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 It's been a long road for
Charlie Hall. The past year has taken him down a path that has
resulted in a lot of letting go, of discovering who he's meant to
be as a man, a musician and-most importantly-a worshipper of God.
And while the Aug. 19 release of his sophomore project, On The
Road To Beautiful, may signify a destination reached, for Charlie
Hall the journey's just beginning.
One of the many lessons Hall has
had to learn recently is that you can't rush God. Record labels'
release schedules mean little to the Creator, especially when He
has his own timetable for your life. So while Hall was originally
scheduled to begin recording the follow-up to 2000's Porch and
Altar in May of 2002, something wasn't right. He had more than 50
songs, but they just weren't fitting and life kept throwing him
curves in the form of difficult relationships, doubts about
musical direction, and an illness in the family. Whoever said
"timing is everything" knew what he was talking about.
Before On The Road To Beautiful
could be completed, Hall would need to begin a journey that had
nothing to do with recording studios. In fact, it was a
continuation of a trip that he'd embarked on years earlier. Raised
in a traditional Baptist church, Hall turned away from that
foundation for a handful of years "to fail as a human
being," he says. During those wayward teen years, he found
that failure and was left with the feeling that there had to be
something more. Through a lot of exploration, God revealed Himself
and by the end of high school Hall had completely turned around
and was "reading the scriptures like mad."
That passion gave way to a
youthful intensity that had Hall laying down his music, something
he'd pursued since junior high, in favor of becoming a pastor, a
path he felt would best allow him to lead others. It wasn't long,
though, before God showed Hall another way to impact the faithful,
one more in keeping with his unique gifts. At a worship event in
Oklahoma City, Hall was struck by what he saw: people truly
worshipping, connecting to God through music. After that, his
course was set. Hall started singing and playing in church, often
including his own original songs in the mix. Then he connected
with a small group of college students who were meeting in a
living room for prayer, scripture reading and worship, what Hall
calls "church in its simplest form." That small group
would eventually become Bridgeway Church, where Charlie would hone
his skills as a lead worshipper in those early years and still
serves that church today.
During this time, Hall also
identified with Passion founder and director Louie Giglio whose
heart was to awaken the 16 million college students in the nation
to the reality of a glorious God. Hall joined the movement and
began leading worship at the conferences including both OneDay
gatherings, which drew tens of thousands of college students from
every state in the US and numerous countries from around the
world. As many of the gatherings were recorded live for album
releases, Hall was quickly dubbed as a "voice" for the
Passion movement, performing on all five Passion albums which have
sold nearly a million units. Popularizing songs such as
"Better Is One Day" and "Heart Of Worship,"
Hall also continued his solo career as an independent, eventually
signing with sixstepsrecords upon its formation in 2000 and
releasing Porch and Altar.
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