The Power Of Songs
Music is more than melody and rhymes; it's the universal language that narrates our collective story. Take a journey with me as I talk to all types of people in the music industry about the power of songs. From the first songs that pulled them into the love of music, to the songs they've encountered along the way that had a powerful impact, we will have great conversations about the power of songs.
The Power Of Songs
How Singing in Grandad's Truck, College, and Church Set The Stage for Chris Bell's Global Mission
In this week's episode, I sat down with one of my best friends and fellow music lover, Chris Bell. He dove into the significant role music has played in his life and reminisced about the country classics he sang along to with his grandad in his truck on the farm. There are many other stories of the powerful Christian songs that shaped his faith journey. From his early days as a worship leader to his current role as a pastor of our home church, 3Circle, Chris shares personal stories that showcased the emotional impact of music. We also touched on our favorite artists, the evolving music industry, and the timeless ability of songs to connect people across generations and provide comfort in both good times and bad. Join us for this fun conversation and celebration of music's inspiring power to unite us all.
You said you grew up singing. I did. You're kind of around that, so. Do you remember when you kind of fell in love with music?
Chris Bell:So it'd be a few things. I'd have to give you a few grabs here. One of them would be I grew up with a lot of country music, so my granddad loved music. He loved country music, so I listened to. In the early 80s is when I started coming into music and George Strait had just become a big deal. So I cut my teeth on George Strait, the country group Alabama. Oh, I loved Alabama, and so to me Alabama had three and four-part harmony. You look back and they've got some really nice harmony.
Chris Bell:So I was learning to sing thirds. You know what I mean. I'd sing above Randy Owen's lead, and you know Tennessee River, and I knew Tennessee River and lead. And you know tennessee river and I knew tennessee river, you know, and you're singing the thirds. And and then, uh, of course, george straits, amarillo. By morning I can hear the violin begin on that song and I'm instantly the power of a song. I'm instantly with my granddad, who's, in heaven been been there eight years, but I'm suddenly in a, in a truck, riding down a road with him.
Chris Estes:Welcome to the Power of Songs podcast, where we explore the powerful connections songs have throughout the journey of life.
Chris Bell:Here we go.
Chris Estes:Well, welcome to the Power of Songs podcast. Chris the other, chris Pastor, chris yeah.
Chris Bell:What's up?
Chris Estes:You're the first pastor on the show. Are you serious? Yeah, you may be the last one.
Chris Bell:Oh man.
Chris Bell:Yeah, well, that could be a positive or a negative, but with us both being Chris, we travel a good bit with our wives and we've done trips and vacations. And what happens, so there's no mix-up, is they all call us by our last names trips and vacations. And and what happens, so that there's no mix up, is they all call us by our last name. Just bet, like my wife calls you Estes and your wife calls me bell, just so there's no confusion.
Chris Estes:That's right. And then you also have, like PC, pc CB.
Chris Bell:PC B. C, B and I like to call you the, the, the dove award winning rock star of award-winning rock star.
Chris Estes:There we go.
Chris Bell:Edit this part out.
Chris Estes:Paul. We're in the beautiful Three Circles studios with Paul. We are Paul Kimsel. We could do a three-part harmony.
Chris Bell:Which really Paul is like. Having him do the podcast for us and do the sound editing is like a Cadillac hanging out with two Honda Civics.
Chris Estes:It is.
Chris Bell:Am I right?
Chris Estes:Completely yeah it is. Yeah, yeah, am I right? Completely yeah, it is yeah, yeah. It's very unusual to have somebody of his talent here helping guys like us.
Chris Bell:You can kind of tell, though, right, that he might not want to be here. It's kind of like here we go.
Chris Estes:He's sitting close to the door so he can get out. Yeah, yeah, we love him, though he's too nice to tell us he's great.
Chris Estes:He's great. What are we talking about today? So we're talking about songs and I've been so looking forward to this part, because we have a history with songs. We do and we've experienced music live, a lot of different artists and things. Obviously, here at Three Circle we get to do it every week we do. And a little known fact about you, which I don't guess is as known now, but you started in like like you're a worship leader.
Chris Bell:Yeah, it's kind of my journey. You know, I grew up in a family, an interesting mix of you know. I grew up on a farm and so there was kind of the cowboy farm thing going a lot of hunting, a lot of outdoorsy stuff and then a lot of sports and then also a lot of art and music. So I had a grandmother who was an oil painter, a pianist, a piano teacher. I went to a church that was unbelievably creative. We just had a lot of powerhouse music stuff happening at our you know, medium-sized church for our town, and so I kind of had that whole mix going, chris. And so very early on I loved the creative side and I loved the artistic side of what can happen at a church.
Chris Estes:Yeah, and that carried on through college, like you actually were performing in college.
Chris Bell:Yeah, I mean I kind of got the bug early and I had a very dynamic youth pastor in our student ministry at my church. That changed my life and very early on he started tapping me to. You know, he began developing me and a group of other guys as communicators. So I started preaching, actually as a teenager, for my youth group and other things, but also as a musician. So I was a singer and so I can remember at 13, you know, I got shoved out on the stage with a microphone in my hand to sing and he's like you're going to lead us in worship.
Chris Estes:Do you remember what the song was? You know what I do.
