Ryan Horton: 0:04

And so there's been those pivotal moments where it's been beautiful. I remember one time I'll tell this last one we're on the streets of Las Vegas and this dude, he walked past me and I just had my arms raised to the heavens just worshiping, cause I've been singing for probably an hour or so at that point, just kind of give him my voice a break. And then this guy comes by me and says man, what are you going to do with that, mike? And man, holy boldness came on me, man, I just shouted back and said bro.

Ryan Horton: 0:28

I said come on back over here and let me show you what I'm going to do with that, mike. And so he comes back over and he has a. He has a blunt in one hand and a beer bottle, on the other hand, and the Lord gives me this song, not my, will be done, but your will be done.

Ryan Horton: 0:46

Will you say yes? Will you say yes? Will you say yes?

Ryan Horton: 0:50

Right, it's real controversial for a dude with a blunt and a beer bottle in his hand. He's got to make a choice. That brother put both of them down. Crocodile tears started running on his face and the Holy spirit started filling him in that moment, on the streets of Vegas.

Chris Estes: 1:10

Welcome to the power of songs podcast, where we explore the powerful connections songs have throughout the journey of life. Dude, ryan, we've we've kind of just recently got to know each other well. We've made some road trips. We're on a road trip right now, a little time in Brooklyn. Now we're in Nashville in this beautiful studio hotel room. Yes, so these questions are coming at you. You don't even, you haven't even heard these questions yet. So this is going to be great. It's going to be the raw answers, which I love. So I started. You know, the song, the power of songs, the name of the podcast. Also, ryan has a cold that he won't admit to. Bro, bro, bro.

Ryan Horton: 1:56

Chris Estes. I thought he had more integrity than that. Praise the Lord.

Chris Estes: 2:01

I just got a little tickling us right there. It won't go away. So the power of songs is you know all about the power songs have in our life journey, sound, director, life, and I usually start with this. This first question is being in music, being an artist, musician, anybody who works in the industry, who's who's, has a career in music, has that moment in their life and they're like that's when I fell in love with the music, like that's the moment I remember actually listening to and loving music. And you know, now more than ever, music's all around us, we can hear it everywhere. But for you, what was that, going back in history, what was that moment where you're like, man, I love music. This is it Like. That song is the one that pulled me in.

Ryan Horton: 2:46

Yeah, so it's probably 13 years old sitting in my bedroom and I turned on a CD by a dude named Drum roll, please, fred Hammond, and he was singing, or the spirit of the.

Ryan Horton: 3:05

Lord, come upon my, I would dance like David.

Ryan Horton: 3:07

dance, I don't know man, something, something on his voice, on his tone, on his timbre, his vocal ability, man, it just drew me in like crazy and from that moment on it was something that was just sparked in my heart really. So, like man, I want to try to sound like that. It's kind of where it started. I want to sound like that, so obviously went out and found more gospel artists similar to Fred, started listening to this dude named Jay Moss, this brother man. He could sing his face off.

Chris Estes: 3:43

You know about Jay Moss? Yeah, yeah, jay Moss.

Ryan Horton: 3:45

I listened to some covers. I listened to some Kirk but even I love Kirk's music. I was really listening for like the solo artists that were on there that were like featuring and stuff there's some of them ladies could sing. They face off Isaac Curry, you know, singing doing his thing on Kirk's records. Then I discovered this lady, kim Burrell. And have you ever heard of Kim Burrell before, bro? Kim Burrell is one of the most insane vocalists I've ever heard in my life and she is just absolutely incredible. I started studying a lot of these guys and the more I would.

Ryan Horton: 4:19

I would literally, on Sunday afternoons, go into my to my bedroom after church, I'd lock my door and I'd be in there for four or five hours just listening to these CDs and trying to do these vocal riffs, just repeating them over and over and over. Fred would do a little run, I would pause it, I'd try to do it, then I'd hit it back and I'd roll it over again and pause it and try to do it, and just over and over and over. And so, yeah, it was during that season specifically and hearing that Fred song that really drew me in.

Chris Estes: 4:52

So before that were you, because your dad, you grew up in the church, your dad is a musician saying kind of around it. Were you one of those kids that you were already leading or on the team at that point?

Ryan Horton: 5:04

Yeah, I was mainly playing drums. At that point my dad had me. I had this theory about drummers.

Chris Estes: 5:10

They always if somehow, when you start on the drums you end up being a great musician like that. Leader singer artist. Like I'll go back to the drums. That's crazy, yeah.

Ryan Horton: 5:21

That's crazy. So, yeah, I started on the drums and I remember when I was probably probably six, seven years old, they put a little small kids drum set right beside the main church drum set and I'd get up there on Sunday nights. Just went back in the day when they have a Sunday night service and I jump on the on the drums man and I just bless him brother.

Ryan Horton: 5:47

Were you the shot off time and everything, yeah, yeah.

Chris Estes: 5:49

Just trying to keep up. I was probably six or seven. Yeah, this is so funny. My last guest, phil Jay, exact Fred Hammond had a huge impact on him. The exact same thing.

Ryan Horton: 6:00

He was crazy the kid behind the other drummer playing at six.

Chris Estes: 6:04

That's crazy bro.

