PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Ryan: Welcome to the Church Collective Podcast. Man, there have been so many cool things going on with the Church Collective. We just had a coffee meetup with the team from Elevation Worship Resources. It was really cool. If you were in the Nashville area, it was really awesome to connect with a bunch of you guys.
Shoot us a DM, shoot us an email. It was just awesome to talk with y’all. We’re going to do it again for sure. In this episode, we had the opportunity to talk to Tiffany Hudson. She released her album the day that we talked to her. We went over and saw them at Bridgestone in Nashville. Just a wonderful time.
I think you’re going to be really blessed by this. She’s a wonderful worship leader with an awesome story, and I think you’re going to be blessed to hear just how God has used her. And I hope that you’ll be inspired to do some incredible stuff in your local church as well. So here we go with the podcast.
Well,
Tiffany Hudson: I never had it in my heart to do a solo project. Honestly, I never thought I had what it took and never really thought that. I had much to say on my own. I just love and still love being a part of a team, one member of a team and never just had a desire to do my own thing. And it was early 2022 when I felt like the Lord had started to invite me into this process of writing and felt like the songs that were coming, didn’t feel like.
Our church on a Sunday morning, it felt very much more personal and more devotional. And just the Lord was speaking to me about different themes and things that I felt like for whatever reason, he had just given me to write on. And that’s like the start of the journey of okay maybe we could start exploring what this could look like.
And I’m so grateful for my church, my team that is just. Allowed me to be able to release these songs and so grateful. So yeah, that’s a little bit of the journey. We worked on it for about a year, just took our time, wrote a bunch and kind of felt what songs felt right for this project. And then worked with amazing people, amazing producers, and ended up seeing this project to the finish line.
And here we are, it comes out tomorrow. I’m so grateful. That’s
Ryan: awesome. What you said, like figuring out what the right songs were, what. What was your criteria? What, what was like on the album? Like what, what made you think, Oh, this, that’s a song that needs to be on there? Honestly,
Tiffany Hudson: I felt like initially I’d gone into it with I need to have this type of song and I need to have a fast song and I need to make sure everything works collectively.
I think I just went in with that mindset before, like even having songs to write. And I felt like halfway through, I was like, I don’t need to just. predetermined what needs to be on this album. I need to just write and see what the Lord wants to, what’s to put out once the, what songs shine through.
And so I think we had a pot of about 12 to 15 songs that we cut down to eight, but it really was the songs that just had the most like ease to them. They’re just songs that felt very fresh of what the Lord was doing in my heart and they weren’t like, okay, I wrote this song because we feel like we need this type of song on the project.
It was like, if that’s the feeling with it, don’t, we don’t need it. Let’s just do the songs that feel right and feel really like now to what the Lord’s doing.
Chris: Do any of the songs have a crazy story behind it? That like people wouldn’t get from the song.
Tiffany Hudson: That’s a good question. I’ll talk about togetherness because that song is, we wrote it in 2020 and it’s just a cry for unity.
It is one heart, one church, one people, one gospel. That is. That’s what the song is about. And we wrote it in 2021. So much was going on so much conflict and so much just division in the church and outside the church. It just was like the cry of our hearts was to be unified. And so Mitch Wong and Joel Barnes and I wrote that song in the midst of all the craziness going on.
And so then even two years later to still feel like, okay, this song feels necessary. Like it wasn’t just for the 2020 craziness. It was now as well. Like the church of Christ needs to be unified. We need to just, yeah be one heart that is after the, after one thing. And so that’s the heart behind that one.
Did you, did
Chris: you feel any pressure to add any songs that, or write any songs that were like congregational or did you just abandon that and just do what was on your heart?
Tiffany Hudson: I definitely felt that pressure because obviously being with Elevation, we just. Write such great like congregational songs, like our pastor and the team, like they have just, I don’t know, figured out how to write such a good church song.
And so I think being a part of this house and this team, I do feel the pressure of it, would it be good enough for a Sunday or church? But I really felt like the Lord just released me of that, of there are different expressions and people also need songs to listen to in the morning when they’re just praying and in their car.
And when. Just day to day life. And so I do think some of these songs would serve a church really well, and then some of them might just be your quiet time in the morning to just play these songs and let it be the soundtrack to what the Lord’s doing in your own life. And yeah.
