This coming Tuesday, July 25, Sovereign Grace Music will be recording our first live album in 6 years: “Prayers of the Saints.”
If you happen to be in or near Louisville, we’d love to have you join us from 6-10pm that night! The event will take place at the Fegenbush campus of Highview Baptist Church. If you’d like to come, you need to reserve your spot, and you can do that here.
“Prayers of the Saints” has been almost two years in the making. We took the title from a phrase in Revelation 8:3-4:
And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
These prayers are the cries of God’s people for his intervention, justice, and deliverance. They reflect the “already but not yet” nature of living between the first and second coming of Christ. Christ has truly triumphed over Satan, death ,and sin, but a full and final deliverance awaits his return, when he will destroy every rule and every authority and power (1 Cor. 15:24). “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
The album includes songs of praise and adoration, but we’ve focused on giving expression to the confession, longing, intercession, and anticipation that should characterize the songs of “elect exiles” (1 Pet. 1:1). We have a heavenly home that’s been secured for us through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus, whose death paid the full penalty for our sins. But we’re not home yet.
I’m excited about the new vocalists and songwriters we’ll be introducing on this album, and also happy that Nathan Nockels will be producing. I’ve been grateful for his gifts and work since I first heard him and Christy at Passion ’98.
If you can’t add your voice to the recording, please be praying that local churches will be served and our matchless Savior will be exalted by the final product.
hey bob! do you guys have any blogs/articles on your rhythm for writing and recording a record? I am trying to map out a bit for us what that might look like for our church but wanted to see if you had anything available to just get a glimpse of ya’lls process. thanks!
Michael, these might help: https://worshipmatter1.wpengine.com/2012/01/06/what-goes-on-at-a-sovereign-grace-songwriting-retreat/
https://worshipmatter1.wpengine.com/2010/01/15/where-do-sovereign-grace-songs-come-from/
These are a little dated, though. We now use Google Drive for all our albums and songwriting. We create a folder for the album, upload resources there, and then have a folder for each song which contains a Google doc of the lyrics and the latest MP3.
For a studio album we’ll allow about 1 week to record basic tracks, 3-4 weeks for overdubs, 1-2 weeks for lead vocals and background vocals, 1 week for mixing, and 2-3 days for mastering. Of course, all that’s dependent on people’s schedules! Manufacturing takes between 3-5 weeks. Is that helpful?