Individualistic. A free spirit. Untraditional. In high school those labels are a death sentence. In adulthood, they usually describe people the rest of us wish we could be – creative, intriguing people like Audrey Assad.

Truly one-of-a-kind, this intensely honest singer-songwriter is carving out her own unique path in the music industry and opening hearts to God along the way.

“I was 19 when I started to fully understand the idea of surrendering my life -- not just as a concept, but the daily hopes and dreams and disappointments -- and giving that away to God,” she says. “That’s when I first started to realise He had gifted me with music.”

Shortly after that spiritual epiphany, Audrey began leading worship in the foyer of a church she didn’t even attend. Standing by her lifelong conviction to “bloom where you’re planted,” she set out to do whatever God put in front of her that let her use her gifts.

That led to local gigs, worship events and a four-song demo, recorded by a friend with Garage Band for several hundred dollars. Along the way, Audrey struck up friendships with 10th Avenue North and Phil LaRue. Next came a move to Nashville and a five-song EP, Fireflies, recorded in 2008 with LaRue and Paul Moak. It was that recording that caught the attention of the A&R department at Sparrow Records, but not before Audrey joined Chris Tomlin on his Christmas tour and album, covering her song “Winter Snow” as a duet.

Her debut, The House You’re Building, releases just days after her 27th birthday, but the depth and maturity of her songwriting will make you suspect her cake should have quite a few more candles on it. The collection of piano-driven pop also contains plenty of worship, something that’s more than just a genre of music or something saved for Sunday mornings, it bleeds into every one of Audrey’s live sets.

“Worship leading is a big part of what I do. If I’m not opening believers hearts, then I’m not doing what I want to do,” she explains. “Of course, I want to evangelise and change people’s lives, but really I just hope it opens them up a little bit more to God.”

She’s passionate about songwriting as well. The songs for her debut were written in Nashville, featuring collaborations between Audrey and everyone from Matt Maher, LaRue and Ben Glover (Britt Nicole, Mandisa, Gloriana) to Marc Byrd (Hammock, Third Day, Kutless, Leeland) and Sarah Hart (Amy Grant, Adie Camp, Robbie Seay Band). She also penned one song on her own and shares a co-writing credit with producer Marshall Altman (Marc Broussard, Natasha Bedingfield, Bethany Dillon).

“The record is about faith. It’s about the cross and fear and pain and how God is carrying me even though sometimes it doesn’t feel like it,” Audrey explains.

“Marshall pulled things out of me emotionally that I don’t think I’d ever accessed, making me realise that every time I sing these songs, I have to channel my pain and walk through it.”

In addition to looking up for lyrical inspiration, Audrey also turned to favorite poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Francis Thompson, to the works of St. Augustine, and to her own feelings of still not quite fitting in.

“For Love of You,” the album’s first single and title track, was inspired by the Hopkins poem “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” and is one of the few angst-free tunes on the album. There’s no struggling or wrestling, it’s simply a celebration of the idea that there are traces of God everywhere.

“The House You’re Building” is arguably the album’s most personal song. Written with Ben Glover, the tune finds Audrey comparing herself to a broken, misshapen stone. “It’s about being a misfit, of not feeling fit to be a Christian, but then realising that the walls of God’s house are being built from oddly-shaped and misfit stones,” she says. “He does that on purpose so I know I have a place. There’s a hole in the wall that I fit perfectly in.”

“Restless” is a song for today’s younger generation, a group raised in an age of social networking and ubiquitous technology. Meanwhile, “Breaking Through,” written with Altman, draws inspiration from the Thompson poem “Hound of Heaven,” painting a stark picture of the search for God and His dogged pursuit of us. More than just a song, it’s a metaphor for Audrey’s life of late.

“That’s been my journey the last few years, learning to believe that and walk in that acceptance of God choosing me,” she says, musing, “That’s what my journey will probably always be. The first reason I write songs is to preach to myself.”

out now
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