Chris: That’s cool. So you didn’t feel like pressure to like, okay, two of them have to be for congregation, like
Tiffany Hudson: I definitely did it first, but then midway through, I was like, the Lord just began to release me of no, just don’t try to free write the album before it’s written, like almost let the album write itself in a way of let the Lord, speak as you go and don’t try to predetermine what type of songs.
you need because you think that’s what would work on an album. Just let it be fresh. Let it be authentic. And that’s what I found to be like the most beautiful part of the process is like At the end of the day, this is such an offering to the Lord, and I pray that it blesses others and ministers to others, but it’s an authentic offering from my heart, and so I feel like, knowing that I didn’t fake my way through, I didn’t just do things I think would work, that would have felt so inauthentic and here we go, but now that I know that I kept it so real to me and what the Lord was doing in my heart, that I feel like, whatever happens, I’m grateful with,
Chris: Yeah, how many did you have like before you whittled it
Tiffany Hudson: down?
It was about 15 songs that we ended up cutting down
Chris: to eight. Are the rest of them going to see it be like your sophomore album?
Tiffany Hudson: Maybe maybe some of them will see the light of day eventually, but we just figured out which ones fit this project. And yeah, it’s funny letting go of songs. It’s always such a heartbreaking process because you just love them all so much.
So I’m like, maybe eventually they’ll find their way somewhere. But usually in a few years, the songs that I wish would have made. one of our albums. And then years down the road, I’m like, actually, I’m glad it didn’t make it because hindsight is always better.
Ryan: Yeah. You talk about how this is like authentically you, and that’s something we seem to run into a lot as worship leaders, even just talking with like young worship leaders coming up and wanting to get into everything.
I’d love to hear maybe just a little bit of your story. We were talking about how you came through Southeastern University. Now you’re at elevation. How in the midst of all that, How on earth do you try to be authentic in just a big world where there’s so much that we can try to emulate and watch just even watching YouTube and trying to be like everything we see.
What was that like for you? Oh, my word.
Tiffany Hudson: What a good question. That’s. That’s so important to talk about, like, how do you remain true to who you are in a culture that’s so easily wanting, cookie cutter and wanting to conform to this is the way we do things, or even in a church world that doesn’t mean harm, but maybe it’s easy to fall into that.
This is what I’ve seen someone else do. And they’re really anointed. So I’m going to do exactly what they do. But I do, I really do believe that God places such a specific mantle on individuals that I could watch amazing worship leader. I’ve looked at my whole life, look up to my whole life and try to emulate what they do, but it wouldn’t work because that’s not the mantle God’s placed on my life.
And so I think it, it really is like discovering the Lord. And how he speaks to you and how he moves through you in private and in secret. I found that to be Because then when I get on a stage and lead worship, it’s I’m pulling from a deeper well it’s not like I’ve just seen this done and I’m copying.
It’s no I have a revelation of who God is. And I’ve heard him speak to me in private so that when you’re in a room full of hundreds or thousands or whatever it might be like, how to hear that same voice and how like the, that like just sweet sound of his voice to be like I feel like he’s moving and this is.
exactly how I felt it when I was just with him by myself. And so that always helps me a lot, is cultivating that on your own. And yeah, let him teach you, let him teach you who you are. And the more that I fall in love with him, the more it is I just want him to be shining through me. I want less of me.
I want to die to myself more and more. So that truly it is him that is seen. And yeah, those are a few things that come to mind. Yeah,
Ryan: what did, I’d love to hear maybe just some practical, how do you keep your connection with the Lord throughout the week in the midst of all the busyness of ministry, which is a cliche question, but it’s something that most worship leaders, like if we’re honest.
We’re only really worshiping on Sunday. So what is it that you do to keep that relationship going?
Tiffany Hudson: Even if it’s cliche, it’s important. Like I’m like, I don’t think you can overstate it or exaggerate how important your own personal relationship with the Lord is, especially if you’re leading worship in front of other people.
It’s that should keep us on our knees. That should absolutely keep us hungry for the Lord. I would say for me. Talking practically, you can find your flow and what works for you. But for me, it is the first thing in the morning. Like I’ve just found that later never comes. The days where I’d be like, Oh, I’ll read my Bible later.
