I was quite content, but the question kept coming until finally my wife cornered me and said ‘Kent, this has been coming up over and over for a year. I really feel like God is calling you to go into music as an artist.’ At the time I really didn’t appreciate her telling me that, because I had a tremendous fear of being in front of people speaking or singing anything. I had written a song for a wedding, and I was relieved on rehearsal night to find out I was playing and singing from behind the bridesmaids so no one could see me. That’s the kind of fear that I had. So to have my wife suggest that she felt I had been called to do this awoke that fear all over again. 

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So I was still reluctant but when God calls, He calls. I had basically been running from it for a year, and I realized I had reached the end of the road. So I followed, although the fear didn’t go away immediately, I can tell you that. Over the course of time, he helped me to understand that He’s never gonna call us to do something for His glory and only take us half way and drop us off. He’ll take us all the way so that He might be glorified and not us. I take great comfort in knowing that the Lord gives me all of the abilities and talents I need to glorify Him. It doesn’t mean I’m perfect every night; I mess up all the time on piano or vocal, just like any artist. But I don’t get all worked up over it because I pray that people are hearing Him and seeing his message, and not even paying attention to me. It’s almost my way of hiding behind the bridesmaids every night except for in a greater way, because I feel like God is out front, and I work very hard to try to make sure every night is like that. Then it becomes a real time of worship for me, and not a performance. I’m there worshipping, and hopefully everybody else is joining in with me.

That’s a great way of looking at it, Kent, and it brings to mind the Scripture that speaks of hiding in the cross.

Yes, that’s essentially what it is, yes.

I guess you’ve gotten well past your fear, because to me you come across on the album as being very comfortable in your own skin.

I am, but I am who I am. I just recently had somebody come up to me after an evening show who does some coaching. He had some suggestions for me, and I’m always looking for ways to improve on what I do. It’s like baseball: you never learn everything. If you think you have, you’re done. I’m always trying to learn, but part of what he was telling me had to do with me being somebody I’m not. I’m not gonna jump around on stage and light my hair on fire, that’s just not part of my personality. I’m gonna give the people who I am, what I’ve walked through, and hopefully it will come through the perspective of how God sees it, not how Kent Bottlefield sees it. I guess that’s the best way to say it, I am who I am. It’s not that I’m unwilling to change, but I’m also not willing to become somebody I’m not, somebody I wasn’t created to be.