Leanna Crawford Shares the Stories of Faith and Family Behind Her Debut Album

Christian singer/songwriter, Leanna Crawford, has recently released her debut album Still Waters with Provident/Sony Music.The title track expands on the idea of generational faith and passing down God's lessons down to our loved ones, starting with her Great Aunt, who was so devoted to her faith that she memorized the Bible upon realizing she was going blind. This foundation in God is, as Leanna explains, the heart of this album. 

Listen to the full album, Still Waters HERE.

Q: Leanna, thanks for doing this interview with us. Congratulations on the release of your album. On this record, you draw inspiration from your roots. Tell us, what was your childhood like?

Thank you so much, that's so kind. It's so exciting to have it out. It's my first full length record, and it's been a dream of mine for a long time. My childhood is really sweet, too. I grew up in one of the most beautiful places. Of course, I'm a little biased, but I grew up in the Pacific Northwest in a small town, and a lot of my memories are playing outside, catching frogs, building forts. Just, you know, adventures with my siblings and friends.

My parents are really loving and I'm very, very grateful for them. They've always been very supportive of my dream to do music. A lot of the inspiration, the visuals, especially from this album, came from that; drawing from my roots, drawing from the Pacific Northwest. I'm super grateful.

Q: You did mention your Great Aunt and how she influenced you. Could you talk to us about her and how you came to know Christ through your family.

When you listen to my song "Still Waters (Psalm 23)," which is also the title track of the album, in the first line, I talk about my Great Aunt Marine. She was just an incredible woman. She loved Jesus. She loved people and she loved scripture. Her story was that she had found out she was going blind in her forties and when she found that out, she decided to memorize the whole Bible, which is wild.

She got about 90% of it. I got to meet her when she was 103. That time it was so evident to see that she used the scripture that she had memorized as like her roadmap for life. She loved people and she loved the word of God. It was just written on her heart. You could tell that. I remember I tested her knowledge of scripture. I was like, do you really have the whole Bible memorized? And she really did.

It was just so inspiring. I loved being able to talk about her story. I think about her prayers over my mom, her prayers over my dad, when my mom met my dad, and just like, I don't think that I would know Jesus the way that I do without her legacy, without her prayers. I love getting to share her story.

Q: Please share a couple of examples of how your childhood has influenced the songs on the record.

A lot of my songs come from journal entries. I love to journal. A lot of those end up being prayers. They're just my songs. They're things I'm needing to hear, things I'm going through, walking through,and I feel like God is teaching me. My hope is that when people hear the songs, they can hearthemselves in the songs. But I found that, and especially with this record, probably because it's my first album, that if I share my story, then it feels like other people can connect with that, even if we have a totally different life experience.

I think that's the beauty of music. A lot of the songs feel like my childhood and that we're talking about the simplicity of the gospel. You know, I like to overcomplicate things a lot of the time. I like to overcomplicate God's love for me.And it's like, no, it's actually so simple. There's no such thing as too far gone with God. The enemy would like us to believe that. But no, you can have that childlike faith wherever you're at. I think that's just so beautiful and such a good reminder. It's also one of the first songs that came off the record, especially visually.

As I was dreaming up the album, that was the one that really was the anchor for the visuals for the whole project. The visuals are all set in the Pacific Northwest in my homeland. And so I think that's what makes the whole record really special, is getting to share that piece of me through the music videos and through the (cover) art. This is my home. This is a huge part of me and I love being able to share that. I'm hoping they're always reflective of my story and my journey with Jesus and just my journey in life in general.

Q: What were some of the highlights in the making of this album?

One of my favorite things about making this album was putting the track list together. Of all 14 tracks, half the album had already been out. I really wanted to make all 14 songs really fit. It was very intentional from top to bottom. The first song "For Heaven's Sake," I really wanted that to kind of hit people and I wanted everyone to be like, "Oh wait, whoa, this is kind of, this is different."

And then all the way through to track 14, "Rest," which is a song I've had since 2018 or 2019, was something waiting to be released. It just felt like the perfect way to end the record. That bridge talks about that promise of Come to me all who are weary and I'll give you rest. I just felt like that was a really great way to end the record.

Q: My favorite song on the album is the moving "Jesus Is." How did the song come about?

I wrote it with my friend Clint and he also wrote the song "Simple" with me and another friend of ours. It actually took a long time to write. I think it took us a few months to get our schedules together, but we did not rush the song. I mean, sometimes you get in, you write a song in a few hours and it's awesome.

But this time, we did not rush this process and we spent a lot of hours with what we're gonna use: the right wording, the phrasing, the melodies. We really dove into this song. I'm so grateful for people like Clint that just are not afraid to dive deep or not afraid to take time.

I love this song. I'm grateful for it and for Clint that we were able to write that together.. It's been really sweet. Sometimes we'll sing it at live shows and it's been very special to just see how people connect with it because you wouldn't maybe think it's a song to play live, but it's been very sweet in that way. It took us so long to get that. We worked hard for this song and so it means so much for you to say that about it.

Q: How do you hope these new songs will impact the faith journey of your listeners?

My prayer for whoever hears this record is that they feel a little less alone. I think it's beautiful when we bring things to light. God uses our testimony to encourage others whether that's anxiety or depression, or just the valley that you're walking through.

My prayer is that when you hear these songs, you hear these words, the music that you're encouraged, that you're reminded that you are loved. That's my prayer ultimately as everyone listens to this album, and I also pray for peace. There's a lot of chaos in the world, and I pray that you're reminded that the Lord is your shepherd and he leads you beside still waters. I'm praying that everyone hears these songs.

Still Waters is available now on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, as well as in stores. For more information on Leanna Crawford and her debut album, visit https://www.leannacrawford.com or follow her on social media at @leannacrawfordmusic. 

 

 

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