Chris Bell:I do Because it was at this little retreat when he became our youth pastor. He said, okay, I hear you can sing, chris, and as a kid again, musical church I'd been in all the little cantatas and all that and so the song I love. I said, can I sing whatever I want? And he said yeah, and I knew Amazing Grace, it's just Amazing Grace. But the camp that I got saved at the church camp, I can remember very distinctively the night I gave my life to Christ, the song as the Deer. Do you remember the song as the Deer?
Chris Bell:As the Deer. So it's like as the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee they wrote it in King James, evidently. Who did that? I think it's Hosanna. I think it was an old integrity, 80s integrity.
Chris Bell:And then I love the chorus. That feels like a chorus but it kind of flips and it's just the psalms. You're singing the psalms but it flips to the you alone are my strength, my shield.
Chris Bell:And I can just remember as a kid singing that with all these other kids. Well, the summer I became a Christian. A few months later, my youth pastor comes to my church, and so his first thing was to take us on this retreat to Adventures Unlimited in Pensacola, milton, florida. That's where we went, and I walk out there and that's the two songs I knew, and so a cappella, by the way, because I couldn't play guitar at the time.
Chris Estes:So your first step out was a cappella singing.
Chris Bell:Yeah, I came out and I just led everybody in that. And then we figured out there was this kid that could play some guitar and one of the guys in my youth group, funny enough, became the lead singer of Three Doors Down, brad Arnold. Really, yeah, he played drums for us Little known fact, the kryptonite guy. So that's kind of where all that started. And then I just kind of got the bug. I wanted to be a part of ministry Chris, and so for me communication, whether it be through song or the written word or the spoken word, to me became the medium that I felt like God had called me to.
Chris Estes:Yeah, yeah. So let's back up a little bit. So 13, you step out acapella, which is brave, that's like you had to be confident.
Chris Bell:No, my knees were knocking man.
Chris Estes:I mean Amazing Grace, that's. You know. You could do that acapella.
Chris Bell:And everybody kind of sings it with you.
Chris Estes:Yeah, but that other song, man, that's amazing. All right, so back up before that, when you said you grew up singing, you're kind of around that. So do you remember when you kind of fell in love with the music? I like to start there, like what was the song or the album, the artist, that? So it'd be a few things.
Chris Bell:I'd have to give you a few grabs here. One of them would be I grew up with a lot of country music, so my granddad loved music, he loved country music, so I listened to. In in early 80s is when I started coming into music and George Strait had just become a big deal. So I cut my teeth on George Strait, the country group Alabama. Oh, I loved Alabama. And so to me Alabama had three and four-part harmony. You look back and they've got some really nice harmony. So I was learning to sing thirds. You know what I mean. I'd sing above Randy Owen's lead and you know Tennessee River and I knew Tennessee River, you know, and you're singing the thirds. And then, of course, george Strait's Amarillo. By Morning I can hear the violin begin on that song and I'm instantly the power of a song. I'm instantly with my granddad, who's in heaven been there eight years, but I'm suddenly in a truck riding down a road with him. Is that?
Chris Estes:like an A-track, then yeah, you would think right, that would be cassette. Yeah, I definitely grew.
Chris Bell:I can remember when we went from cassettes in the early 90s over to CDs, so those songs grabbed me. My mom loved music and she loved the Eagles and she loved the Oak Ridge Boys, Wow, Okay.
Chris Estes:So as a kid, she was A lot of harmony parts going on there.
Chris Bell:Yes, sir, yeah, and she loved the Eagles. And there was this song. Do you know the song? Take it to the limit, oh yeah.
Chris Bell:And in the end you remember the guy in the end going woo-woo, all that stuff, and as a kid I couldn't wait for that part, and so those are great memories. So to me the power of a song, those songs grabbed me initially for Christian music was Petra, and there was an album called Petra Praise. I think it's like 1988, 89. And that was huge. My youth group, they were listening to that. And then Michael W Smith, they played his video to his song Secret Ambition, and it was the camp that I became a Christian at. It would have been 1989, I guess, and I thought number one he comes on the screen and Michael W is cool and at the time he was super young. He's got the cool hair, he's got the cool hair, the cool look.
Chris Bell:He looked like a rock star and I thought, wow, I didn't know this could be Christian music. And if you know the song, secret Ambition, it's all about Jesus and all about his sacrifice and the fact that his secret ambition was to give his life away. And it grabbed me, man. It grabbed me Chris. It hooked me so deeply. I can still remember how it felt. And then the preacher that night preached on Jesus and the gospel and I gave my life to Christ. So that song and the whole deal will always be special.
Chris Estes:So in the truck with your granddad. How old were you then?
Chris Bell:Oh man, that would have been five, six, seven in that range.
Chris Estes:And he just let you sing. Were you just singing?
Chris Bell:Oh yeah, he would too, and we would sing George Strait and he introduced me to a lot like he loved Waylon Jennings. He loved old country music. You know Conway Twitty, you know all those guys, and then my mom, oak Ridge Boys, again all those great harmonies and so all of that. And then, as I got into Christian music, you know for him, became a big deal for me. I love great singers and so the 90s were full of great, great singers. And then I found out about an artist, michael English, who to me is the best vocalist I've ever heard when he was in his prime, and that was the guy that probably influenced me vocally more than anybody. Michael English and then Clay Cross was a great artist, russ Lee, who sang With Truth and then he was the lead singer of New Song, All four of the four-hymn guys.
