{"id":5952,"date":"2015-03-07T04:32:51","date_gmt":"2015-03-07T09:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=5952"},"modified":"2015-03-07T04:33:54","modified_gmt":"2015-03-07T09:33:54","slug":"ellie-holcomb-celebrates-another-year-in-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/ellie-holcomb-celebrates-another-year-in-the-sun.html","title":{"rendered":"Ellie Holcomb celebrates another year in &#8220;The Sun&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Ellie Holcomb - &quot;As Sure As The Sun&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VuGmcCK7T_c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"e2ma-style\"><strong>It was\/is a very good year.<\/strong> As 2015 gains momentum, so too is the career of singer\/songwriter Ellie Holcomb whose debut album <em>As Sure As The Sun<\/em> made Buzzfeed&#8217;s list of 2014&#8217;s Top 15 Standout Albums\u00a0 &#8212; calling it &#8220;one of the most uplifting albums of the year.&#8221; <span class=\"e2ma-style\">2014 also saw her share the stage with Amy Grant, perform on David Crowder&#8217;s <em>Neon Steeple<\/em> Tour and make various appearances with her husband&#8217;s band Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"e2ma-p-div\"><span class=\"e2ma-style\">Beginning this month Holcomb is joining Third Day for their <em>Soul On Fire<\/em> Tour, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ellieholcomb.com\/#tour\">visiting more than 20 cities<\/a>. For the most updated schedule, please visit her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ellieholcomb.com\/#tour\">tour page<\/a>.\u00a0 In\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"e2ma-style\">2014, she shared the stage with Amy Grant as well as performed on David Crowder&#8217;s Neon Steeple Tour and made various solo appearances with her husband&#8217;s band, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"e2ma-p-div\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"e2ma-p-div\"><span class=\"e2ma-style\"><strong>JWK:<\/strong> <\/span><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5824\" class=\"yiv7415570393\">It&#8217;s been a year since your debut <i class=\"yiv7415570393\">As Sure As The Sun <\/i>came out and has been such a success. How has your life changed in that time?<\/b><\/div>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5831\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\"><strong>ELLIE HOLCOMB:<\/strong> It\u2019s been busier than I ever imagined. Honestly, I didn\u2019t intend on doing this as my job. It felt like something the Lord was asking me to do. The timing didn\u2019t make sense with being a young mom and wanting to grow our family, but I just kept feeling like I wanted to say \u201cyes\u201d to Jesus as He asked me to share these songs and my story with people. It\u2019s been a year of feeling like I\u2019m stepping off the edge of cliff, and then seeing Jesus provide so faithfully. Every step I take, I\u2019m scared, but every step the ground keeps rising beneath my feet and I\u2019m more and more certain of His grace and provision for us as we follow Him.<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5834\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\"><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5833\" class=\"yiv7415570393\">JWK: When did you first know that you wanted to be singer and songwriter?<\/b><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5826\" class=\"yiv7415570393\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5836\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\"><strong>EH:<\/strong> I started writing songs in high school, mainly about having my heart broken, but as I played those in my college dorm stairwell, I found that songs were bridge builders. Girls would line the stair well and want to tell me their own stories of heartache whenever I played my songs, and I thought that was amazing. I knew I\u2019d keep writing and singing songs for the rest of my life, but had no idea that writing and singing songs would end up being my job!<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5840\" class=\"yiv7415570393MsoNormal\"><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5839\" class=\"yiv7415570393\">JWK: I understand that some of your music is inspired from time you and your husband spent volunteering for an organization called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.younglife.org\/Pages\/default.aspx\">Young Life<\/a>. Can you tell me about that?<\/b><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5843\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\"><strong>EH:<\/strong> I learned in college that songs were bridge builders, connecting people\u2019s stories, and it was at Young Life camp that I learned songs could also be used as a bridge to connect with someone\u2019s story and then point them to the story and the love of Jesus. Young Life is a ministry that believes every kid, everywhere should have a chance to hear the gospel in a way that they can understand and respond to it if they so desire. They meet kids where they are, earn the right to be heard by showing up and loving them, and then say, \u201cCome with me as I go to Jesus.\u201d My husband and I started volunteering to play music at YL camps for 1-3 months a summer, and it is literally like having a front row seat to watching God transform hearts and lives. Many of my songs have been inspired by the precious people whose stories we\u2019ve had the honor of hearing over the years that we\u2019ve volunteered to sing at Young Life camps.