Having grown up in a pastor’s home with a love for melodies across
all genres, country music has always been Marc’s main appeal. Flipping
through his CD binder in high school, the eclectic collection he garnered
would have left many scratching their heads as to if this assortment
belonged to the same person. To this day, his playlist is all over the
musical spectrum, with everything from contemporary Christian worship
to yacht rock to country to hard rock to jazz, with a sprinkling of
everything in between. His philosophy has always been that if it’s got an
enticing melody or a good beat, he can enjoy it…until recently.
Country music has always been his “hub”, his go-to when he’s in his
truck and wants to sing along, but it seems lately that modern country is
intent on pushing the boundaries to see what language they can get by
with. It then dawned on him: if artists can push the boundaries in THAT
direction, why can’t an artist push the boundaries in the OTHER direction,
towards more of a faith-based model with the same sound but more of a
truth-filled message of the REAL Jesus and not the watered down version
the world has been pedaling for the the last 2000 years? In other words,
why can’t we have sounds of modern country that’s safe to listen to with
the kids around?
With that in mind, Marc jokes that he left the field of education as a
“starving teacher” and decided to use what he had gleaned as a part-
time worship leader and step into this unknown world of music
recording, writing, and production and trying his hand at being a
“starving artist”. Having written lyrics and chord progressions before, he
had never tried his had at writing melodies (aka top lines) and confesses
he was scared to death. When it was made clear that his initial plans of
releasing what he calls “What-if’s” (rewriting past-and-current hits to have
Christian- themes) were not going to be feasible due to licensing
purposes, he almost walked away from the project all together.
Thankfully, the man that showed him that writing music was feasible gavehim access to a masterclass on music writing and suddenly, Marc realized
that the process wasn’t as “scary” as he once thought it was.
With this thought in mind, Marc set off to create his own EP and
within a month and a half, the first 5 songs were done along with a
“reimagined” version of a song from his childhood, which was heavily
updated from the original to make it sound modern and relevant for
today’s listener. Since that time, he has had immense support from his
wife, Tammy, his two sons David, and Isaac, and his daughter Emilynn,
who all understand the late nights and frustrations that often come with
writers block and overall fatigue.
In addition, Marc has also received the backing of financial support
from a couple of anonymous sources as they too believe in the project
and in his ability to see it through, and have funded this dream that he
says he didn’t even realize he had until the fall of 2023 when he recorded
his first song and sent it to his producer for the first mix in November. His
creative partner, David Coughanour, has helped immensely in so many
ways, but especially in reimagining songs that give new life and meaning
to strains that may otherwise have been lost in the annals of time.
Marc’s dad is where his musical talent comes from as the majority of
that side of the family had/has a form of musical aptitude but also having
the support and encouragement of both his mom and dad, who are still
serving together faithfully in the ministry after nearly 50 years.
Through thick and thin, however, Marc says there’s One source that
has never wavered and never faltered, regardless of his own fallacies and
that’s his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He started this project to get the
Message out and will continue to do so as long as the Lord allows. Marc’s
main prayer is that the Lord will be glorified in anything he does and is
grateful for the forgiveness when he inevitably lets Him down…again and
again.