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After a decade of playing the world's largest stages and ruling lite rock radio, pianist Jim Brickman finally released a Greatest Hits album. Though the vocal collaborations and solo instrumental pieces could've easily been fleshed out on two volumes, the project is packed with memorable adult contemporary and new age gems. But don't let that term "new age" fool you; that's just a genre name. Brickman himself is a devout Christian who sometimes partners with other Christian artists in his music; guests on previous albums have included Michael W. Smith, Point of Grace, Susan Ashton, and Kristy Starling. And now Mark Schultz appears on Brickman's latest single, "Until I See You Again," which is now paying tribute to American troops at war.

How did "Until I See You Again" become such an anthem over the last few months?

Jim BrickmanIt's really interesting how things take shape. I was getting ready to release Greatest Hits and include a few new tracks and I'd always been a fan of Mark Schultz. It was great to have him on the song. My initial intention with the lyrics had to do with losing somebody in life and waiting to see them again in heaven, but some radio stations took a different meaning. One station in Seattle had military families call in and record messages to be incorporated into the song. It's now like a greeting card song where all these families are wishing their loved ones well and it's gone way beyond that first station.

Many of your songs have been inspirational, but tell me about the deeper message of faith that exists in your catalogue.

BrickmanTo me, being able to do this at all is a God-given gift. It's way of expressing myself and it also gives people the chance to pause and think about their own lives and own relationship with God. Spirituality is very important, so I've always sought to be introspective and passionate about it in my songwriting. I've never designed this trip to lead me to fame. It's hard for me to imagine this road for my life, so I can't fathom it not being divine intervention.

You've gone from a mostly instrumental artist to using vocalists. Why?

BrickmanIt was a natural growth where it started with me and piano lessons, writing my own music, then commercials. I evolved into making this a profession, paid my dues and then began writing words to the songs. I could've tried them for myself, but I'm nowhere near at the quality level of say, Michael W. Smith. Really what I am is a piano player who writes songs for other people to sing. I'm not a great singer, nor do I especially love it. I'm OK and I do sing a bit in concert, but there really are a lot of great singers out there.

How have you been able to bring so many Christian artists into your music when so much of it is featured on mainstream radio?

BrickmanLike with anything, you can't really push too hard or force something to happen. It must be natural. When the time was right to include a song about God and faith, artists like Michael W. Smith, Point of Grace and Clay Crosse were the best choices because they were singing about those topics anyway. I've found their tone to be more honest and real than some pop singers out there.

Has there been any hesitation to release such songs as singles because of their strong Christian content?

BrickmanI've always been of the belief that if people embrace the material., they'll play it. There are a lot of politics involved now, more so in the mainstream, but they are still everywhere. A song like "Sending You a Little Christmas" with Kristy Starling was embraced on both planes simply because it was accepted by listeners. Not every Christian station played it because I'm not considered a core Christian artist, nor am I on a Christian label, but we were still thankful that we were given airplay.

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