Tracy Lawrence Taps His Christian Roots on New CD

With the release of his upcoming CD, 'The Rock,' Tracy Lawrence becomes the latest country artist to take a walk on the spiritual side. Alan Jackson, Brenda Lee, Charlie Daniels and Alabama are among the country acts to have recorded successful Christian collections in the past few years, and Tracy feels like the time is right to join those brethren in releasing a faith-based album.

"I've wanted to do one for the last several years, but really I haven't been in the right place spiritually," Tracy tells The Boot. "I think having kids and everything has kind of brought me back around to that place, like my family raised me. I've had it on my mind, but until I got back to that spot, I didn't feel like I could do the album justice.

"This year has been very healthy," Tracy continues. "My career is thriving again. I'm at a real good place at home. I'm happy with my family, wife and career. It just seemed like it was the right time to do it. Everything was lining up."

Slated to hit stores in June, 'The Rock' will be the second CD released through Tracy's own Rocky Comfort Records. It will also be distributed to Christian retail outlets through New Day Christian Distribution. Its first single will be 'Up to Him,' a song that tells the story of a man who is afraid the factory he works in might shut down if they move the business overseas: "I just work like it's all up to me/And pray like it's all up to him."

"When I recorded this music last year, I had no idea the country was going to be in the shape that it's in financially, with unemployment on the rise and foreclosures and everything," he says. "In retrospect, it seems like I've never done a more appropriate album for the time than this record right now. It just seems to have fallen right in line with everything that's going on."

Recording a Christian music collection took Tracy back to his roots. "I grew up in a very Christian household. We went to church every Sunday whether I wanted to or not," he recalls with a laugh. "I grew up very heavily involved in a United Methodist Youth organization. I grew up going to church camp for years. I ministered, and country music stole me away. It was just where my heart wound up. It's what I wanted to do."

Tracy says having a family prompted him to return to the faith of his childhood. "I think having children and a stable home life has really brought me back around to the importance of how I was raised," he says. "We started going back to church and taking the kids and really it's brought me back around. It's really leveled me out and brought a great peace to my life that I didn't have for a long time."