New Avalon member Jeremi Richardson and I had a bit of a detail mix-up at interview time but it was quickly dealt with and moved past easily.

CMCentral (Kevan Breitinger): No problem, we’re talking now, right? How are you?

Fine, I’m doing great, you?

Good. I’ve been listening to the new album all morning and enjoying it.

Oh yeah, there’s some great things on there.

I know you just recently joined the group. Can I ask you how that came about?

Well, the shortest version is: I’ve worked at Disney for the last five years, and the lady who covered Janna and Melissa’s maternity leaves, Jennifer Thigpen, worked there with me. She mentioned me to Melissa when they were looking for a singer, and I had gone to college with Melissa, and that’s how that door opened.

I guess you’re done with Disney, as I read on the website that you had recently moved to Nashville, right?

Correct, I’m in Nashville now, and freezing (laughing).

Yeah, I’m just back from Florida myself, up in New Jersey, thinking ‘what am I doing here?’

Yeah, we’re trying to acclimate. We’ve got the heat going full blast and we’re sitting here in sweats, just wishing for the beach.

Well, it’ll come around again. So this is an exciting change for you. But you didn’t sing at all on the new album, did you?

Correct. The title of the spring tour is the I Will Stand Tour, and they have re-cut the song “We Will Stand” with myself, Michael English and Daniel Doss, and this will be released the same day as the album.

But as you tour with the group you’ll be performing these songs anyway.

Correct, I have already done two of them. “God Is In Control” and the title track, “Another Time, Another Place.”

You’re young enough, Jeremi, that I wondered if any of these songs were new to you?

Believe it or not, the only song that I could not sing along with was “Addictive Love,” and that’s probably one of the more recent songs on the album. I grew up in a preacher’s home and in the South, so Christian music was an avid part of everything we did. So I was familiar with the basic gist of every single one of those tunes.

They really are well selected songs, very well representative of the times. How do you find these songs speaking to you now?

I think it kind of reminds me of the Bible’s Ebenezer places where they’d make monuments to great moments they’d experienced with God. These songs for me recreate those moments. I immediately think of that song “Place in This World,” because that song is associated for me with a significantly transforming moment in my life. So that song takes me to that moment and then makes me reflect on what God has done in my life since that exact moment. A lot of these songs do that for me.

“God Is In Control” is just a happy place for me. It makes me smile and a joy comes over me every time I hear that intro start. It’s those priceless moments that only those kinds of memories can do.

That’s a great answer, Jeremi. So Avalon will be touring in the spring, you said?

There is a big tour planned for spring. I believe it starts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, two weeks before GMA Week.

Are you looking forward to that?

Very much so. Although of course, I’m a little nervous about it because I have no bearing as far as doing that many shows and traveling extensively. But the past four months I’ve spent singing with them have been great.

I’m also very excited about getting to know the other artists. I spent some time with Michael English a couple of weeks ago, and that was terrific. So it’s gonna be great to get to know Cadia and see them spread their wings, as this is one of the first things they’ve done.

I didn’t realize that you were going out with them. What a nice mix, as they’re so young, just starting out, and you guys are more in the middle of the field, singing these classic songs from the past. You know, as I listened to the album this morning, I really enjoyed the four voices covering material done previously by single voices. I enjoyed that new take.

Oh, I agree. That was actually pretty fascinating for me. I think the first song on the album that highlights that is “For The Sake of The Call.” I really enjoyed that dynamic, the extra story-telling.

That’s funny you’d say that, as that was one of my favorite tracks. You brought a nice edge to some of these songs, and Avalon isn’t generally known for its edge.

I agree, and I love that. Avalon has the ability to do that, and it doesn’t distort the integrity of the music.

Yes, well, that brings me to my next question, Jeremi. What is it that you bring to the group that is unique to you?

Well, I’ve always been told that I have a very dramatic voice. I think my background in church music, of course, has prepared me for the ministry portion. I think my experience at Disney taught me how to tell the story of a song. And of course I’m not saying that anyone else in the group does not do that. But I believe that God has definitely given me a gift to take either a light message or a heavy message and deliver it in a way that people can embrace it. I think that’s something that leads me to this moment, where Avalon is right now.

And what would be your dream, in terms of where you’d like to see the group go musically?

Musically, this new album does a lot of that for me. I like the more in-your-face gospel. I think the beauty of that is in finding a way to carry that big message and bring it home in a way where the gospel is ultimately received.

They are amazing singers in Avalon. It blows me away every time I’m up there singing with them, the perfection that they bring to it. I think that opens the door to a lot of un-churched people, because you’re dealing with a very polished product. Greg usually does that transitional moment of presenting the gospel, and it’s always a lovely moment. As far as I can see everyone’s heart is there. So from keeping our music perfected, and our hearts exactly on Christ, I think Avalon has a chance to stay as long as Avalon wants to stay.

It’s got to be a nice release for you, coming into this ministry opportunity from Disney.

I was full time in church work before I moved to Florida, in a traveling singing church ministry. But it’s different for me to be able to able to stand up and profess what I believe and what I feel. I have missed that.

Well, before I sign off, I know our readers will want to know how Jody is doing.

To be honest, I’m not 100% sure. I personally have not met Jody. I’ve seen him perform, of course, many times. I do understand that he is doing better and now has a terrific job, but that’s really all I know.

That’s fine. Thank you so much for your time, Jeremi, I enjoyed talking with you.

Alright, you too. Talk to you later.