We had the chance to talk with Ryan and Tyler about their project. Be sure to check out our worship review here!
TCC – Tell us a little bit about yourselves
Ryan – Well I was born in Germany so I can’t be president.
TCC – Is that true?
Ryan – Yes. (sighs).
TCC – Sorry to hear that, why don’t you tell us about how you came to be a worship leader.
Ryan – I grew up in a Christian home with parents who were both classical musicians. My mom is a symphony pianist so it was never an option to not play the piano. I went to a Christian high school where I got involved in worship ministry. I did RUF in college, which is a southern Presbyterian campus ministry, and worship leading just carried over. When I came to Grace to do college ministry, it was natural to get involved in worship.
Tyler – I also grew up in a musical home. My primary instrument is the drums as my dad’s a drummer and started teaching me as a young kid. Then my mom started me in piano lessons in 3rd grade and picked up guitar in 6th grade. Church was an obvious outlet for playing music. Leading worship really didn’t take hold until late high school at summer camps. During college I was a founding member of the Christian acoustic-rock band called “The Pool Boys” and played drums and guitar. After touring full time for about 5 years we went off the road and I got hired at Grace EPC in 2005 as the Director of Youth Ministries. Since being on staff I have always been a part of the music team and now serve as the Worship Coordinator.
TCC – Tell us a little about your church.
Tyler –Grace EPC seeks to be a community of people that individually and corporately exalts God above anything else. We look like a ‘no-frills’, low-program kind of church. Our Sunday morning worship is roughly a 75-minute service, which consists of congregational singing of hymns and contemporary praise songs, prayer, and preaching. We have a high view of Scripture and try to live out the implications of the Gospel. Practically speaking, what this looks like musically is that we value congregational participation. Our music style would be labeled “acoustic” but we do have full drum kit, electric guitar, and keyboard. Our desire is to lead music in such a way that people are most encouraged to sing, which means we try to avoid “dead spaces” in songs. I have recently taken over the role as Worship Coordinator so my commitment to this role has increased as of late. It’s a great role and I love serving our church in this way.
Ryan – What that means is Tyler has to deal with all the drama and I get to just do music!
TCC – What is Danforth Chapel?
Ryan – Danforth Chapel is on the campus of the University of Kansas. Tyler’s band started a worship night in 1997 called “open swim” which grew to over 500 college students worshiping together each week. While it has morphed to different locations and numbers have gone down, we continue to do this and meet at the chapel once a month to lead an all campus worship night.
TCC – Tell us about “Songs for Danforth Chapel”
Ryan – We are local church guys that are constantly looking for projects that are accessible to a wide audience and congregation – one with many generations and theological depth. We hoped to create a recording that would bless our church as well as others that are looking for this accessibility.
TCC – Are there any favorite tracks?
Tyler – I’d have to say “How Firm a Foundation.” It’s so easy to get used to the words of a hymn and not really think through what you’re actually singing. I was so blessed as we recorded this hymn as I thought about what the song communicates. Sonically, it is also one of my favorites. We have a great friend who is a college student here at KU sing on the project with us and each of us sing a verse so I feel like the song really represents the whole project well. It came together really well in the studio.
Ryan – “Well-Worn” is my favorite. The harmonies are fun and the text is rich. Sometimes I throw this in my car and listen to this song. I’m always worried that someone will hear me listening to my own album though.
TCC – What was the process for creating this album?
Ryan – We both have a little experience with recording. We’ve both done the Nashville thing, Tyler more successfully than I have. We were familiar with the process but we had to figure out how to pay for it and to find a studio. We’ve found a great engineer and studio in town. It took us about six months, mostly because I had a child at the start of the process.
Tyler – A friend of ours who runs a big music store here in Lawrence called “Mass Street Music” hooked us up with a guy, Jim Barnes, who is a very talented engineer and producer. With working full time we had to work out our schedules to find time to record but we made it happen. It was nice because there would sometimes be up to two weeks between recording sessions which gave us a lot of time to really let the music grow. We would come back to it with fresh ears and eventually after a few months, finished it up.
TCC – What would tell a worship leader that wants to step in to writing music for their church?
Ryan – It takes others in the church to encourage them to do it – every church needs cheerleaders for these types of projects. One of the major barriers of entry to recording is the cost of recording the album in the first place. There may be people in their church that would be excited to support the recording for the sake of their congregation.
Tyler – Songwriting is very exposing. You must be humble, and willing to share that part of yourself with others. Many do not take the time to write songs because they simply lack confidence that their songs are any good but I think that’s a bunch of fooey. The church is in great need of songs. If it’s a song the church needs, God will provide a way for it to come to the surface. All you creative types out there, write songs! You also have to constantly check your motives. Ryan and I weren’t trying to make a living off of this recording. We simply wanted to just get these songs we sing at “open swim” and at Grace out there for people to have (and hopefully someday recoup our costs!)
Ryan – A lot of worship leaders want to become the next Chris Tomlin and very few people are called to do that. It’s very noble to serve the local church; we don’t need to be caught up in trying to be discovered.
TCC – thanks for your time guys.
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Worship Review // Songs for Danforth Chapel
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