Or I’ll spend time with him later. Later never comes for me. It’s gotta be the first fruits of my day. Wake up, make my cup of coffee. And I love to just. Get out my journal and open up my Bible. Right now, the Lord has me in the book of Isaiah and we’re going to go in through that. And I have more questions than answers reading it, but that’s okay too.
So just going through that with the Lord, I have my journal open. Another practical thing I had a mentor tell me is keep a black pen and keep a red pen. And when you feel like the Lord is speaking to you, write it in red. So that when you go back through your journal, you can easily point out, Oh, this is what the Lord spoke to me.
I’m not going to go back and doubt. Was that him? It’s like in that moment, I felt the Lord speak this to me and I’m going to write it in red as if he just said it straight to my face. And so that’s another practical tip of dialogue with the Lord. My favorite thing is dialogue with the Lord, get out a journal and.
Open up your heart, literally slice it open and let the Lord into everything. He wants your heart. He wants honesty. That is what it’s all about. Don’t try to get all the words right in your perfect prayers and try to ask it in a eloquent way. Just let him into your heart. He already knows. Your heart and so I would say having that honesty and vulnerability with the Lord has been so game changer for me as well Let him speak into your life.
So that’s what it looks like for me and it truly I’ve been actually Changed by my time with the Lord just in private like that is just what has sustained me in All of the things that ministry comes with so I’m really good
Chris: Stylistically, like how did you settle like how did you? Obviously you’re thinking, okay, I’m coming out as myself and you’re going to have a style and like, how did you. Were you wrestling with that or were was it just natural because this is what you naturally gravitate towards?
Tiffany Hudson: Yeah. I remember early on, we had the conversation of what is my sound? What am I going to be as a solo artist? And even back to did you feel the pressure of that? I definitely felt the pressure of that. I feel like I’ve got to, I’ve got to find it. I’ve got to discover it. And again, I felt like the Lord just released me of you don’t have to find your sound. So I just began to just what feels authentic to me. My heart is so worship. Like I just, those are the ways that I connect with the Lord. The most is just like beautiful worship songs and surrender songs. And I feel like a lot of this project is this like response to the Lord, their surrender.
And I also have a love for just a little bit of pop. And so I feel like there’s. It’s just some worshipful songs with like slight soft pop influence in there. And those are just things I love. And I had somebody tell me, if you like to listen to it, then it’s good. You don’t have to measure it up to what anybody else thinks.
Don’t. things. Don’t put like, would that person like this song or would that person understand this lyric? Do you love it? Do you understand it? And that’s the confidence that I’ve needed to build as doing a solo project is okay, if I like it, then. That’s I would listen to it and it’s good, so all the conversations of sound and style, but also working with three different producers on this project was such a journey because everybody brings something different to the table.
So working with such an army of people, like there’s nothing solo about doing a solo project. We had so many different people that. Just spoken to this project, whether it’s writers or musicians, and it just was so cool to watch it all come together and still feel like it was something that came from my heart, but also 50 other people’s heart.
And so it was really beautiful.
Chris: Did you pick the players or the producers pick
Tiffany Hudson: the players? Yeah, we have a lot of people like in house at church that we love to just bring into the studio and try stuff on. So a lot of friends, I worked with a lot of friends, which is beautiful. And then yeah, I met a new few people along their way that I hadn’t worked with before.
And yeah, so it’s as a mix of people we knew from our church context, and then also working with other producers, people that they knew that we brought along as well. Where did you track it
Chris: in Charlotte? Or did you come to Nashville?
Tiffany Hudson: Both. We did Charlotte. We did Nashville. I worked with Jason Ingram, which was absolute dream come true.
What a legend he is, but got to work a few days in Nashville at his studio and get some stuff done. And then the majority of it was though done in Charlotte. Awesome.
Chris: Where did you start during COVID. Is that when you started?
Tiffany Hudson: No I started 2022 early 2022 is when we felt like the Lord was just inviting me into this process of writing.
And yeah, it’s been like a year and a half journey of making it all. So we feel so, so grateful that we’re at the finish line and just getting to release these songs. It’s such a blessing.
