Outside the Comfort Zone
Most people assume if you’re a musician, then you love to sing. That’s not necessarily so.
I love working in the recording studio. There’s something magical that happens when a group of great musicians comes together. The blending of talents and ideas always results in something greater than the sum of its parts. As a producer it always feels a little like being a mad scientist, locked away in room with no windows, helping bring a creation to life.
I love writing songs. There’s nothing more fun than being locked away in a room with a piano or guitar and a collaborator or two. One of my favorite memories from my staff writing days is when visitors would come by. The publisher would be showing them around and knock gently on the door, then peer into the room as if they were looking at animals in a zoo. It felt rare and exotic. “Do not feed the songwriters!”
What I don’t love is singing in public. At parties when I was young people would always say, “Steve, there’s a piano over there” or “Did you bring your guitar?” expecting that I would want to lead everyone in song. No thanks. To this day, at church the hymns and worship songs never seem to be in my key. I lip sync as often as I actually sing.
When people ask me, “Are you a singer?” I usually respond, “I can carry a tune if you give me a bag.” If I’m feeling more serious I might say, “Only to facilitate my writing.” I think a big part of this for me has always been that I don’t like to do things in public unless I can do them with excellence. I’ve had the privilege of being around world-class singers and musicians my whole life. I know what a real singer sounds like.
And as a songwriter and producer I want you to hear a song the way I envision it – being shared by people with a true gift for singing or playing their instrument. In short, I have a comfort zone. Let’s face it. We all have them. (If you don’t think so try sitting on a different side of the church this Sunday.) But here’s the thing. God has a way of calling us out of our comfort zones.
When I started Music for the Soul it was not with the intention of doing concerts. And if I was ever going to do a concert it would be as a producer, inviting others to do the singing. For years I held the line. Then one day a consultant said to me. “I know you want to build the brand of Music for the Soul, not Steve Siler. But people want to know who is behind something.”
He then proceeded to ask, “Where is your book? Where is your solo album?” I knew he was right but I still a part of me resisted. Then another friend said to me, “Steve, if you’re not comfortable thinking of yourself as a singer, then think of yourself as a storyteller.
That was what I needed to hear. I recorded the solo album and over the last year and a half have been singing at churches and retreats doing what I call “An evening of songs and stories.” And what a gift it has been – to me. Something happens when a song interacts with an audience. You can feel it in the room. You can see it in the eyes of the listeners.
Afterwards, people come up and share their stories, inviting me into the sacred, private places in their lives. The songs have touched something deep in them. They feel known and understood and loved. As great as it is to have a song on the radio, there is something very special and profoundly rewarding about this interaction. This past Sunday I found myself the sole vocalist, doing a thirteen song set at Forks of Elkhorn Baptist Church in Frankfort, KY.
The stories people shared afterward blessed me tremendously. Has God been calling you to step outside of a comfort zone in your life? At the risk of sounding cliché, the good fruit is out on the limb.
No, I’m not Pavarotti – or even Sting. But I don’t have to be to so what God has called me to do. And neither do you.
Originally posted 9/3/16