Chris Bell:Those guys all had them. And then Stephen Curtis Chapman became huge and I got to go on a trip with him a few years ago and honestly, Chris, those artists and their songs became soundtracks for my life, which I think has been lost a little bit, because everything and again, I love worship music and everything is so very vertical now. But the Bible also has a horizontal impact in our lives and what I particularly loved, like Stephen Curtis, he was awesome, Everything was awesome, but he's singing songs about living the best adventure of your life. Michael W is singing songs about finding your place in this world and they became kind of anthems. I guess for me as a teenager to kind of grab onto Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, and to me that is the power of a song.
Chris Estes:Yeah, that is man. Yeah, they do become soundtracks and milestones and, like you said you, can go back to the feeling. You can almost even smell that moment. You remember CDs, right and a lot of our audience probably do.
Chris Bell:There was a in Mobile. There was a bookstore, a music, a Christian music store. It was called Amplified Version. Do you remember?
Chris Estes:this. Oh yeah, I remember Amplified Version, yeah.
Chris Bell:And so I would go get, because we lived in, we lived on the state line where I grew up was like right across the line of Mississippi, so we would to Mobile to shop or whatever.
Chris Estes:The big city, yeah, the big city.
Chris Bell:And I couldn't wait to go to Amplify. I'd drop me off in Amplify version. I'd go in and listen to all the new music.
Chris Estes:They had the listening stations. Yes, yes, you remember that. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Bell:And I can remember when new albums would come out. But I remember Stephen Curtis Chapman's. He had an album called For the Sake of the Call and I had listened, just worn that thing out, and I was singing all of his songs at my church and so when I heard the Great Adventure was coming out and that sounded awesome anyway, and I can remember popping on the headphones and if you know how that song starts, it's like this orchestration.
Chris Bell:And then suddenly saddle up your horses.
Chris Bell:And when he hit that I could just remember the chills.
Chris Estes:Oh my gosh.
Chris Bell:T tied it all together man?
Chris Estes:yeah, it was. How did you so back then? How did you discover music and like access it? How did you? Did you buy music or how did you?
Chris Bell:yeah, I always love that question for guests of of our vintage that had a little bit before everything was accessible yeah, yeah, you know, for me it was radio was a big deal then. Yeah, and I can remember. Do you remember recording radio?
Chris Estes:stations and getting your songs.
Chris Bell:Oh yeah, you had that boom, remember. You know, I can still remember the cassette tapes Eye to Eye by Michael W Smith For the Sake of the Call. I had all those cassettes and you'd fast forward to get back to the song and pretty soon you'd wear it out. You know you could tell you're wearing the thing out because it was a cassette tape. So cassette tapes were big. I grew up singing. You know. When I started singing in church, chris, we were doing soundtracks, oh yeah, and it would have a high, low, medium track and boy you had to make sure you got that right.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Chris Bell:Luckily I had a vocal range that I could grab them all, because the guy you were and you were dependent on the sound guy in the back of the room to hit play on the right spot. But radio was a big deal, and then you know cassette tapes and then when the CD player came out, I can remember my little book of CDs, but that's what. I spent a lot of money, the little bit I had on.
Chris Bell:I wanted to get music and listen to it and I loved and I think we've lost this a little bit. I don't know if you agree or not the art of the album. Oh yeah for sure. And back then an album had a thread running through it. It's like you could see what chapman was doing, you could see what a you know.
Chris Estes:Uh what an album was trying to accomplish from song to song.
Chris Bell:Yeah, sequencing was really important yeah, do you think it's even a deal anymore?
Chris Estes:I mean it is for some. I think there's still. I still talk to artists that are that you know are concerned about it, and some that are like god, does it really matter?
Chris Estes:because now it's just singles because when you look at the album on any streaming platform, you see the stream counts on Spotify and you can see oh, there's three songs that are in 10 times more streams than the other ones. So, top to bottom. I don't know that people do it. I love vinyl for that reason because the album art itself gets a lot bigger and then you're forced to, when you play vinyl, to listen. You have one side. I just listened to Dire Straits today and it was at a 14 minute song. One side of the vinyl was two songs and a 14 minute song. I was like this is amazing.
Chris Bell:So even like you know, to me, christian music and I loved all, I just love music. You know I loved it, matthew's loved all that. But I had a big diet of Christian music going with my youth group and everything. But I can remember Michael W Smith's Eye to Eye album had this instrumental on there called Ashton and it was stinking amazing it's just this piano-driven thing, super long, but it was so creative. But he had it sitting. The song, this instrumental he did took you into this song that he had called the throne and this is vintage michael w. But that song, the throne, I think won a bunch of awards, big number one hit. But you had to go to the album to hear the instrumental that he built that led you into it. Yeah, and I, I dug that and I I don't know if you were like this, chris I couldn't wait to open up the see who was playing what.
Chris Estes:Absolutely, and who wrote it? Yeah, paul talked about this. We talked about just reading like credits, man, and knowing all this and the thank yous, who they're thanking, I knew every bit of it.
Chris Bell:Oh yeah, and it was cool to me to see how English hit the scene as a big vocalist. I started going wait, I've seen his name somewhere and I realized that he had been doing session work for a long time he was singing with a Gator vocal band, but he had been doing session work for everyone in Nashville and I had seen his name on background vocal. Background vocal. That's wild, and so and so, yeah, and turns out that's what he was doing on the side to make more money, right, yeah, so cool man.
Chris Estes:So what um early on, if we talk about particular songs, what, what particular songs, other songs really impacted your? If you look back at the milestones of your, your journey with music, what can you point to some?
