The Voice Behind the Songs: Sandi Patty’s Story Begins

Welcome to the Wayne Watson Podcast, where Grammy nominee and multiple dub award-winning artist Wayne Watson engages in lively conversation with remarkable people from every walk of life. Artists to help care professionals, athletes and leaders to everyday believers whose stories reflect the power of faith at work in the world. Join us as we go beyond the spotlight and into the heart of what it means to live with purpose and conviction. Diving into real conversations about the moments that shape us, the faith that sustains us, and the God who inspires it all. Now, here's your host, Wayne Watson. So we'll get a call some time, some a long time ago to sing a duet with one of the all-time grades. And I said I'd have to pray about it, and it was the fastest answer to prayer I ever had. Please welcome Sandy Patty. I apologize for the quality of those videos. YouTube is very territorial, very territorial, and hard to say, very territorial with their products. I'm okay with that. But if you want to see the real version of any of those videos, you just type in Sandy Patty and Wayne Watson and you would find them. If we took all the time to list the accolades, the awards, the recognition, the crowds, we would never get to talking to Sandy. She's one of my dear friends, and we had a great conversation so much, so we're going to have to break it into at least two parts, maybe three. So I hope you enjoy the conversation that I had with my friend Sandy Patty. I am so excited to welcome you to this podcast. It's been so much fun, and now I think I've reached the pinnacle, so thank you for spending time with me. My pleasure. My pleasure. From your home in Indiana. From Indiana and your home in Houston. In Houston. I want to tell you, I've known you for decades, and I went on Wikipedia of all things. I'm just going to go on there and see what it is. And my printer ran out of ink, printing all your stuff, and the pages, Megan was sitting in here with me watching something, and the printer was, she said, honey, the pages are just flying out of the print. I know it's Sandy's photography and personal history, but we know each other a long time, and I think I did not know that you were born in OKC. I didn't know that you graduated from high school in San Diego. So what are you more of an Okie or a Hoosier? Yeah, that's a really great question. I was born in Oklahoma City. That was my parents' first pastorate. Right. And then we moved around Arizona, California, and graduated San Diego sidebar. When I lived in San Diego Wayne, I had no idea San Diego's weather was that fabulous. I just kind of walked everywhere, until I went to Indiana to go to college, and then stayed in Indiana for a good 30 plus years, then went back for a season to Oklahoma City for about 14 years, and Don and I got to serve on the church there, crossings, community, and they love you. There's so much weight. I love them. And then we came back to Indiana to help my mom and dad walk to heaven. And now we're just poised to pivot. That is our, that is our like lens that we have. We're just poised to pivot. Poised to pivot meaning? Well, for instance, we had two granddaughters on the same day, get their tonsils and abnoids out last week. And it was spring break in Dallas. So guess what we did? We went to Dallas. And you know, just help take care of those tonsiled abnoid kids. And now we're going to go have a show and then we're going to go to Oklahoma for a couple of days, because when we have family everywhere, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, Oklahoma, and Dallas, we call it the loop. Yes. So anytime we're doing something work wise, we just extend it and stay. So I hope you're not flying. You know, yes, if you are, if you were flying, you need to leave for the airport now, even if you're flying. Exactly. But I will tell you that we flew back from Dallas last week to Indy and it was painless. And those TSA people, they so appreciate a thank you. I wanted to tip them, but I wasn't allowed to. But you know, like you know your guy that always helps with your luggage at Houston. You told me that story once. Yes. But they work so hard. And I just want them to know at least to some people, they matter a great deal. You're right. You're right about that. Well, tell the listeners about your, I've met your mom and dad. I've met your family. Your kids, your blended kids that I have snapshot pictures of your daughters on a cruise ship dancing to Abba's dancing queen. And you know, you have little snapshots of what we love and that you've been with and coming from where we all came from, very conservative, somewhat, somewhat uptight. It was such a blast to watch them just just go crazy and dance together, dancing with each other, dancing with their family members. It was just awesome. Tell everybody about your mom and dad, your musicianship growing up. My mom and dad, they were born in 1933. They were born one day apart July 1st and July 2nd. They were born 90 minutes apart, 90 miles apart, sorry, 90 miles apart, but they never met each other until college. Then