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10 Questions with ... Jamison Strain
June 22, 2015
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
https://twitter.com/jamisonstrain https://www.facebook.com/jamisonstrainmusic
1. Brief History / Synopsis
I was born in Springfield Missouri where my parents went to college and we moved to Florida just a few weeks after I was born. I went to a private school from elementary until I graduated High School and then attended Houston Baptist University in Houston Texas where my family currently lives.
2. What does a normal day at home look like for you?
A normal day for me is usually pretty, well, normal. I try to keep a pretty strict schedule when I'm not on the road to make sure I don't just lay around the house all day. No matter what is planned for the day, I always make myself get up before 9 and get dressed and work on something productive whether it's new music, writing, cleaning the bus or whatever is going to keep me busy.
3. What's the song that you just can't get out of your head right now?
Right now a song that is stuck in my head is "Brother" from Needtobreathe. My favorite line in that song is "like a bull chasing the matador". I'm not sure why that song just gets stuck in my head or why that line stands out but I absolutely love it. I get all excited when that line is about to come up.
4. How much do you travel, what are the challenges? How do you juggle life on the road with wanting to be home?
Right now I travel about 150 dates out of the year and I love it. It definitely has it's challenges and I feel like I live out of a suitcase most days but whether I'm gone for a day, a week or longer; I love coming home.
5. What Artist or Pastor has had the greatest impact on you?
Right out of high school I started working at a church in our area doing Student Ministry Worship. My boss, Patrick McCrory, was the youth pastor who hired me and he taught me so much. I learned a lot of do's and don'ts from Patrick and I learned most of them the hard way. No matter what, Patrick always looked for teachable moments and while it wasn't always fun to fall, I'll never forget what I learned working with Patrick.
6. What's the last book you read?
The last book that I read through was more of a daily devotional by Tim Hughes called, "Here I am to worship". I loved this book because it captures the very essence of what I love to do, worship. It talks about how it's so easy to get caught up in worship just being about a song. It challenged me to look at worship as so much more than just music, it's a lifestyle.
7. Funniest or most embarrassing moment on the road?
My funniest moment on the road, oh wow, this is embarrassing. Last year on my Christmas Tour I almost fell of the stage. I'm not sure how noticeable it was to the audience but my band all knew what happened. Sometimes the lights are just bright, you're way into it and you just get a little close to the edge. It was a close one but I recovered!
8. Tell us a little about your latest recording.
One of my favorite songs on my new record is "This little light of Mine" and it was written by my friend Ryan Gregg, formerly of the group Addison Road. I had the privilege of doing an acoustic version of this song and we did a music video with it a few months ago. The song talks about how times are tough, we aren't always going to have it good but no matter what we have a light that we need to shine. God is with us in our good and He's just as much with us in our bad. I love this song and how tells the story about how there is a flame inside us all and we just need to shine bright.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO for "This Little Light" below:
9. Person you'd most like to have a discussion with, living or dead.....Deities are excused from this question
My dad's real dad passed away when my dad was only 7 months old. I would love the chance to sit down with my grandpa and just ask him about our family. He was a pastor and the little bit that I know about him sounds incredible. His love for our family, Jesus and people is what I only get to hear about but aspire to be like.
10. Favorite Bible Verse....life verse?
My favorite verse is Psalm 57:7 and it says "My heart is steadfast O God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make music". It's really hard in this industry to stay steadfast. It's very easy to get a big head, think you're a superstar and that people are beneath you. It's never my desire to be famous or be put on a pedestal. God has given me a gift, I don't deserve it and my one focus is using it for HIS fame, not mine. He made me to make music, so I'll make it for Him.
Bonus Questions
1. How & When did you become a believer?
I grew up as a pastor's kid and remember asking my mom in our living room in Port Charlotte Florida how I could ask Jesus into my heart. She dropped what she was doing and explained to me that Jesus died for our sins and how we need to ask for forgiveness and ask Jesus to come into our heart. I prayed the prayer of salvation at 7 years old and my dad baptized me a few weeks later.
2. What's the biggest "God moment" you've ever experienced? Personally or professionally, when has God shown up in a powerful way?
It's so hard to pick out just one God moment because He's showing up and showing off a lot lately. Just one instance was this past year on my Christmas tour. Just a couple months before the tour, every venue that we had booked had to backout of the tour for the most bizarre reasons. I had given it to God and just said, "well, maybe not this year". Within days of giving it up, 5 churches called out of nowhere, having never even been to these churches, and asked if we could bring our tour to their church. We didn't understand but faithfully we went. Every city that we went to had recently faced some sort of tragedy. It was so evident why we weren't supposed to go to the cities we had booked but instead be a these 5 churches. God is good and I love it when he shows up and shows off!
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