Christa Wells

She’s nearly 16, but her face is un-made-up, baby soft.  Her way of dressing, her way of carrying herself, not typical of her generation; she is both older and younger than her peers.  At one moment she bashfully tucks herself behind her father – and then she can’t help herself, and her mouth opens and [...]

If you want to make a musician really happy, give us a chance to play side by side with some of our favorite fellow artists. It’s just…well…it’s just special. Like a kid in a candy shop. And it doesn’t hurt that some of the pressure of carrying a whole concert by yourself is relieved. I [...]

When I told him it’s about self-control, saying “no” to yourself…his lips pursed and his eyes stayed on the floor. Pleadingly, anger just under the buckling cellar door, I say: “You feel like screaming and hitting me, but it’s not okay to do those things.  Do you understand?” Chin out and trembling, he looks up, [...]

I didn’t grow up with my hands in the dirt.  I never planted anything in any of the yards of any of the houses we called home over those years.  It was Grandma, who lived with us, who set roses in the beds.  Grandma on her knees in the same old paint-stained brown jeans she [...]

In Nashville this week, I had the rare opportunity to go out with Mom and hear some live music last night.  Listened to several accomplished songwriters at Cindy Morgan‘s benefit for the Leukemia Society sing in the round, telling stories – some lighthearted, some serious – about the music they have made, and perform them [...]

From The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions: Heavenly Father, Thou hast led me singing to the cross where I fling down all my burdens and see them vanish, where my mountains of guilt are leveled to a plain, where my sins disappear, though they are the greatest that exist, and [...]

Santa Semana–Holy Week–is a week to weigh costs. Fuel is nearly $3/gallon, unemployment at 9%…the $3 coffee that seemed nothing a year ago we now hesitate or pass on.  We feel the emptying of the bank account as we pay utility bills, mortgage, car… But this is a week to consider the price tag on [...]

Today I repost my reflections on the time I spent in 2010 with high school students at one of the best creative arts camps out there, along with a note written by one of our students. This is where you’ll find me every late July and where I am personally encouraged and challenged by an [...]

I’ve been thinking about you… You waking with anxiety, curling up at night with anxiety, and carrying her wrapped around your middle like a boa constrictor. Squeezing out life with not enough time, not enough talent, not enough money, not enough friends, not enough… I know it personally.  The pet who continually tears up your furniture [...]

I made myself wait these past several months, and now we’re ready to share the music we made last summer/fall before heading out to Costa Rica.  And now…I’m both eager and a little shy about actually shipping.  :) How Emptiness Sings is a 7-track EP, all new originals, recorded & produced by Zodlounge (Nashville, TN), [...]