Chris Bell:Yeah, so many songs and this will be pretty eclectic. I'm eclectic musically anyway. Funny enough, a Sandy Patty song that we had, this killer. Her name was Kim. She was an amazing singer and, of course, as I was a kid and then a teenager, she was kind of the female vocalist at my church and I just remember her having an unbelievable voice. It felt like there was no limit to what her voice could do, and I remember we did an Easter cantata and I had my little part as an 11-year-old, 12-year-old, whatever and I walked to the back of the room and she sang the Via Dolorosa.
Chris Bell:You ever heard that it's one of Sandy's big hits back in the day and I can remember that song being so powerful. It moved me and she's singing the lights out. But it was this really powerful moment and I'll never forget it. I can remember how I felt. So I think that's the power of a song. I know what it feels like to listen to Amarillo by morning next to my granddad. I know what it's like to sit at Easter and listen to that lady sing that song. So those songs really grabbed me as the deer. I can remember that at the camp and watching kids my age sing. And then I became a singer at a group at the University of Mobile and Integrity was still in Mobile and we would get these songs brought to us that were fresh and new, and I can remember the day they brought a shout to the Lord.
Chris Estes:Oh wow.
Chris Bell:The first time I ever heard shout to the Lord was before it had been released. Yeah, and I just I remember when, uh, that line that says mountains bow down and the seas will rise, oh yeah, chills all over me Because you know it when you hear something great.
Chris Estes:You do.
Chris Bell:I can remember when I heard I Can Only Imagine.
Chris Bell:Yeah.
Chris Bell:The first time and I thought that is one of the greatest lyrics ever. So some of those songs really grabbed me. If I go back to my teenage years, place in this World, secret Ambition For the Sake of the call, uh, great adventure. Those songs, and then in christ alone, from michael english yeah which was such a huge song one of the guys from phillips craig and dean wrote that song, by the way yeah, yeah and it's a masterful
Chris Estes:song. It would cover everybody's songs yeah, um, yeah.
Chris Bell:I remember that line from that song where he says In Christ alone will I glory, and he talks about he's counting his blessings like diamonds in his hand. To me, that lyric, you can feel it, you can see it?
Chris Estes:Yeah, so did you grow up in your growing up in the church? Were those hymns back then or were they like a blend?
Chris Bell:So I grew up with a blend. Yeah, my church would have been considered during its time contemporary, really. You know, I grew up in an Assembly of God church and we were doing a lot of the Hosanna stuff and then there were hymns put in there and some of those big anthem songs drove deeply into my heart. I can remember just singing my heart out for some of these songs. Do you remember the song they did this on that Petra Praise album? This was big in my church but it's real simple.
Chris Bell:It's like we exalt thee. Oh yeah, we exalt thee. I literally was at a retreat this week.
Chris Estes:We just sang that at the retreat. That song is timeless.
Chris Bell:That song still snatches my heart out of my chest and it matches my heart out of my chest. And oh God, and you just keep singing that man yeah.
Chris Bell:And I can remember so many great moments. We used to do a retreat every year with our youth group and we would end up at this lake I forget what the lake was called, but we'd get off the bus and we'd go stand out there, our youth group, and we would always end up singing that song and I can still hear the voices of everyone singing at the top of their lungs that song, uh, we exalt thee and it just that's like how does a song grab you, yeah, and and help you go right to that moment there's songs like that.
Chris Estes:They're I think they're. They're gateways like they're. They're gateways to to like that particular song. Yeah, in most any settings, when it's the right time, like that song can bring you closer to that, you know, to that gateways maybe not the right word?
Chris Bell:No yeah.
Chris Estes:It does bring you. It brings you closer to the presence. I think it. You know it's like it's honestly I think why the scripture talks about the angels all singing a song you know around the throne, like there's corporate worship.
Chris Bell:He gave us music.
Chris Estes:Yeah, he gave us music, and then there's a moment and there's appropriate times to respond with that. Music's just a gift.
Chris Bell:I mean even in my marriage, from a romantic sense. You know the song. It's a Keith Whitley song. Keith Whitley was this great classic country artist. He died very young in the 80s. Have you ever heard his name? Was this great classic country artist. He died very young in the 80s. Have you ever heard his name? No, he's considered a legend, like a. Tim McGraw would say that Keith Whitley was his hero and he had this song. You Say it Best when you Say Nothing At All.
Chris Bell:The smile on your face lets me know that you need me. There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me. And so when Nan and I were dating, that was a huge like a song for us. Alison Krauss had redone the song. You know that voice. And so that song, when it comes on, boom, it's 1999 and I'm on a date with my wife. It's so powerful, right? Jim Brickman, you heard him, yeah.
Chris Bell:So the night Nan and I went on our first official date, I went and bought because she and I both are music people and at the time I was lead singer of a group and she was still doing her classical music stuff at the University of Mobile. So Jim Brickman, who I was into, had just released and for the listeners that don't know, he's an instrumentalist, he's a pianist Great yeah. And he had released his album Destiny. And I went and bought it and that CD. I popped it in in my car and we listened to that cd on our first day and then subsequent dates. I just have it in.
Chris Bell:Well, that ended up being the soundtrack for our wedding. So we used his music for our wedding and so, to this day, the beginning of some of those songs, boom it's, it takes you right back and I just I think, chris, the power, because I think that's what you're talking about there is a magic. I mean, it's a, it's a god-given thing, this thing that I mean. Why would just some random notes, when they're put together correctly, yeah, how does that become so powerful?
