I took a minute to chat with Melinda Watts, the 2008 Gospel Dream winner who’s quickly become a rising star to watch.

Her highly anticipated debut project, People Get Ready, is in stores TOMORROW (you’ll recall my full review of it last week– click here if you missed it).

In this one-on-one interview, Melinda shares who she is, how she feels about her first album, what her process has been like, and lots more.

Here’s Melinda…

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EJ:  Melinda!!!

MW:  Hi!!

EJ:  Thanks for taking a minute to chat with me.  I know you’re busy EVERYWHERE these days.

MW:  Not a problem.  I couldn’t wait to do it!

EJ:  Ok, well let’s do this.  Your debut album, People Get Ready, is in stores on Tuesday, the 28th.  You excited?

MW:  I am SO excited.  I’m a little nervous, but I’m more excited than nervous.

EJ:  Why nervous?

MW:  I think I’m nervous because, you know… everything has happened so fast.  And I think it’s just a big undertaking.  You never know what to expect, with so many projections.  I just wonder if people will be blessed by the record.  So, I’m a little nervous to be an official “artist.”

EJ:  I understand that.  Well, I’ve heard the project, of course, and it’s a favorite in my household already.  I mean, you’ve even made the cut for the car.  And you know… if we take a CD to the car… cuz everybody can’t go.  That’s all I’m sayin’.

MW:  Oh wow! *laughs*

EJ:  *laughing*  But to me, it’s an album that builds bridges because it has something for both the gospel consumers AND the CCM marketplace.  Was that your focus?

MW:  It was.  I’m definitely a  CCM lover, a gospel music lover, and a country music lover.  And those are all things that make me up as an artist, or psalmist.  So, I didn’t wanna pigeon-hole myself, even though I was advised by so many people that I had to choose.

And that’s the beauty of working with the team that I have.  They really let me express myself the way I’ve wanted to.  And that’s what I felt, so I really hope people enjoy it.

EJ:  Excellent.  What’s your favorite track on the album?

MW:  It varies from week to week, but overall, my favorite song is “Faith.”

EJ:  Why?

MW:  Because I think that song ministers to me on different levels.  It keeps me focused on where I believe God wants me to go.  And so I love that song because it makes me believe, regardless of how things are going.

You know how the industry can be– up and down, unsure, ever-changing.  That song keeps me focused on the main thing, which is Christ.

EJ:  That’s a great perspective.  And it’s great when the music blesses the artist first.  Your single, “So Good,” is blowing up at radio and on Gospel Music Channel’s video rotation– talk to me about that song.

MW:  I wrote that song and Freddy Washington, Jr. produced it.  He and I collaborated in writing it.  It was my testimony about being able to have my daughter.  The doctor said that I would not be able to have children and when I found out that I was pregnant, that’s the song that God gave me!

And to have that song be the first song… it was like, “wow, God… I know this is You.”  It’s just a celebration of what God has done in my life.  And the fact that I wrote it was another exciting thing, too.

EJ:  What a tremendous blessing.  Your daughter is still a baby– how do you find the time?!

MW:  It’s very hard.  It’s hard being a mommy, a wife, a mentor, and now an artist.  It’s challenging to find a balance, but God is good.

EJ:  Awesome.  Now you’ve got a little of everybody working on this project.  You mentioned Freddy Washington, Jr. (out of Philly), but also Bernie Herms, Aaron Lindsey, PAJAM… how does a new artist like you get such a great team of producers on board?

MW:  *laughs* You know, I don’t know.

EJ:  *laughing*

MW:  *laughs* Honestly, I really did want to work with all of those producers.  And Gospel Music Channel is a network that strives to produce programming from all types of gospel.  So being a part of that family, having Gospel Dream and the coaches and judges, I was exposed to Bernie Herms and J Moss.  From the start, that was my heartbeat anyway, so it was a perfect match.

I was available to these people, I got to sit and chat with them and share my heart about what I wanted to do.  I developed relationships with them and I said “I want a hybrid record.”

EJ:  I like that term.  A “hybrid” record.

MW:  Yeah.  I didn’t want the status quo, I really wanted it to be what I felt God wanted it to be.  And I think I got that.  I just feel so grateful because it is not commonplace.  But God allowed my record company, Razor & Tie, to give me so much freedom… they were literally like “do your thing.”

EJ:  Awesome!  See, now a lot of gospel artists are gonna try to run to Razor & Tie. *laughing*

MW:  *laughs*  I think it may have been, like… user-specific because that’s really me.  It wasn’t like I was trying to formulate some gimmick– do CCM and gospel– no, it really is what I believe.  I believe I have an audience in CCM and it will come in time.

But I think it was God’s divine providence that I would be able to do that and that my label saw that.

EJ:  You mentioned Gospel Dream and I wanna step back for a minute– you won Gospel Dream on Gospel Music Channel last summer.  In terms of recording and releasing your album, has it been “smooth sailing” from that time until now?

MW:  Ummm… No, it has not.  One of the biggest challenges was that there was so much to do in so little time.

At the time, I didn’t have a deal even though I had won.  And I had my management team saying “let’s get it crackin’,” but it was kinda hard because of the way the industry is right now.

