By Mallory Mattingly
When Grammy award-nominated country singer-songwriter Anne Wilson began her career writing music and creating records, she wasn’t quite sure the direction in which she wanted to go.
“I obviously started in Christian music in 2021 with ‘My Jesus,’ Wilson told CCM in an interview. “Before then, I had written 150 songs and was in a development deal with my label. From 17 to 19, I was being developed, writing songs and figuring out who I wanted to be as an artist. Do I want to do Christian Pop, Christian Country — what direction do I want to go in? I kept writing and writing, but I never felt like I was finding anything I loved until COVID happened.”
When COVID happened in 2020, Wilson went back to her granddad’s home in Kentucky. One day while visiting her brother’s grave, she felt like “God was showing me that this was the direction I was supposed to go in — not leaving behind my roots growing up in Kentucky, but also incorporating my faith.”
Her brother Jacob died in 2017 and played a big part in her decision to pursue music. She recently honored him in an Instagram post.
“Reflecting on my brother a lot recently and who he was to me. He was strong and steady. He was hilarious. He was loyal. He was faithful. He was protective. He was wild & free. I hope & pray to live a life as full as he did in his 23 years,” she wrote.
When Jacob died, Wilson began to create more Christian country music.
“That’s really when ‘My Jesus’ and all the songs from that album came about,” she said.
Related: Anne Wilson Shares How God Used Tragedy to Launch her Career
When those songs were released, Wilson began to get feedback from fans about how her music impacted their lives.
“I started getting messages from people saying, ‘Hey, we’re not Christians, but we love the sound of your music because it’s country, so we listen to it. And then we started paying attention to the lyrics, and it led us to Jesus.'”
Since then, Wilson began to understand more and more the kind of music God wanted her to create.
Rebel is Wilson’s latest album, and it is all about Jesus being the rebel. He was the one to always go against the grain to stand out in the crowd.
“It was really life-giving as an artist; this album felt very free-spirited like I can write about my faith, but also about different things, too,” Wilson told Billboard.
“Some songs are very country, some are very worshipful, but they’re all authentically me. I see it as a way to reach a bigger audience and share the gospel with more people,” she told CCM.
God used one of the most difficult times in Wilson’s life to propel her career and spread the name of Jesus to an even greater audience.
Read Next: Anne Wilson Announces New Album, Drops Single ‘God & Country’
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