Chris Estes:and I think there's a supernatural side to it there is and I think it does go from instrumentation to lyric to vocal, to the whole thing like, like there can be. I mean it's like soundtracks for movies Like they. They create moments, they create moves.
Chris Bell:So true, okay, so you want me to tell you one of the finest pieces of music that I think I've ever heard. Yeah, it's called the Ludlow's, it's from one of my favorite movies. Everybody, go listen to it. Okay, you can look it up on Spotify and, uh, I think James Horner, I'm pretty sure, did the music to it, the the score they would call it, and it's from the movie, uh, legends of the fall.
Chris Estes:Oh yeah, the.
Chris Bell:Ludlow's are the name of the family. Yeah, and this piece of music is so stinking beautiful and still there are times that, um, I'll just listen to it. Yeah, and it's just so beautiful and so powerful. Do you have a piece of instrumental that's like that for you.
Chris Estes:Man, I think gosh. For me there's a couple of pieces, Like I did a couple of projects with Bethel Music that were called Without Words and they were instrumental, reimagining some of the big songs, some of the worship songs, and for me, in the morning time when I'm having a quiet time with the Lord and journaling, I love that. So there's that side of it. Jazz, as always. I grew up in jazz, so any of the jazz greats.
Chris Bell:Yeah, because you're a new-on-us boy.
Chris Estes:Coltrane loves me. Any kind of jazz just takes me to that place. But I think on most of Hans Zimmer's stuff that he's done.
Chris Bell:Oh, hans Zimmer, what's a movie that he did.
Chris Estes:He did Inception. He did Inception. Yeah, inception's soundtrack's really good. He would have done Paul. You may know this man. He did Blade Runner. Did he do Blade Runner?
Chris Bell:But those movie scores are majestic. One of my favorite is from Robin Hood, prince of Thieves. It's the Kevin Costner one. But the best thing about that movie is the soundtrack, is the score, and that first it became. People don't realize because they've used it for so many other things. That thing originated as the Robin Hood soundtrack.
Chris Estes:That's funny and I remember when my daughter you know Sydney, she's 69, but when she was little she was so moved by the sound of music, like if there was like a scary you know not even a scary sound, but like if it sounded like it would fit in a scary scene of a movie and she just happened to hear it, she would get spooked.
Chris Bell:Wow, because it taps into your emotion. Yeah, Passion of the Christ, the score for that. I forget who did it, but you can feel that. You can feel the power of that For sure.
Chris Estes:So what? All right, I love this question for you because you've been on a lot of sides of music, right, so you've grown up doing it in church, like a lot of guests do. You did it through college, I did. You did it in a professional kind of way. Now you're involved in it on a week-to-week basis and you get to see the impact of it. What are some of the favorite songs that you've worked on, that you've been around. That's been a part of what you've done.
Chris Bell:Yeah, so favorite songs that you've worked on, that you've been a part, that you've been around, has been a part of what you've done. Yeah, so when I was in college I recorded, I think, oh man, I was a part of four different album projects and then I would go out to integrity and do background vocals um, yeah, um. And so there was you know, there were some cool things that I did for that. But, um, there was this song that we did called it was just called you Are Holy, and it was this really beautiful song and I don't know how the thing didn't end up becoming a big, big, big deal because the song's so great.
Chris Bell:But I remember recording that and I sang, lead on it and then the group I was in, everyone they were all so talented, everyone they were great, and so the harmonies are not just like three partpart, four-part. There's all kinds of stuff going on. We just built this huge harmony palette and that was one that I was really happy to be a part of, a lot of fun, and so that's a big one. And then, just over the years, I love to write. I'm a songwriter on the side, a little side gig, but I wrote a song for a person who died when we were in atlanta with a couple of guys there and it was called farewell for now. I just had this line and and it was like this isn't goodbye, it's farewell for now. And so uh, and, and we wrote it and we did it at the funeral and it's like uh farewell for now.
Chris Bell:Farewell for now. I miss your smile, but just a little while. Farewell for now.
Chris Bell:It was just this little line to go. You know we're going to miss you, we're going to miss your smile, but just for a little while. You're a believer, I'm a believer. It's just farewell for now. And so that was a little project that I love, the lyric, I love how that lyric came out and I remember when me and a couple of the guys put it together, we thought, yes, that's what we're trying to say, yeah, you know what I mean, yeah. And then here at Three Circle, you know, I get to be a part of these little co-writes and all. We did a song last summer for the Fruit of the Spirit series and I think myself and Marcel Mariah and.
Chris Bell:Zach were in a room and this song just came out so fast. I came in with this little idea of a kind of country-esque kind of song you are the vine and we are the branches. And you know, Zach jumped in and Marcel jumped in and about like 15 minutes later we had a song, Nice, and it was cool.
Chris Bell:And we actually opened the series with it and that was cool for me because I was sitting in the audience getting ready to preach and they did the song and there's something about that when it comes alive. Yeah, that you dug, you know, you dug that out of the ground and there it is and I'll never forget that. That was pretty cool, that's fun man.
Chris Estes:Yeah, yeah, you get that as a unique perspective.
Chris Bell:You get to see from yours, from your side, yeah, and I and I love the you know to for something to take life and and cause to me. Songs are like that. I heard someone the other day I forget who said it. It may have been on another podcast, but this guy said this. This great, this great songwriter said that he thinks when he gets to heaven that he's going to hear his. You know, if he hears one of his songs, he's going to say, hey, that's my, that's my song, and the angel's going to go oh, no, no, no, no, we let you hear our song. You just got quiet enough to hear it. Like all good songs came from here. We gave it to you and it was ours first. I thought that was pretty, that was pretty cool idea you got it for you.
