About this project

Weathered. Gray. Hollowed out. Taken out. It's what happens when life hits sometimes.  Divorce. Bankruptcy. Cancer. You name it. We all face it. This side of heaven, it's hard to understand sometimes why life happens the way it does, especially when we feel like we've done all we can do to follow God and serve Him with all our hearts. 

Sometimes it's just out of our hands, and all we can do is surrender to the grieving, the breaking, the loss, the hollowing out of our souls...but somehow, mysteriously, in the hollowing out, God is filling those vacant places, where we now have room for more of Him.

Over the last few years I have faced my fair share of weathering. There were moments I honestly wasn't sure I would ever recover. There were times the music seemed absolutely silent in me. But then, all of a sudden, it's like the music began again.  A new sound, a new honesty, a new vulnerability to tell my story. 

Through the encouragement of friends, family, and my church...songs rose out of the gray bleakness. Songs written on my most difficult days. God met me at the piano on those days, and he helped me be honest with Him as I sat and strummed the guitar. He saw me in those moments, saw me THROUGH those moments. 

Just when I thought all the music inside me was dormant, it's like a little green shoot rose quietly into bloom, and new life came, new songs came, new courage came. I feel like now is the time to share some of these songs with the world.  Life is short, and I don't want to waste a moment.

I've had this picture in my heart for a long time of an EP of songs titled "weathered." Songs about life, love, loss, hopelessness, brokenness, hope, and redemption. As I've begun to share some of the songs I've written in this season and the idea for this EP, it seemed clearer and clearer that it was a risk worth taking, a venture worth exploring.

I've been blessed with so many friends, pastors, and musicians who've come alongside me this year, who have believed in me more than I believed in myself sometimes. One of those people is my dear friend and co-writer - the multi-talented and ever-mysterious Duffy James - who has also offered to help me produce this EP.

Duffy and I have spent hours turning songs upside-down, and he's really challenged me to work at my writing, to make time for writing, to not give up on writing, and it's been such a blessing to have someone to bounce my musicial ideas off of - especially someone who's not afraid to tell me when my ideas stink, actually. After many hours of arm wrestling over lyrics and melodies and whether the chorus is the bridge or the bridge is the chorus, we feel like we have a handful of songs that are ready to record now, and we're hoping to start recording - in June!

We have a really tight timeline, which is why we have such a limited period of 15 days in which to raise funds on Kickstarter. Our goal is to have finished product ready to release on July 12! This means product in YOUR hands by mid July as well - God willing - and product to take on a mini-tour that kicks off July 14th. It's a tour that God put on my heart recently, with the intended purpose being to raise funds for a partner ministry I support called Love146. THIS is the reason behind the sudden push to get the EP done - it's about Kingdom investments into something much greater than myself or these simple songs. 

I always tell people that writing songs, recording them, and making CDs always makes me feel like I'm that kid with only a couple loaves of bread and fish in my hands, offering them to the Master humbly, knowing that what I can offer would never be enough....but knowing He is the God who can make something out of my nothing. 

So, once again I humbly offer Him what I have, knowing that if He so wills, He can multiply my efforts and potentially use it to bless thousands. That is my heart's desire, and I'd love to invite you all to be part of that.

"Hollow like an old and empty oak tree, taken down by lightening in the storm. Weathered by the years that time has eaten away. Lying in the shadows, wondering how it ended up this way, when I tried so hard to follow and obey. Can you see me when the darkness surrounds? Can you find me when I want to be found?  Can you hear me when I sing through the storm? When I'm weathered & worn, can you hear me, Lord?" - from "weathered" by Sheri Carr & Duffy James

http://shericarr.com