especially for his mercy in allowing me to create these songs and share them with other people. My thankfulness came out in that simple refrain, while I was driving back to Pittsburgh: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; He’s been good to me.”
Of course God’s goodness is a constant that is easy to lose sight of in a broken world. It’s difficult to live in brokenness— broken cities, broken people, broken selves. How do we carry on? Why? The verses were stabs at answering questions like these, because they have to be asked.
The music for this song was recorded in Nashville, at Blackbird Studio H. I was assisted by good friends, Benjamin Ovalle and Johan Glidden. Benji acted as the primary recording engineer that day. Johan helped me polish the melody for the chorus that day, which was greatly needed, and then played guitar and sang the backing melody as well.
The track was mixed and mastered by my cousin, Thomas Barry, in his studio in Pittsburgh, PA. The song was published and distributed by 631 Records.
The Color Green, 2022
If you’d asked me several months ago what my album was about, I would have said grace; because that’s where I was looking and what I was hoping for. I felt desperate, a little scared even.
I don’t remember why, but I thought of the woman who reached out to touch Jesus’ garment, who was healed, and commended for her faith. I was wondering about the nature of this thing we call faith, or trust, by which we are united to Christ our Lord. I remembered something my Dad had wondered aloud at one point: if Jesus had simply said, “Who among you has such exceptional faith?” would this woman have had any idea that he was calling to her?
Maybe. But honestly, maybe not. It’s speculation either way, seeing as he asked who touched him. What we do know is that she was trembling when she came forward.
I didn’t know what to do except reach out to Jesus, and that felt anything but faithful. “If I was faithful, I wouldn’t need to reach out to him,” or some other nonsense.
Now if you ask me what my album is about, I will still start by saying that it’s about the grace of God because that’s always first. But I will also say that it’s about faith, which I’m not sure is much more than looking with some desperation, and a little fear, toward the Savior. We can’t afford to tackle faith or discipleship before we look to Jesus. The most repeated command in Scripture is to listen. Maybe there’s more going on than meets the eye. And you know what? Faith doesn’t have to see itself. So if we can’t see our own faith, maybe that’s okay. We look to Christ. We can all pray, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”