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You've come a long way in a short time, from being an indie artist and writing for other artists to winning the Dove Award for New Artist of the Year. Ho do you account for the rapid growth?

Brandon Heath I'm not sure I can account for anything other than the fact that timing and prayer had a lot to do with it. I could attribute a lot of the credit to my first audience, which was Young Life kids at camps, mainly across the West coast. They demanded the music and I happily delivered!But it was Dan Muckala, one of my close friends in Nashville and now my producer, who was responsible for recording my first record and bringing it to a label. I think that was a huge step for me.It took a lot of belief, on many levels, for me to think that being a recording artist was the right step. It takes a lot of time and hard work to pull it off. I've been blessed with great people to help me with all that.

Has winning the Dove expanded your audience or increased your recognition?

Heath I can't say that I can tell it has yet. It's just not something you can really measure on a quantitative scale. It's probably helped me gain some credibility—something that, unfortunately, you just need to have to succeed. But I've always known this is what I am supposed to do and I've been proud of the music and choices I've made. So winning that award was just extra credit! And that little sticker on the CD sure looks nice too: "New Artist of the Year."

Do you have any specific techniques as far as songwriting?

Heath My techniques aren't real complicated. Mostly it involves the people around me, whether that's co-writing or just being inspired by conversations with friends.This record involved a lot of co-writing, which was the reason I got into the music business in the first place. Growing up in Nashville, I used to go to the Bluebird Cafe and see these huge country writers collaborate together and share their songs with whoever showed up that night. I've never been too stingy with my songs. For me, the more collaboration, the merrier.When writing, I think I'm at my best in a room without windows, because sometimes I need the discipline to look inside myself rather than out the window.The best songs usually come within an hour or two.

How were you able to whittle down the original batch of 40 songs to the collection's final 11?

Heath Dan and I work closely together when it's time for the final song list and we go with our gut most of the time. I'll always love the ones that got left behind too, and who knows—they may make the next record.

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