Paul Baloche Interview: Taking It “Live” – His New CD!

Paul Baloche Interview: Taking It “Live” – His New CD!

Paul Baloche is not only a world renowned expert on the subject of leading worship, but a songwriter who has written a myriad of worship songs no praise team should do without. “Open The Eyes Of My Heart”, “Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)”, and “Because Of Your Love”, are just a few of my favorites. Paul’s latest CD “Live” will be release on Tuesday April 1, 2014, and in typical Paul Baloche fashion, it will not disappoint.

Featuring new anthems, classic hymns and familiar choruses, “Live” offers a collection of songs meant to be sung by congregations for years to come. The project includes new songs co-written by Baloche with Matt Maher, Brenton Brown and Aaron Shust, along with the Easter-inspired, “He Is Risen,” co-written with Graham Kendrick.

Live is raw and encapsulating. Paul Baloche is a seasoned worship leader whose performance does not distract from its purpose – to glorify God and compel the audience to openly sing and praise.  From the first time you experience each new song, you’ll be singing along before the song has completed. The songs are fresh and full of worship, they are genuine and not contrived, and they are heartfelt.

I had the opportunity to speak with Paul prior to the release.  This is part one of a two-part interview series!

Tell me about your new Live CD.

We were finishing a tour in Canada, and we were going to finish it with a “Lead Worship Workshops.” I was thinking we were going to have a room with over a thousand worship leaders from all across Canada. Wouldn’t it be amazing to capture an evening of worship with these leaders?

I love leading worship for all size crowds, but there’s something about a roomful of worship leaders. They offer a different sound, and passion. We were only four days away, it seemed a bit spontaneous, but I emailed all the new songs to everyone attending.  We offered them the demos of my new songs. I asked, “Get these in your spirit, and learn them so it will feel like you’ve been singing them for years.”

The particular church who was hosting the event had HD cameras and ProTools software for recording. So I figured what do we have to lose if we just capture the night. My band thought I was crazy, [laughing] but I had a spiritual hunch that something special was going to happen.

I’ve been doing this for over twenty years, and I’ve done live albums every which way. To me there is something really raw and honest about this particular live album. The crowd was singing super loud, the listener will feel like they are in the middle of a worship event.

You recently recorded a worship album in France. Do you speak French fluently?

I speak a little French [laughing].  My parents were French, and my daughter is a French major. I’m able to sing my songs in French and get through a little conversation, but I really need to work on it!

We recorded a French worship album last year which we will be supporting with a tour this spring.  We’ll be joined by the next generation of worship leaders on a ten-city tour around France. We’ll be doing some of my songs translated into French and some of their songs written in their native language. It is really strong in my heart these days to encourage [and see] songs rise up from within a language and a culture.