By RTF Media Editor Jamin Goecker

Chris McClarney’s first CD, Introducing Chris McClarney, is coming out this January — but he is not new to having his music appreciated. With absolutely no marketing dollars behind him, his songs found their way onto the iTunes charts and have touched the hearts of Christians around the world.

Jamin Goecker: Chris, when did you develop an interest in music?

Chris McClarney: I have been singing for as long as I can remember. We had a piano at the house and I was playing as soon as I could reach the keys.

Sometime around 13-14 years old I decided that guitar would be the better instrument for impressing the ladies, and mostly due to its portability (you can’t exactly carry a baby grand in your trunk), guitar became my primary means of making music.

Somewhere around the switch-to-guitar era I began leading worship for a small group at the church I attended, and I guess I’ve just never stopped. I’ve been in church or missions work ever since.

JG: What made you decide to pursue music so passionately?

CM: I feel like music chose me. Trust me, I’ve tried to escape, but somehow, someway, I always end up back where I started. There’s just something in the way music opens up your soul; that when I’m happy, I sing. When I’m sad, I sing. When I’m angry, I sing. When I’m excited, I sing. When I’m hungry, I eat… but then I sing.

Music helps me remember and celebrate the good, and it calms even the most severe heart pain. If I didn’t emote, via song, I think I might actually explode.

JG: In your opinion, what sets your music apart from everything else that’s out there?

CM: Quite simply, it’s me.

A couple of years ago I was wishing I could hear the music in heaven (I wanted to recreate it for us on earth). Because surely, there must be no better way to worship than to join in the angels’ songs. I can just imagine how beautiful their celestial melodies are, and their songs are surely far superior to anything we could ever conceive.

But as I sat day-dreaming about these supernatural arias, devising a way to get them to earth, I felt God enter the room. And he spoke. Not audibly, but more ‘real’ than he’d ever spoken before… and he said, “Chris…I already have the songs of heaven. What I really want, are the songs of Chris.” It hit me like a ton of bricks in the chest. So I began asking myself, ‘what are the songs inside of me’, ‘what do I want to express to God’?

All that to say: these are those songs. The songs of Chris…Luckily, I’m fortunate enough that there are loads of people that feel the same way about God that I do. Hopefully these songs can give them a means to voice their own feelings too.

JG: Where did you first start performing your music?

CM: Church…I still remember the first song, “Love In Any Language” (it was a duet with my dad).

JG: Do you have any memories of that first performance that you’d like to share?

CM: I think I forgot the words. Which is something that I never grew out of. Because, in addition to the staple worship stuff, I also forget the lyrics to songs that I’ve written, on a regular basis.

The trick is to not take yourself too seriously. Give the crowd a wink and a nod, and ‘go on with the show’. Especially in worship, (which isn’t a ’show’ at all) the truth is: when you’re humble…mistakes have a funny way of endearing people to you in a way that a perfect performance never could.

(To be continued…)

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Jamin Goecker is an avid writer and enjoys the outdoors, whether that be while hiking, hunting, fishing, or just plain going for a run. In addition to the outdoors, he likes lifting weights, playing guitar and hanging out with friends. He plans to be a missionary some day and is going to college for that reason.