Katy Crawford is a singer-songwriter who has led worship for more than a decade both at her church in the US and within many French-speaking countries. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the church. ministering alongside her family. She strives to bring the songs the Lord has given her to people around the world. Combining her love for jazz, bluegrass, and pop, Katy writes original songs with a passion to communicate the fulfilling relationship she's experienced in Christ. She released her first EP in French, Pour Te Louer (To Praise You), in 2015, followed by her debut full-length project in English, Our Love Story, in 2016. In November 2017, she released an EP, Closer, followed by singles, "Grace That Saves the World" (2019), and "By My Side" (2020). Her latest EP, Dwell, was recorded in Nashville with Grammy Producer, Billy Smiley, and includes songs written from the Psalms,
For fans who have never heard your music, can you pick three words to describe it?! If three words just aren't enough then tell us more!!
Here are four: Uplifting, inspirational, meaningful, and spiritual.
When you are writing a song, where do you draw inspiration from? Or what topics do you like to sing about?
In all of my songs, I like to write stories with genuine emotions. In my mainstream songs, even if I only begin with a unique phrase or a feeling, I like to explore the story that might be surrounding it and build from there. It is fairly similar with my Christian songs, only with those, I especially want to make the relationship with God as real as possible for my listeners. Oftentimes people view Christianity as a set of beliefs and rules for living, but the message I want to get across is that God’s love is real and that we are made to know Him, in many ways like we would know and have a relationship with another person.
Okay, this a fun question. When you are not doing music, what else do you enjoy doing?
I really enjoy traveling to new places and learning new languages. This passion began with my first experiences using my French while ministering in France, Belgium, and Switzerland, then continued with my studies of Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. As part of that passion for traveling, I also love photography and cooking new cuisines I get to sample on my journeys.
Can you tell us what song you've written that is the most emotional and describe the meaning behind it?
To me, the most emotional song from my new EP, Dwell, is “You Are Holy.” I wrote it from Psalm 22. The thing that has always been most impactful for me about it is the bridge, that says to God, “Use this broken vessel as planned from the beginning and always this broken heart will arise again singing, ‘You are holy.’” That phrase really speaks to my spirit: the purity of letting go, laying down my brokenness, and, instead, focusing on God’s plan for me. The whole song talks about being broken, but still raising up a song of praise to God in the midst of it. Those are the moments when God can bring us to a new place in Him, if we would only seek Him in those times. We must rise from our brokenness, singing of the holiness of our God. Through that offering, He will use us.
What was the first song or piece you ever wrote!?
I write lots of different genres of songs about many different topics. When I started writing music, I was a teenager, taking correspondence classes for home-school, so I had a lot of liberty to procrastinate. I spent a lot of my time watching classic films, the drama of which really inspired my writing. I can’t remember my first song ever, but those early songs were mostly love songs that had a sort of big band style, with lots of sentimentality and poetic lyrics. The best part about it was that, for most of my songs, the topics were things I never had experienced, for example: a song about unrequited love, or a breakup song, or something more scenic with lots of metaphors on life.
What is your dream gig? Is there a gig that you really want that would be the ultimate show for you?
Honestly, I don’t think I have a dream gig. I love to perform for an audience and actually feel more comfortable with a larger audience than with a smaller one. Whenever I am able to walk out onto a stage with some amazing musicians and just sing and feel the music and can see and hear that the audience is feeling the same, that’s what makes an incredible gig for me.
Are you working on any new material right now or what's in the works for the upcoming year?
Since I have an international ministry, particularly in French-speaking and in Brazil, I am working on translating some of the tunes from this new EP into French, Spanish, and Portuguese so I can release them to those communities. After that, we will see. In the future I plan to expand on the Psalm theme, releasing another album of songs like I have in “Dwell.”
Tell us where fans can access your music.
My music is available on all digital and streaming outlets.
For more information on Katy Crawford, please visit her website.
Listen on Spotify.
Connect on Facebook.
Comments