I had a very prominent gospel label turn me down because they didn’t believe… well, I guess they didn’t want to take risks and I was a financial risk.  Somebody like me, they didn’t think it would be… well, I don’t know what their reasons were.

But it was God’s will that I would be at a label that wasn’t a gospel label… one that did NOT have “gospel-itis.”

EJ:  LOVE IT! *laughs*

MW:  And they believed in me.  And I appreciated that.  So, it was not smooth sailing, but it was all worth it.  When God has something to say over your life, it doesn’t matter who says “no.”

And lemme just say this: recording was smooth sailing.  Putting the album together… I did the whole record in two and a half or three weeks.

EJ:  Wow.  Had you had much experience in gospel music before that?

MW:  You know, that’s the thing.  Because I didn’t come from a strong musical background in my family, I wasn’t the musical girl.  I went to school, college… I loved to sing, but I never did the music circuit like that.

So, when I did Gospel Dream, it was like a speeding bullet.  I went from just being a regular person doing praise and worship at my church, to being a person on the stage with major artists.  That was a BIG adjustment and I felt like “are you serious?!”

EJ:  So, you had to jump in, learn it and operate in it all at once.

MW:   Immediately!  And that was a BIG adjustment.  I didn’t even have time to be starstruck.  It was like “we’re doing this.”  And I had to become an artist in a hurry and that’s something that many people don’t know about me.

EJ:  That’s wild.  Melinda, what would you say to someone who’s thinking about going to one of these talent competitions– we’ve got Gospel Dream, Sunday Best, American Idol– what would you say to someone who thinks it’ll be a ticket to stardom once they win?

MW:  No… no.

EJ:  *laughing*

MW: *laughs*  I would say you have to research who’s behind everything– it’s true: money makes the world go ’round.  Whoever funds it, owns it.  And that’s something you need to know.  You’ve gotta know the business and that’s one thing, I thank God, that I had done.

I really researched what different terms meant, contract-wise.  Have a good team, good management.  Don’t just go in there thinking you’re about to be a star.  Honestly… you’re the LEAST of them.

EJ:  Yeah.

MW:  And what I mean by that is that we’re going to SERVE.  I don’t feel like a star.  I feel like… man, I’m called to serve.

I feel that so much more now than ever.  I feel like the responsibility… *voice breaking a bit*  Oh, my God, EJ, I think I’m about to cry!  Okay… I feel the responsibility, the blessing that He’s given me to serve and to use that platform for what it’s about.  It’s not about me and I know we say that a lot, but I really feel like… man, this is serious business here.

EJ:  Sure.  And you know, people go to these auditions, they sign away SO much in that little release form, and they think it’s a straight shot to the record deal, the photo shoot and all of that.  They have no idea what they’ve given away for the long term, and then, they wanna be disappointed.

MW:  And that’s why you need a good team– you need a good attorney.  In the climate of the industry, you need a good foundation and a good support system.

EJ:  Amen.  Well, I haven’t done this in a while, but I wanna do a couple of getting-to-know you questions.  Cool?

MW:  Yeah, no problem.

EJ:  Okay, fill in the blanks.  Most people wouldn’t believe it, but Melinda Watts is ____________________.

MW:  Oh wow!  This isn’t something I have to do in 5 seconds or something, is it?

EJ:  What?  No. *laughs*

MW:  Most people wouldn’t believe it, but Melinda Watts is timid.  I’m very shy.  I’ve gotten a lot better since Gospel Dream, but I’m really shy.

EJ:  Hmm… ok.  Drop off Melinda Watts in a mall, and the first place she’s headed is ___________________________.

MW:  J Crew.

EJ:  J Crew?!

MW:  Mm-hmmm.

EJ:  Not like… some shoe store?

MW:  J Crew has the best button-up shirts.

EJ:  Really.  Button-up shirts is what you love shopping for?!

MW:  That’s what I go for.  Because I’m a business person too.  And when I do business, I like to look like I’m doing business.  So, a lot of times, I go to my meetings and I don’t look like an artist.  And my manager hates that. *laughing*

EJ:  *laughs* Uhh… yeah.  I can understand that!

MW:  But I came from an educational world, not as an artist.

EJ:  If Melinda couldn’t sing, she’d spend her life as a __________________.

MW:  I’d still have been a teacher.

EJ:  I kinda knew you’d say that.  That prolly wasn’t even a good question.  Ok, last one.  Though she’s only been in the gospel music biz for a short time, she’s already learned that ___________________________.

MW:  It’s better to be small and effective than big and not effective.

EJ:  Excuuuse me!

MW:  *laughing*

EJ:  *laughs*  That’s a good word for SOMEBODY!

Listen, I pray that God really continues to open more and more doors for your ministry… I know He will.

MW:  Oh, thank you, EJ.

EJ:  No doubt.  And I appreciate you very much for chattin’ with me.

MW:  No problem.

EJ:  We’ll talk soon?

MW:  Sure!  Okay.

EJ:  Okay, bye.

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Folks, that’s Melinda Watts.  I think she’s gonna be BIG in the industry– both CCM and gospel– and I would love it if we could all support her.  Her project is due in stores TOMORROW!

Whatd’ya think???