More Cowbell Please: CCM Stories

Ainslie Grosser

Grammy Winning CCM Mix Engineer Ainslie Grosser dives into Christian music with More Cowbell Please! Hear CCM stars and industry pros like Luke Smallbone, Paul Mabury, Jordan Mohilowski, John Mays share real faith-driven stories of humor, heartbreak, career highlights and losses. The people who wrote, produced and signed some of the greats like Lauren Daigle, Mercy Me, Toby Mac, The Afters, Skillet, Hillsong United and for King and Country . Subscribe for inspiring interviews! #ChristianMusic

  1. Jul 22

    Remembering Bob Farrell — A Tribute to a CCM Pioneer | Farrell & Farrell

    Bob Farrell — one half of the husband-and-wife duo Farrell & Farrell — passed away on July 11, 2026. He was one of Contemporary Christian Music's most gifted and innovative songwriters, leaving behind a catalog that stretches from synth-pop CCM classics like "People in a Box" and "Get Right or Get Left" to songs recorded by Eric Clapton, Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, Wynonna, Michael W. Smith, and dozens more.This is our tribute to Bob — his story, his music, and his faith.We cover:- His upbringing in Lubbock, Texas — down the alley from Buddy Holly- A marriage that nearly ended before it began — and the conversion that changed everything- How Farrell & Farrell pioneered synth-pop in Christian music alongside DeGarmo & Key- The Soviet Union tour — 25,000 people a night in Moscow and Leningrad, one year before the Wall came down- 40+ Sandi Patty cuts, the London Symphony Orchestra, and a rock opera with Eddie DeGarmo- What Bob said he wanted to be remembered for — in his own wordsI had the privilege of having Bob record in my studio around 2003. This one is personal.Rest well, Bob. The seeds you planted are still growing. 0:00 Introduction — The Man Who Almost Wasn't 0:38 Growing Up in Lubbock — Buddy Holly's Neighbor 1:32 The Marriage Crisis & Dallas 1:55 The Kitchen Table Conversion 3:13 Farrell & Farrell — The Sound They Built 3:51 Synth Pop Pioneers — The Thomas Dolby Moment 4:56 People in a Box & The Baskin-Robbins Era of CCM 5:49 The Songwriter Behind a Hundred Songs 7:40 Jesus Christ Superstar, Hero & My Studio Session 8:38 Touring the Soviet Union — Behind the Iron Curtain 10:04 What He Wanted to Be Remembered For 10:39 Jane — The Glue That Held It All Together 11:41 The Legacy 12:28 A Final Word — In Bob's Own Voice━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎙️ More Cowbell Please is a channel dedicated to the stories, artists, and moments that shaped Contemporary Christian Music.New episodes every week.Subscribe → https://www.youtube.com/@morecowbellpleasepodcast?sub_confirmation=1━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#FarrellandFarrell #BobFarrell #CCM #christianmusic ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━SOURCES & FURTHER LISTENINGBob Farrell interviewed on CCM LegacyCAST (2024):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOFkupu-dQMBob Farrell interviewed on Music for the Soul podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyY5QLyrcSEBob Farrell's personal video channel:https://www.youtube.com/@bobfarrell2941Bob Farrell's original YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/@SPARKYNBCBob Farrell's final personal video ("I Will Be"):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GodiVbEWlOAFarrell & Farrell official website:https://www.farrellandfarrell.netCCM Magazine tribute:https://www.ccmmagazine.comCCM Classic — Farrell & Farrell artist page:https://www.ccmclassic.com/artist/farrell-and-farrell━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀https://vidiq.com/morecowbell