they got married in 1953. My mother is an incredible pianist, just, just incredible, her feel, her cord choices, just the older I get and the more I understood music, the more I appreciated her artistry. She just was incredible. My dad really is an athlete who happened to sing. But he was, I don't know if I've ever told you this, but growing up in Oklahoma, he was recruited by OU football to play the wishbone back in whoever that coach was. Don could tell you. So I mean, he was that caliber of an athlete, but he also, he sang great and played the trumpet and wanted to go into ministry. So he went to college on a football scholarship, but then had too many concussions. He lost his scholarship and that's what landed my parents in Oklahoma City. We were there, my, I was born there, my brother Mike was born there. Then we moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and my brother Craig was born there and then we moved to San Diego, California and in San Diego, as we got a little bit older, we, our family started singing together. And now looking back and knowing what road managers are and tour managers and bus drivers and all that. My dad did all of that without the internet, you know, without, without, without cell phone just. Exactly. And so our family would, you know, we would, in the summer, we would go sing at churches and man, what a great, I didn't know it at the time, but what a great foundation for what I would do later, programming and, you know, so much of, I'd either stolen from my dad or Bill Gator, you know, just in terms of it is about the audience. We worked for God, you know, we're called by God, but we worked for the people. That's also very priest language in the Old Testament, you know, our worship is with God, we are to serve the people. That was what the priests were to do. And so you know, I just learned all of those things from my family. I went to Anderson, Indiana, to go to college at our church school, started out as a piano major. And as I was saying, the weather was very different from San Diego, yes, then San Diego. I had to walk across the, you know, the campus to go practice piano, but I began to see all of my voice teacher, my voice friends who were studying voice, they could do a little pitch pipe and stay in their room. So I thought that was the Lord's intervention, and that's why I switched. Oh my gosh, because I was lazy, I heard him walking across that snow, snowy space, and he said, hey, so I got me a pitch pipe and changed my major, yeah. And then started doing a lot of jingles and, you know, just really learned my chops as far as, yeah. And I read your first solo was Jesus loves me at age two. So at age two, you sang, I did it, went sideways to the piano and I also read that you sang on a juicy fruit commercial. Yes, I did. I really had it. It was here. Yes, I did. So Indianapolis really became a hub for non-union jingles, right? And then Chicago went on strike. So all that work for maybe three or four months came to India. And so I got, I got called for, you know, a lot of residual commercials. And juicy fruit gum was one of those. How did it go? Love to chew, juicy fruit. Because you love that juicy flavor, juicy fruit, the flavor lovers gum, you know, the smile in the voice, right? All the things. Oh, my God. Yeah. I did steak and shake. I did. What was that, that Italian fuzzoles, fuzzoles, real Italian, real fast toilet paper, you know, the job food, all that, all the things. New Barry Mellow, did you ever sing a Barry Mellow jingle? Yes. Exactly. McDonald's. He did. Oh, my gosh. Anyway, it was, I was able to read music because of my piano training. So if you can read music, you, you, you, you do well in studio work and there was just enough to, to be able to, to do that. Right. Your dad and I met your dad and yes, he, he was a guy that I would not want to line up against on the other side of the football field. He was a big, he was a big burly manly guy who happened to love music and loved his daughter and his children and his wife in a way that is still even with his passing who very inspirational to me. That's a snap shot of his love for you and his love for your, um, um, and Bill Gatherer. How did, I mean, Bill is in Anderson, correct? Is that where you met more or did you know him before? So because of the Church of God world that I grew up in, um, in the Anderson University world, Bill and Gloria were just a little younger than my parents. They also went to Anderson University, but their paths would cross, you know, throughout the years. And I, I'll tell you this, Bill was starting out writing. My dad was in a quartet with Doug Oldham, a name that you probably know, yes, my dad and two other guys, the Christian brothers quartet. Okay. So Bill asked to come and pitch some songs. And my dad said, you might want to think about something else. Well, you got to be kidding me, Bill. You might want to go to work at Hobby Lobby just because he was teaching English and glory was teaching French and Alexandria anyway. So a lot of that studio work, we did at Gatherer studio in Alexandria, Pinebrook. Yeah. That's where you