Song Revolution with John Chisum

Unless you're familiar with the Reformed University Fellowship and Indelible Grace Music, you may have missed the incredible gift that is Sandra McCracken. The quintessential independent artist, Sandra hasn't gone the way of being signed to a record company, but has released twelve recordings to date and has garnered a loyal following the world over for her folk-driven music rooted in Gospel hymno...

Many aspiring songwriters wonder why their songs aren't having the impact they desire. Is this you? After all, you've felt the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to write down your thoughts, feelings, and passionate worship for God, but it just seems like no one's paying attention and you're left wondering how to step up your songwriting to capture the ears of a broader audience. Here's what you need...

What do you give someone who's placed songs that have sold on over 80 million records worldwide, including Barbara Streisand, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Rich Mullins, and countless others? You give him a lot of respect. Randy Cox was one of the first major Christian music publishers swept up in what was to become Contemporary Christian Music. Working alongside industry greats such as Bill Gaithe...

Many aspiring songwriters wonder why their songs aren't having the impact they desire. Is this you? After all, you've felt the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to write down your thoughts, feelings, and passionate worship for God. Maybe you've felt driven to share a part of your story that is difficult, but you feel the need to help others through what you've been through, so you're risking the vuln...

New Integrity Music artist Alisa Turner is no stranger to tragedy. She lost her worship leader Dad to a sudden heart attack when she was a 20-year old aspiring Nashville singer-songwriter, was bedridden for six years with Lymes Disease, and lost her infant son, London, 71 minutes after he was born. Yet, her heart looms large with love for God, worship, and others, and her laughter and smiles are t...

How much do you believe in your dream of becoming a successful songwriter? Have you been shut down in this dream because of discouragement, a lack of knowledge, a lack of definition around your goals for your songwriting? What does success for you really look like and how can you empower your songwriting dreams? In this episode, John Chisum looks at the roles faith and perseverance have in making...

Best known as co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the British worship band Delirious? with Martin Smith, Stu Garrard helped shape the modern worship movement. Famous for culture-shifting songs like Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble and I Could Sing of Your Love Forever , Garrard helped to capture and define worship for an entire generation as Delirious? traveled the world leading millio...

Being an artist of any type-- painters, sculptors, authors, dancers-- requires the ability to see beyond what exists to a different realm, to use imagination, creativity, and hard work to give birth to something that didn't exist before. Be it a poem or book that transforms readers, a dance that moves an audience to tears, or a song that evokes deep worship from a congregation, each existed in the...

What does live music production have to do with how you write your songs? According to the most successful live music producer in the business for over 25 years and counting, Tom Jackson, the two are completely intertwined. He believes that your ability to think about how songs create "moments" in live shows will dramatically increase your chances of having your songs recorded and used by popular...

Let's face it… inspiration is the key to success. Without it, songwriters find themselves caught in an endless loop of low productivity and life dissatisfaction. So how do the pros do it? How do successful artists and songwriters keep themselves up enough to write, perform, and be creative all the time? In this episode, John Chisum shares key insights you need to keep yourself inspired to get amaz...

Jennifer McGill was an international Disney star at age 11. As part of the cast of The All New Mickey Mouse Club for seven seasons with cast members such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, and Brittany Spears, Jennifer was groomed for the same pop stardom. But when her life track didn't go as planned, Jennifer went through fifteen years of searching that brought her to a break...

If you're like most aspiring Christian songwriters, you're #1 challenge is "getting heard" and "getting your songs out there." But what if you just can't seem to get that "lucky break" and bump into Michael W. Smith at Cracker Barrel in your hometown or win some big contest to co-write with Lauren Daigle? Is your songwriting success lying solely in the hands of fate like a chance meeting with a pr...

Have you ever wondered how to protect the copyright of your songs? Where do you begin to understand what it means to actually "publish" songs and how to work with music companies or to be your own publisher? What should you expect if you assign publishing to a music company? Is it enough to mail your songs to yourself anymore or is that just an old wives' tale? In this fun and informative episode,...

