Wayne Watson: The US CCM veteran with a "labour-intensive" new album

Monday 1st April 1996

Long acclaimed Stateside as one of America's top CCM artists, WAYNE WATSON is back with a classy new album. He spoke to Jan Willem Vink.



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The whole process has helped Wayne to find a place of his own. His message is directed mainly to the Church. Wayne tries to reach the unconverted Church visitor through his songs and concerts. "At one point in my life it seemed like the easy way out, to stay in the church and sing to the church. What I've come to find out after singing this music in church and in other public places is that there are not a lot of people in church who have an intimate walk with Christ. I think that's something we neglect, we tend to bring people in the fold and count them as part of our family, but we don't necessarily teach them how to have an intimate daily personal relationship with Christ. I think by singing to the church that doesn't necessarily mean we are always singing to saved people. We're singing to religious people who really have no idea what it means to know Christ. If by singing to the church we can set some of those people on fire, I think that's a worthy cause."

It has been said that converting pagans is an enormous task, yet the conversion of a 'Christian' is even more difficult. How does that work out for Wayne? "I try to be faithful with the songs again, saying what God wants me to say to people, not necessarily what they want to hear. I hope it talks through the songs. It also comes through the spoken word in concerts. I'm pretty frank and candid about what I express in concerts. In the concert situation, we have a lot of laughs, we have a lot of fun, but I also share some very serious things with them. The bottom line is God needs to convict them of their religious duty or their lack thereof. But, that's the Holy Spirit's job. All I've got to do is be obedient and be God's mouthpiece."

But probably it's not always easy to let go... Wayne agrees. "I recently told someone I almost prefer that at the end of a concert, people scratch their heads and go home, and not sleep well. I would prefer that they would go home and wrestle with God and contemplate the things they are struggling with, rather than stand up and cheer, rah-rah, a big concert, but what's next? I think there's a time and place for us to be up and happy, praising the Lord, but there is also a time for quiet contemplation and growth. I think there is a place for each of us and I think part of my place is to help people grow to the next level."

We continue to talk about Wayne's new material. On his new album Wayne comes across as a family man. Several songs have been inspired by his sons. "My two sons, first of all, always have inspired me. They have inspired me from the first record I ever did. As they have grown older I have observed their lives, how I respond to their lives and how I observe them. I write about those things. My oldest son is 18 years old, he is in college, he is away from home and it's been a difficult time for us. Now we have a real focussed, concentrated time with our 15 year old, his name is Adam. My oldest is Neal. I've been married to the same girl for 22 years and she is the only girl I've ever known. I feel very strongly that purity is not a grey area. In the Scripture I feel very strongly that God wants that for our best. I know it's a difficult issue, not only for our sons, but for all of us, who are living, breathing human beings. I just wanted to address a particular song to Adam and to both of my boys who are young men with young men's fire but try desperately to live and honour God with their bodies."

A song written for the occasion of the graduation of his oldest son is "The Class Of '95" which became a smash hit for Wayne. He doesn't seem bothered with the fact that such a private expression is now shared with the rest of the world. "Yeah," laughs Wayne, "I tried real hard to not make the song too sentimental or too emotional, so that the song wouldn't be too sloppy, (laughs) I didn't want it to be too mushy, but I did want it to be something that parents could share with their children, as a genuine expression of prayer, of hope and best wishes."

Wayne's family is definitely a priority to the American singer. "One of the things we've done to protect our family is to stay out of Nashville (laughs). That helped us a lot. I have lots of friends who live in Nashville and I respect the fact that they can live there and be artists and writers and also have families. We live in the Houston, Texas area, out in the country of Houston and it's helped us not to be so consumed with what I do. There is more to our lives than what I do. It's helped us to stay balanced. I don't stay on the road for three or four days at a time. I rarely go on long tours, for weeks at a time. It's because of my family. My wife is my first priority here at this house and my children after her and I don't let my career get in the way of that. God has honoured that."

Wayne and his family are part of a local church, where his wife teaches in Sunday school and his sons are part of an "especially strong youth ministry".

The Watsons like to do things together. Says Wayne, "I did take a motor cycle trip with my son before he went off to school. We fish together and we enjoy that. We're going up into the mountains and ski for a couple of days and that's kind of something new that we've been enjoying. I've tried to do things with my kids and continue to try to do things with my family that you can do for a lifetime, that you don't necessarily put on a shelf after you grow up and have your own family."

We finally discuss the song "Blessed Are", a song Wayne wrote about the Beatitudes. Is there any type of person in the Scripture Wayne identifies with? "I hope I'm gentle in certain ways. I hope I handle my family in a gentle way, my wife with tenderness. I tend to be, from time to time, heavy hearted, that would be the best word. Not breathing all the time.

"I have a lot of fun. I enjoy living here. But sometimes my heart goes heavy over the sin of myself and the sin of the world and the fate that we all are headed towards apart from Christ. I see people suffering and I see the suffering of the world and that makes my heart heavy and I don't want to get over that. I don't ever want to be cured of that heaviness. I think that's Scriptural too. I think that's good."

Jan Willem Vink is the European correspondent for Cross Rhythms. Some of this article was taken from a feature by Kathy Bushel first published in Release magazine. Thanks to her and Release. 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 Jan Willem Vink
Jan Willem Vink is a regular contributor to Cross Rhythms and lives in the Netherlands.


 
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