Even If - Behind the Song
Even If by Blake Reynolds
Even If was released on December 4, 2020. Written by Blake Reynolds and Cory and Julia Shuman. Produced by Littlebird Big Sound and Ryan James Callahan.
Even If is a song based on the scripture Psalm 139:8 “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in [a]hell, behold, You are there .” NKJV. This song tells us that no matter we are at, good day or bad, God will always be there with and for us. Read more behind the song here.
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christian, pop, indie pop, christian pop
Artist: Blake Reynolds
Producer: Littlebird Big Sound and Ryan Callahan
Written by: Blake Reynolds & Cory & Julia Shuman
Vocals: Blake Reynolds, Will Davis, and Julia Shuman
Instruments: Cory Shuma, Joseph Pilz, and Ryan Callahan
Similar Artists: Tauren Wells, Phil Wickham, Austin French, Jared Marc
Genre: Christian, Gospel, Pop, Indie Pop
BEHIND THE SONG
“This song was hell to make.”
Even If is based on the Scripture “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in [a]hell, behold, You are there.” Psalms 139:8. Such raw, poetic words David wrote. These words painted a picture in my mind, of exactly how much God loves us. That no matter where we are at in life, good, bad, whether we are triumphing or struggling, or if we are overcoming temptation or keep repeating the same sin cycle. God is always there, no matter what.
I wanted to write a song that was real, that expounded on the words David wrote in this verse. So I started writing and the first lyrics I wrote were “Even if I made my bed in hell, even if I turned and walked away, I know that You’d be right there with me, You’re never far away” which turned out to be the lyrics to my bridge. I love the lyrics “if I turned walked away” because it speaks about how much God loves us that even in the moments we turn our backs on Him - He still loves us and is there for us.
This song was not easy to make. Though the bridge came quite easily, the rest of the song did not.
Meeting Cory and Julia Shuman (owners of Littlebird Big Sound) through social media and after hearing their heart to help independent artists like myself, I agreed to do this song with them. Beginning in February of 2019 I had begun fundraising for this song, $2500 to be exact. My campaign ran from February through April 2019. If you have ever tried raising money before you know how difficult and time consuming it can be as well as discouraging. I had seen and heard of artists, people who I knew or knew through friends of friends who were raising money for full-length albums that cost anywhere from $5000 to $10,000, and they had raised it so quickly. I am sure that they had faced their own difficulties but from the outside looking in, seeing the amount they raised and how relatively quickly and easily they raised it, I felt such discouragement and failure. Fast forward a little bit, I had raised a large portion of the funds through the campaign but had to finish paying the rest out of pocket. Now it’s onto the writing.
Cory and Julia were so helpful in writing this song. Being this was my song the burden of conceptualizing, writing the lyrics, and giving a vision for the song was on me. I had procrastinated for as long as I could, a few days before we had intended to write via Facetime I opened up my phone, clicked my “notes” app, and told myself “I am just going to write, I don’t care about rhyming or anything else”. So anyway, I wrote. Wrote a verse, chorus, and the bridge which was already finished. We get on the call and Cory and Julia took those lyrics and brought to life what I was hearing - God definitely came through on that one. Helping write the verses, touch up the chorus, and rearrange the song a little bit, in less than an hour we had finished writing the song.
Quick side note, the chorus “There’s no mountain too high, no valley too low..” is my second favorite part of the song, the lyrics being simple but really driving home the main point. The lyrics were inspired by Marvin Gaye’s 1966 “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”.
After writing the song and Cory and Julia creating a demo, now it was time to record. I had scheduled to go down to Savannah, GA to record with where Cory and Julia (Littlebird Big Sound). Each time I scheduled though something came up; I had canceled the trip three times (if I remember correctly). Every time I tried to go it was something; money, something work-related, and the last time I canceled my father was put in the hospital for aFib (a heart-related issue). Thankfully my father is alive and healthy, but that story is for a different time.
FINALLY! The day came where I was officially going down to Savannah to record (this was in Sept. 2019). I am very close with my family and had asked if my mom would like to tag along. That trip was something; every step of the way something happened. My mom got sick, her luggage got lost, I got sick (briefly), getting little to no sleep, paying for everything (it was very expensive), parking was difficult, - it was not easy but I did it (Thank You, Jesus).
To keep this blog post short and sweet. The recording processed was done, everything was finalized. But the song was nowhere near being done. We went through I believe four different revisions of the song, but none of them clicked for me or the producers. I was frustrated, Cory and Julia were frustrated, it wasn’t easy. Something just wasn’t clicking, we weren’t getting the sound we wanted. So I let go of the song - that’s when everything changed. Cory and Julia brought in a different producer and it was exactly what I wanted for the song. Re-recorded the vocals, mixed, mastered, and voila - after almost a year the song was finished.
Even If was full of difficulties but I believe that it only enhanced the story of the song and the testimony behind it. I did have some great testimonies out of it!! An anonymous donor paid the remaining portion of the song a month before me having to record back in 2019; it was the last little bit that needed to be paid and I had told God prior to it being paid “God you are going to pay this song; it will not come out of my paycheck. You will provide.” and that’s exactly what He did. Even If made #121 on the Christian music charts on iTunes, this may not be top 10 but for an artist like myself who is still creating a name for himself, this was a huge victory.
My prayer is that this song will lead others to Jesus and remind anyone who listens to it that no matter where they are at in life, God is there and that there is no place they can go where He cannot reach. “Lord, let this song change people’s lives and lead others towards You. Let people be reminded of Your goodness through this song. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
I am so thankful for the individuals who supported this project financially and am thankful for the ones who helped me promote this as well. If it was not for all of you this song never would have happened. Thank you for your seed and your sacrifice, this song was made to change people’s lives and you took a part in that through your time and money.