  2. Jul 17

    Stacey Wilbur | Song Plugger, Songs You Almost Never Heard and TIM publishing

    Stacey Wilbur has spent over thirty years in Nashville doing a job most music fans have never heard of — song plugging. Her role: find the right song, fight for it, and get it into the hands of the artist who will make it a hit. She helped launch Worship Together. She championed Laura Story's "Blessings" when the label wasn't sure it should make the record. She worked alongside future stars before the world knew their names. And today she heads publishing for TIM — the company founded by Chris Tomlin and Jason Ingram, two of the most recorded songwriters in Christian music history. In this conversation, Stacey takes us from a small town in Michigan — where a poster of Wynonna Judd on her bedroom wall sparked a dream — all the way to the rooms where Christian music's biggest songs are pitched, fought for, and sometimes saved from the cutting room floor. She talks about a stranger who prophesied over her in a restaurant before she was even a Christian. About losing her job, hearing God say "be still," and what happened the very next day when she wrote a name on a piece of paper. She tells us about a CEO who didn't have to say anything — and chose to anyway. This is one of the most honest, funny, and quietly remarkable conversations we've had on More Cowbell Please. Stacey Wilbur / Head of Publishing, TIM Publishing Instagram: @staceyswilbur More Cowbell Please is a podcast exploring the stories, faith, and people behind Contemporary Christian Music. Hosted by Grammy-winning mix engineer Ainslie Grosser. Topics in this episode: Christian music industry, song plugging, music publishing Nashville, CCM history, Worship Together, Chris Tomlin, Laura Story Blessings, Mandisa, TIM Publishing, Brentwood Benson, EMI Christian, Capitol Christian Music Group, Bill Hearn, Billy Ray Hearn, Sparrow Records, faith and work, Nashville music careers. Chapters 0:00 The people behind the songs you love 0:53 Meet Stacey Wilbur 1:35 Small town girl with a big dream 4:51 The prophecy at the restaurant 5:34 October 2nd — getting saved 7:57 615 Music Row — how she got in the door 8:50 The Avalon audition 11:26 Worship Together / Chris Tomlin / Matt Redman 11:46 What is a song plugger? 12:50 The Busby & Daughtry story 15:15 "It's me" — pitching herself to Gary Overton 16:41 Honky Tonk Badonkadonk 17:43 Brentwood Benson — "All the writers say hire you" 19:05 Chris Sligh / Rascal Flatts / Cracker Barrel 22:16 Losing the job — the wilderness season 24:13 Who was Bill Hearn? 25:19 "I know what happened to you. You matter." 25:35 Seth Mosley texts the next day 26:27 The panic attack (and what happened next) 27:01 TIM Publishing — Chris Tomlin's crazy idea 27:52 Steffany Gretzinger walks in 30:09 The Charlie Kirk Memorial 30:34 iTunes Top 10 worldwide — God is moving 33:32 Laura Story "Blessings" 35:41 "I mixed that record" 36:37 Advice — dream big 37:50 Be yourself / the Brian Johnson line 38:50 God's strategies > AI strategies 39:25 The magnificent defeat 40:47 Outro

  3. Apr 25

    Nick Rad: Mixing Toby Mac's Most Personal Album & Building a Career From Milwaukee

    What does it take to mix five number one records on one album — without ever moving to Nashville?Nick Rad has been doing exactly that from Milwaukee, Wisconsin for over two decades.He started as the drummer in Christian punk band Hangnail on Tooth and Nail Records — touring with Stavesacre and Ghoti Hook, recording at the legendary Blasting Room with Bill Stevenson, and watching a young Aaron Sprinkle record what became one of Christian music's most beloved songs at 1:30 in the morning.Then he walked away from being an artist — and built something extraordinary behind the desk instead.8 Grammy nominations. Credits on records by Toby Mac, Skillet, Matthew West, Rachel Platten, Melissa Etheridge, MisterWives, Leanna Crawford and more. Five number one songs on Toby Mac's Life After Death — the most personal record TobyMac has ever made.All from Wisconsin.In this conversation we talk about:→ The Hangnail and Acceptance years on Tooth and Nail→ The session that almost changed everything (and the one he almost missed entirely)→ How he built a world-class mixing career without moving to Music City→ Mixing Toby Mac's grief — and what it means to serve an artist through loss→ His philosophy on mixing, references, and why the word "organic" drives him crazy→ What he'd tell every young engineer coming upThis is one of my favourite conversations I've had on More Cowbell Please. I think you're going to love Nick Rad.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ CHAPTERS0:00 Introduction1:12 How Nick Rad Got Hooked on Music2:24 Forming Hangnail & Getting Signed to Tooth and Nail Records3:49 Touring the Christian Music Festival Circuit5:37 Joining Acceptance & Learning From Aaron Sprinkle8:04 Recording With Rebecca St. James9:51 The End of Acceptance & Finding Faith12:35 Starting a Mixing Career in Milwaukee13:30 Landing First Clients (Including Skillet's Ben Kasica)15:39 Moving to LA — and Moving Back Again17:47 Mixing Melissa Etheridge18:45 Networking & The Fallout Boy Story22:03 Mixing Toby Mac's Life After Death23:29 Working With Skillet24:31 Faith in the Music Industry25:01 Does Location Matter? Milwaukee vs Nashville28:17 Learning the Craft & Hearing Your Mix on the Radio30:54 Revision Counts & Serving the Artist32:26 Nick's Studio Setup & Gear33:42 Plugins, Workflow & Mixing In the Box39:44 How to Get the Best From Your Mix Engineer41:38 Nick Rad's Mixing Philosophy44:45 Mix Prep & The Sonic Revelation That Changed Everything48:15 How to Turn Off the Engineer Brain50:03 Closing Thoughts━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎛️ Find Nick Rad:Website: nickrad.comInstagram: @nicrad and @nickradovanovic━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━More Cowbell Please is positive Christian music stories — for CCM fans and the people who make the music.🎧ALL EPISODES:.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBt6FZ88v_g64fr3KfLjQgPIM0vUYRZy9PODCAST:Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0v9dEeIH0OeP1chxSfQ7gj?si=d0HmJihHTjGhiEuwP8cYewListen on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-cowbell-please/id1796605641Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀https://vidiq.com/morecowbell

