Matt Maher, one of the most decorated artists on the Catholic music scene, is releasing four brief “song bundles.” The four-part release, called Alive and Breathing, is dropping once a month, beginning in September and ending in January. The first two volumes are already out, yielding six newish Maher songs!
The Alive and Breathing series consists of songs Maher wrote for other artists but has hitherto not recorded himself. So far, from the six songs released in the first two parts of the series, our favorite is “Run to the Father,” a song Maher originally wrote for Cody Carnes.
Maher recorded “Run to the Father” a little faster than Cody’s version, which gives it a boost in energy at the end when both tempo and dynamics build quickly. Maher also adjusted the key lower and while it doesn’t really make that much of a difference musically, it allows the song to fit into his baritone voice excellently.
In a press release, Maher explained that he wrote the song for Cody, but the way Cody performed it touched him and made Maher want to record a version as well. Of the Alive and Breathing series, Maher said:
“Over the course of the past 20 years of music, my two greatest joys in this area of my life are playing music live and writing songs with friends. That is why I gravitate so much to writing congregational church music – they’re songs that are meant to be sung live and they’re songs that come out of the gift of friendship. “It’s part of what inspired me to record the live songs on Alive & Breathing, for example … ‘Run to the Father’ is a song I had the honor of writing alongside Cody Carnes and Ran Jackson.”
The first two installments of Alive and Breathing are out and just begging to be heard. Click here to listen to Volume 1. Click here to listen to Volume 2.
And today we celebrate...