The world of songs, songwriting, and music publishing has changed. As in book publishing, television, movies, and all forms of art, entertainment, and intellectual properties, technology has forever altered the way our music is delivered, who creates it, who owns it, who controls it, and how fans are attracted to it. The good news is also the bad news: Anyone can write a song today, no matter how...

Audrey Assad is, by her own admission, a very opinionated person. Of Middle Eastern descent, yet raised in a small cult-like expression of the Plymouth Brethren denomination in New Jersey, she was not allowed to sing or read Scriptures in front of males and suffered tremendous personal repression as a child. Ironically, the very things she endured became the fuel of her deeply layered artistry tha...

Along with not having your songs heard and "getting them out there," if you're like most aspiring songwriters, your next greatest challenge is probably what we call "writer's block." But what is writer's block and why do you have it? What causes it and what can cure it? Is there any way to avoid it and discover an endless flow of creativity to fuel your songwriting? If you've listened to these pod...

What's it like to be young 20-somethings in hot pursuit of a Nashville record deal? What does it mean to hang out with some of the best new talent in the city and have open doors with top music producers and publishers? Find out on this episode of The Song Revolution Podcast with up-and-coming duo Drake and Lucy-Jayne Lanier (Drakeford) as they talk candidly about doors that may, or may not, be op...

How do you find your "mission" as a songwriter? Isn't it just about writing songs that praise Jesus or talk about the cross or the Bible? While it includes those things, John Chisum, Managing Partner of Nashville Christian Songwriters and prolific songwriter himself,  believes it goes much deeper than that and that God has greater plans to impact lives through you than you could ever imagine. In t...

In this episode, John Chisum interviews the inimitable Dr. Mike Harland, Director of LifeWay Worship. LifeWay has reach into millions of believers and is one of the world's largest Christian resource ministries offering a full range of music, Bible studies, research, events, and much more. Mike Harland has been at the helm of LifeWay Worship for twelve years and brings an amazing amount of informa...

How many times have you wanted to write a song, only to come up empty? Do you ever get tired of playing the same chords over and over and writing the same hackneyed phrases again and again? Do you wonder how professional songwriters seem to come up with fresh, powerful ways of saying things and keep turning out hits when you're stuck in a rut? In this episode, veteran Christian songwriter and publ...

From the outside, it may look like Jason Gray has the perfect life. Now in his 10th year as a commercial Christian recording artist with a string of successful collaborations with some of the biggest names in Christian music, number one hit radio songs, touring with the likes of Natalie Grant, Lauren Daigle, and many more, it'd be easy for the casual onlooker to assume that Jason has it all togeth...

Are you stuck in your songwriting? Have you suddenly realized that weeks, maybe months, have gone by since you even finished a song, much less felt happy about it? Does the phrase "writer's block" instill fear in your heart? What would it look like if you had a way to turn it all around to find yourself writing more productively than ever before? In this show, John Chisum gives you three strategie...

Do you wonder how songs really get on records and the radio? Do you wonder what it's like to co-write or to have your songs heard by successful artists and how the song process works? Want some amazing insights into what it takes to really be heard by top music industry publishers? Chad Segura is VP of Publishing for Centricity Music in Franklin, Tennessee, and is one of the music industry's most...

How do you manage to stand out in a sea of songs? How do you rise above the tide and make a mark with your songs? In this episode, John Chisum pulls back the curtain on how you can do what famous songwriters and singers have done for years by discovering your unique songwriting "voice." Just like famous authors Hemingway, Twain, Plath, Lewis, and many more have found and developed a unique voice i...

Jordy Searcy was on The Voice, Season 7, and was able to experience the limelight of a massive audience until he was bounced off in the battle rounds. But what's life like after major exposure like that? What was it like to be up close and personal with stars like Pharrell Williams? What did he learn from the show that is helping him now as an aspiring singer-songwriter? In this show, John Chisum...