  4. Mar 28

    Steve Taylor CCM's Greatest Lyricist — The Prophet in a Plaid Suit (Repost)

    (Reposted - spotify issue!) Was Steve Taylor the greatest lyricist contemporary Christian music ever produced? We think so — and in this episode of More Cowbell Please, we make the case. We attended a recent Steve Taylor concert and came away convinced this man never got the tribute he deserved. So here it is. From his origins as a preacher's kid in Northglenn, Colorado — forbidden from listening to secular music until his mid-teens — to hearing The Clash at Biola University and changing CCM forever, this is the full Steve Taylor story. We cover: ✅ His biography and origin story ✅ The songs that rattled the church — Guilty By Association, We Don't Need No Color Code, I Want to Be a Clone, Meltdown at Madame Tussauds, On the Fritz and more ✅ His role shaping the Newsboys' greatest era ✅ Founding Squint Entertainment and launching Sixpence None the Richer ✅ His film career including Blue Like Jazz ✅ The Dead Sea Squirrels — his new animated series with VeggieTales co-creator Mike Nawrocki ✅ Concert footage including the band — Peter Furler (Newsboys), Mark Lee Townsend and John Mark Painter ✅ Why CCM needs more voices like his today Whether you grew up on 80s Christian music, work in the CCM industry, or you're just discovering Steve Taylor for the first time — this one's for you. 🎵 Songs Featured:Guilty By Association | We Don't Need No Color Code | On the Fritz | Meltdown at Madame Tussaud's | Dead Sea Squirrels Theme 🎸 Band: Steve Taylor | Peter Furler | Mark Lee Townsend | John Mark Painter | Caroline Francis | Kelle | Libby Cates | Kennoniah Dean Bellile 📺 0:00 Cold Open — "We Don't Need No Color Code" 0:26 Introduction 1:21 Origins — Preacher's Kid from Colorado 1:47 Discovering The Clash & New Wave 2:55 The Estes Park Signing 3:28 First Record Release 3:47 CCM in the Early 80s — The Landscape 4:38 "I Want to Be a Clone" 5:14 "This Disco Used to Be a Nice Cathedral" 6:08 "On the Fritz" 6:39 "I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good" 7:15 The Controversy & His Critics 7:32 "Guilty By Association" (Live) 8:50 "We Don't Need No Color Code" (Live) 9:54 "Whatcha Gonna Do When Your Number's Up" 10:22 "Sin for a Season" 10:39 "Meltdown at Madame Tussaud's" (Live) 11:04 The "Some Band" Lineup 11:31 Peter Furler 11:54 Steve Taylor & the Newsboys 12:25 The Iconic Suit & the Museum of CCM 13:10 Chagall Guevara1 3:35 Squint Entertainment1 3:54 Blue Like Jazz & Film Career 14:05 The Dead Sea Squirrels 15:53 The Randy Newman Moment (Live) 16:39 "Hero" & the Woody Allen Story 17:28 Steve Taylor's Legacy 18:04 Where to Find Steve's Music 🎧ALL EPISODES:.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBt6FZ88v_g64fr3KfLjQgPIM0vUYRZy9PODCAST:Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0v9dEeIH0OeP1chxSfQ7gj?si=d0HmJihHTjGhiEuwP8cYewListen on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-cowbell-please/id1796605641