Ryan Horton: 6:05

Yeah, yeah. So I jump him back there. I was jamming out, trying to keep up with the with the drummer, and the drummer at the time at the church was my cousin, yeah, and so, and she was actually a girl. So she started roping me in, probably I don't know 13 years old. She was like brother, you go learn how to play these drums for real, cause I'm trying to stop playing for the church, bro. So so I learned how to play and it was probably about 13, 14 where I kind of took that main roll over as the main drummer at the church. Yeah, and I played in the church, you know, but like I say, like I started when I was six or seven behind there and just kind of kept gradually getting better. So that was kind of my experience with music. Up to that point, yeah, I didn't even know that I had a gift to sing.

Ryan Horton: 6:49

I knew my dad, man, he had sang for years, led worship at the church for years and he actually man that's crazy story he actually had a, an opportunity. He went to school, got his degree in singing, opera music and like had an opportunity to go sing at the Metropolitan of Opera, like as a as a resident there, you know. And anyways, man, that the call of God on his life. He couldn't shake it and so he told the Met no, and came and sang at the church. Come on, so that's what people were living. Holy brother, yo bro, if we will have no part of it, brother, we're going to be two time in God, my gift is only for the Lord. Come on here now, wow, but but no, for real. That he told him no, he wanted to go serve the church, felt like the Lord had called him to lead worship. So he did that for years.

Chris Estes: 7:41

So I and then my older sister what was he leading? Now, I mean just to stop you right there. Yeah, he said no to like the opera. What songs was he leading when he came back to the church?

Ryan Horton: 7:50

Bro, it's like a lot, of, a lot of Ron Canole back in the day. Yeah, he loved Andre Crouch.

Chris Estes: 7:59

Yeah, he had a ton of.

Ryan Horton: 8:01

Andre stuff and then, like he started getting it, then he then he got to like develop this choir there at the church. They actually really gifted they you know probably 150 member, 200 voice choir that he was leading and they started doing like a lot of Brooklyn tab stuff.

Chris Estes: 8:16

Yeah, yeah, back in that day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so I cut you off.

Ryan Horton: 8:24

But for some reason, like the good and the bad, the whole thing just grew up. It just seems like the nine year old yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was a knee roll for benders back then. Yeah, yeah, the medleyestyle no-transcript for it my middle sister, she sang well. She was just a little bit more timid but she sang well. So again, I didn't know that I was even had the ability to sing until probably around this time where I'm telling you about was about 12 years old or so, in my bedroom the first time, and I hear Fred and I'm like I'm just in there playing around trying to just mimic what he's doing, and I look up three, four months later. That's all I'm doing. It's just singing, singing, singing. And I'm like man, okay, like I think. I think I got the same genes that they all had, you know.

Chris Estes: 9:03

Yeah, so I kept leaning into it. Yeah, so where did you, did you get off the kit and start singing choir?

Ryan Horton: 9:09

and then, no, it really didn't happen like that because, because the church needed me on the drum set, they had enough singers my cousin, was gone.

Chris Estes: 9:18

Yeah, yeah.

Ryan Horton: 9:19

My cousin went to college and Sarah, like man, you got a good on here and hold it down. So I played drums at my dad's church, probably till I was I don't know 17, maybe 18 years old, something like that.

Chris Estes: 9:32

Yeah.

Ryan Horton: 9:32

So I really didn't do a lot of singing in my dad's church, believe it or not, which is kind of funny looking back on it. But I I right around 18 years old, I was just getting out of high school and and I met this, these two guys at the high school and one of them got radically saved. He was in a gang and stuff. And then the other one had a bad home life but he got radically saved and we're like, man, we just want to make music. So they both wrapped and so we're like, okay, well, let's take a stab at it. We want to see, you know, if we can start making some songs and stuff. So I would sing and they would rap. Anyways, we ended up doing that for the next several years together as a little group. The Lord started breathing on it locally and we'd be, you know, traveling around the Tampa Orlando area and Lakeland, you know doing, doing a little small shows and stuff. But so, anyways, that's when I really started kind of exercising this muscle to sing in public.

Ryan Horton: 10:35

And then it was like probably three years into that I ran into this dude. His name was William Sanders and he had a lot of influence in the African American church big time and he's just really connected in that region with a ton of pastors and leaders and he was just like bro, like you got a gift. You sound like a brother. He's like I want you to come down over here. I'm planning this, this, this musical, here in the next couple weeks. Once you come down and sing at it, it's like you know, just like a. They call them in the church programs, you know yeah.

Ryan Horton: 11:14

Yeah, so. So so you said, bro, I will put you on the program. So I went down, I was like the second or third person on the program and I just leaned into it, just did some like some old Fred stuff, some stuff I knew you know yeah.

Ryan Horton: 11:27

And the place went crazy, the church went crazy, and he was like, oh brother, like we just tapped into gold mine, like we got some more programs we're gonna put you on, probably for the next Eight years or so. After that I did a lot of local travel In that region just singing on these programs at these churches, and so that's really during. Those couple seasons was when I Really started noticing, obviously, that I had a gift, but then also perfecting, yeah what was your good to Fred song Like what was the one?

Ryan Horton: 12:00

Yeah, so probably go to for me and still man, just to be close to you, just to be close to you.

Ryan Horton: 12:07

Just to be close to you is my desire.

