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Anne Wilson Brings Her Faith to Country Music: ‘About the Message’

Photo from Anne Wilson’s Instagram

Anne Wilson Brings Her Faith to Country Music: ‘About the Message’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Anne Wilson is sharing how she combines her Christian faith with country music on her upcoming album, “Rebel.” 

“It started out with a concept,” she said while appearing on the “That Sounds Fun” podcast. “I had that title on my phone for years.”

Wilson explained, “I had just released a song to Christian radio and nobody played it because it was too country-sounding, and that really fired me up,” adding, “When did Christian music become a genre? I thought it was supposed to be about the message.”

“I decided I was just going to be who I am,” she continued. “I’m going to be authentic to who I am: a Christian, love Jesus—that’s my life, and that’s my world, but I also love the sound of country music, so I’m going to blend them.”

Wilson also explained that, while reading scripture and making her new album, she realized “how much of a rebel Jesus really was and how He just did things that nobody else thought He was ever going to do, and He didn’t apologize for it.”

In a recent Instagram post, Wilson wrote, “Won’t ever apologize for being a REBEL,” adding, “I am unapologetically Christian and country. I am faith and family first. I stand up and speak out about my beliefs.”

The singer-songwriter elaborated on her decision to change genres in an interview with Christian Headlines. 

“My heart is to do Christian music forever,” she told ChristianHeadlines. “I love the Christian community and I love getting to share Jesus with people. But I also feel called to take that message into the world outside of the Christian market. So one of the ways that I feel very called is just by my songs being about the Lord and about His goodness and talking about Him, but the music sounding very country. And so it’s appealing to other people too, which has been really fun to see how people in other genres that don’t listen to Christian music are listening to my music, because they feel this pull towards it, because of the sound of it.”

Wilson is already receiving recognition in the country music world. Movieguide® previously reported on her first CMT nomination:

Christian artist Anne Wilson is celebrating a major career milestone — she was just nominated for CMT’s Breakthrough Female Video of the Year. 

“This morning I woke up to my first @cmt Music Awards Nomination!!!” she wrote on Instagram. “‘Rain In The Rearview’ is nominated for Breakthrough Female Video of the Year! I’m SO grateful for y’all and this opportunity.”

Wilson also posted a video of her manager, Matthew West, sharing the news with her. 

“Hey, you just got nominated for your very first ever CMT Award,” West said. 

Wilson replied, “Oh, my gosh! Are you for real? Oh, my gosh, that’s so cool!”