Reasons to Believe This Year
Chynna Phillips and Vaughan Penn formed a duo this year, releasing their debut One Reason.
By Deborah Evans Price, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
Looking back on 2009, one of the trends I’ve enjoyed most has been mainstream artists recording Christian projects. They’ve come from country, rock, pop, and even Broadway – all relishing the opportunity to sing about what’s most important to them. The result has been some of the best music of the year.
Country veteran Tracy Lawrence released The Rock, a fine collection of faith-based songs that's earned him a GRAMMY nomination. Diamond Rio, long known for its positive, life-affirming country hits, signed with Word Records and released its first-ever Christian collection, The Reason.
Tony Award-winner Heather Headley made her bow in the gospel arena with Audience of One, earning two GRAMMY nods. And a cast of acclaimed artists including Three Doors Down, Jon Bon Jovi, Queen Latifah, and Joss Stone contributed their talent to Oh Happy Day, which received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Traditional Gospel Album.
I’m sure there are other examples escaping my mind at the moment, but before the year slips away, I want to spotlight one of my favorite albums of 2009: Chynna & Vaughan’s One Reason. Singer/songwriters Chynna Phillips and Vaughan Penn combine their unique musical gifts into a refreshingly different duo. Off stage, they are candid, intelligent and warm. I must admit, these two artists were among my favorite interviews this year.
Chynna is best known to music fans for her work with Wilson Phillips, a pop trio that sold more than 10 million records and hit the top of the charts with hits like “Hold On,” “You’re in Love” and “Impulsive.”
Vaughan is a successful indie artist whose songs have been featured on more than 100 TV shows, including Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds and The Hills. She was named the Top 40 Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the New Music Weekly Awards in 2007. Chynna & Vaughan's Reunion Records debut album was released in October and the duo spent the fall on tour, performing in various schools and churches across the country.
“I first came to Jesus when I was in the seventh grade,” says Chynna, who recalls gathering with some friends in the girls’ bathroom at school and praying for the Lord to come into her heart. “Literally right after I said the prayer, it was like I felt cleansed and renewed...I always held on to that feeling because I knew that I had experienced God.”
The mother of three, who is married to actor Billy Baldwin, admits she later went through a tumultuous time when she strayed from her faith. “I had kind of lost my way with Jesus. I said, ‘okay whoever you are and wherever you are I’m ready to be with you. I’m ready to know the truth about who you are.' In my heart I knew it was about Jesus, but I needed that reconfirmed,” she says. “Literally three days later [Billy’s brother] Stephen walked into our house and just sat down with us at our kitchen table and started praying over me. This time the conversion was so powerful that I felt like God wasn’t going to let anything get in the way. It’s been that way ever since.”
Chynna grew up in California, the child of famous parents – John and Michelle Phillips of the '60s super group The Mamas & The Papas – yet Vaughan had a more traditional childhood.
“I grew up in a really great church in a small town in North Carolina,” says Vaughan. “My Daddy was a deacon and my family was really involved in youth ministry and the music. When I was 14, we had some visiting missionaries come in and they started talking about accepting Jesus as your personal savior. I felt that night that the message had been for me. That was the first time God had reached for me and touched me.”
She would feel His touch again years later during a horrible illness. Though she was a believer, Vaughan had never listened to Christian radio. During her hospitalization, a friend turned on K-Love Radio.
“There was a song playing that neither one of us had ever heard before,” she recalls. “It was one of the most incredible songs that I’d ever heard and I remember crying after two lines into the song. It was the Casting Crowns song ‘Who Am I.’ I truly had an experience. I knew God was with me. All my fear left me. I knew everything was going to be alright.”
After she recuperated, Vaughan knew she wanted to devote her talent to making Christian music. “I just hope that I can make an impact and give hope to someone and be able to affect people the way that Casting Crowns did,” she says. “That’s when I began having a desire to have a career in this.”
When Chynna and Vaughan met, it was divine providence. Chynna’s stepfather had been working on a film in North Carolina and wanted to use one of Vaughan’s songs in the movie. When he and the young singer met, he sensed something different. “He asked me if I was a Christian because I reminded him of his stepdaughter Chynna and he thought we’d be great friends,” recalls Vaughan, who subsequently traveled to California to meet with Chynna. Sure enough, the two became fast friends and creative partners, and a new musical duo was born.
“Vaughan has a real innocence about her,” says Chynna. “She has a very youthful quality. I really connected to that and I felt it immediately when she put that guitar in her hands, You could tell that she was a soulful woman who really spoke and communicated through the guitar. I just so respect that and wish that I could play guitar like she does. I’m working on it.”
One Reason is filled with great pop hooks, but also simmers with an earthy energy that draws the listener into the duo’s finely crafted songs. From joyful worship to thought-provoking songs about priorities and forgiveness, the album is a well-rounded collection.
“Our primary purpose is to serve Jesus, so we keep that in the forefront of our minds when we’re working together,” says Chynna. “We’re making sure we say a lot of prayers and covering the music that we’re writing together because we don’t want anything to get in the way of it.”
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About the Writer
Deborah Evans Price has covered Christian/Gospel music for Billboard magazine since 1994. She also contributes regularly to Country Weekly, CMA Close Up, Devo’Zine, Christian Single, HomeLife, BMI Music World, and other publications.
A Nashville resident since 1983, Deborah has held editorial posts at Radio & Records, Country News, American Songwriter and Billboard. Amy Grant, Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley, Charlie Daniels, 3 Doors Down, Third Day, Don Henley, Bon Jovi, Chris Rice, Sandra Bullock, Mercy Me, Alan Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Steven Curtis Chapman are among her many interviews. Additionally, she's a sought-after music industry analyst who has been interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, TNN, The Today Show, and ABC PrimeTime Live, among other outlets.
Deborah is a member of the Gospel Music Association's board of directors and a graduate of Leadership Music. She resides south of Nashville with her husband, Gary, and son Trey.
