Empowered Traditionalist

I’ve never met Gileah in person, but we instantly connected over email because of our shared love for classic, ET fashion. Unbeknownst to me at the time, she is a talented recording artist. Gileah and her husband and both musicians living in Nashville, with their two beautiful daughters.

Hear from an ET who has unique talents,  yet shares the same core values and beliefs.

CT: What is your background? How were you raised?

My father is a preacher at a little church called Sovereign Grace Church.
Both parents are artists. Mom paints, acrylics on canvas, and Dad is a musician and songwriter. He also puts the Psalms to music, word for word.

I have three younger sisters, Emma, Sarah and Maranatha. We were raised to be mothers and wives. Dad has always been very clear on the roles of husband and wife; the husband is to provide, spiritually and physically, and the wife is to be the keeper of the home.

CT: What’s your Story?

When I was in my teens, I went through a very rebellious stage. I didn’t know if I believed in the God of my father. I had Christian friends, and for the first time I realized that I simply didn’t have what they had. I thought that I just wasn’t called by God, and I did my best to prove that I didn’t want Him or His ways.

When I met my would-be husband, we were both coming from opposite ends of the music spectrum. I was sick of playing in coffeehouses and bars for my own glory, and he was worn out after years of playing week in and week out in the big church music scene. We got married, and I had our first daughter, Clara, three years later.

When she was born, my priorities shifted from taking care of me to taking care of her. I remember reading No Compromise, Keith Green’s story touched me, and as I read prayers from his journals I prayed with him. By His grace, the Holy Spirit came down and showed me what I really was, a sinner in desperate need of the Saviour. It was an amazing time in my life, and I’ll never forget just how sweet those first weeks were. That was three years ago, and I got baptized last year in the Gulf of Mexico.

CT: What do you want to accomplish through your music?

When I was younger, I insisted that I just wanted to make beautiful music. That’s a little silly; I know firsthand that if you’re getting up on stage and not giving the glory to God, then you’re taking it all for yourself. Not a healthy thing for anybody.

The last record I did, (2007, s/t,) was written from the place of coming to God. The next one that is in production now, is written from the place of being a child of God. I want my music to reflect my walk with Jesus. I spent way too many years and wrote too many songs that have nothing to do with Him.

Who or What inspires your music and lyric themes?

I’m most inspired by books. A good line from a C.S. Lewis book will get me started on a new song…the Bible, of course.

Do you have a central theme or idea running through your different songs?

The last record was written from the viewpoint of a searcher. A line from “The Spirit” says-
All my life I’ve been looking for the Truth
Sang the sweet, old hymns but still a skeptic in the pew
BUT- you can’t be a searcher forever. 2nd Timothy 3 addresses that. Paul says that in the last days men will be “always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” One has to commit eventually. The song points to the answer found in Christ.

Gileah, as an ET yourself, what does that look like in the music scene?

. I haven’t been able to play out too much since I had Mercie, and that’s fine with me. That’s where God has placed me.

For young women who have musical gifts and hope to make records or tour, I would encourage them to take a good look at their motives. There are plenty of men and women in the music scene who do the music thing really well, but it’s not easy to be a partner and parent when you’re in the studio or on the road for large chunks of time. I would say it would be best suited for women who work with at least one person from their family, or for young married women who work with their husbands.

As wife, and mother of two daughters do you have any thoughts or practical tips on raising up the next generation to be ETs? What’s worked for you?

Ahhhhh, let’s see. I haven’t at all figured everything out. But I know a few things for sure. I believe that my place is in the home. I’m planning on home schooling the girls. And I pray that they grow up to be women of God.
So I’ve been learning how to run the house in an efficient manner. I try to make healthy choices in the kitchen. My mom recently taught me how to mill my own flour. I’ve learned a ton from reading other mom’s blogs- your sister’s, for instance!
The most important thing in being a mom to daughters is setting the example of what it is to be a woman of God. I hope that I am a living illustration of the Titus 2 woman and the Proverbs 31 woman.

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