Fernando Ortega needs a break from the madness. With him, everything is nonstop busyness. You'd be hard-pressed to glean any of this from his music—a beacon of inspiration and reverence amidst Christian music's positive-hits blatancy—but the troubadour is quick to admit he too needs to make time for peace and meditation. As a matter of fact, his latest album, The Shadow of Your Wings (Curb), is a reflection of his quest to "be still and know" in the face of life's distractions. In this conversation with Christian Music Today, Ortega talks about the new album and relates some of these struggles, his thoughts on liturgy, and what he thinks of worship in the contemporary church.

In 2004, you released a self-titled album that sounded like nothing you had done before. Would you say that was an experiment of sorts?

Fernando Ortega: No, I don't think I would say that. For me, I guess it was an experiment, but with not a lot of pre-thought—"if this doesn't work, I'll go back to what I do best." My voice is a mellow-sounding voice, so I wanted to hear what it would sound like if it was pushed a little bit in range. Some songs on that record have a higher range. But I really had no idea what this next record would be like. I didn't have a premeditated plan about it.

The new album is a return to the signature "Fernando sound." Do you mind being categorized as an inspirational artist?

Ortega: First of all, I don't think the new album is what you would consider a signature sound. [For example] this is the first time I used a string quartet. This album is much more classical-sounding than anything I've ever done before. For me, this was a bit of a departure from previous records, although the consistent element is piano. And I hadn't really done a record since 1992, I think, that was just piano—hymns and meditations. So to me, I really wasn't going "back" to something I've done my whole career.

I think there are some drawbacks when you classify me as a mellow songster in that people assume [things] before they hear it—if they're into more energetic music, they may write it off before they ever get a chance to hear it. But I wish it wasn't always categorized that way. Let me go on to say that I have no regrets about recording this record or anything like that.

After an entire career working with producer John Andrew Schreiner, you decided to work with someone else. Was that a conscious decision on your part?

Ortega: This is my 13th record. I did 10 records with John, and then did this one with Gary Paczosa. That was the biggest departure for me, trying a different producer—I actually co-produced with him, which is also a big step out for me, because I've never tried to produce something before. But yeah, it was a conscious effort. I definitely was something that I thought through very carefully. John, my producer for all those years, ended up arranging strings on this record, so his signature is still on there.

What did Gary bring to the table?

Ortega: He's somewhat of a known entity. He's not known as a producer as much as an engineer. He has engineered records for Alison Krauss, Nickel Creek, the Dixie Chicks. He's won nine Grammys. He's a big shotgun [in the studio]. I'm familiar with his sound and how he mikes things—his sensibility. I wanted it to sound as if somebody's sitting at the piano in a large room in their home while being surrounded by a string quartet. I wanted it to sound that intimate because I wanted it to be a devotional record.

Gary's such a renowned expert at acoustic sound and how to find the tone of acoustic instruments. And that's what I was looking for—somebody who could get inside of a string quartet so you could hear the bow going on the string, or hear the person's fingers going up and down the fretboard—a more organic sound. We also miked my voice really close; I wanted to sound very immediate.

One press release quoted you as saying, "There's too little time for reflection in my life these days." I would've never guessed Fernando Ortega leads a fast-paced life. You strike me as a chill, laid-back type of guy.

Ortega: [Laughs] I think I'm an anxious person. I lead a very active day. I'm not very organized. I move. I like to work. I like to do stuff. I like to clean the yard, work on the garden. Take walks. I can't just sit down for very long. I don't leave a lot of time for that. But I come across as very mellow in the way I impose myself. I would say that because of my disorganization and lack of discipline that I feel a little bit scattered all the time.

Does that spill into your spiritual life? Is it tough for you to "be still and know"?

Ortega: It is, and it seems like it's gotten harder. It seems like it's gotten harder in the last few years, and I don't know why that is. That's one of the reasons I left Southern California. The pace was a little bit too fast for us. [My wife and I] moved to New Mexico in the last four months. So I've been looking to settle down, settle the pace of things down. So this record was kind of a response of how things were going.