Ryan Horton: 12:11

You know. So that was definitely my go-to man, and the more I started going from it being like man, I want to be a good singer to God. I actually see, I Actually see the, the, the power of the Holy Spirit that comes and joins the song form.

Ryan Horton: 12:33

Yeah and really started seeing that it was a, it was an assignment, it was a call. Then, you know, my heart started traveling deeper into the things of God, and so that's why those songs like that that Fred had and there was a couple that Israel had too, that just to be close, do you know just resonate so strong with me.

Chris Estes: 12:53

You know, yeah, yeah, so good man. So you kind of touched on this. You know Fred impacted you Israel. I used to go through this, this question with a guest to like what other songs Impacted you like, as you was there a season when you came out of those and you're like, okay, these were the next ones that really impacted what? How I write, how I perform, how do you got that cold coffee camera?

Ryan Horton: 13:20

brother, that pepper still in the back of my throat? Yeah, I think for me. I think the next guy after that that I was. I Was really intrigued by this guy and I thought that that he ushered a new sound into the urban worship space. Mm-hmm, that's kind of, you know, was my lane and still is my lane in a lot of ways and but it was, it was by the Travis Green.

Ryan Horton: 13:49

Oh, yeah, I thought that he really ushered a new sound and a lot of ways into Into the church space and, believe it or not, it was kind of funny. I was traveling around with that hip-hop group and and we actually this was years before Travis put out intentional or made away or any of that, he's just a local church guy like myself, you know, yeah, and we ran into each other on a, on a, on a like a little storefront, a little Meeting that we had both been scheduled on you know, he's on the program together, brother, and so, anyways, he, we connected that that night and a real special way. I knew it was special. We had a conversation for probably about two hours before the meeting started and still to this day Travis will reference that about me. Wow, just like how that, that that conversation really had a lot of impact and you know, it was a start of a beautiful friendship.

Ryan Horton: 14:43

But Several years after that, you know, obviously, he went on to then put out made away and intentional and all those songs that God used in a mighty way on on his end. But yeah, I would say that he was a big integral part and just where my ears started going sonically, more, more musically than even vocally, yeah, but just, you know, here in the new changes that he was bringing into to the worship space was real cool.

Ryan Horton: 15:09

And then, obviously, you know, maverick, I think they did an incredible job of ushering a new layer into the urban space. You know of stripping things back a little bit more and and and just kind of going a vertical songs with but but but expressing them Our way, you know, and and the way that that we receive them at the churches, you know. Yeah, on the program you know so but but you kind of know, I'm saying like, yeah, they just they ushered in a new sound as well. That, I think, definitely has really marked this generation in so many ways?

Chris Estes: 15:46

Yeah, it was.

Ryan Horton: 15:47

It was actually way bigger than and that was the beauty of what they were doing you know is bigger than a race, than a creed, and a tribe than a tongue. Yeah really ministered to the body entirely, which was, which was incredible.

Chris Estes: 15:58

Yeah, how did you discover those songs we were they like was a streaming days, or would you CD or downloads? But what was your method to access the music?

Ryan Horton: 16:11

Yeah, so with Travis, I remember buying CDs. You know, still I'd go a lot to.

Chris Estes: 16:17

So how'd you hear about him, did you? Did you someone just tell you like, hey, check out this song?

Ryan Horton: 16:22

I think I was looking at YouTube a lot you know, and and then obviously just being out traveling locally and in the different scenes, you know they guys. You hear somebody doing a mime to one of his songs at the church or you hear somebody leading one of his songs on Sunday mornings. You know, and so you just start picking up and out of curiosity you kind of go trace it back who's this, who's this guy? You know what'd you do? But also I had a relationship with Travis, so his voice was real, real, distinct you know, Very distinct, yeah, I knew it was Travis and what the Lord was doing.

Ryan Horton: 16:55

Yeah and so, and I had been following his social accounts and just seeing all that. God was doing, and so, yeah, well, he had put a post out of by hey, you know, new song coming out this Friday or whatever. I'd go check it out. And so that's kind of how.

Chris Estes: 17:08

I was. I was getting kind of how did you get? So let's back up a little bit 13 year old Ryan.

Ryan Horton: 17:13

Yeah.

Chris Estes: 17:13

Fred Hammond. Was that your dad's CD you just grabbed, or how did you? How did you discover Fred?

Ryan Horton: 17:17

Yeah, no. So Fred was definitely like I would go to the the family Christian bookstore.

Chris Estes: 17:24

Oh, hey guys, there used to be a thing called Christian Bookstores.

Ryan Horton: 17:27

Yeah.

Chris Estes: 17:27

Yeah. And family was actually cool. I think they were the one of the first ones. One of the first ones had the listening stations, right. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Ryan Horton: 17:33

Yeah, they had a listening station and they would have a lot of these sample CDs you know, or you just you'd go pick the sample off the off the shelf of the ones you wanted, and you know I just sit there and and family, christian bro, and just be there for hours.

Chris Estes: 17:50

Really.

Ryan Horton: 17:50

Just listening to music.

Chris Estes: 17:51

Were you practicing your vocal runs? Not, not there, bro.

Ryan Horton: 17:55

That's where I got the inspiration to go to the streets and sing in front of everybody, you know, because I just I got so used to singing at family Christian but no crowd start gathering family.