Chris Estes:We didn't get any writing credit for it, but yeah, right yeah, this is a bonus question.
Chris Estes:I didn't prep you for this one, but it's an interesting one because it made me think about your experience with songs. I've had this experience, but is there a song that has impacted you in different seasons of life? That is one of those that you're like man. It meant something to me then, and then in this other season, it meant something completely different and it just kind of kept evolving with you as you're wow, I think there's several, you know, um, I think for one.
Chris Bell:Um, the song Great Adventure was such a big one that over the years you do like as a kid, you see that one way as a teenager. But it takes on another meaning, like when you go through suffering, when something happens in life that you didn't expect, and you're like, no, no, I've got to wake up every day and keep living this life God has for me to live. So as you mature, I think as you get older, songs take on more dimension. You know what I mean and you go okay, I see what that guy meant by that now, more than I did before. I think I even sang songs that I didn't fully know what they really meant. As I sang them, you know what I mean.
Chris Bell:So to me there's worship songs like that. That meant like, be Thou my Vision, the famous irish hymn, that's my favorite of all the hymns. Well, that song, when I was a kid I used to sing it, you know. But now when I say, uh, seeing those words, they, they matter more deeply to me now, because sometimes I realize my vision can get very blurry and I really need jesus to be my vision and I know what it's like when I don't keep my eyes on him. I don't want to go there. Well, when you're 12 years old, you haven't gone there enough to know?
Chris Bell:Yeah, you don't really know, but when you're 46, like I am now, and I sing that song. I can barely sing it without the tears rolling down my face because I know I just too many times have taken my eyes off Jesus and I know the consequences of that. So now my heart kind of cries it. I go please be thou my vision. O Lord unto me, don't leave me, don't leave my side, stay in front of me. I think that's what happens.
Chris Estes:Man, I love that about the canon of songs like that that continue to be in the church Oftentimes, things about that too, leading here and you know, from the platform we have a vantage point of watching the people worship and when I see older people and we do older hymns and I'm thinking, man, they've got such a history with that song, you know same thing, like they've sung this song, like you know, throughout their life, which is beautiful.
Chris Bell:I remember a few years ago a young man well, and there's a connection with our staff here to keep it private. There's a young man and his wife who both I had mentored over in Pensacola and they've been part of our ministry there and they had a child who had a heart condition and the baby died. It was really tough and they had a child who had a heart condition and the baby died. Yeah, it was really tough. And when it happened and they reached out to us we knew the funeral was coming. I remembered a Michael W song from back in the 90s that he did and he had written it for a couple that had gone through this.
Chris Bell:And it's a song called Hello, goodbye, I'll see you on the other side. Yeah, it's this beautiful song about a baby and talking about how beautiful this baby was. But the baby died and they're like, uh, hello, goodbye. Like it, it happened too fast. We got to see you and know you for about that long and then it was goodbye, but we're going to see you on the other side. And I just floated the song to them and they ended up making it a part of the celebration of life. Once again, the power of a song. You know Michael wrote that song back, you know, 25 years ago. He didn't know that all those years later, that song, they live, right, chris they live beyond us and um, and that song brought some level of encouragement.
Chris Bell:you know and I think that's you know the power of writing something that will far outlive you but one day may encourage someone that you never even knew. Michael W does not know, he doesn't know me and he doesn't know that couple, but that song mattered on that day. Yeah, think about that.
Chris Estes:That's so true, man. I think it's why the Psalms are in the Bible. I mean there's, you know, the songs of David Do you think he knew them.
Chris Bell:I don't think David knew, he didn't know yeah.
Chris Estes:And that's where I feel like. Today there are people that are on their musical career journeys and they want to write the song, they want to have the hit. It's like just write a song you never know what God's going to do with it or how it's going to be used. That's so good man and I don't think David knew that they were just writing and they were responding to what God was doing.
Chris Bell:Do you think the best songs, Chris, have a level of that kind of purity you're talking about? Do you think they come from a place like that?
Chris Estes:I think they do, the ones that stand the test of time. I think you have the you know the pop songs that are like you know the bubble gum pop and they're going to go away. But there's some artists now that are at the top of the charts, but are they going to be remembered 50 years from now? Like the Beatles catalog is still super relevant, right.
Chris Bell:That's so true. Yeah, that's so true. The artists and the songs that outlive people. Have you ever heard the song the Dance by Garth Brooks?
Chris Bell:Oh yeah.
Chris Bell:And he talks about the fact that that wasn't his song. It was another person, he heard it, but they had the lyric. That beautiful song, but the power of the beginning, the piano intro that's so powerful, happened kind of accidental. The guy was just in there playing and there it was, and when you put it all together you've got this song that still to this day I can hear the start of the dance, that song, and go, oh man you feel it in your gut, you know, I think it even goes back to like the classical greats.
Chris Estes:You know they took and all this guy like you they have a canon of work that is still, you know, very relevant yeah, totally agree all right.
Chris Estes:So this next question is a really interesting one too for you, um, because you've probably seen it in a lot of aspects and it ties right into the theme of the podcast. How have you seen the power of songs throughout your journey with them and the different types of occasions and experiences? Are there some that you can look back on and say, man, I really saw the power of that song move.