came in did, yes, minute of place, yes, which I hope we're going to talk about. Oh, absolutely. You know what? This is probably going to be a two-parter. Yeah. So great, Wayne. I just, great. Okay. So. Okay. Pinebrook studios was at the time known for a lot of things, Bill's studio, of course, but it was also known for doing what we used to call custom records. So little housewife from Anderson says, I'd like to make a record. And somebody would come in and they had all the staff, they had the musicians and the men and they would record her and she would walk away just happy as she could be, as she had read a recording. Yeah. And they helped you. Or an eight track. Yeah. Or listen, we found eight tracks on the track. I know. I know. But I was also singing with a group on campus and Bill was on the board and so, you know, our paths would cross. One day I got a call and he said, hey, we're looking for someone to go, you know, sing back up for us. So in Alexander at the time was Cosette Bird, me, Steve Green and John Moore. And so we were the one doing all the jingles and everything. So Steve and John were on the road with Bill. So Bill called and said, hey, we're looking for somebody. Would you be, you know, interested and it's like, well, let me pray about it. Yes. Like, what are you going to say? But I knew if I didn't, I had one more semester of student teaching because I was a teacher's teacher's education. Yes. And I knew if I, if I didn't finish that, I would not ever come back and getting a degree and he was very important to me. So I went to my advisor and I said, okay, what are my options? Bill asked me to do this. I really want to, but I want to get my degree. So he looked at all my stuff. I ended up with a degree in conducting. That was my bachelor of arts in conducting. What, why did you, why did he suggest that? Is it easier to do when you're on the road or what? You know, I have taken certain classes already, like orchestral conducting, oral conducting as part of my thing. And so he said, you know what, if you, if you do XYZ and one of these, you can do while you're traveling, like interview every music director as your family goes to the church, write a little paper on that. And that was my, that was my degree. It's quite a buzz to sing and to get people's reactions when you sing, but conducting is a whole different thing. There is, there is quite the buzz and standing in front of a choir or an orchestra and choir or anything and waving your little hands in such a way. It is such a great, great joy. And I love doing that. What, what is it like, what do you have a memory or whatever was your favorite thing, like favorite conducting thing? Well, you know, I was at a pretty large congregation here back in the early 2000s and we would go out every Sunday and start with, I don't even remember what the song was, but it was this place with your Holy Spirit, speak your name, everyone I did. It was just chill bum, I was just thinking about it, it was such a great rewarding thing. And you know, the people that sit in the seats just come in every day with their, their worries and their fears and their troubles, their failures and they just want to take a few minutes and just put it aside and always felt so good as a singer and as a conductor to provide, provide something to give them some relief, but that, that was a wonderful thing. You and I crossed paths early on in our career, but did not know it. We were, your first recording was Singspiration, was that the lady? Yes. Singspiration, which was later milk and honey. That is correct. My first one was milk and honey through the tunnel of Paragon Records, Bob McKinsey in Nashville had some agreement with the Zondervin family who owned Singspiration and milk and honey and had Zondervin family bookstores everywhere, they're in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Your first recording was Singspiration, then milk and honey, but I don't think we ever crossed paths or did anything, right? Right. I don't know how to become to be on. Crossing paths, but I do remember you and Twyla. Twyla, Paris, me, Harvest, Mickey, Furman, that was milk and honey, so it was not a little brower. Phil Brower. Phil Brower. It looked like Wolfman Jack. I mean, he was such a... 100 percent. Yeah. 100 percent. Great job. Oh. So, talk about early days with Woken Honey. What was your first meeting like with Phil? Oh, well, the Wolfman Jack image was burned into my ear. It was big. It was big. You know, Zondervin and the whole Grand Rapids thing was pretty conservative and Phil just did not look that part. He looked like a Walman, but he was very conservative. He was very free and tender and knew how to steer the ship and even considered moving to Grand Rapids at one time until I just got in February and like, no. Not good to move. Yeah. Okay. I'll stay with Houston. Thank you so much. And that was the first foray into recording and radio play and things were very, very different than obviously. Yeah. Did you know much about the recording world? No. Okay. Not at all. I lived in Louisiana. You are a tech genius now. What? Like, look