BJ Putnam

Biography

Every week believers attend their church services filled with anticipation and eager to experience the presence of God, and the worship leader has the privilege of facilitating that connection through music. It’s both a responsibility and a precious gift that B.J. Putnam takes very seriously. “I feel like my mission and my goal is to help people experience God’s presence,” says Putnam. “I know if I can get people in his presence, they’ll change because that’s what happens when you experience G...

Every week believers attend their church services filled with anticipation and eager to experience the presence of God, and the worship leader has the privilege of facilitating that connection through music. It’s both a responsibility and a precious gift that B.J. Putnam takes very seriously.

“I feel like my mission and my goal is to help people experience God’s presence,” says Putnam. “I know if I can get people in his presence, they’ll change because that’s what happens when you experience God. Lives change.”

In his 13 years as worship leader, Putnam has seen the power music has to usher people into the presence of God and he wrote the songs on his new eOne Worship album, More and More LIVE!, expressly for that purpose. Through upbeat anthems such as “Dance” along with the energetic tune “Sing A Song” and the tender, poignant title track, “More and More,” Putnam worked with co-producer and longtime friend Israel Houghton to craft a modern worship album that provides a vehicle to reach the throne room.

“Having known BJ from the inception of his career, I am delighted and amazed to see this project come to light,” said Houghton. “Since he also is one of my favorite worship leaders and song writers I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the production team for this recording. It's powerful. The more you hear it, the more you will want to listen."

Putnam’s love for music and his heart for ministry were nurtured at an early age by his mother and father. “My parents have been ministers their whole life,” he says. “My dad went to Bible college right out of school and then entered right into ministry. Both of my parents are musical. My dad plays and sings and my mom sings. I remember them most of all not for preaching---which they did---but I remember them leading worship, so that’s something that’s been instilled in me since I was little.”

Putnam was born in Washington State, but his family moved around quite a bit with his father’s ministry. They lived in Idaho, Missouri, Oklahoma and later settled in Phoenix, the city Putnam still calls home. Despite their nomadic existence during his childhood, music and faith were a constant. “I’ve always been attracted to music,” Putnam says. “I started playing drums. That was my first instrument when I was about eight-years-old. I moved to bass guitar and then acoustic guitar and then really kind of honed in on piano for a while when I was about 14. Being around music growing up, I definitely got the bug.”

For Putnam his musical gifts and love for the Lord coalesced under the tutelage of Israel Houghton. “I had the privilege of sitting under Israel’s ministry early on. He always had great musicians, so that challenged me,” says Putnam. “It was great to watch and learn during those years. I learned how he connected songs together, how he engaged and interacted with the people, the whole art of leading worship.”

In 1999, Putnam’s father-in-law enlisted him to lead worship at his church in Phoenix. At the church, he saw his gift for writing songs that transcend mere entertainment to usher people into the presence of God serve as the catalyst to move people closer to their heavenly father. Putnam serves as the creative worship and arts pastor at the Church for the Nations in Phoenix, his home church of 13 years.

In writing songs for the new album, Putnam’s approach was simple. “It was to write what’s in my heart, keeping the church and corporate worship in mind,” he says of the album, which was recorded live at Church for the Nations in Phoenix. “I’m a part of a multi-cultural church. Many thousands of people meet every week in all of our campuses from all walks of life, all different age groups. There are 50 or 60 different nations represented in our church. So this album is guitar driven, but it’s still multi-cultural in its sound. As far as themes, we wanted to point people to God. Lyrically we wanted every song to be something vertical.”

On More and More LIVE!, Putnam fulfills the promise of his auspicious debut with a collection of powerful songs. “This album is a little more guitar driven with a bit of gospel flavor here and there, which is different for me. I guess that’s how it’s supposed to happen. You’re supposed to grow and mature with every record,” he says with a grin.

The album opens with “Dance,” a vibrant worship anthem with a potent lyric and a commanding groove. “That song started with a guitar riff that I had,” Putnam says of the song, which actually bookends the album, closing with a “Dance” remix by his DJ friend Kingston. “We wanted something kind of rockin’ to open up the record and it’s an invitation. Let’s get this thing going. It’s a good opener for any worship set. The verses talk about the good news that God loves us. He has a plan and a purpose. It says, ‘Everybody dance the dance of freedom. Shout the shout of joy. Come on and praise him. Get up and make some noise!’”

In addition to enlisting his old friend Israel Houghton to co-produce the project, much of the album was penned with Putnam’s longtime collaborator Doug Engquist and he also co-wrote with other well-known writers such as Jenny Lee Riddle. Among the many highlights on the project is “Beautiful Love” “The song is pointing to Jesus and talks about how he’s everything, the one who carried the cross and carries me,” Putnam says. “It’s kind of a nice picture of how Jesus carried everything on the cross for us and he also cares about every aspect and detail of our lives.”

Putnam is the first to admit his life is busy and blessed. He and his wife, Melody, have two young sons and are firmly rooted in their home church. He’s appreciative of God’s hand in his life and where he’s been planted. “God is looking for people to be faithful and help grow the Kingdom,” he says. “My biggest accomplishment is being rooted in my local church and helping to grow the body of Christ. I feel God’s stamp of approval like God is smiling on this season of my life.” Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.