Chris Bell:Yeah, I mean, I think when I toured a lot in college you know there's no telling how many concerts I did with the group and then in the summer I would tour with a band and we would do camps and we'd do songs, and then I'd go do solo stuff for churches, and so you kind of see how things move. A crowd, you know, move people, and that's a powerful thing to see that what you're singing connects, you know. And so we had, we had all these incredible songs that we were doing back then. I remember this song called no One Can Touch you Like Jesus Can, and we would do that song and you could see it. You could see different people. It was grabbing their hearts. You'd see the tears flowing and hands would go up and you think man, god's, god is really using the, the power of that. You know, um, and and and. So that I saw, night after night after night I used to do.
Chris Bell:There's a few songs that I that I would do. There was a song called uh, about them and he's and cried holy. It's this big southern gospel thing that mike english used to do with the Gathers, and when I would do solo stuff I would do that song and that one always just moves people and it's this song about you're in heaven, and no one can sing it like he could, but I'd give it my best shot and it just works. Every time it brings people to that place and I think you've seen it like a shout to the Lord is one I remember. It just works. I think more modern how great is our God? I've never been in a room where, within 10 seconds of those words that the room's not boom, they're there, hands are up, people are worshiping. I've watched that happen over and over again, so so that would be some of the ones that I've just seen, the the great power of it, and then I think one for me would be the song mary, did you know?
Chris Bell:oh, yeah I know a little bit about the background of it because the first michael english album that came out had mary. Did you know? He's the first person to record it. Mart lowry, though, the christian comedian who was the baritone in the Gay the Vocal band, wrote it. That's right yeah, yeah, he's a goofball, but he wrote this incredible song and he tells the joke. Back then, michael was such a big deal, mike English, with his big voice. He said well, how would my song become a hit? I know, get Michael to sing it, you know.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Chris Bell:Well, that song has been recorded by hundreds of artists, right, everybody you can imagine has now recorded Mary, did you Know? And it's just one of those songs that everyone wants to take a crack at. And that's the power of a song it's just got this life that just keeps going. Every Christmas you're going to hear it. So anyway songs are very powerful.
Chris Estes:They are, man Any new songs that you've? Been listening to or that are recent, that you think are have that powerful impact on you yeah, you know that I'm a big need to breathe fan I love a great voice, so bear on heart to me is.
Chris Bell:I think one of the best lyrics I've heard in a long time is his song banks of the river river banks yeah yeah let's go like. That is if I were gonna say something to my wife yeah that's beautiful.
Chris Bell:That's a beautiful lyric I want to be the banks to your river. Yeah, I, you know, basically saying I want to be the place that encourages you. That you, you know, and so and then you. So I love a lot of what bear and need to breathe are doing. There's a great song called sunshine that they do. That's incredible. I love that song. Who Am I to Be Loved by you? So I think they're a band that I really pay attention to that I can't wait for their new stuff to come out.
Chris Estes:Have you gotten into Wilderwoods A little bit, yeah, a little bit.
Chris Bell:Now I just love Bear's voice. I think the guy's got an unbelievable instrument that God gave him For sure. I really love and we're talking Christian music. I love for King and Country. Those guys are really cool to me. Yeah, I like what they're doing musically. So, yeah, yeah, some of those guys that's some recent stuff that's kind of grabbed my imagination a little bit.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Chris Bell:And then I love Chris Stapleton, and then I love Chris Stapleton.
Chris Estes:Yeah, that voice, yeah yeah.
Chris Bell:He's got some that song. What Are you Listening To? Really cool song.
Chris Bell:Oh yeah.
Chris Bell:Just a great lyric and I just love to hear a great lyric and you take a great lyric and put it with a great voice.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Chris Bell:I love oh, I can't Lauren Daigle A couple of years ago. He's still rolling stones. Come on man. Oh yeah, I mean, that song just grabs you by the, by the heart and and her powerful voice. Um, she's one of my favorite artists.
Chris Estes:Yeah, I dig her weren't you a part of kind of launching um? We worked with her a bunch with bethel music and, uh, we did some in her early days, some of the stuff that she's um. She came out to a couple of worship conferences and stuff and she's awesome. She came out to a couple of worship conferences and stuff and she's awesome. She's a real deal on stage and off stage she's like really she's a great person yeah, great person man yes, I would say that.
Chris Bell:And then I love some of the stuff we're doing with three circle music. I'm just being honest, this is a a shameless plug in a way. But man, I think that we've got some incredible songwriters. Of course, zach adamson yeah, angel thrash is just an gosh, just her. Her writing is unbelievable and so some of the stuff they're putting out. But I love the song um fall afresh yeah that. That's killer to me, man. I love the lyric and I love how that song came around. That's that's to me.
Chris Estes:I love that song the mix on that song is not that great. I wonder who they got to mix it that guy Paul look at him right there, right now. We are fortunate to have that talent and then have Paul to be able to mix and make it sound great yeah, absolutely.
Chris Bell:And then I, man, I like a lot of. I'm so eclectic on this stuff, I like a lot of. I'm so eclectic on this stuff, I like a lot of different things. But there's this band called is it Red Clay? My wife and I have been listening, paul, do you know who they are? Red Clay Strays? They're good, I like them. And then I like the Teske Brothers. Have you heard of them? Oh, the Teske Brothers are great Gosh man.
Chris Estes:They don't sound like they're from New Zealand, but they are.
