I featured Trent Cory in the Check ‘Em Out series a few weeks ago (click here to see that post).  A bunch of you already knew of him and were already REALLY feelin’ his music, so I figured you deserve an interview.

At first glance, Trent Cory could be added to the growing list of praise & worship artists with a cross-cultural calling and music that builds bridges across the Body of Christ.  Kinda like “if you love Israel, you’ll love Trent, too.”

But I think he’s more than ”just another praise & worship artist.”  He’s got a unique calling and ministry that can’t really be compared to what God has called anyone else to do.  He’s a GREAT vocalist and a GREAT songwriter.

In this interview, he talks about his ministry and his recent album, Freedom IS.  I thoroughly enjoyed him and I think you will, too.  Here’s Trent Cory…

*     *     *

EJ:  Hi!  How are you?

TC:  I’m great, man.  I appreciate you blogging about the album.  I appreciate that very much.

EJ:  Oh, absolutely.  To be honest, I had not heard much about you at all.  But when I listened to the album, I immediately started typing so I could tell the readers to check you out.  I’ve been listening to your project, Freedom IS, for a weeks now and I’m really feelin’ it.  I think it’s an awesome project.

TC:  Well, I appreciate that.

EJ:  No problem.  I feel like the title track, Freedom Is, is one of those anthems that Christians NEED to hear and NEED to embrace for themselves– it’s that powerful.  What was the impetus for that song?  What’s the message behind it?

TC:  You know, I’ve been a worship leader for years and, as worship leaders, one of our catch-phrases is FREEDOM.  And one day, I was just in personal worship and the Lord just dropped it in my heart– real freedom is when you grab ahold to your purpose in the Kingdom of God and you get an understanding of why God put you on this earth.

All of the other freedoms that we experience, because of the grace of God, come at a greater level when we grab ahold to the core values of Jesus Christ and learn to get in our lane of purpose in the Kingdom.  Everything else flows out of that.

EJ:  Absolutely.  Would you say that’s the theme of the whole project?

TC:  Yeah.  That and, simply, the love of God.  People have been held back in their ability to enter into worship because of feeling condemnation over failure, over sin in their life… things that, quite honestly, Jesus paid the price for so that we wouldnt have to be condemned.

1 John 3:20 says that even if your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart.  His love for us is greater than our ability to even love ourselves, so it really releases people into freedom.

EJ:  That’s a great message.  I think it’s timely, too, because we walk around saying that there’s no condemnation in Christ, but how often do we actually walk in that freedom and the righteousness that’s given to us?  It doesn’t always become a reality for us.

TC:  Yeah, it’s like an epiphany, man.  When it really clicks in your heart, to realize that when Jesus died on the cross, he died for ALL the sins of mankind… even the future sin, Jesus knew he had to pay for.

EJ:  Amen.  To me, this album is another great addition to that cross-genre, cross-cultural praise and worship that the Body of Christ has been loving for the past several years.  Is that how you describe your musical style?

TC:  Absolutely.  One of the greatest things that we feel called to do is take worship music out of being just a “genre” of music.  It is how we communicate with God.  And because we live in such a diverse world, when we go to worship God, we’ve got to find a way to reach into the culture and background of everyone that we can reach.

EJ:  Very true.  In that vein, you’ve got one of the greatest producers in the game, Aaron Lindsey, on this project.  What was it like working with him?

TC:  Working with Aaron was… he and I were like peanut butter and jelly, man.

EJ:  *laughs*

TC:  It was just great.  I had prayed for about a year and a half, and I had some guys in mind to work on the record.  Aaron and I had some mutual friends and had met one another at conferences before.

To me, it just fit.  I knew that he was going to be able to tap into the sound of my heart, into what I felt God had designed me to bring to the earth for right now.  Aaron doesn’t just produce a record– he pastors a project.  He pastors the musicians, he speaks life into me… and he absolutely brought the best out of the songs, and out of me.

As worship leaders, our purpose is to get to the earth what God wants us to hear in this season, what believers need in this season.  And Aaron was great at helping me to do that.

EJ:  Yeah, he’s one of the producers who almost has a “midas touch.”  He seems to be one of the producers who lets artists breathe, instead of overpowering them with his own sound.

TC:  As a songwriter, you write a song and, at least for me, I can kinda hear the finished product in my head.  I think Aaron was great on this album because I can honestly say that every single song turned out the way I heard it.

