A 2 Part Series – Part 2
(If you missed it, you can go to Part 1 of this series.)

So we continue now with this idea of the evolution of the definition of Inspirational Music.  In expanding our umbrella, we here at Watchfire Music have looked hard at just what inspires people.

One of the things I always listen for when I’m listening to new artist submissions is, “Can I hear the lyrics?” In this day of groove music where the beat is foremost, many artists bury their vocals in the tracks so that the lead singer is not the foremost thing that you hear.  Perhaps sometimes that’s good.

Recording engineers like to say that there’s only so much room in the spectrum – that something has to be the first thing you hear in a mix.  You can’t hear it all equally at the same time – the voice, the drums, the bass, the guitars, the background singers, etc. When mixing all these elements together, you must have a point of view. Classically, that’s with the lead singer first because the lead singer presents the melody and the words, the concept of the song.

But many songs today no longer ride on their melodies or their lyrics. Often the leading point of view is the beat or the groove. Like it or not, music has changed, has evolved to being more than just a good melody and a good lyric. Sometimes it’s just a great groove.

We’ve always said that Inspirational Music rides on its lyrics. What makes a song Inspirational is what it has to say to inspire. We haven’t changed from that position; we’ve just added to it.

Recently I have come across 4 or 5 new artists who have submitted great Pop, R&B and Alternative CDs. Their lyrics were not what you would immediately deem “Inspirational”. They were basically songs about love, relationships, and sometimes troubled relationships. But the music and the production and the vocals were so good that I found myself being caught up in the whole package and totally enjoying the experience – and yes, being inspired. Inspired by more than the lyrics.

I thought of you. Would you like this music? Would you too be inspired? The answer was a resounding “YES”. So we changed our thought about the Inspirational category of music. We opened up the field, widened the umbrella to be more inclusive.

Working in this field, we were surprised and somewhat disappointed in the beginning to find religions being extremely exclusive. We decided then and there to take a different tack with Watchfire Music and make it an inclusive company. We immediately expanded our reach from being just a Christian music company to being a trans-denominational company with the idea that there is truth to be found in all religions.

With that in mind, we then decided to open up the company even further in its inclusivity to people who weren’t “religious” at all, but were still seeking positive values in their lives in their own way. In broadening these horizons, we’re aware that we may actually sometimes be shrinking our audience because some people seem to be stuck in their exclusivity.

We considered this deeply. After all, no new company wants to turn off its customers. But it’s what we believed in – the inclusivity of Inspirational music. It’s what we stood for; so we take that stand.

A great part of our growing catalogue is composed of songs about God, man’s relationship with God and spiritual things and we will continue to present that music whenever possible. But we’re also interested in the human condition. In this road that we all travel we know that everyone finds their joy, their salvation, their successes in life in different ways. We’re interested in all these ways because we know you are too.

We have no doctrine to preach, no sermon. We really want to be a reflection of your thinking. That’s why it’s so important for you to feed back your ideas, wants and needs to us. In the future you’ll see our determination to make that communication easier and more intuitive.

So coming soon is a whole raft of new music. While putting the new site up, we have had hundreds of new submissions, many of which fit dead center into the Inspirational category. Also you’ll hear some wonderful new expressions of our music evolution.

Today we release just one of those exciting new expressions – Jenny Burton’s new CD, Released. 13 new to you songs sung by the incomparable Ms Burton singing at the top of her game. If you like R&B/Pop with a touch of Gospel thrown in, check this one out.  She sings of love, of important world issues and deeply personal issues.

She’ll touch your heart.  And she will inspire you.

(If you missed it, you can go to Part 1 of this series.)