Chris Bell:They don't do that. They sound like they're out of the south for sure. Yeah, bro, they're a little further south. Uh-huh, I like them a lot. So there's yeah, I like man. To me it's the. There's so much music.
Chris Estes:Now I read a stat, there's a lot of average to below average music that's coming out. So what really? And I've always felt this with artists anyway, like you know, it's like you mentioned Stapleton Daigle, all these like unique talent, voice, vocal. You know Bears obviously got a unique voice. I think Leon Bridges falls in that category.
Chris Estes:I love Leon Bridges so it's like a familiar, like you know. He kind of comes out of the thread of Motown, you know, soulful voice but super unique. And I mean I even think, like you know, the Black Keys, like these guys, like it's not a unique new genre sound, but it's like a very distinct sound which makes it man. That's what I love about music and the power of songs, because the music can do that to you, as well as the vocal you know, but when you combine, both of those together like a Dave Matthews band.
Chris Estes:It's like man you got the full spectrum.
Chris Bell:But then you'll hear something and you're like, oh, that's not good.
Chris Estes:Yeah.
Chris Bell:And we've all heard stuff that's good put out music. Right, because on one hand you go, oh, there's no more gatekeepers, you know but on the other hand, you go oh there's no more gatekeepers, yeah but that's the difference.
Chris Estes:And I mean I was talking to some group this week and you know we're trying to from the music business side, you're trying to gain somebody. You know, go spend time at the record shop. Yeah, because those days are over, yeah so you can listen to it, and so the filter for bad music, like I think it, gets filtered out pretty quick. You know it doesn't make the playlist, it doesn't get the stream count.
Chris Estes:So you would say, you would argue that the good stuff still finds its way it still finds its way and then, like you know, the average, the mediocre stuff has its audience, which is a lot smaller, but it doesn't get confused in the broader stuff. But it does make the competition for playlisting a lot harder because there's a lot of music that's being pitched for that. I still think, man, the best discovery and I've always found this to be true is your friends, your musical friends, your recommendations from them.
Chris Bell:It's kind of like with restaurants right, restaurants right. Yeah, that's how you roll, that's what you?
Chris Estes:yeah, so I have, like paul's, one of those guys like we were talking about some music the other day and it's like man I trust his opinion on stuff to check out, so and if he recommends something I can go check it out.
Chris Bell:It feels like for free for me because do you find, talking about the power of songs, do do you find that, like I have seasonal things? You know, like to me, I still. I love Jack Johnson for a lot of reasons, but he fills summertime to me. Summer comes and I'm throwing. I love reggae, I love great reggae. I love those guys. Did you see the Bob Marley movie, by the way? Great movie man.
Chris Estes:I loved it. Really good movie, I loved it.
Chris Bell:Okay, so, okay. So I love Bob Marley and so, but to me Bob Marley's Summertime it's Jack Johnson. There's a reggae artist. He won several Grammys years ago. His name's Mishka M-I-S-H-K-A. I love Mishka, I heard him live in Miami once and I really dig his stuff and so, but that's that feels very much that and for some reason, like Alabama, the group Alabama that I grew up on, that feels like fall to me, like Tennessee River, and all that.
Chris Bell:If I'm going hunting, if I'm going on the outdoors, if we're going to the mountains, the Smokies for a few days, it feels like that's what I should be listening to.
Chris Estes:And then you have cultural. You've traveled the world too, so when you get into regions of the world like Central America, south Americaica, there's a very distinct sound bro, and I love, I love uh latin music and the whole vibe because of my time in south florida, as you know.
Chris Bell:Yeah, I just fell in love with a lot of that and then I have a deep love. My my family thinks I'm crazy at times. I know my kids because I got music all the time. Yeah, when I'm cooking, I love like italian music I literally turn spotify on and don't don't laugh me off off the podcast, dude. I love some italian opera I'm serious.
Chris Estes:What's the blind guy? Bachelet, bachelet, yeah, I don't know his name, but what a voice, yeah but that man. I love some italian music in the background it makes me want to cook Any kind of cooking, just like whatever, any, yeah, any.
Chris Bell:Well, now, if I'm outside on the grill, I have country normally, but for some reason if I'm inside, kind of getting fancy, I'll make this. You've heard of it. I know you've been around my family enough. I make these smoked Gouda meatballs.
Chris Bell:You've had them before I made them for you over polenta, my italian friend in uh, atlanta taught me how to do it and so I want my italian music. Man, it feels right and I I feel kind of fancy and gracie. My daughter makes fun of me because I'm, you know, I got my little, my little dish towel over my shoulder like a chef and and she just she just kind of rolls her eyes that chef hat.
Chris Estes:I'm having like ratatouille visions right now that's it.
Chris Bell:But I feel, I feel very cultured when I do.
Chris Estes:Yeah, you know that's the other power of songs and music is like it is environmental and it's it's definitely seasonal. Um man, what a great, what a great conversation. Dude, thanks for for being on absolutely man and sharing your story with songs. Uh, we're gonna jump into a power song story so we're gonna dive a little bit deeper into that. So you guys stay tuned. The next week we'll have this power song story that we're about to jump in now, but Chris thanks for being on, man, thanks, man, thank you.
Chris Bell:One of my dear brothers Love the podcast and so honored to be on here.
Chris Estes:It's going to blow up now that you're on it.
Chris Bell:I mean it's a strategic move. I hope so. I hope that it just.
Chris Estes:Paul promised it would blow up. He did say that was going to happen. Amen, brother.