Ryan Horton: 18:05

Christian bro, just just hold up.

Ryan Horton: 18:08

Fred did that run out, I'll just I'll just repeat it 50 times there and family Christian. Like no no, I just, yeah, I would just, you know, meander through the CDs that they had there and honestly, I'd be in there for two, three hours sometimes just listening to music, you know.

Chris Estes: 18:27

Yeah, remember those days. Yeah, you never knew if the headphones were clean. I was mad young man.

Ryan Horton: 18:31

So, like the, the, the cashier, I'll be walking out. And it gets so upset that I didn't buy nothing. I was just there listening yeah, I have no money, I couldn't afford nothing. But um, yeah, those CDs marked me. I think I remember raking the yard one day specifically to buy a Fred CD because I heard it at the family bookstore and I was like man, I got to get that CD, bro. You know, that's, that's funny man.

Chris Estes: 18:57

What a different age we are now.

Chris Estes: 18:59

Now it's just like you have access to it and when you find it, you can share it and discoveries, like you know, wide open but very, very cool. So, man, I want to talk about what you're doing now and, um, this is an interesting question for you because usually, you know, most people I've talked to um have had music out or they're, they're working on music, you know, in a professional way or whatever. You've actually gone I want to hear, I want you to share your story with us, but you're in the process now of writing new music for, for launching songs and really kind of establishing your artist profile in a lot of ways, but years before that, you've been doing that on on the, on the streets, literally. So, um, the question is, like, what are some of the favorite songs you've worked on, which? I think you're going to have a very unique answer for it, because you've you've worked on songs in a very unconventional way.

Chris Estes: 19:57

Um so share a little bit about that.

Ryan Horton: 19:59

Yeah, so um, led worship in the local church for probably 10 years and in the last several years the Lord's called me out to uh, I like to say it this way the uncommon spaces. Yeah, and so it has been a lot of street corners and subways, uh, in this season, Um, but I've seen the Lord do just radical stuff, man, just in people's hearts and people's lives, just encountering Jesus, the, the God that we sing about, uh, you know, and encountering him through music form you know, has been really, really beautiful, but, um, yeah, it's, it's been a little bit different.

Ryan Horton: 20:42

So I think I I think I understand the question and and basically the answer that I would give to that is, um, it has been real unique because, you know, we're singing a lot of people's cover songs, but then we're also starting to flow profetically, Yep Right, and sing prophetic songs over people, and there's been several prophetic songs. That has been so beautiful. It started really lifting online on our platform, and it's not just lifting because it was a cool moment for that person, but it's lifting because it's it's resonating with many others in that same predicament or that same, uh, season of life. Yeah, and so I'm thinking of a guy right now. His name's B and he's out in in the California area and the Lord gave us this beautiful privilege to minister to him and you could tell from his countenance that he was, he was going through it that day, you know, and the Lord allowed us to sing this, this beautiful song over him, um, saying, hey, there's coming a better day, God's about to wipe your tears away, All the pain is washed away and just beginning to clear that over his life.

Ryan Horton: 21:56

It was beautiful in the moment, but then when we put it online, that simple truth began to resonate so strong with so many others there online and so because of that we're saying, okay, there's clearly something here. There's even people in the comments saying please would you put the song out. So it started as a prophetic flow, but then came up to Nashville uh, the last riding trip that I was on and and got to connect with a new friend, uh, David Leonard. We got to sit down with him and finish this song and kind of turn that prophetic moment into an actual song, and so we're excited to be able to put that out here in a little bit and see what the Lord does with it.

Chris Estes: 22:37

And it's an amazing process. It reminds me of the original distribution of music was the live experience and people you know. Back in the day they didn't have recorded music. So if you're going to experience music, it'd be for the first time at a setting where you would just go experience it and what you're doing is you're creating music in a setting for the first time and people get to join alongside you know through what they see online and which is this is crazy. You've had such a connection to momentum with that. Talk a little bit about those moments Like when you're on the street leading and you're just reading. You're reading the room per se, but you're reading the people that are that are that you're encountering and how do you like, from that moment to the prophetic flow, to what you sing and what you feel the Lord's saying like what is that? How do you? How do you? How does that process happen for you and what does it feel like?

Ryan Horton: 23:36

Yeah, so I was just talking about this the other day with somebody. Basically, somebody comes up. We, you know, we're in these, these uncommon places, to where we don't have a captive audience of Jesus lovers. Right, they're just people walking by us and they have the free will to to stop or to keep walking, and many, many keep walking. But I think what our gauge typically is is, if there is somebody that stops, it represents curiosity. That in turn leads to to receptivity, and so I'll say, okay, lord, they're curious and oh, they've been here 15 minutes. Then they're probably would be interested in receiving something a little bit more than this generic song that I'm singing. And so then I began to internally start asking the Holy Spirit God, what's the song? What do you want me to declare for this person? What do you see in this person?

