Andrew Kurtz is a new name to Christian music. We’ll hear his story and find out about the heart behind his songs ‘New Territory’, ‘Mile After Mile’ & ‘Mercy Says’.

Tell us a little bit about the journey for writing New Territory.

Well, this song actually was a really fun one to write. God began placing that phrase on my heart ‘New Territory’ when I was really at a crossroads in life. I felt like an old season was coming to a close and I couldn’t see beyond that. I knew that there was a future, but I couldn’t see what that future was. And and so this song really started from that kind of just a place of knowing that whatever is on the horizon, it is good. God is working in all things. He’s taken me into something new and I’m excited about it, but I have no idea what it is. And so that’s kind of like a walk of faith. You know, the lyrics say ‘you’re leading me down new roads, new trails into new territory, making a way where only you can in the new territory’. And and that was really kind of almost like a prayer for me at that time. Now, the song doesn’t really sound like a prayer. It’s really fun and upbeat and exciting because it reflects kind of what my heart was during that time. But it really was it was like a prayer, a prayer of faith, like walking into the unknown.

What’s your everyday day (outside of music) look like for you?

Well, I am heavily involved in my church. I’m a worship pastor here in Raleigh, and I get the incredible privilege of working as a central worship pastor at my church and being able to work with all the other worship pastors and directors at the campuses that we support and and the other campuses of our church. And so a lot of my days are spent really communicating with people, planning events, coordinating schedules and making sure everybody’s on the same page. But a lot of my role is pastoral role. So, you know, being in counselling appointments or really shepherding people and what that means is, really just getting to know people, helping them work through challenges or problems and and helping make sure that everybody’s in a healthy place and moving forward in life.

The past year, I think caught most people. So, you know, with covid and everything that’s been happening in our country, has been like a whirlwind and people have been caught up in that. And so pastoring people and shepherding people through that has been really quite a journey. It’s been amazing to see all of it through the whirlwind, how God has come through. And he continues to be the voice that calmes to the storms in people’s lives, hearts and minds. And I’m so thankful that we have that. So, yeah, that’s a day to day for me, is really just talking a lot and listening a lot and and being a part of some of the planning behind the things that go on in our church.

Tell us about the story of the title track of your EP Mile After Mile.

Well, that song is probably the one that’s the most emotional for me or the closest to my heart from that EP. The lyrics are somewhat cryptic and allegorical, but essentially I was at that crossroads in life, like I mentioned earlier, and somebody very close to me left my life. And it was a good thing. You know, I almost think of Whitney Houston song ‘I Will Always Love You’ where it’s this wonderful thing that she’s saying goodbye to this person in her life. And she’s kind of releasing them, letting them go. It was very similar to that, although it wasn’t a romantic relationship. And so ‘Mile After Mile’ kind of became my prayer and my cry to God during that time of really just being able to let them go and knowing that in every season God is leading us, He’s always guiding us, there’s always a future to look forward to. There’s always a next step in life. There’s always another friend that comes along. There’s always another mentor that comes along. And so it was kind of me just really exploring that and searching through scripture. In a time where I felt very lonely and even battled with some depression, my hearts cry was that even though I’m struggling with these emotions, that I know that there’s always a horizon, which is the lyrics to the chorus. ‘There’s always a horizon, there’s always more to find. And I found love is with me. Mile after mile, every step of my journey, God is there. And he never leaves me, nor foresakes me’.

Listen to the rest of the interview here!