EJ:  Nice.  You also had Ricardo Sanchez, another great songwriter and musician, on this album, right?  [Editor's Note: Among other things, Sanchez wrote "Moving Forward" with Israel Houghton.]

TC:  Yeah, he sang on one of the tracks that he and Israel wrote.  I just believe in Kindom ministry.  I believe in the voices that God has raised up.  And I covered a few songs on the album because they were songs that meant something to me, songs that I felt had the message that God wanted to give.  You’ve gotta check your pride at the door and say “you know, this needs to be on the album.”

EJ:  Sure.

TC:  So, it turned out great because we were able to put a new spin on what was already a great song.

EJ:  That’s good.  Talk to me a bit about your influences.  I’ve gotta be honest– I listened to your CD and I had, in my mind, an image of what you’d look like. *laughing*

TC:  Right. *laughs*

EJ:  And then I went to your website and I said “oh… he’s White.”

TC:  Yeah, that’s the surprise for everybody.  I have people who email me and they say “man, I thought you were Black.”  And my wife’s name is Keisha– people assume that about her, too.

EJ:  Right!  I thought she was Black, too!  *laughing*

TC:  You know, I was influenced early on by Clint Brown– I’ve always loved his music– Israel… You know, I grew up singing quartet style.  My grandfather was an old-fashioned holiness preacher and that’s how I learned to sing harmony.  Then, in my first year in college, I fell in love with the Chicago Mass Choir.

EJ:  Seriously?

TC:  The He That Believeth album.  Man, I wore that tape out!

EJ:  *laughs*

TC:  Something just struck a chord inside of me when I was really exposed to it.  And I thought, “man, I love this.”  So, I think something was birthed inside of me as a singer and songwriter… it kinda just brought multiple genres together in my heart.  Vocally, this CD lends itself to high harmonies and dramatic key changes that you’d hear in gospel music.  But we also incorporate rock and other elements as well.

EJ:  Oh, yeah.  I can absolutely hear all of that in this album.

Now, you’re a husband and father of three– how do you juggle your budding artistry with the demands that come along with a whole family?

TC:  The family comes first.  I was in Houstin, TX one weekend and I had meeting in Austin, TX on Wednesday night.  I could’ve stayed and found a church in the area that had a night service, but my little boy had a baseball game Monday night.

So, instead of just staying out there, making connections and hanging out with some of my gospel industry friends in Houston, I got on a plane and came home.  Then, Wednesday morning, I had to be in Austin, so I got up at 4 in the morning and went to the airport.  It’s more important to me for my family to be the priority.

EJ:  Absolutely.

TC:  And, of course, my wife is amazing.  She’s an amazing worship leader in her own right.  A lot of people don’t know that yet, but they will.  I believe she’ll have a great platform as we go forward.

EJ:  Good to hear.  Well, I really hope that people support you and support this project.  I think the GospelPundit readers will enjoy you.

TC:  I appreciate that very much.  If you guys will, just believe with us– we’re looking into different areas to get more mass distribution.  Right now, it’s available on iTunes and from http://www.trentcory.com, but we’re believing that God will open the door to get it more widely distributed.

Ultimately, I’ve come to this conclusion in my life– when God wants you to say something, His voice is loud enough and big enough to make it happen.

EJ:  Surely.

TC:  And that goes out to all the songwriters, worship leaders and artists that are coming up out there.  Don’t be frustrated where you are– be faithful with where you are.  And if God wants to give you a platform that’s larger than the one you’re standing on, He’ll give you the feet to stand.

EJ:  Amen.  That’s a good word.  Man, I appreciate you and please do keep in touch.  I think I’m following you on Twitter.

TC:  Oh yeah.  I’m trying to Twitter, man.

EJ:  *laughing*

TC:  I’m not the most technologically savvy, but I’m learnin’.  I’m workin’ it out!  So, tell the people to check it out… and they can go to Facebook, MySpace, TrentCory.com… all those social networking spots.

And thank you for what you’re doing, because you’re making a difference, man.  You’re being an advocate and I really appreciate it, man.

EJ:  Oh, thanks.  It’s my pleasure.  And we’ll talk soon.

TC:  Absolutely.  Blessings, EJ.  Thank you.

EJ:  Alright.  Take care.

*     *     *

Good stuff, right???  Guys, for real.  Support this dude and support this project, please.  I think you will be blessed by the ministry.

In my first post on him, I shared his single, “We Praise Your Name.”  Here’s a YouTube clip (just audio) of another track that just REALLY… maaaaan…

Here’s “Awesome Wonder”:

What do you folks think???