Ryan Horton: 24:37

What's the thing that they need, that they need to clear over their life. For instance, we was in Union Square Park one time and man, it was like the Lord had had to open up the heavens, open up the faucet, and this particular ministry time that we had. You know, I I don't typically go after a lot of prophetic stuff in one encounter. I mean, we'll, we'll kind of do one or two here and there and then just keep worshiping, you know, with some some cover stuff or if I'm just singing unto the Lord prophetically, you know. But this particular day there was probably I kid you, not probably 10 people God highlighted and brought with curiosity in a matter of an hour which is which is crazy out there on the streets in.

Ryan Horton: 25:27

New.

Chris Estes: 25:28

York. We've seen yeah.

Ryan Horton: 25:29

Yeah, and so long and short of it, this guy comes up and he kind of rolls over and is curious of what we're doing. He's been there for five, 10 minutes. So I started asking the Lord, god, what do you have for this guy? And I like to ask people their name, just to kind of make it personal to them hey brother, what's your name? And he's like Dennis. And I said what? I couldn't hear him. And it's funny, man, you gotta look back at the clip. He goes, dennis, like he's just hollers.

Ryan Horton: 25:59

He gets all New York on me, and so I was like man, I got a song for you. He's like brother, I need it right now, and so, anyways, it was just a special moment. I start declaring to him that the Lord's not done with him yet.

Chris Estes: 26:14

That the.

Ryan Horton: 26:14

Lord's actually just getting started with him and he goes, like he goes out the frame, starts crying, starts weeping, comes back and is like man, like I needed to hear this so much in my life. And so there's been those pivotal moments where it's just been beautiful. I remember one time I'll tell this last one we were on the streets of Las Vegas and this dude, he walked past me and I just had my arms raised to the heavens just worshiping because I'd been singing for probably an hour. So at that point just kind of give him my voice a break. And this guy comes by me. He says man, what are you going to do with that mic? And man, holy boldness, came on me, man. I just shouted back.

Ryan Horton: 26:54

I said bro, I said come on back over here and let me show you what I'm going to do with that mic. And so he comes back over and he has a blunt in one hand and a beer bottle in the other hand and the Lord gives me this song.

Ryan Horton: 27:09

None my will be done, but your will be done. Will you say yes? Will you say yes?

Ryan Horton: 27:16

Will you say yes, right, it's real controversial for a dude with a blunt and a beer bottle in his hand, he's got to make a choice. That brother put both of them down, crocodile tears started running on his face and the Holy Spirit started filling him in that moment on the streets of Vegas, and so it's been a beautiful man to really get downloads from the Lord and sing things that are real, specific to people, that they know. Man, there is a God who loves me and sees me.

Ryan Horton: 27:45

And he used this little dude on the streets today to just remind me of that.

Chris Estes: 27:50

I love that so much. I've been around and been involved with prophetic ministries and music ministries, in particular, in rooms typically where there's churches, that are gatherings where people are coming to be experienced at, and usually you'll see Holy Spirit move in general. In specific ways, I love that you actually take it outside the four walls to the streets and God highlights the one that you get to minister to in that way, which is really special man. So the first time you did that which I'm curious about this your transition from worship leading to hearing from the Lord take it to the streets, which is not like the next step. You don't go from worship leading to like I'm going to go out in the streets and do this. It's not the next thing that a lot of people do, very unconventional. What was that first experience like and what was that first step out for you?

Ryan Horton: 28:49

Yeah, man.

Ryan Horton: 28:49

So honestly, Chris, it felt like a demotion, if I'm just honest because I had been in churches that were 1,000 to 3,000 member churches, typically leading worship on staff and doing that whole deal, and so my heart burns for the local church. I love the local church and honestly, I've got more experience in the local church leading the body of Christ than I do on the streets. But it's just what he's decided to breathe on for this season, which I believe that things are turning, and we're going to write songs for the body and all that kind of stuff. But getting back to your question, for me it was probably like anybody else that would go and do that for the first time. It was a whole bunch of excitement on one hand that we get to adventure the unknown with the Holy Spirit, but then also, practically, there was just some nerves and some fear that come with not knowing the unknown as well.

Ryan Horton: 29:56

And so I remember the first time we went down to Tampa where there's a strip down there that's real similar to the Las Vegas strip. It's called Ebor City and just a whole bunch of clubs and bars and stuff down there, and the Lord told me to set up right in front of this club area that had about 500 people waiting outside to get in and he said I want you to set up right in front of that line of people and just start worshiping and start going in. I told my keys guy that was with me at the time. I said, brother, this is what the Lord's saying. He says, bro, so you sure you're hearing from the Lord.

Ryan Horton: 30:31

I said, bro, I don't want it to be true either, but I thought that's what he's saying so we set up, we get to going, and in that moment the folks that were standing in front of the club, they didn't want to be reminded of who this man was, because just the mention of God's name brings a level of conviction to the heart, especially when you're in the club line and your only intention that night is to do everything but be holy. You know what I'm saying and so actually it kind of turned quick on me and I didn't really anticipate that, but a lot of the folks were getting behind me in the video and mocking and flipping the bird and doing all the stuff that people that are carnal do.

Ryan Horton: 31:21

And then they started shoving on me and pushing me and get out of here and we don't want to hear that and all this kind of stuff. And I was like man, if they're going to be this bold about serving their flesh tonight, then I'm going to be as bold as I can possibly be to give these folks what they need, Is that?

Ryan Horton: 31:39

holy, holy, boldness yeah which is that?

