Songs for the Wilderness

Scott McKeown’s worship music seems to capture the times

(From the July - September 2021 issue of VOX)

Releasing a brand new EP in the middle of a pandemic might seem crazy but Scott McKeown did just that. “Songs for the Wilderness” is the first outing for White Stone Receivers a collaboration of Northern Irish musicians to record worship songs that Scott himself has written. He chatted to VOX editor Ruth Garvey-Williams about his life, his faith and his music.

Tell us about yourself

I’m based in mid Ulster just outside of Magherafelt in Co. Derry, which was recently voted one of the favourite places to live in Northern Ireland. Music has always been a big part of my life. At high school, I joined the school band wanting to play guitar but there were too many guitarists so I ended up playing bass and have done so ever since. I have been writing songs for nearly 22 years but mostly with a contemporary Christian rock band called Crave. These latest songs were mainly written in the context of my church. I go to Union Road Presbyterian Church in Magherafelt and all of the songs on the EP have come out of the teaching, fellowship and worship there. Treasured Possession was first written for our 150th anniversary as a church.

Tell us about your faith journey

I did not have a church upbringing. We started going to church when I was in my teens. We had moved to Cookstown and went to the youth club in the local church. At one youth night (I remember it was Friday the 13th - God isn’t superstitious), the speaker was sharing about having a relationship with God through Jesus. I had heard about my need for Jesus for forgiveness of sins but that really struck me. There was a call for anyone who wanted to follow Jesus. I responded and went forward for prayer. The leadership encouraged us to go home and tell our folks and friends at school what we had done. “The longer you leave it, the harder it gets,” they said. For the most part, my friends were accepting. Very soon I started playing in the church Ceili Band doing live music for socials and line dancing (an alternative to discos for the young people from our youth group). To this day, I’m still playing with some of those musicians. Then one morning I remember waking up suddenly with a strong sense that I needed to go to the prayer meeting. From that moment on I really began to take my faith seriously. It wasn’t just about saying I’m following Jesus but about really becoming a disciple. I got myself plugged in to church more.

So what prompted this latest recording?

“Literally three or four weeks later, we went into lockdown but I thought, ‘It will all be over by November.’”

In the run up to 2020, I had been playing some of these songs when I was leading worship and people began to say I should record them. So in January 2020, I rang Trevor Michael, the producer, and we pencilled in studio time for November. This is very much my first solo EP as a singer/songwriter although I’m used to being in a band and many of my friends from Crave worked with me on the recording.

Literally three or four weeks later, we went into lockdown but I thought, “It will all be over by November.” As musicians, we couldn’t even practice together and in fact we did not get a rehearsal until early November when we had to play outside. (We used an open sided barn in a farmyard!). Thankfully because I’ve played with these guys for over 20 years, we all know each other and I could see God’s hand in that.

What kept you going despite the challenges?

There were times when I was doubting myself. In October, I was asking God, “Did I hear you right?” That Sunday I opened up the UCB “Word for Today”. I read one of the meditations from earlier that week and it was all about using your gifting. The example they gave was a violin that sat in someone’s attic for years. “Your best songs are in you,” they said. That really struck me.

I wanted the EP to be grounded in scripture and the title “Songs for the Wilderness” really came because of Covid. One song I’m excited about is “Heal our Land”. It was written as a prayer for Northern Ireland and especially recording in the middle of a pandemic I’m conscious of so many broken hearts and broken homes. People’s businesses have failed and relationships have been affected. It hit me as a song for our time and, of course, with fresh outbreaks of violence in Belfast, it brought it back home to me that we still need to see reconciliation.

Tell us about the recording

“For me, when I went into the vocal booth, I was blown away by what God had done.”

Usually when we record, there is a lot of craic and banter. It was a strange experience with only one or two people in the studio at any one time, wearing masks and putting everything together separately.

The vocals were the last thing to be recorded. For me, when I went into the vocal booth, I was blown away by what God had done. All of a sudden, I was listening to these songs, that had started as grassroots acoustic tracks and now there was this big sound. I’m just so thankful to God for what He has done. I closed the door and shut out everything. I was just worshipping Him as I recorded the vocals. My prayer and my desire is that God will change hearts and lives as people listen to the songs.

You’ve called this new venture White Stone Receivers. Can you explain that?

I didn’t want to use my own name, and as I was looking through the Bible thinking about names, I was struck by the passage in Revelation when Jesus is talking to the churches. “To those who overcome ... I will give a white stone with a new name written on it...” This resonated with me because it highlights God’s relational nature. One of our greatest needs is to know and be known. How can He give us a new name? It is because He knows us. And today, that is what people need to hear. We’re the ones who’ve received a “white stone”.

So what’s next for you?

I’m hoping to record another EP soon. One of the songs I’ve written is a Christmas song called Here He Is. That Jesus who was born the child of promise is my Jesus now and He is alive today.

Come What May is a new song from We Are Messengers that really hit me when I heard it recently and it expresses where I am at the minute. Jesus is my rock and my hope. I can trust Him no matter what. God has been with us in the past and we can trust Him. We can throw our full weight onto Him.