it. Just look at all the stuff and you're like, you literally said to me before we went on there, yeah, I'm going to make a new record right here in my house. Like, who does that? Wayne? Well, a lot of people do it. Oh, Wayne Watson. A lot of people do it now. But you were doing it before it was like the thing. Well, you know, you can, well, thank you for you can do a lot. If you have the time. Yeah. I know I can let my mind sort of bloom into things that have been on the table for a long time. Yeah. And so anyway, that's, that's, uh, it's been fun. But that. So your foray, I know I, I, I just want to know. So when you went with milk and honey, you were learning like, had you been in a studio before? Had you? Here's how it went down. I remember being in Baton Rouge, um, and thinking, if I could just watch a recording session, if I could just sit on the couch and watch, that would be good. Yeah. Yeah. So I went over to this studio in Houston called Rivendell and I was owned by star song records and a couple of other guys. And I sat there and then they came to me and said, Hey, we've got these housewives that want to do records or these music ministers that want to do records. So I would go over there. And for $5,000, would write out every chord change over every lyric in calligraphy and put the chart. So we have one of those pins. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Yes. I'm a little compulsive about a few things. Yeah. My car windshield is one of them. You know, I live with you every saturday, every saturday line record, anyway, I'm a little compulsive about windshield. But you know, growing up like you and I grew up, everything's a sermon. And so as I'm driving into the sunrise or into the sunset, when I think my windshield is clean, sunlight exposes every floor. And it reminded me that when the scripture talks about I will bring everything into the light. It's like, Oh, that'll be great. It'll be light. No, it's going to show everything. It's going to show every wrinkle. That's it. Yikes. But anyway, I went to sit in the studio and they asked me if I would produce these records. So I knew we had a very limited budget. I'd go in and the guitar player said, Hey, can we try that? We don't have time. We're going to cut in track in one day, but what's in front of you? And so we did that. And I made 500 bucks on a project and I could be I played at a camp in Mississippi and two guys came out and they were going to approach Bob McKinsey about getting some of their artists on Francisco, Debbie Boone, Farrell and Farrell to be on these videos they were producing. I would use me as a demo and I played touch of a master's hand and Bob McKinsey said, Well, I went out really shouldn't that, but who is this guy? And I went in and had a meeting with McKinsey later and they offered me a 5% royalty rate. And Bob, I remember Bob Farrell going, That's not really very good. And I said, Mr. McKinsey, is that the bed? He said, Well, son, that's the deal. If you don't want it, that's fine. So thankfully I took it. Lou Hildrith. Do you know that name? Lou Hildrith? Oh, yes. They put her, they put me with her as a booking agent. Did a record with Greg Nelson, our dear friend, Greg Nelson. Yes. I think it was the first record he ever produced in Nashville. He had come from North Dakota and we did a recording on Music Row. And yeah, I was there for just a little bit of it and he did the rest. Wow. That was our record. Yeah. Yeah. And again, I don't know why you and I never cross paths had no problem. But you were considered more, I think, inspirational. The badges were all very nebulous, you know. Yeah. But thankfully we did cross paths. And I'm not sure where the first time was. Was it a cruise? Was it Mike Atkins, our, our, our, my, I mean, I honestly, I, I mean, I honestly, I'm, I'm going back in my mind and I'm sitting in the living room listening to demos with Greg and we get this demo of another time and other place. Oh, that's right. That's right. Okay. And love the song. And I said to him, I said, but I feel like this is a duet and he said, okay, I can get behind that. So then you had just come out with, well, touch of the master's hand was so big. And I, I, I love that poem because my dad knew that poem. Right. So I'd never heard it in music. So that really touched me. And then around then was watercolor ponies. That was a been 1987. Yeah. So another time, another place was 90 or 91? Yeah. It was 89 or 90. Yeah. And so I'll touch on the master's hand, touched me deeply and then watercolor ponies. And so I said to Greg, what about Wayne? Because there are other things that you had sung and you were, you were singing high. And this song definitely required you to sing high. As were you, my friend? No. Well, not on this song though, not on this song. And so he reached out to you or your people and, and, and we sent you the song, do you know who did the demo? This is a funny story. You may not even know this. I don't know this. And so we recorded another time the, the project in LA at Bill Schnee's studio. And it was just because I, I love saying that I worked with these people was Jeff Piccaro and Drums. Yes. Um, Randy Kerber on piano, Robbie Buchanan, Dan Huff and Nathan East. Oh my God. So I went to, I went to high school with Nathan East. He'd been friends forever. So at the, after we finished recording this, he goes, do you need a demo? And he said, yeah, I'm kind of doomed because we're going to ask Wayne. He goes, I'll sing it. So the demo you got, which I wish it was somewhere was Nathan East singing your part. Oh my gosh. I was going to guess Peter Satera, but that might have been. And I was like, you know, he's born in East, he just jumped in and sang it and was like, OK, all right. Wow. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. Well, I remember. Yeah. So the you came to Gatheurs. Yes. Prime Brook. Yep. And did we sing it together? I don't remember that. Yes, we did. So we sent, we were isolated, yes. But we sang it at the same time. Yes. OK. And you just, you just blew it away. I can still see the image, like the studio sort of dark. And, you know, again, the environment to record in now is so different. Uh-huh. Like then we used to, I mean, and the little housewife albums we do, I would set the vocal room up with a lamp and some plants and create a mood. And I remember the mood in Pinebrook when we were singing this song. And I remember flying to Indy and driving to Anderson. And I think I will. It'll have nowhere. Little did we know what had become of that. But you know what? I always felt, you know, there's a few songs that you get a chance to. I'm not a songwriter like you. So I can, I can talk about the songs. There was something really, I felt that song was very special. And then when we recorded it, like something just really magical happened. And then for me, and maybe you too, it's like, is this going to translate live? I never worried about airplay because I was not an airplane artist. Yeah. This was the one song that they played on the radio. And it just, it remains a very, very special song for a lot of people. And for me, Fisher, did you know Gary Triscoll? Who wrote that? I don't think I ever met him. He wrote new lives for old that I recorded yet. Great. Great school wrote another time and other place back to this airplay thing of all the songs that anybody who followed Christian music in the 80s and 90s would know. It's fascinating to me that radio was still sort of a nut that was hard to crack. For you and your management and your people and your record company. It just fascinates me because everywhere I would go. And I was going to use this in the intro, but you go do, you go judge vocal competitions and you have people who are who are singing. And I remember, and I never said this, I tried to be more delicate than this, but people would put out, would come up with your, your soundtracks on cassette. And they would audition or they would compete singing one of your songs. And then my heart would go, don't do that. It's, it's like watching someone on American Idol or America's Got Talent and trying to sing Whitney Houston, just don't do that. Don't do it. Don't do it. All those great, those great, huge songs. Who are the, name some of your top three. I mean, duets. I know what your favorite duet is, but you did duets with, with our, with our dear, dear friend. Oh, I miss him so much. He's just hard to get out of the house. He won't get out of the house. He gets out of the house. You know what for to take the trash cans down to the street and to run sound at his church. And he's on the board of governors or something. Yes. I, I really thought I could get it. Like if anyone could get him to just come, like you don't have to sing. I know. You don't have to just come. You and Wayne on the stage together. Like I just had this vision, but he was like, no, I'm in my lane. I'm having no heat. He was very, very gracious. Talk about some of those duets she did with Lauren L. First, the first duet he and I ever did, we were never in the studio together. Okay. More than wonderful. Okay. Don Marsh had done a Christmas musical called, they call him Jesus or something. And there was a song in there called more than wonderful that Lanny Wolf wrote. And so Don Marsh thought this would be a great duet. And so they called me. They called Larnel. But we couldn't figure out a time where we'd be in Nashville at the same time. So Larnel went in first, which is amazing. Because he kind of had to create a pathway. You know what I'm saying? Like Don would say, okay, you're going to sing harmony here. So, you know, Larnel sort of had to create that and then make space. And then a few days later, I came in and he had just, he had done such a fabulous job that it was just such a great fit. So six months later, we were both at praise gathering in Indianapolis. And I had never met him. And we were going to sing this song. So we had our little cassette player, you know, up in one of the conference rooms, you know, trying to remember what we did. Yeah. And that was the first time we'd ever done that live. And he was so gracious in letting me put that on one of my records. Then a few years later, he came to me and said, Bill and Gloria