Ryan Horton: 31:42

no, which is Jesus. They need Him, and so that, yeah, I guess I get what you're saying. Yeah, that was that holy boldness that came over me where I says, man, if they are, if they're going hard to serve their flesh, I'm going to lean into this thing with everything I got and give them Jesus. And, honestly, it got a little bit more hostile and we stayed in it, and so that was the first encounter.

Ryan Horton: 32:07

But I tell you, did it return or did it just? No, not that night.

Ryan Horton: 32:11

It didn't turn that night and I was anticipating a turn, but the Lord just says it was almost. It was weird man, not weird, but it was the Lord. It was the Lord that did all this. But when it didn't turn, I left highly confident and encouraged that night. Says OK, I know we've just tapped into something that is making the enemy real upset.

Chris Estes: 32:38

And you're obedient and we need to keep leaning into this thing.

Ryan Horton: 32:41

And so then, I think, the next trip after that we went to New York City and I tell you, bro, it was just like an open heaven up there. I mean everybody that we were encountering people that were stopping. I would say, man, 80% of the people that were stopping on that first trip to New York, bro, were stopping and staying for 20, 30 minutes because they couldn't leave, because they're just weeping uncontrollably.

Ryan Horton: 33:06

I mean it's one of the most powerful times I remember. The presence of God hit so strong. And one of the sessions this dude he is an old Hispanic brother and I don't even know if he fully understood what we were saying, but I knew he could feel what was going on and this guy got on his knees initially and started doing the cross thing that the Catholic brothers and sisters do and then, before I could look up again, he was on his face weeping, like literally laid out on the subway floor, this weeping uncontrollably because he had felt something they never felt before it was the Holy Spirit coming to knock on his door.

Ryan Horton: 33:52

And so, yeah, I mean, just as we kept going, the more bold we got. But those first couple trips, man, it was, it was intense about what was happening, but also it was just intense internally as well in me. You know, in my keys, guy, because and I don't mean this arrogant at all, man you hear my heart like we're not no scrubs in the gifting and the skill set that God's given us, and so, you know, a lot of times you think of guys that's on the streets as, oh, they just can't get anything else.

Ryan Horton: 34:30

You know they just got to busk it around and kind of got to do the whole street thing and we knew we didn't have to. I mean, there were churches even in that season that, when it all first started, that was calling me, wanting to hire me and offer me more than ever, made my life. And the Lord said, no, I want you to be faithful to this thing for a little bit and see what I do. I love that.

Chris Estes: 34:48

So anyways, man, I love the obedience and what you said about going after the unknown and the uncommon places, man, it's because if you leave worship leading in a church, it's a very known space and you have a very set time to do it and you know what's going to happen. You know the songs you like, you're prepared and it's a very great thing and it's you know, it's a very holy thing. But where you guys went out and stepped out, I love too that through the beginning parts, it was just an act of obedience, even in what you could feel in the moments and what you couldn't feel and what people I think we'll see on your Instagram reels and stuff is the highlights, right. But you guys spend a lot of hours and time in catching those highlights, right, yeah.

Ryan Horton: 35:37

Oh yeah, yeah, none of our stuff has been prefabbed or made up. You know it's all been spontaneous. And so you know when you're out there doing what we're doing, those moments just don't come in 30 minutes. We're out there for hours, typically per session. And when we go to New York City, I'm telling my team you know we're all young, hey guys, we're here to minister, we're not here to play, we're not here to go see the city, the big Apple, we're not here to get caught up in all the stuff, we're here to give Jesus away as much as we possibly can. And so I mean, when we were out in New York City, we just did a run a couple of weeks ago and we're pulling 12 hour days out there. You know, sun up, the sun down, just going as hard as we can to let people know about the Lord.

Ryan Horton: 36:27

Another thing I want to footnote man, going back to what you were just saying a minute ago about you know these uncommon places and worship leading to this new dynamic. Really, what it's done, I feel like internally inside of me, is only perfect the gift of actually worship, leading or leading people into a deeper place with the Lord. Because if you are in front of people of God that have a cognizant understanding of who Jesus is, in the church house, we're giving them scripture, we're exhorting, we're doing things of that nature in that worship leading space to try to get people's soul to open up right.

Ryan Horton: 37:17

But, it was beautiful because the Lord started teaching me how to articulate better what people were encounter, or who people were encountering and what they were feeling, because they had absolutely no radar or no gauge for it at all. And so, as far as the art or the I shouldn't even say art, but the gifting, the call of actually leading people into a deeper realm with the Lord, I feel like was perfected even more in what we're doing, because it's like trying to teach somebody a new language you know, like you just gotta walk and baby steps.

Ryan Horton: 38:01

But as you're teaching them the new language or the new subject or whatever it may be, you're reviewing it yourself and learning how different angles, how people can retain better and how they receive information better, and all this kind of stuff which just sharpens what he's called you to, you know. So it really has been beautiful, but I might've taken us a little a little trapped in.

Chris Estes: 38:25

No, that's great, man. I think you draw from a different well, like you have a different well of what you draw from inspirationally, from the moments, and that's a really great point. Like that is a different ground that you're walking on and learning from. And that's actually one of the last questions I asked is, like, what songs do you feel like have had the most impact on your career as a writer, as an artist, and where you are right now and I think what you just said has a massive impact, and it's not necessarily a song, but is there anything currently or like, as you look back, you know Fred had a huge impact on you. Are there other songs that you say along the way, like man, this really shaped, you know, outside of Travis and the ones you mentioned? Are there other ones that you? Yeah, for sure.

