Album Reviews
Movies
Concert Reviews

Top 10
Resources
Contact Us

Crystal Lewis is one of those unique artists whose perspective on the Christian music industry is not only enlightening, but refreshing. Having eschewed signing with a major label, She and her husband/producer Brian Ray embarked on the adventure of a lifetime --- running their own record label. The freedom of artistry and the requisite business savvy displayed in Lewis’ work shines as an example of what can be if an artist makes these bold moves.
 
 

Tollbooth: Your “More” video looked like a lot of fun to shoot, kind of like a movie-style trailer.

Lewis: Oh my gosh. It was so fantastic. We had the greatest time doing that. We talked about making a silly little movie out of it later on, but we’ll see.

Tollbooth: What was the songwriting process like? How long did it take to put together?

Lewis: Not long. I really enjoyed doing this album because of the fact that we only did three new songs and the two remixes. It came together so fast because we weren’t, putting together twelve, fifteen songs. So it was really a nice break to do a record like that.

Songwriting is weird; I would assume for everyone, I’m sure I’m not the only one. But there are times when songs come together real quick. You come up with an idea, you write the song, it’s done. There are other times where you’re working on [it], you’ve got a phrase or a paragraph or something that you’ve been mulling over in your head for months, but you can’t seem to get it to come together, and then finally it does. So, I think it was pretty similar for this record there was a couple songs where I had just kind of been thinking about the idea for a while then finally we got it and it came together. And then “Like a Child” (the Chris Lizotte song) is one that he had sent to me.

Tollbooth: Who is Chris Lizotte?

Lewis: He is a couple of different things. One, he is my brother-in-law. He happens to be married to my husband’s sister. So we’ve been relatives for quite a while, but we’ve also been friends for longer than that when I was sixteen and I was with Blue Yonder he was in an L.A. band, so we would just see each other from doing mutual shows and things like that. So we’ve known each other for a very long time, but he has done several different albums on his own and he’s just a really great writer.

Tollbooth: It seems like you do quite a bit with your family, with your husband producing, your brother-in-law writing songs for you, and your kids in the video. It’s like a family thing.

Lewis: Yes, definitely. And we’re just very into long-term relationships. There are so many other people that we surround ourselves with not just people that are music people but just socially or people we’ve known forever for as long as we can remember.

Tollbooth: That makes it feel a lot tighter too.

Lewis: Definitely. I think what’s really great about it too is the fact that for me, when I have my friends that are around me now that I’ve known since I was in high school, they just know a different part of me. They know me for who I was, who I am, rather than the façade or the person that other people *think* they see, but don’t really. You know what I mean?

Tollbooth: Sure, yeah, the persona, the image.

Lewis: Yeah, exactly. And it’s just so nice to have people that you can feel totally comfortable around and know that they’re there for the long haul. They’re not there for any other reason.

Tollbooth: What was it like for you to start out as a teenager? You’ve been “in the business,” so to speak, for quite a while. You started out pretty young.

Lewis: It’s been a roller coaster, really. Starting out that young, at sixteen, I don’t think I had this mindset of, O.K., now I’m on my way. Here we go. I wasn’t thinking that … it just sort of happened. Each thing that took place kind of just took place. It wasn’t me going, O.K., now I’m on my way. Here we go. I wasn’t thinking that, it just sort of happened. Each thing that took place kind of just took place. It wasn’t me going, O.K., what’s the next step I can take to further my career. Each step along the way was like, I don’t know. Is this time for me? Am I to take this step? But now, here fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years later, we still sort of have that mindset. It’s always, O.K., God, NOW what are you doing?

Tollbooth: When did you know this was your calling, this was for you, and this is what you were going to put your life into?

Lewis: After my first solo record. Between my first and second solo records I was dating my [future] husband. I was seventeen. I had done a record with Blue Yonder, I had done Hi-Tops musical before that. I had recorded my first solo album. I was away at college and I was thinking, What am I doing here? I was of the mindset that I needed to have something to fall back on in case the music thing didn’t work out. As Brian and I started talking marriage and things like that, I just began to realize that this is something I guess I’m supposed to pursue. After we got married (I was nineteen) and I had done my second record, Brian and I both heard from God. We knew some of the stuff God wanted us to do together. It wasn’t O.K., Brian, you just stay [working at a record label] while I’m going to keep traveling and doing this. It was revelation from the Lord that, like being a pastor and a pastor’s wife, we’re in this together, side by side. 

