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	music – about songs Hi. I’m Addison’s Dad. Here are some thoughts about the songs on her debut CD: Gabriel’s Coming I wrote this song on the piano in a very “Jackson Browne” style. I was trying to write a song for our trumpet player at church, Wayne Alvarez. So I started thinking about trumpets in the Bible. At that time, I was in the middle of reading the “Left Behind” book series, and found myself drawn to writing about End Times. These two ideas converged, and we end up with Gabriel blowing his horn (which for us Texas Long Horn fans, we recognize as a line from our Alma Matter song). I hope to pitch the song for one of the future Left Behind movies. Two interesting things to note: One, there’s no horn part in the song (sorry Wayne) and two, I’ve never found any explicit Bible reference to Gabriel blowing his horn at the Rapture…so you’ll have to forgive the license I’ve taken! New Light It’s easy to think of this song as one about the writer’s conversion (that would be me). However, it’s really about a life-long believer (that would still be me) who finally realized he had to do more than acknowledge God’s existence. He had to do something with it. So, the New Light that the writer is bathing in is quite literally the cleansing truth of God’s forgiveness and love. And when one bathes in it, everything changes. It happened to me, and I’ve never been the same. Never been so happy. Or so enlightened. Or so close to Him. Mercy Home This track blows me away. I was thrilled with the production. I wrote the song on acoustic guitar for use in my church. We’d sing it on the 1^st Sunday of each month while we were taking a “Mercy Offering”. That’s where the name came from. It’s original version was written to remind all of us in church to be good steward’s of God’s blessings on us, and be the instruments of accomplishing His will. Our producer on the CD, Phillip Sandifer, liked the song but asked for me to re-write the message to be larger and appealing to everyone. I really like the result, and Addison really made it all her own. Thanks sweetie. You Sing To Me The melody for this song popped into my head when I was dating my wife Cindy when we were vacationing in Napa Valley. I was sitting in a restaurant, waiting for her to return from the little girl’s room. And there it was – the melody – just rolling around in my head. When she returned, I sang it to her. And titled it “After the Harvest”- referring both to the wine country’s recent activity, and to the spiritual relevance of enjoying God’s grace as a believer. When our producer Phillip was selecting songs from my catalog for this CD, he picked “After the Harvest” for the project, then told me I needed to write lyrics. Phillip and I were at breakfast at Magnolia’s in Austin (a must visit when you’re in town) and had previously been discussing the richness of leading and participating on the worship team at my church. I told Phillip that my recent worship experience was one of having the Lord sing to ME, not the other way around. So that’s what he suggested I write about. Performing this song for my congregation at Westlake Bible Church was a really powerful experience. And now, with Addison’s version (thanks to Phillip’s awesome arrangement and vocals) it’s the one song on the CD that brings me to tears when I hear it. Build Me Up I think the scripture references are in 1 Peter (I should have checked before writing this), but in preparing worship music one week, I discovered I didn’t know what songs to select to support this message. Nick Valisades, an associate pastor at our church, was preaching that week. So I kinda think of this as his song. It was written on guitar. The song says exactly what I had hoped it would. And the cues came right out of The Book. I love how it turned out. Addie rips it. Can’t wait to hear the band do it live now that the sound has been “found” in the studio… Bring Someone Again, I needed a song to support a message at our church one week. It’s kind-of a heads up for all of us…that we’re on display as Christians…that people are watching us. And that our greatest testimony is how we behave; how we treat others. And that we need to be conscious of the responsibility we have to bring people to faith. I know that the Spirit is constantly putting people in my path. I pray that I will be ready and willing when these times come. Where Does This Go? You may be asking, “What’s this song doing in here?” Phillip says, hey it’s perfect for the Country music market. Clearly, the song is all about praying to God regarding a relationship that the writer isn’t exactly sure what to do about. Yes! It’s a song about my relationship with my wife Cindy. I wrote it the evening after our first date. I felt something really powerful. But didn’t know where to go, but up. When He Comes This song was originally written for Palm Sunday – Here He Comes (into Jerusalem). Phillip liked the song and wanted new words. So, here we are. A song about Jesus coming into our world, into our homes, into our lives…and all we can expect. The guitar licks are wonderful. And very Austin… Jesus Calls Addison said, “Oh no, not that old song!”. Addison and I wrote this on my birthday five years ago. She thinks of it as being very amateurish…I like it since it’s simple. And…it passed the Phillip test. I like the 70’s feel it has. Addison played with it vocally just like I hoped she would. My heart attack was when I realized a key major chord had been shifted to a minor chord! Well…it works! The message is wonderfully approachable and honest. It’s really a song about obedience, but it feels appropriately fun and easy. As it should. Song of My Heart Written as a farewell message to a departing friend (Steve Jones, who left Austin to lead worship in Walnut Creek, CA), this song’s melody and message have really stuck with me. And Addison has delivered it as her own. The “special” version here on the website includes scripture readings in the musical spaces – which is how it was written and originally performed. It was nice of Phillip to actually let me sing on one of my songs – I got to accompany Addison on this one! The message is pretty clear…to make your entire being a song to our Lord. Pretty powerful. Pretty meaningful. I like the version on the CD with the empty space because it’s different and gives me time to think a little. The scripture version is also cool. So, not sure which version I like best. Just a nice, reflective way to end the project. Thanks for listening! - Pete Hayes Pete Hayes and wife Cindy live in Austin Texas. He’s a branding and advertising executive with AMD. He is also a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Pete’s older daughter, Lindsay, recently graduate from the University of Texas, Austin and is now living in Los Angeles, CA. You can write Pete at phayes@austin.rr.com