BEREA, Ky. (KT) — A circle of worship leaders convinced Kevin Sexton to step out of his comfort zone and expand his musical horizons.
Sexton, worship leader at Berea Baptist Church, had no problem making that next move, considering his personal belief that becoming comfortable isn’t suitable for all phases of life. During those chats with notable worship leaders such as Mack Brock, formerly of Elevation Worship, he decided to chart out his future.
“I was like, ‘Hey, I’m sitting on a bunch of songs right now that I’ve written over the years, I think it’s time for me to get these down and recorded, how do I go about doing that?'” he recalled.
Brock put Sexton in touch with noted audio engineer Jack Nellis (Maverick City), who then sent Sexton’s music — without his prior knowledge — to Capitol Records in Nashville. After hearing demos of his original songs, Nellis and other producers were impressed with Sexton’s vocal and musical talents.
Sexton’s producer, Baily Hager, was also impressed, but the tune changed somewhat after Sexton learned the cost of recording an entire project exceeded his budget. Hager advised Sexton to raise funds through the “Kickstarter” program. At the time, Sexton said his “heart felt so crushed.”
However, Sexton placed videos on social media platforms and with the help of friends and family, he raised $20,000 within 30 days. The road to recording hit a few speed bumps along the journey to his first recording.
“From that moment, it’s been so exciting — incredibly scary,” he said. “The fear and doubt that I had got crushed by the heel of Jesus. It was amazing. I was so fearful and stressed and anxious that this wasn’t happening. God smiled and blessed all of that. And it was like a big hug from the Holy Spirit. It was so amazing.”
Throughout the process, Sexton has learned to be patient amid the excitement of a personal and spiritual milestone.
“It is all in God’s timing,” he said. “I’m the type of person who’s like, ‘I’m so impatient and I want things to happen now.’ But this is just yet one of those other God moments where he’s like, no, I need you to wait. You know it’s OK. It’s OK to be slow. It’s OK, ‘like your timing is not my timing, your thoughts are not my thoughts. Your ways are not my ways. It’s going to be OK.’”
Sexton was in Nashville last week laying down the final tracks for the vocal and musical arrangements to one of his four songs, “When I Met You.” The sessions were a learning experience for Sexton, who was soaking up the entire experience.
During the first session, Sexton admitted he was “nervous and stressed” but leaned on God, friends and family for support and experienced harmony with the cello player, who was laying tracks that took just three hours to complete.
“It was just this glorious moment of ‘Miracle Music,’” he said. “It was awesome. I have never experienced something so genuine and authentic in my life in music. It was pure and it felt holy. It felt peace giving, revitalizing, and beautiful. I didn’t want to leave that moment. It was wonderful.”
On the second day, Sexton felt more at ease and experienced “no stress at all” while learning to lay down the vocal tracks to perfection.
“Between the first and second day, if I can wrap it up into one word, it’s affirmation,” he said. “It was just God affirming this vision and calling that I have felt on my life since Day 1 of feeling all of that — affirmation.”
Once the project is released this summer, he is prepared for his music to reach the world in whatever avenue God sees fit to share his version of the gospel.
“Selfishly, I would love to go on tour,” he said. “I would love to lead these songs. I would love to be the forerunner, the warrior at the front line with these songs and I would love that. That would be phenomenal. But if God needs other people to use this and run with it, so be it. You know, the word amen means, ‘so be it.’ So whatever happens — amen.”
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