  5. Mar 28

    Steve Taylor: CCM's Greatest Lyricist — The Prophet in a Plaid Suit

    Was Steve Taylor the greatest lyricist contemporary Christian music ever produced? We think so — and in this episode of More Cowbell Please, we make the case. We attended a recent Steve Taylor concert and came away convinced this man never got the tribute he deserved. So here it is. From his origins as a preacher's kid in Northglenn, Colorado — forbidden from listening to secular music until his mid-teens — to hearing The Clash at Biola University and changing CCM forever, this is the full Steve Taylor story. We cover: ✅ His biography and origin story ✅ The songs that rattled the church — Guilty By Association, We Don't Need No Color Code, I Want to Be a Clone, Meltdown at Madame Tussauds, On the Fritz and more ✅ His role shaping the Newsboys' greatest era ✅ Founding Squint Entertainment and launching Sixpence None the Richer ✅ His film career including Blue Like Jazz ✅ The Dead Sea Squirrels — his new animated series with VeggieTales co-creator Mike Nawrocki ✅ Concert footage including the band — Peter Furler (Newsboys), Mark Lee Townsend and John Mark Painter ✅ Why CCM needs more voices like his today Whether you grew up on 80s Christian music, work in the CCM industry, or you're just discovering Steve Taylor for the first time — this one's for you. 🎵 Songs Featured:Guilty By Association | We Don't Need No Color Code | On the Fritz | Meltdown at Madame Tussaud's | Dead Sea Squirrels Theme 🎸 Band: Steve Taylor | Peter Furler | Mark Lee Townsend | John Mark Painter | Caroline Francis | Kelle | Libby Cates | Kennoniah Dean Bellile 📺 0:00 Cold Open — "We Don't Need No Color Code" 0:26 Introduction 1:21 Origins — Preacher's Kid from Colorado 1:47 Discovering The Clash & New Wave 2:55 The Estes Park Signing 3:28 First Record Release 3:47 CCM in the Early 80s — The Landscape 4:38 "I Want to Be a Clone" 5:14 "This Disco Used to Be a Nice Cathedral" 6:08 "On the Fritz" 6:39 "I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good" 7:15 The Controversy & His Critics 7:32 "Guilty By Association" (Live) 8:50 "We Don't Need No Color Code" (Live) 9:54 "Whatcha Gonna Do When Your Number's Up" 10:22 "Sin for a Season" 10:39 "Meltdown at Madame Tussaud's" (Live) 11:04 The "Some Band" Lineup 11:31 Peter Furler 11:54 Steve Taylor & the Newsboys 12:25 The Iconic Suit & the Museum of CCM 13:10 Chagall Guevara1 3:35 Squint Entertainment1 3:54 Blue Like Jazz & Film Career 14:05 The Dead Sea Squirrels 15:53 The Randy Newman Moment (Live) 16:39 "Hero" & the Woody Allen Story 17:28 Steve Taylor's Legacy 18:04 Where to Find Steve's Music 🎧ALL EPISODES:.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBt6FZ88v_g64fr3KfLjQgPIM0vUYRZy9PODCAST:Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0v9dEeIH0OeP1chxSfQ7gj?si=d0HmJihHTjGhiEuwP8cYewListen on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-cowbell-please/id1796605641

  6. Feb 26

    Stu G - The teenage QUEEN fan that shaped a generation of Worship sounds.

