Behind the Song: Praise the Name

Releases October 2026

When did you write Praise the Name, and what was happening in your musical life at the time?

I wrote Praise the Name in 2002. I was still fairly early in my guitar-playing years—I didn't start learning guitar until after my son was born in 1999—and most of what I had written up to that point was slower and more reflective, much more in the vein of Dwell.

At the time I was involved in worship ministry in the Charleston, South Carolina area. I had also attended an early Passion worship retreat at Perimeter Church in Atlanta with other members of my worship team. Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman were among the people teaching there, and I was learning a lot about contemporary worship music and how songs were put together.

I remember being inspired by the strumming pattern in Matt Redman's Blessed Be Your Name. I had always felt like I didn't have the talent or capacity to write things that were fast or had much of a groove. I now know that isn't true, but Praise the Name was probably one of the first songs where I really tried to write something with that kind of drive.

Why Psalm 148?

I wanted to see if I could write a song based on a Psalm that stayed faithful to the message of the Psalm while still being contemporary and upbeat.

Psalm 148 felt naturally suited to that. It is already very lyrical and praiseworthy. I love it because it shows that everything in creation was designed to bring praise to our Creator. It calls on all kinds of people and all kinds of creation to praise Him.

The very cause of our existence is the Lord, and we should praise Him for it.

So Praise the Name is really a call to worship—a call to praise.

How did you actually write the song?

I usually write lyrics first and then melody, and I'm fairly certain that's how it happened with this song, too. I chose a Psalm that felt upbeat and praiseworthy, took what I was reading, and began shaping it into lyrics.

I wrote it on guitar in D because I was still a relatively new guitarist and D was an easy key for me.

The rhythmic inspiration came from Blessed Be Your Name. I wasn't trying to write that song, obviously, but I loved the drive of that strumming pattern and drew from that feeling.

Did anyone hear the song when you first wrote it?

The worship leader I was serving with at the time heard it and had positive things to say about it. I don't remember her specific compliments anymore, but I do remember one criticism: she didn't like the word “established".

That word had come directly from the Scripture I was working from. Interestingly, all these years later I finally changed it to “created”. It works better in the song and still feels faithful to the text.

What happened to the song after you wrote it?

I rarely brought my own songs into church, even when I was serving as a worship leader. I never felt very comfortable doing that because it felt like self-promotion.

So mostly Praise the Name has been played in my living room with family and friends who enjoy listening and singing with me. That's really where this song has lived for most of its life.

What made you decide it was time to take your songs further?

I've spent a lot of years wrestling with what my calling is. For a long time I tended to think of my place of employment as the thing I was called to do.

But songwriting has always been an undercurrent that returns, particularly when I'm struggling through difficult life experiences and emotions. One of the ways I wrestle through those things is by writing songs.

Over the years, different people have said things that gradually made me look at that differently.

More recently, a new friend heard me play Praise the Name on guitar in my living room and asked me, “Why are you hiding your light?”

I had never considered that hiding my light might be what I was doing by not taking these songs any further. That was a completely different way of looking at it that I had never been challenged to see.

I was already thinking about recording a full album, but that question was what really put my foot on the gas.

Why did Praise the Name become one of the first songs you chose to record?

I just really like the song and how it came out. It's catchy, and I think people will want to sing it.

It also represents something important in my development as a songwriter because it was one of the first times I pushed myself to write something upbeat and driving instead of staying with the slower, more reflective style that came naturally to me.

Did you already know what you wanted the full production to sound like?

I didn't have much of a concept for how Praise the Name would sound in full production. The things I cared about were not losing the groove from the guitar and making sure the clarity of my voice still came through.

Everything else really grew out of the creativity Daniel and Rachel brought to it.

Daniel built the arrangement with drums, bass and percussion, and I adjusted some of what I had always done on guitar to make room for the other instrumentation. Rachel added violin and background vocals.

It was fun to watch the song evolve as every part was added.

What are some of your favorite things in the finished recording?

I smile when I hear the violin come in at the beginning. It soars.

Then when the first main section begins, the fullness of the song shows up. I love the drum fills leading into those sections.

And the tambourine treatment is like the cherry on top. It just adds a little more joy.

Those are all things I never would have imagined when this was simply a song I played on guitar in my living room.

What does it mean to release a song you wrote more than twenty years ago?

It feels like a celebration.

There is also something meaningful to me about the fact that I can still sing these words confidently and genuinely this many years later. That is a testament to the Lord's goodness in my life that can only be true because He has kept my feet on the path.

What do you hope people experience when they hear Praise the Name?

I hope they feel joy and communion with God because they are able to express praise to Him in a new way.

This song was always intended to be something people could sing, not just something people could listen to.

I hope someday it will be used in congregational singing. But I also think it has a place in cars and kitchens and with families and friends.

The living room is where it all started, and the living room is where it can happen still.