have written a new song. You know, would you sing? I've just seen Jesus on my record. And so that's how that all came about. When you first sang that song live at praise gathering with Larnel. Yeah. What was the response? I'm sure you just exploded. It, it, it really did. Because it was, it wasn't in the quartet Southern gospel lane. We access notes that typically tasted an access in some of those songs. But the notes worked with the lyrics. Yeah. You know, when you say more than marvelous, more than miraculous, you know, I have a pet peeve about songs that don't match the lyric. And you don't just throw notes in just for the sake of the notes. So those notes match the lyric. And it helped us tell the story. And it really was just a very powerful. And, and to sing with him live, like singing with you live, it felt very reciprocal. You know, you and I, you know, we don't always look at each other. But it's like, okay, he's going to do this. I'll wait. You know, she's going to do this. Okay, I'll wait. It felt very, it just, it's almost felt like, dancing. You know what I mean? Yes. It's close to dancing as a certain God or something that pushed us. Or Baptist, whatever. Well, that song you're talking as a songwriter, I couldn't agree more that the lyric needs to rise and fall with the melody appropriately if at all possible. And that song, more than miraculous, could ever be. Yeah. And the melody is B. Yeah. I'm sure people just went crazy for that. Yeah. Larnel. His voice, you know, like we all are sometimes reason getting older. I don't know what's happening. His voice and your voice together. You guys were just the king and queen of these of these miraculous vocal abilities that, that nobody really, nobody else really had. And it was unique at the time. And people talk about, why don't you guys do that? Young Messiah type type thing anymore. And, you know, I'm just not sure singers today would want to do that first of all. And locally, it's just a different thing. It's a whole different thing. Yeah. My son went to see this guy. Forrest Frank. I don't know if you know who forrest Frank. You know who forrest Frank. The Houston rodeo. Yeah. The Houston livestock show in rodeo three weeks during this time of year just ended on Sunday. He was the artist on a Saturday Christian music night. 7,000 people. Yeah. Yeah. And metal boy listens to it. And it's just, you know, I know why our parents thought our music was odd. But whatever the taste of the music is, it speaks to my kid. And for that. That's exactly right. I'm thankful. Yeah. You know what? I do like Forrest Frank. And I've looked him up. And because my grandkids are all into him. And he's got some solid stuff. Yeah. Very solid. You know, musically it's a whole different presentation. It is, but you know, and you and I know we know this working in the church. I wish people really understood music is personal taste. So let's not judge. Let's not judge music. Yeah. Now, so go to the service that is your personal taste. Right. Don't. Don't say one is more spiritual than the other. Don't do that. Yeah. Because all we're talking about is a personal preference. Right. What matters is the lyric content. That's what you're saying. Yeah. Is the lyric content. If it is connecting somehow to, you know, mayor or my thatcher or that's all that matters is the lyric. Well, I am afraid we're more divided now than I can remember in my lifetime in so many ways. Can we get above that possible? Yes. Lionel was unique in his vocal ability and his heart, his spirit. He started out as a drummer. He talked about he started out as a conductor. Lionel started out as a drummer. Yes, you did. Yes. Lionel told me after I'm trying to get him to do one of these things with me. It'd be great. Probably good. He didn't tell him. You don't have to keep your house. Long as he'd stay home and do it, he might do it. But he told me when I first met you, I did not expect to be friends with you. But he and I, when we would do these, we did some tours together with Steve and Greene and Twyla and Michael Card and Lionel and myself. And we would always go out and have lunch together and we just became very good friends. He always ate the same thing. He always hit salmon. He always got salmon everywhere. And he's such a healthy eater. He always did that. Like half the plate vegetables. Yes. You like. Exactly. But anyway, we became great friends. You and I have navigated a lot of personal things from a distance. I read again on your Wikipedia page that Charles Schultz referenced you in a peanut's cartoon. What was that? Isn't that something? What is that? Tell me about that. Thanks for listening to The Wayne Watson Podcast where stories of things purpose in everyday life, meet and continue to uplift hearts around the world. Be sure to follow. Leave us a review and share this episode with a friend. To learn more about Wayne's music, ministry and upcoming projects, visit WayneWatson.com. Every journey of faith begins with a story. And every heart finds its rhythm in the Lord. Until next time, go well and may you keep walking in step with his song flowing through you.