We had been looking to move to Albuquerque for years and years. That's where my roots are. My family's all there. There's something about going back to where you have history. They don't have an ocean in New Mexico, but the sky is huge there. It's incredible.

Would you say it was loneliness or disconnectedness that prompted the move?

Ortega: I don't think so. We had a great church and we were surrounded by friends that we've known for so long. We'd been in California for over 22 years. So we weren't lonely out there. It was definitely hard to leave our friends and to leave our church.

It's like the start of a new era for you.

Ortega: Yeah, but especially for [my wife]. She's originally from Michigan, so this is not like going back to her roots or anything. So it was hard for her. But she loves it. She's really happy.

Some of your new material was also written in response to certain deaths in your family. Could you tell me about that?

Ortega: I've lost some close relatives in the last two years. The album is dedicated to my aunts and a couple of friends. My aunt Lucy died—that funeral was really hard. I was alone there; my wife didn't get to go with me. And I spend a lot of time alone, reflecting on how death comes and how people grieve. And then a close friend of ours died in Pennsylvania—that was very sad but also really uplifting; it was one of the most beautiful services I've ever been to.

Originally, when I started writing these songs, I was trying to write something that would sound like a requiem mass, but not in the traditional sense—not a mass for the dead—but a mass for the bereaved, those who are mourning.

Christian music doesn't touch on grief a lot.

Ortega: I definitely know in my own times, grief—when things have really gotten heavy for me—the vast majority of Christian music is the last place I turn for comfort. I find myself turning to classical masses, really ancient music. But the vast majority of [Christian music] falls short.

You drew some of the inspiration for your album from the Book of Common Prayer. As a result, a lot of it is quite liturgical and "reverent," so to speak. Do you think the American church has lost some of that?

Ortega: Not altogether, but I would say the current in evangelical churches is a lot more program-oriented in that there's a sense that you want to keep the audience engaged. Just the fact that I used the word "audience" is pretty telling, but it's almost true. If I said "entertained," I don't know I'd want to make that big of a judgment, because a lot of these churches, their intentions are very good.

The current culture has a very short attention span for those things. [There's] not a lot of patience to sit through very long liturgical services. They want something to latch on to. In trying to accommodate that sort of culture and that sort of mentality, there's certain compromise that's inevitable. For me, putting together these songs—and what you pointed out about the Book of Common Prayer—I find there's an approach to God that doesn't start with the attention getting, "Here I am to praise you, Lord!"

It does start from a place of reflection. Before you can really stand up and raise your hands up to God, there has to be some sort of acknowledgment of who he is, who it is that you're coming to worship—an acknowledgment of your place before him. And I think that takes a little bit of time to think about and reflect on. It takes more work getting there, from my point of view.

Is there a place for any of this in the contemporary church?

Ortega: I sure think there could be. And there's plenty of churches out there that I've been to that are trying to incorporate the liturgical feel. I know there's a church in California where a lot of surfers and beach people go, and they incorporate reading of the creeds, responsive reading, and things like that. And even some of these younger kids who were completely unfamiliar with that are responding. I definitely think that we try too much. People who plan programs try to second-guess the congregation and what people are willing to do. In catering to that, they're short-selling everybody in the end.

Speaking of sticking to tradition, you changed the melodies of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and "Crown Him with Many Crowns." How dare you?

Ortega: I did rewrite the melodies to both of those songs because they're so over-sung. I for one wouldn't want to hear another version of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," but I like the message of that song so much. So I redid the melody. I was really careful about both of those songs. Some people might consider that sacred ground, but I definitely wouldn't be concerned about it. In fact, the publisher of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" liked my version so much that he's mentioned putting out a choral arrangement of this new version of it.

For more about Fernando Ortega, check out our site's artist page, where you will also find our review of his latest, The Shadow of Your Wings. Please visit Christianbook.com to listen to sound clips and purchase his music.

© Andree Farias, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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