RECORDING ARTIST CHARLIE HALL PERFORMED LIVE WITH PHIL WICKAM HERE AT CORNERSTONE, ON APRIL 18TH. OUR OWN BRIAN WURZELL HAD A CHANCE TO CATCH UP WITH CHARLIE BEFORE THE CONCERT, AND THROW A FEW QUESTIONS HIS WAY...

BRIAN: Hey, I’m glad we have a chance to talk. It’s just really good that you’re here today. It’s been great that you took time out of your day to hang with us. I appreciate that. Well, the new album, “The Bright Sadness” is out.

CHARLIE: Yeah, “The Bright Sadness” came out about six months ago. Its a record for -- I like to say it’s a Jesus record for human beings, not just Christians, but for human beings that want to see redemption; for those who want to believe in the renovation that God brings from His hand to the human heart. He does -- as we walk toward Him -- He does change us and recreate us into who we were meant to be.

BRIAN: Your songs come out of your life. That’s what I love so much about your lyrics. It’s so beautiful. I love your songs. Can you speak to that? Where do your songs come from?

CHARLIE: Song writing for me, from a spiritual stand point; I’m basically journaling the ups and downs of my life. I’m trying to write them in a song that’s palatable to people. It doesn’t say the details of my life but definitely gives them a grasp of my yearnings and my frustrations, my questions; letting people who are experiencing the same frustrations and victories come inside my journal and live with me and me with them.

BRIAN: “The Bright Sadness” does that. There’s a song on there called “Hookers and Robbers.” Maybe you could tell the story of where that came from. That’s a provocative title for a worship leader.

CHARLIE: Yeah, it’s one of my favorite songs on the record. We call these people “the other people” -- the others -- the ones who do really bad things. They sell their body, or they steal from you, or they kill you. Our hearts, maybe not in action, do a lot of the same stuff. Some of us engage in the action as well. So my point was that when we do it in action, the shame that comes feels like it cuts us off from God and the church. So this is my message to people who are jacked up, messed up, hurt; whether they did it to someone or someone did it to them --

my message to them is that God is still holding onto them and nothing can separate them from that. Don’t cut yourself off from Him or from the (church) family because you are still embraced. In one sentence, I am the hooker and God accepts me and changes me and moves me. I give Him my lifetime for Him to change me.

BRIAN: If you could pin point the anchor of your song writing. What gets you through?

CHARLIE: I write my journey. I write it to free people. It’s the reason why I travel. It’s the reason why I pursue God because He is my “free-er”. So I write these things so He can free people through me. I want them to see what I believe about Him. That it would move across a group of people and untie knots. Maybe people have set some kind of barricade between them and God. I want to try to help remove the barricade of life that night. Then hopefully they keep it removed so that communication between them and God flows again.

BRIAN: I love that song you wrote about Micah 6:8 -- that we should love mercy and do justice and walk humbly with God. How do you see the new generation embracing justice and Micah 6:8?

CHARLIE: Justice is hip right now. I really watch how this late high school and college age give their lives. They are out of their parents care in general and they have less money. So when everything starts getting stripped away, they find out what really matters and what really is important. They don’t have money but they have time to give. They are ready to hop up and go. I would like to see them expand that where the younger see the value of giving their lives away. Worship. Like the Bible says to lay down your life for others -- your time, your money. It’s not the way we sing the songs it’s the way we treat others. That’s an offering to God in the way we treat others.

BRIAN: What are you most excited about in this season of your life?

CHARLIE: Man, I think that it’s my kids. They are my favorite thing. They’re young. They are 9 and 7. They’ve reached my maturity level so we like the same stuff. We get to go watch Hannah Montana or Jonas Brothers. They’re awesome. They’re bright. They’re passionate. They’re happier. They feel and see and they’re discovering.It’s incredible to watch. I want to guide it and I want to write about it. I want to take some of it in. And you know, occupationally, I love our band that’s been together for a really long time. We’ve hit a stride where we recreate together real well. We live together real well and we have great respect for each other. Good levels of confrontation. It’s a good mixture of people.

BRIAN: I’m always looking for what’s next from you. What’s been the most influential thing in your life? Beyond Jesus rescuing you, obviously. What’s

been the most influential thing for you as a man?

CHARLIE: My life experiences. As I get older, they get more vast. All the way from tragic things that happen in my life, to visits to other countries. I think the most influential thing is the men that help me navigate through all of my life experiences -- from the tragic, to the mundane, to the beautiful, and the in between. It’s steadying and helpful. Even my own dad -- he’s behind me. I have the strength of older men, passing down and offering to me. And when I’m off kilter, they help me figure it out and navigate...

Check out Charlie’s new album, “The Bright Sadness”, and check him out on the Phil Wickham & Charlie Hall tour when it rolls through your area.

Photography by Chris Loope (http://christopherloope.com/)