Jeff Deyo
Jeff Deyo Bio
Traveling to the other side of the world to record a new album
is a potential logistical nightmare, but capturing live worship
with 23,000 people is an opportunity that Jeff Deyo found too
good to pass up. As such, following months of planning, he and
the band arrived at the 2005 Parachute Festival in New Zealand
geared up to work through the details of recording Deyo’s
third solo album for Gotee Records, Surrender.
Normally to record a worship concert live, one would draw
a “friendly” congregation together stateside, teach
them the songs and press “record”. But Deyo had
the chance to go a step further. “With this project I
was determined to capture what we do as a band, and to record
a powerful live CD with a big sound where you can really hear
the crowd singing. I knew we couldn’t bring that situation
together just anywhere.” So, he and the band packed up,
flew halfway around the world and “partnered” with
23,000 worshipers.
The crowd size and international locale of Surrender are
impressive, no doubt, but it’s the worship experience
recorded in that moment that sets it apart. The music and
free worship of Surrender move beyond traditional festival
boundaries to create a sense of urgency that literally transforms
listeners into worshipers. “This CD encapsulates everything
that is special about us as a worship band. There are free
worship moments, people passionately worshiping, and lots
of tiems where I sing or the band plays whatever comes from
our hears to the Lord, unique to that night.” notes Deyo.
A handful of Deyo’s most compelling previously recorded
songs accompany five new songs in a fresh set list he titled
Surrender. “Surrender is a powerful, relevant topic.
I wasn’t planning on calling it that but as I looked
at the song listing, I noticed the Lord had led me to weave
a similar theme throughout,” says Deyo.
New songs “Jesus, I Surrender,” “Nothing Less
Than All of Me” and “Be Lifted Up” all center
on different aspects of surrender. The Deyo/Jonathan Lee-penned
“Jesus, I Surrender” highlights the foundational
issue of the lordship in our lives as it compels the worshiper
to cry out, “Master, be my Savior/ be my shelter/ be
my God.” Chosen for its simplicity “Be Lifted Up,”
written by Paul Oakley, emphasizes the physical position of
surrender, declaring to Jesus, ”As we bow down/ be lifted
up,” while “Nothing Less” speaks about a complete
Christ-like surrender- giving nothing less to God than all
of ourselves.
“This is the focus of my spiritual walk right now, as
well as something I believe we have overlooked in the Church.
We have missed the mark in leading others to Christ if we’ve
told them there is no cost in becoming a Christian. Though
Jesus paid the cost necessary to conquer sin and death, we
must receive his free gift of life and, like him, lose our
lives if we are to find eternal life. Paul said it best, ‘I
no longer live but Christ lives in me.”
The album’s first radio single “We Are Hungry”
is another new addition to Deyo’s worship set. This internationally
known church song is “reborn” through Deyo’s
stirring ability to transform familiar worship choruses- like
his chart-topping “More Love, More Power” and the
No. 1 radio single from his Sonicflood days, “I Want to
Know You (In the Secret).”“I just can’t cover
a song and make it sound exactly like the original version,”
he says. “To me, ‘We Are Hungry’ is a great song
that becomes even more passionate when it is juiced up a little!”
“There are roadblocks in front of each of us during
worship, but if I can find a way to engage a person’s
heart toward God through singing a line or reading a Scripture,
that’s my goal.” To do this, Deyo incorporates what
he calls freeform worship. Intermixed throughout, this free
worship allows him and the band to flow creatively together
in unplanned moments- singing and playing “new”
or spontaneous songs. In these times Deyo hopes to trigger
heartfelt expressions in people that can in turn be verbalized
to God. “As in the extended melody of ‘More Love,
More Power’ and ‘I Can’t Get Enough,’
you find yourself singing ‘I need more of your love,
power, joy and freedom.’ Then you move very naturally
into repeating ‘I can’t get enough of you’
over and over again. We do this whole medley some nights,
while other nights I’ll sing a completely different melody
with different words, depending on where God is leading.
In sharing and experiencing such freedom worship on Surrender,
Deyo hopes people are strengthened further in their personal
worship. “My desire in doing this record is that when
they’re home months after our concert, listening to our
CD, they can do exactly what they did that night- really engage
together with 23,000 other worshipers while discovering that
worship is much more than just repeating what somebody else
is saying. Hopefully they free moments on Surrender will inspire
new expressions to God for them every time.”
As Deyo shares these songs of surrender and leads and encourages
Christians in genuine worship to God, he continues to work
out a call to help redefine worship as more than music. “If
we just sing the songs without the lifestyle, the songs mean
nothing. IT’s just lip service. We’ve actually been
given the power to do what the Israelites couldn’t through
the Holy Spirit. Realizing 1 Peter 2:24 for our everyday lives
is one of the most poignant acts of worship ever, ‘He
personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross
so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.’
That is true worship.”
With this message, Surrender not only becomes a record from
Jeff Deyo packed with stirring new worship songs, it becomes
an important and practical tool to help hearts express what
they need to say on an everyday basis to the God who created
them.
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