Page 128 - Cityview Magazine - July/August 2017

H: What are you running from? B: I’m running from failure.
H: What are you running to? B: I’m running to success.
H: Defined as?
B: Defined as wealth: wealth in the spirit, wealth in mind, wealth in body, and wealth in the bank account.
H: What are you running through?
B: I think I’m running through fear. I’m running through fear.
H: So you get to Knoxville, you’re ten years old. Your brother is eighteen. You move into a relative’s house. You’ve got twelve people living in four bedrooms; you’re on top of each other. I bet you don’t feel successful then. What do you think is going to happen? B: Well, it was promised to me that we would only be there for a couple months.
H: And you were there how long?
B: A little longer than a couple months, but eventually we moved out and we began to travel more and we would go to different cities and states, different churches, and events and we would sing. I felt like we were back on track. We were in a new place, and more people were starting to notice us out- side of ‘po’ county Florida—more people, as far north as Ohio and Chicago, as far east as the Carolinas, and as far west as Las Vegas. People were starting to recognize who the Blue Brothers were, and that’s when I began to really feel like we had a shot, like a really big shot, at making it.
H: Did you make it?
B: We weren’t disciplined enough, I believe. At a young age, we lacked the knowledge
of the business, and we lacked wisdom. We had integrity, but that wasn’t enough. To say we made it in the way that I desire: we didn’t make it.
H: You’ve been at it for a long time, and it’s not getting close or it doesn’t happen. But you haven’t given up on plan A. Your mother has been an inspiration because she has been thinking outside of the box,
believing for you. But you’re still not there. When I met you, I met you when you were probably ten or eleven years old. I saw you guys early on. But when you were in col- lege, you called me.
B: I did. I was at Tennessee Temple University, in my third year at school. I changed my major every year, but I was getting my work done. The Lord just kept tugging at my heart telling me, “I think it’s time for you to leave,” and I’m like, “I don’t understand; it’s my third year in and if I leave now, I just wasted three years of my life.” But I knew that God was doing something; he was shifting something with my family, and I knew I had to be there. Full time. I called you and said “Hallerin, I really feel like I need to come home and really pursue this thing with my brothers.”
H: You called me, and I said that I want to help you find some employment and to be connected. But I remember saying to you that I want you to be around another level of excellence when it comes to music. Enter Paul Jones.
B: You made the phone call, which is crazy to me. Paul Jones is a phenomenal human being; he’s a musical genius, and an icon in my mind. His knowledge of music and of the music businesses is just out of this world. He’s a pure guy, a genuine guy. I went down to Cokesbury United Method- ist church within a week, met with Paul Jones, and I started working at Cokesbury Church the following Sunday. I was there for three or four years.
H: And everything changed with that relationship.
B: Absolutely.
H: It was really important for me that you also got experience in the studio. Enter Travis Wyrick.
B: Travis and I became friends. I talk about it today: God’s perfect timing in purpose. The timing of it was just impec- cable. I meet you, Paul Jones, and Travis Wyrick. In the same year, within one summer actually, I met three of the most influential men in my entire life. I began to record with Travis. I would go help him out
and do background vocals and and learn as much as I could. I would go over there just to watch him. I would wake up at 5:30 a.m. just to go to the gym with Travis so I could be under his musical wisdom. After that,
I would linger around long enough just to see if he’d allow me to go back to the house so I could watch him recording.
H: Now you’ve got performance experience with somebody who is really, really good and who is very structured. That was my intent in connecting you with Paul Jones. Then we started working on a plan for you and your brothers. You ended up recording a project together.
B: That was our first official album. It said “Blue Brothers,” and you were a part of that. Your heart has always been the size of planet earth, and I will never forget what you did for my family.
H: But it didn’t take off. We had the Blue Brothers project, and we’re almost there. B: Almost.
H: I wrote this song called, “You Don’t Have to Know Why.” The lyrics are:
He didn’t solve your problems the way you thought he would. He chose a different answer, and it was twice as good.
See, it wouldn’t be a miracle if you understood
because then you could do it for yourself.
You wouldn’t need the Savior’s help.
You don’t have to know why because the why is not important, you don’t have to know how because how is not a factor, and you don’t have to know when because he controls time. All you need to know is that he is in control. It seems like you thought you had it figured out, but he chose a different answer.
B: He did.
H: I remember you coming to me and say- ing “I can’t stop, can’t stop, won’t stop.” We were sitting back in the studio of my
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