Thinking Outside the Box
By Deborah Evans Price, senior music editor, gmclife.com
When a member of a successful group exits to pursue a solo career, it is generally tied to the artist facing a creative fork in the road. With the release of Breathe Deep, Guy Penrod’s first solo project since leaving Gaither Vocal Band, he has chosen the road less traveled.
“It would have been a no-brainer to make a Southern Gospel record,” says Penrod, whose new collection has a decidedly country flavor. “Just cruise down the road and have those guaranteed places to play and number of sales, but I just felt in my spirit that God wanted me to do something outside the box.”
After 14 years with GVB, the Texas native felt like it was time to make a change. “I just had some more things in me that I wanted to explore and hadn’t had the right opportunity,” he tells gmclife.com over lunch at a Nashville eatery with his lovely wife, Angie, by his side. “And [it is] a different season in life. We’ve got eight beautiful kids and all the challenges that come with that as they get into the teenage years. I wanted to address some of that stuff in my music too. So it felt it was a good time to give it a shot.”
On Breathe Deep, Penrod gathered songs from some of Nashville’s top songwriters, among them Jerry Salley, Brian White, Wynn Varble, Tony Wood, Don Poythress and Neal Coty. He hopes the audience that has followed him for years as a GVB member will check out the new project.
“I wanted to stretch them,” he admits. “I cognitively said ‘I’m going to take a risk.’ I have a lot of sweet folks who have loved me for years and the way that I’ve expressed the messages…the risk, in my opinion, is diverting from...mentioning the cross and mentioning the blood – the Christian verbiage. It’s to try to be more relevant to an audience that does not necessarily speak in that vernacular. It doesn’t have anything to do with being ashamed of the blood of Jesus. My goodness! If you draw that conclusion after listening to this record, you just haven’t listened to the record.”
Penrod was certainly mindful of the messages he wanted to deliver on the new project. “I have a vested interested in trying to better the culture [my children] live in. I’m sick and tired of sex being sold non-stop. They can’t walk through the mall without it being sold. They can’t watch a TV program without it being sold to them. It is wrong. It’s inappropriate and it should be combated with truth and light. So that’s what we’ve attempted to do.”
“You’ve heard people ask: Are you entertainers or are you ministering?” Penrod relates. [To quote Bill Gaither]: “‘Well, hopefully both.’ And that’s the aspect of country music that I like. You hook folks with a story that will hit home or may be interesting or fun and then you deliver a point.”
You Might Also Like
Jason Crabb Celebrates GRAMMY® Win for Debut Solo Recording
Patty Griffin, Downtown Church album review
The Dream Team: Release of Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited heralds the arrival of a new line-up
