Ken Riley: The Everlasting God man considers the Wondrous Things of God

Sunday 13th October 2013

Tony Cummings quizzed Newcastle-upon-Tyne worship singer/songwriter KEN RILEY



Continued from page 1

Tony: Tell me about three of the songs on 'Wondrous Things'.

Ken: I just woke up one morning singing the song "All God's Children", the whole chorus anyway, and I think it was written in like 30 minutes after getting out of the shower. It felt very spontaneous and the idea of celebrating being a child of God to something you can dance to felt powerful. We had a great time recording lots of different drum hits, music stands, anything we could get our hands on in the studio. It was great to have an uptempo track without lots of electric guitars and it was a challenge to let the groove and melody do the work - I love how it turned out.

Ken Riley: The Everlasting God man considers the Wondrous Things of God

I like the song "Wondrous Things" stripped back as an acoustic guitar, piano and bit of cello. It was written in Norway just before Christmas 2012 with David Ostby. He's a friend of mine from Oslo and a great worship leader. I was over doing a conference and we got together for a day to hang out and write. We're both involved heavily in local church and we wanted to write a song that would translate to 10 people in a prayer meeting or into a full church song. I love the theme, that God is continually speaking wondrous things, all we have to do is listen, but there's also a journey involved when in the last verse it declares that one day, we will see and hear in full.

I think "Adonai" is the most complete song on the record. All about God being master and submitting ourselves to that no matter were it leads us. It's not a fashionable concept in our current independent culture to have someone as Lord over our lives, but as Christians it's something we sign up to: I'm a slave of Christ. . . discuss. . .

Tony: Has your attitude to worship music changed much down the years?

Ken: I confess to releasing songs on 'Wondrous Things' that I knew were a little typical, more usual, again to see what the appetite of the listening Church was like. I love worship music in its proper setting, which can be at church, in the car, quiet times, etc. I'm not convinced it works in all settings, mainly because I feel lyrically it is incredibly intimate and I guess I wouldn't shout about loving my wife in all settings either. Our worship genre certainly has a sound, we almost hear the sound and identify it as worship, possibly to the detriment of anything that sounds different. I'm sensing that change is in the air, and I'm looking forward to trying to break a few barriers with the next recording.

Tony: Are you planning to do much touring in the near future?

Ken: Hmmmm. I love leading worship, I love the anticipation of encounter and stage remains a super comfortable place for me. The trouble with traditional touring is it suddenly brings in this whole commercial aspect, where it can become about the rider and ticket sales and not losing money, where I really want it to be about serving a room full of people, helping them connect with God and inspiring change. I guess that means I'll gladly take out a band to conferences and nights of worship, but as for organising a Riley tour, I'm not so sure.

Tony: Tell me about something which is new in your life.

Ken: I've started writing. No idea where it will end up, but I know I have a lot to say and it's time for me to take ownership of the thoughts and ideas God has planted deep in me. It'll likely take the form of a blog, maybe even a book, so I'm working through how much time it will take to maintain a blog properly, generate fresh content and engage in dialogue. I've had a few prophetic words about this over the years, and I'm finding it an interesting time as I morph into the next version of me - watch this space. CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
About Tony Cummings
Tony CummingsTony Cummings is the music editor for Cross Rhythms website and attends Grace Church in Stoke-on-Trent.


 
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