Chris: Are you going to do more like solo touring?
Tiffany Hudson: No plans as of now. I’ll take things as they come, but I just feel like what the Lord impressed upon my heart was.
release this little collection of songs and that’s it. And we’ll see what happens next. And I’ll let the Lord lead the, what comes after and what follows. But right now it’s that’s the next step. I felt like the Lord had me do yeah.
Chris: I know like when people, you see someone branch out on a solo thing, everybody has this idea of Oh, they’re like, it’s not like that.
It seems like you have. It’s very supportive from Elevation.
Tiffany Hudson: I’m so grateful to be planted in this house. Like I, I said earlier on I love being a part of a team. Like it is, I grew up with the dream of, I just want to be like a member of a team that has like a movement happening and I just feel so grateful to be planted in that right now.
And so that’s my heart still. Like I love the local church. I will be planted in the church, the local church forever in some way. And so I’ll be here and. Just really feel thankful and grateful that I was still able to release these songs from my heart. So yeah, super grateful.
Ryan: Looking at your journey of getting planted in a local church, could you maybe give some almost pointers or things to look for young person that, that it is the dream.
You are living the dream of, thousands of people that are listening to this, like I would absolutely love to be able to be at Elevation. Maybe not what’s the path to get to elevation, but what would you say to the 20 year old that’s I want to go full time in the church and I want to be in one of the big ones that I see and that’s going to be incredible.
Yeah. Were you like that at 20? Like you had your eyes on elevation? What did that look like for you? And what would you tell the other ones that are wanting to get there?
Tiffany Hudson: Another great question. I love it. I would say I never had a dream necessarily to be at elevation. I actually stumbled upon elevation through an internship.
So during college, I needed an internship to graduate. And so I randomly like I’d heard of elevation before, of course, but I didn’t have anything of I’m going to be there one day. And so I randomly just had an internship here and. God is so sovereign how he works. Little did I know that the Lord would have me plant my life here, but I just thought I was doing an internship and then heading back to college.
And so that’s the story in a nutshell. I did an internship. I went back to college. I graduated and then ended up coming back to elevation and doing an apprenticeship. So I feel like I just had a long journey of slowly getting a start. And it was never about I’m doing this because.
I want to be this or, it just was like the Lord opened up the right door as you go along. I feel like it’s. a temptation to want to get ahead of the Lord and to pre plan. I get asked a lot and it’s no like shame on anyone asking because I think everybody has like beautiful Desires and dreams to do something for the Lord But the question I get asked a lot is how’d you get to elevation?
I want to do the same thing and how did you do that? But it really was like don’t get ahead of the Lord Allow him to be the lamp into your feet and the light into your path Let him open up the door and let him close the door. I had seasons where Even at elevation, the door felt very closed. Like I went back to college and then thought, Oh my gosh, I’m a senior in college with no job offers.
Like what am I going to do? And the Lord is just so kind how he works. Like he knows the seasons we need to go through the grounding seasons. Let the Lord ground you in him, fall in love with Jesus. Not what you do for Jesus. Cause what you do for Jesus will change eventually. So if you have this master plan of I’m going to go here and then I’m going to do this so that I can do this. And then you’re there. It’s let the Lord leads you. I think that’s the part of this trust journey with him and submit your dreams to the Lord. Let his desires become yours, not your desires become his. That’s so important to light yourself in the Lord.
And he will give you the desires of his heart. But I truly believe that the desires of his heart, like It has to be what’s in his heart comes to our heart and not the opposite. So that’s a little tangent on that, but I’m passionate
Ryan: about it. Yeah, and you can tell the relationship that you personally have with the Lord supersedes all of the rest of that and I think it can be really easy for, especially young or old, for us to get the cart way in front of the horse and start chasing after our own thing.
That’s great.
Tiffany Hudson: Absolutely. Yeah.
Ryan: Thank you so much for listening to this week’s episode of the podcast. As always, head on over to Instagram, shoot us a DM. We are having a blast over there. We have some incredible stuff coming in the next month or two, and I wish I could talk all about it at this point, but just keep an eye on our Instagram account or TikTok account, email, all that.
It’s going to be incredible. I can’t wait for you to see it and I can’t wait to interact with y’all. God bless.