Tony Martin: Country Songs Written By a Seminary Teacher

Tony Martin, a Nashville songwriter who has written 16 #1 country music hits, is a believer as a songwriter that anything you’re immersed in will show up in your writing. So, when you know that Martin has been called to be a seminary teacher three times and has taught Sunday School, it comes as no surprise that religious themes have, at times, snuck into the country songs he writes for a living. But on this week’s episode, Martin talks about writing deliberately spiritual songs for the first time.

2:55- ‘Just What My Dad Did’ 
6:37- A Songwriter’s Process
12:40- Writing From Experience and Imagination
15:40- Criticisms and Evolution of Country Music
20:37- ‘I Believe Him’ 
23:47- The Book of Mormon—An Addition
25:18- ‘Old Man Said He Saw a Tree’
29:36- Jacob’s Ladder and Working Out Your Own Salvation
33:03- The Horn Player
35:05- God Needs Drummers
38:56- The Lord Speaks To Everyone Differently
41:30- Giving Something Away For Nothing
45:31- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ? 

“The Lord…wants good people to make music, the Devil doesn’t need to have all the good things.” —Tony Martin

Witness: A Nashville Tribute to The Book of Mormon

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