    Stu G, legendary guitarist of Delirious?, joins More Cowbell Please for a raw, heartfelt conversation.From wiring houses as an electrician to co-writing worship anthems like “Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble,” “Obsession,” and “History Maker,” Stu opens up about:The early Cutting Edge youth events that birthed a movement. How U2 and Queen shaped his career.How Delirious? broke boundaries in worship and faith centered music We cover the highs and the lows, thru the end of an era then his next steps and recovery to his creative comeback, the Beatitudes Project, and life in NashvilleThis is more than a band story—it’s a testimony of faithfulness, creativity, and following God’s call through every season.Full episode out now – subscribe & turn on notifications for more CCM legends! 🕊️🎸#StuG #Delirious #ChristianMusic #WorshipMusic #CCMHistory #morecowbellplease Chapters 00:00 Intro – Welcome to Stu G! 01:26 Greetings & Fun Banter 01:55 Early Life as an Electrician 02:25 Becoming a Queen Fan 03:17 Starting with Drums03:42 Discovering Guitar 04:07 Buying the First Guitar 04:45 Taking Guitar Lessons 05:31 First Band Experiences 05:55 Phil Keaggy, Church & Conversion 08:37 Full-Time Worship Leading 08:55 The Stuart David Band 10:26 Andy Piercy Connection 11:40 Andy Piercy + Martin Smith Link 12:41 Ben Okafor & Reggae Band 14:52 Noel Richards Forum15:07 Cutting Edge Begins 15:42 Kevin Prosch Influence 18:12 Cutting Edge Band & Events 19:09 Moving to Littlehampton & Back to Electrical Work 22:10 Delirious? Officially Begins 23:46 Making 'Live and in the Can' 24:33 Naming Delirious? (The ? Story) 26:19 Delirious? Early Days 29:26 'Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?' Origin 29:47 Expanding the Reach Beyond Church Walls 32:31 CCM or Mainstream? The Tension 35:14 First Trip Into the USA 38:11 US Showcase at The Roxy 38:50 Mainstream Appearances & Breakthroughs 40:02 Napster, CD Sales Crash & Challenges 40:57 The Studio Albums Overview 44:04 Kingdom of Comfort Era 44:59 Touring Rules & the End of Delirious? 46:43 Delirious? Officially Over 47:02 New Deals & Life After 47:14 One Sonic Society 48:03 Rock Bottom, Counseling & Healing 49:13 The Beatitudes Project Begins 53:25 Touring Gigs While Building Beatitudes 54:33 Tech Issues! (Funny Moment) 55:40 Marketing the Beatitudes Project 56:57 Future Beatitudes Material 57:11 New Life in the USA for the Family 58:34 Testimonial Stories & Impact 1:02:00 Awards, Money & CCM Reflections 1:04:53 How the Name “Stu G” Came About 1:06:30 Delirious? Business Model & Independence 1:07:48 Other Gigs & Collaborations 1:08:55 New Release Discussion 1:10:54 Outro – Thanks Stu G!🎧ALL EPISODES:.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBt6FZ88v_g64fr3KfLjQgPIM0vUYRZy9PODCAST:Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0v9dEeIH0OeP1chxSfQ7gj?si=d0HmJihHTjGhiEuwP8cYewListen on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-cowbell-please/id1796605641Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀https://vidiq.com/morecowbell

  7. Jan 4

    Jess Cates Part 2: The Lawsuit, Losing Everything & God’s “Eagle” Promise

    The lawsuit nightmare.Running out of money.Almost homeless with a young family.And the miraculous “eagle” vision that carried him through.Jess shares how God turned the darkest season into a comeback—writing worship anthems for Chris Tomlin, Passion, John Reddick, TobyMac w Forrest Frank, and more.From pop highs (Backstreet Boys, David Archuleta) to Nashville heartbreak and redemption—this is raw faith in the music business.Next episodes coming:Stu G (Delirious? guitarist – worship music legend)Stacey Willbur (veteran CCM song plugger)Hit subscribe—you don’t want to miss these! 🔥#JessCates #ChristianSongwriter #WorshipMusic #ComebackStory #morecowbellplease 00:00 Intro 00:57 Out of Money & Almost Homeless 01:30 A Vision & God’s Word 02:59 Settling the Lawsuit 03:50 Lawsuit Aftermath04:46 Life Lessons from the Lawsuit 05:15 Lawsuit Outcome 05:41 Selling the Catalog 06:00 Nashville Deals & Humbling Moments 07:18 Forming In Paradise 07:35 Signing with TIM Publishing 08:14 Getting Back on His Feet 08:42 Random Success Stories 09:41 Jess’s Journey Through Genres 10:10 TobyMac, Forrest Frank & Jon Reddick 11:09 “Jeff Cates” & Alt IDs11:41 AI in Songwriting 15:12 10,000 Hours & 3 Guys in a Room 16:10 Career Advice for New Writers 17:50 Embarrassing Songwriting Stories 18:33 Lessons from Hard Sessions 19:38 Fear vs Faith in the Room 21:14 Changing Priorities 22:25 Finding & Living Your Purpose 24:30 Jonas Brothers Session 25:02 Martina McBride “Just Call You Mine” 26:44 Passion “The Lord Will Provide” 27:36 Song Impacts on Listeners 29:28 Goodbye & Thanks 29:35 Outro 🎧ALL EPISODES:.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBt6FZ88v_g64fr3KfLjQgPIM0vUYRZy9PODCAST:Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0v9dEeIH0OeP1chxSfQ7gj?si=d0HmJihHTjGhiEuwP8cYewListen on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-cowbell-please/id1796605641Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀https://vidiq.com/morecowbell

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Grammy Winning CCM Mix Engineer Ainslie Grosser dives into Christian music with More Cowbell Please! Hear CCM stars and industry pros like Luke Smallbone, Paul Mabury, Jordan Mohilowski, John Mays share real faith-driven stories of humor, heartbreak, career highlights and losses. The people who wrote, produced and signed some of the greats like Lauren Daigle, Mercy Me, Toby Mac, The Afters, Skillet, Hillsong United and for King and Country . Subscribe for inspiring interviews! #ChristianMusic

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