Ryan Horton: 39:13

With Holding, nothing, william McDowell, nothing Else Cody Carnes, several others like that. That's not coming to mind right now, but here's why those have really shaped me, because before I'm a big song guy and I know this is a song podcast and we're talking about the power of the song before I'm a big song guy, I'm a presence guy and these songs articulate who I am and what I feel in his presence, and I think that is the power of the song. That is the beauty of a song, is the authenticity from one heart to another. If you look at any genre, you take pop music, you know, and it's typically all about the love relationship. You know a guy pursuing a girl or a breakup or something. And they're right in these things because they know that that idea can appeal to a mass audience. Right.

Ryan Horton: 40:28

And so I think in the church, especially us as worshipers, the idea of being lost in the presence of God should be highly appealing to every believer. And if it's not my dad used to say it this way you need to go check your log to see why it can't light on fire, you know, because if you can't stand his presence or you're not intrigued by his presence or you don't wanna be lost in his presence, then the end goal makes no sense, because ultimately it's eternity, where we're sitting with Jesus and we're staring upon his beauty. Even as we read Revelation, we see that's what the four and 20 elders are doing and the host of angels in heaven right now. They're mesmerized by this man and we have that opportunity, we have that privilege here on earth, and so anytime I can get a song to remind me of that man, that's my song.

Chris Estes: 41:36

Yeah, yeah, it reminds me of David and that's how David wrote the song. So it was you know presence driven and Bill Johnson preached this one time at Bethel when I was there. But this side of eternity we have a chance to worship, to write songs about worship, to experience his presence and to write songs about his presence Like we'll never have the other side of eternity because in this earth, in this world, like that's the unique opportunity man.

Ryan Horton: 42:05

And the uniqueness of all that is. From this side of heaven here on earth. Right now, we get to sing the song of the redeemed, yeah Of the redeemed. Here on earth, when we're present with the Lord, the redemption doesn't matter too much anymore because we've made it and we're staring him face to face. But right now, the song of the redeemed the Bible even says he takes greater delight than the song of the redeemed and even the songs the angels are singing. Yeah, Because we're still given a choice here on earth if we're gonna please our flesh or if we're gonna please him, and that song that's being lifted up from the redeemed heart and he delights. And so yeah, I would say, withholding nothing, and really marked me, and definitely Cody's song, you know nothing else in that last section.

Ryan Horton: 42:52

There I just want you. It's a simple declaration, when we sing it from a very practical place. But, man, when we sing that thing with conviction, from the spirit of God that's living on the inside of us, that simple declaration just takes on life and I even feel the presence of the Lord as I'm talking about it now just takes on life and just begins to speak to the deep, deep places of a heart that might be distracted and might think that we need other things, and he just reminds us over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Chris Estes: 43:28

No, you don't really need any of that it all comes back down to just me. One of my favorite songs that you're still kind of fine tuning and finishing is Sit With Jesus. That to me is kind of encapsulates that thought so well. Stay tuned for that, guys, Music coming in May.

Ryan Horton: 43:51

June and.

Chris Estes: 43:51

July.

Ryan Horton: 43:53

And we pray. It stirs your affections for the Lord. That's the prayer. Is that it would stir your affections?

Ryan Horton: 43:59

And it would also give you anthems to sing. I think the other anthems are great as well to sing about just faith moments. We're working on one today. Chris called Great Physician and I just think about that and just even think about all the people that it has the potential to minister to and when they hear this reminded of this great physician that we have and I know you know you're walking through health issues or whatever like hearing that we have a great physician, and then it's one thing to hear it right and read it in Scripture, but then having somebody administer it through song as well and the emotion that that unlocks as well through melody and rhythm, I'm just praying that it really deeply ministers to people. But it's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, just journey that we're all on, especially in music ministry, to have this beautiful privilege to try to articulate the heart of God through this beautiful gift that he's given us in music.

Chris Estes: 45:09

Yeah, so good man, I think I'm going to rewrite my description of the podcast with some of that.

Ryan Horton: 45:15

Come on, do it.

Chris Estes: 45:18

So good man. This has been a great, great combo. We could talk about this stuff all day. I do want to ask one more unique question for you, which hopefully listeners check out Ryan's. If you haven't seen it, check out his Instagram. You can see some of the great stuff he's doing. And then music, like I said, will be coming soon. It's this question. So you've brought Tiffany from Elevation Out. She's done some of the street ministry with you, naomi from Maverick City. What has that experience been like? What is when you pull? Because they've been on big platforms, big rooms and moments and they're not known to do this. But what is that like for them when you guys partner?

Ryan Horton: 46:02

Well, you know so those two realities were totally different, those two experiences were totally different, I guess the better way to say it. Naomi grew up in New York, and so she made it her business at 9, 10, 11, 12 to be down in the subway singing, and so a lot of people don't know that that's kind of where Naomi got some of her start, you know, singing the subways and singing to the church house, and she just back and forth is just blessing both venues, you know.

