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What an Experience!

Winning the lyric-writing contest was great. But what I learned through it all was even better.

by David Simmer

I could have broken Chris Lutes' eardrums with my shouting. Chris had called from Campus Life to congratulate me for winning the Campus Life/Charlie Peacock Lyric-Writing Contest.

My "prize" was an all-expense-paid trip to Nashville, where I'd spend a day in Charlie Peacock's production studio at re:think records.

Chris must have thought I was crazy. But I couldn't help my excitement. For a long time, I'd been a big Charlie Peacock fan. I'd admired his abilities as both a songwriter and producer. Now I was going to meet him, and even assist him with the production of a new album!

After Chris said goodbye, I settled down a little. But I still spent the rest of the day with this great big grin on my face. I couldn't stop smiling.

Late in May, when all the arrangements were finally made, I left my home in St. Paul, Minnesota, boarded a plane and headed south for Nashville. When I arrived, Chris and Nick Barre met me at the airport. Nick works for the EMI Christian Music Group and handles a lot of stuff for Charlie.

After we checked into our hotel, Chris, Nick and I headed to Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We chatted about music in general, then talked about the next day and the time I'd spend in the studio with Charlie and Sarah Masen. Charlie had produced Sarah's debut album, and he was now working with her on her second album.

The next morning, we drove over to Charlie's production studio. When I saw the studio, I was a little surprised. There was no big sign proclaiming: "re:think" or "Charlie Peacock's Studio." In fact, it kind of looked like a garage. Not too impressive. The inside of the studio, however, was packed with some of the most sophisticated recording equipment anywhere. Very impressive.

Finally, I got to meet Charlie. He was kind of quiet and soft-spoken. He didn't come across as a big-shot production pro. Yet when I watched him at the soundboard, checking and re-checking recorded phrases of music, searching for that "just right" sound, I began to realize why so many musicians want to work with him.

During the morning, my job was to grab pencil and paper and write down numbers from a digital readout. I was a little worried about messing up, but Charlie's gentle smile put me at ease.

It was so incredible watching Sarah sing. She sang with such passion and joy. At one point, Charlie said, "We've done a lot of work to get to this point. Now Sarah is just singing to the Father. She's enjoying it. And out of that comes some of the best, heartfelt and genuine music."

Over lunch at the Corner Market, I talked with Charlie and Sarah about songwriting. I told them I'd struggled to write song lyrics for the contest. For a couple of weeks, I'd written and rewritten. All I had to show for it was a pile of crumpled scratch paper.

I then told them that the night before I was supposed to mail my entry, I went to my room and prayed, asking God for help. Words started popping into my head, almost miraculously. I wrote them down quickly. But I still had my doubts. The lyrics had come too easily. I knew I wouldn't win. I decided to send in my entry anyway. After I finished telling my story, Charlie said, "Art is often like food: If you cook it too long you'll burn it." Boy, that sure made sense.

I think I'd "burned" a lot of stuff before I "cooked up" my final lyric!

When the day ended, I was grateful to Campus Life, EMI and Charlie for making it all happen. I was also humbled. I'd come to Nashville with maybe some unrealistic dreams in my head.

I thought maybe I'd have a chance to work in the Christian music business someday. (After all, I'd won the contest!) And maybe I will—someday. But I realized just how far I have to go.

I have so much to learn. My skills as a musician and songwriter are pretty undeveloped. Yet whether or not I end up creating music for a living, I want to do what Sarah was doing in the studio. I want to write and sing "to the Father."

And I can do that anyplace, anytime, even if it's just performing music for my youth group at Calvary Baptist Church. If what I'm doing is for God's glory, then I'm where I'm supposed to be.

Thanks, Charlie and Sarah, for pointing me in the right direction.

David, an 18-year-old homeschooled student, taught himself how to play the keyboard. His winning lyrics to the song, "For God's Glory," appeared in the July/August issue.

Copyright © 1997 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail clmag@CampusLife.net September/October 1997. Page 26

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