What is 20 x 20? No, I’m not talking about a math equation that equals 400. To answer that question properly we need to start with a quick story that transports us to Nashville, TN…
I remember stepping up to the microphone in the vocal room. It smelled like candles and the incense that constantly seemed to be smoldering in different tracking rooms around the studio. I would grow to love that smell. But in that particular moment I was shaking in my boots. It was eerily quiet – I mean it was literally the most quiet room I had ever been in – ever. The silence felt suffocating. It was the sort of heavy silence that raised the hairs up on the back of your neck and made your fingertips tingle. A few Edison light bulbs clustered in a corner of the room showed that I was breathing heavily, but the room was professionally lined with so much noise-absorbing material that I couldn’t even hear the sound of my own breath. All of it was designed to isolate my voice when I would sing – no background noise, no echo, no vibrations – just pure, unadulterated vocals from my mouth straight into the microphone.
Silence. I’m waiting. I remember standing in that dimly lit room wondering if I had made a mistake coming all the way to Nashville to do this – was I really qualified? Just a few weeks earlier my band and I had been playing music at a small coffee shop in our hometown, and now we’re in the music capitol of the world on the precipice of doing what legit bands do – professionally recording our own original music. It was like I had made a jump from playing tee-ball in the backyard to stepping up to bat for the Cubs at Wrigley. This was the real deal. Had God really called me to something so big, so challenging? It was a lot to take in all at once.
A voice. My producer’s voice was channeling in through my headphones from the control room. “Okay, Brett. You ready buddy?” In my head I was thinking “absolutely no, a thousand times no!” but out of my mouth squeaked a small, shaky “I think so.” The song started playing in my ears. I reached up to touch the microphone stand, the tingling sensation in my fingers had turned to currents of electricity now. I closed my eyes as a quick prayer passed my lips. I felt more alive than I had ever felt before, and in that moment I began to do what comes most naturally to me – I sang.
Over the course of the following week I sang the entire Better Things EP . It took hours and hours – days and weeks of work when it was all said and done. In a lot of ways the EP is special to me like a child is special to its parent. My band mates in Harbor at Sea and I birthed the songs, watched them grow, and now we’re preparing to let them go out into the world. It’s the culmination of lots of prayer and a lot of hard work. We are so proud of them and excited for how God will use them!
So, you’ve heard the story. At this point you’re probably asking yourself…
What is 20 x 20?
And what does it have to do with the story that I’ve just told? 20 x 20 is a group of people who are supporting my worship residency in Austin – and it’s a group that you can join. The creation of this group is a way that I can show how precious my supporters are to me – a way that I can say thank you to those who have chosen to partner with me financially for my worship residency at the Austin Stone Church in Austin, TX beginning this Fall (you can read more about the residency here).
The first 20 people to support me at 20 or more dollars a month (thus named “20 x 20”) will receive a limited release hard copy of the EP that my band and I recorded in Nashville. There will currently be only 150 hard copies available to the public – I’m offering something that’s going to be tough to get your hands on! It’s pretty simple – I cherish my supporters and I recognize the financial burden they have taken on to support me financially during the time of my worship residency in Austin. This is my way of saying thank you to just a few of them. It’s first come-first serve since the amount of hard copies available are extremely limited.
You can sign up to support me monthly for 20 or more dollars a month (or a one-time equivalent of 480 or more dollars) here. As soon as I receive a receipt of your giving (sent to me automatically after you give online) you’ll be put on my 20 x 20 list. I’ll deliver your hard copy of Better Things by Harbor at Sea when it comes out this summer fresh off the press! There’s still room on the team, so don’t wait until later to sign up. Do it now and take advantage of this opportunity before the list fills up – it really will be difficult for most people to get a hard copy any other way.
To all of the rest of my supporters – those who are supporting in some way other than qualifying for the 20 x 20 group – I am forever grateful and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To my 20 x 20 tribe specifically – I love you, I cherish you, and I honor you for your selflessness in giving. The fact that you’ve given generously and given early means the world to me. I treasure this EP – and I pass it along to you because I treasure you. You are forever rockstars in my heart.
Here is the 20 x 20 team as it currently stands:
- Andrew Brown
- Rachel Lovejoy
- Kevin & Kara Palmer
- Caleb & Bethany Figg
- Kim & Bob Wiseman
- Caleb Zehr
- Travis Wallenfang
- Corey & Taylor Sharp
- Jake Foor
- Nate Libotte
- Quinton Brown
- Dennis, Susan, Jalen, Emma & Hannah Bachman
- Ben & Joy Bally
- Tim & Susan Johnson
- Grant & Jil Stauter
- Joe & Amy Flammer
- Wes & Natalie Crump
- Seth Foor
- Annette Monge
- Denny & Dee Foor
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