Tollbooth: Having each other gives it strength, but it sounds like it brings its own new kinds of challenges trying to do a record label and your own music ministry together.

Lewis: Absolutely. It’s hard! Marriage is hard by itself; it’s a challenge. It obviously compounds and complicates things when you not only live together and have that part of your life together, but you have a business life too and all of its stuff. It’s hard for this one person sort of in the forefront too, because then, you have to balance that out. Am I making this decision for me or him or us?

Tollbooth: And then you add in children and that gives it even more complexity, right?

Lewis: Oh my gosh. Talk about a roller coaster.

Tollbooth: How do you balance it?

Lewis: I don’t know. I just do. Seriously, I don’t know. It just works out. I have moments when I think, sorry, I can’t do any more. I’m done. And it’s usually the moments where God says, “Here. Let me help you with that.”

I’m learning to rest in Him and see things with new eyes. See things differently. I think it’s very easy to get caught up in the “can’t’s” and “I’m incapable of this.” And we are. It’s because it’s God’s strength that we’re able to accomplish anything at all. So I know that when I am able to balance everything, it’s not perfectly, wonderfully balanced. I think about the circus and it’s not like we’re all in beautiful costumes making this wonderful, incredibly miraculous balancing act. To us, we’re barely holding on for dear life. But He does it. It is in His strength that we’re able to keep our heads above water but enjoy splashing around in it.

Tollbooth: how have you been able over fifteen, seventeen years to stay relevant as an artist? It seems like you always have something new to say.

Lewis: That’s absolutely zero credit to me. That’s just God I guess. I think part of it is he allowed me to start so young. As a young person, you think you know everything and as you get older you realize that you don’t for me, God’s given so much grace and been so merciful to me to allow me to realize I don’t know everything. And to allow me the desire to learn, and to want to know more, and to want to know Him better. I think that just comes with growth and with maturity and with life experience; getting married, having kids, having a business, having a career, talking to people, reading letters. All of that comes into play and it all affects your heart, and out of our heart our thoughts come. I think it’s God’s doing. It’s allowing me to mature and grow and listen.

Tollbooth: Do you have any time to spend studying scripture, or where do your inspirations come for your songwriting?

Lewis: All over the place. We’re really happy to have finally found a home church and so it’s neat that there is an inspiration. Although there’s nothing like your home church, we travel enough and sit through enough church services abroad that inspiration comes from that, too. There are great speakers and pastors and teachers all over the country and the world. So I’ve been really fortunate to get to hear a lot of different people speak, and I get ideas from that. And I just watch my kids and see God. I watch my kids and see me, and understand God better as a parent. I’m not an extremely disciplined, regimented person, so my quiet times, my study times, I kind of happen upon them. They’re not scheduled in, but definitely [my inspirations come from] scripture and just being quiet.

Tollbooth: How about on the musical side? Who have some of your musical influences been and what do you meditate on musically that goes into your songwriting?

Lewis: I am deeply inspired by creativity, when I see other people being creative. One thing that’s interesting is all the guys that played on the __More__ album and are on the video. Their influence on me over the past couple of years has been wonderful. I continue to listen to the same people I listened to when I was growing up, mainly. I have a long list of people whose names begin with “S” for some odd reason. It’s unintentional. Well, Chaka Kahn doesn’t begin with “S”, but Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sting, Sade, those people have been a continual influence on me musically. Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson have been major influences over the years. Over the last two and a half years, it is way more eclectic. Bjork has become a favorite and Radiohead, of course. Just letting the buys in the band tell me, “O.K., listen to this,” because they have these bizarre bands that no one has heard of that they just love. I love, love, LOVE jazz. 

There’s such a preoccupation with pop right now, which is not entirely bad. There’s a creative force somewhere in there to write the songs. You’ve got somebody behind the board making up things. I have a total respect for that because, having spent many years in the studio in close proximity with people who do that for a living, I totally respect the creative process.