Ryan Horton: 46:33

So when I called Naomi about it, she was super intrigued because it reminded her of her years as a little girl, you know, down there in the subway singing. So she came down with just more of an understanding, I guess, of what the experience was going to be like, because she had already done it, you know, and obviously she's from New York and knows the subway culture and that whole deal, and so it was a really, really powerful time. She stepped in with great authority and the Lord met us in power in a real significant way. So that was a lot of fun. Tiffany, it was a little bit different.

Ryan Horton: 47:19

Tiffany has really never done anything like this and I keep sharing this story. Matter of fact, I was just doing another podcast and I shared this story and Tiffany texts me like she sees it on YouTube. The guy puts it out, she sees it on YouTube, she texts me. We had a big laugh over it, but Tiffany Hudson is definitely a voice that the Lord is raising up, not just in the worship community, but I really believe in the earth. There's real purity on Tiffany. She's extremely pure before the Lord and I think anytime you can really operate in a high level of purity, the Lord can entrust you with a lot, and so I just think it's only going to be up from here for Tiffany. She's amazing and she's just so special to my heart.

Ryan Horton: 48:11

The encounters that we've had together and us just getting to know one another Her and her husband mate, are just incredible people. She went out to the streets more blind, in the sense of never doing it before, not knowing what to expect, and honestly, that day was literally one of the wildest days that we've had in New York City. Wow, and we take her to Union Square Park. Union Square Park is real new agey and sometimes you got psychics behind you and other times you got people selling crystals, all this stuff. And there's a guy that has consistently met us out there. He comes in a red bathrobe with satanic patches all over this bathrobe and if he hears us singing about Jesus boy, it just torments him.

Ryan Horton: 49:01

And he comes up and starts manifesting and doing all this stuff, threatening us and blah, blah, blah. So anyway, sure enough, he was out there that day and I just told Tiffany before we even got out of the car. I said, hey, listen, union Square it's 50-50. Some days we're fine, other days it is the wild, wild west out here. Yeah.

Ryan Horton: 49:19

So anyways, this particular day we come out, the dude's out there, he starts manifesting, of course, and he starts going after Tiffany's husband and anyways, the stuff he was doing was just, it's really comical, but I'll just say it this way he was swatting at his brother's private parts for almost 30 minutes and obviously, mate, he's a big old dude, and so he was being kind and not retaliating or doing anything, because they're trying to minister to people, not hurt people, you know what I'm saying. And so he was just being kind and kind of getting away from the guy and everything. But then after that I said, okay, well, let's pack up here and let's go on down to Grand Central Station and we'll set up down there and do some stuff. I said Grand Central. I've been down here a handful of times. Nothing's ever happened down here, Mainly Grand Central. People are just so busy down there, they don't stop and stop for anything.

Ryan Horton: 50:23

They're trying to catch their train or whatever. So we set up, get going and first video in this dude comes up to me. So I pull people into the video. When they start coming up and acting weird and stuff, I throw my arm around his neck. We takes my arm from around his neck and puts it in his armpit, starts trying to lick my fingers and do all this weird stuff. So I pull obviously my arm away from him and kind of just gently shove him to the side, like hey, get out of the video.

Ryan Horton: 50:50

Well, there's another dude coming down the sidewalk in his walking path and he's all trying to dapp this guy up and tell him what's up and everything. And the guy's like, listen, like I don't want to do that right now, I'm trying to go and he wouldn't get out of his way. So the guy just hauls off and cold, punches him right in the face, knocks him out in one punch, like the dude hits the pavement. It's all in the video and so, anyways, you know, then some of the guys on my team try to go and help him up. When he gets up, he was on something, you know, some sort of drug or something, but he was also embarrassed when he got up. So he gets up swinging on us, trying to fight us and everything. Anyways, he finally gets away from us and goes and picks on a homeless guy that was sitting down right in that area. The homeless guy gets up and beats the brakes off this dude again. By the time we're leaving, bro, this dude's getting hauled off on a stretcher.

Ryan Horton: 51:45

Wow.

Ryan Horton: 51:45

Like he had been beat up so bad. So, anyways, I mean now looking back on that hindsight, it's 2020, me and Tiffany just sitting and laugh about that, like, oh my gosh, like it didn't even seem real. It was so wild what was going on that day. But I just told her, I said, I said, girl, it's a lot different than the arena. And she said, yes, it is, but I love it, you know, and she's just amazing. But anyway. So two different experiences, but the Lord met us significantly in both realities.

Chris Estes: 52:19

That's so awesome man. Yeah, I love every podcast episode. I feel like I get a different layer of what the power of songs can be what they do. And, man, thanks for sharing your journey and your experience. Check out Ryan on socials and on all your platforms where music will be.

Ryan Horton: 52:42

Yes, mainly YouTube. We need you to check it out on YouTube right now, guys. May 24th, that's going to change, subscribe, please. Yes, and we just want to give honor to whom honors to? We just honor you, bishop Estis.

Chris Estes: 52:56

You've got me on.

Ryan Horton: 52:56

This is Archbishop. No, no, no.

Chris Estes: 52:59

I have to give him a little higher reverence.

Ryan Horton: 53:01

Love you, whatever man Love you. Bro, thank you for letting me on. Love you bro