<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5846\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\"><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5845\" class=\"yiv7415570393\">JWK: You&#8217;ve said that your song <i class=\"yiv7415570393\">The Valley<\/i> &#8220;came from praying Psalms 23 and 69.&#8221; Can you elaborate the inspiration of this song?<\/b><b class=\"yiv7415570393\"><\/b><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5848\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\"><strong>EH:<\/strong> I had several friends who were struggling deeply with depression, and I was reading through these two Psalms praying for them. As I prayed, it was as if this song just spilled out of me as a continuation of the prayers for them to encounter Jesus in the middle of the darkness. Two years into singing the song though, I realized that the song was for me too. It\u2019s really just about coming to the end of your rope and crying out to God for rescue. I have to do that all the time , so I love getting to sing this song on the road.\u00a0 And I really love that God always promises to hear our cries for help!<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5850\" class=\"yiv7415570393MsoNormal\"><b class=\"yiv7415570393\">JWK: Who are primary your influences &#8211; in faith and in music?<\/b><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5852\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\"><strong>EH:<\/strong> In faith, I\u2019d say both of my parents &amp; the many Young Life staff folks I\u2019ve encountered over the years. Amy Grant, has been a huge inspiration and role model for me. She is gracious to everyone she meets, has an element of raw honesty in her music, and still considers getting to sing and perform the songs she writes a major blessing. I respect that so much and hope to be like her in those ways. Sara Groves, Jon Foreman, &amp; Patty Griffin are pretty strong musical influences as well, mainly because their music has walked me through some tough seasons in my own life. It\u2019s fair to say they\u2019ve all been good teachers in faith and music.<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5854\" class=\"yiv7415570393MsoNormal\"><b class=\"yiv7415570393\">JWK: What are your plans for 2015?<\/b><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1425667918910_5856\" class=\"yiv7415570393Body\">I\u2019m starting to write again, which is always life-giving to me, and I\u2019ll be on tour this spring with Third Day and then Steven Curtis Chapman and Brandon Heath. When I\u2019m home, I\u2019ll be enjoying our family and community in Nashville.<\/p>\n<p><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em><strong>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. It was\/is a very good year. As 2015 gains momentum, so too is the career of singer\/songwriter Ellie Holcomb whose debut album As Sure As The Sun made Buzzfeed&#8217;s list of 2014&#8217;s Top 15 Standout Albums\u00a0 &#8212; calling it &#8220;one of the most uplifting&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1085,1591,25,1],"tags":[35,5692,8031,5715,8034,8032,8033,8030,8029,8027,8028],"class_list":["post-5952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-forgiveness","category-good-works","category-music","category-uncategorized","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-amy-grant","tag-as-sure-as-the-sun","tag-brandon-heath","tag-buzzfeeds-list-of-2014s-top-15-standout-albums","tag-david-crowders-neon-steeple-tour","tag-drew-holcomb-and-the-neighbors","tag-ellie-holcomb","tag-psalms-23-and-69","tag-song-the-valley","tag-steven-curtis-chapman"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ellie Holcomb celebrates another year in &quot;The Sun&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/ellie-holcomb-celebrates-another-year-in-the-sun.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ellie Holcomb celebrates another year in &quot;The Sun&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. It was\/is a very good year. As 2015 gains momentum, so too is the career of singer\/songwriter Ellie Holcomb whose debut album As Sure As The Sun made Buzzfeed&#8217;s list of 2014&#8217;s Top 15 Standout Albums\u00a0 &#8212; calling it &#8220;one of the most uplifting&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/ellie-holcomb-celebrates-another-year-in-the-sun.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-07T09:32:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-07T09:33:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. Kennedy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ellie Holcomb celebrates another year in \"The Sun\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/ellie-holcomb-celebrates-another-year-in-the-sun.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ellie Holcomb celebrates another year in \"The Sun\"","og_description":"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. It was\/is a very good year. As 2015 gains momentum, so too is the career of singer\/songwriter Ellie Holcomb whose debut album As Sure As The Sun made Buzzfeed&#8217;s list of 2014&#8217;s Top 15 Standout Albums\u00a0 &#8212; calling it &#8220;one of the most uplifting&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/ellie-holcomb-celebrates-another-year-in-the-sun.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2015-03-07T09:32:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-07T09:33:54+00:00","author":"John W. 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Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5952"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5956,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5952\/revisions\/5956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}