Photo Credit ~ Tasha Chenard
Official Credits for the album, “Go and Make Heaven Proud” by Greg J. Gay & Co.
“All those people who helped you… they did it because they love you.” – Daryl Wilson
Although I cannot hear these songs well in their final, polished form, I am very happy to share them with you!
I can’t hear things such as cymbals, high-hats or anything else that is really high, such as a lot of the synth. I can hear piano, vocals, snare, toms and the kick drum in some places. I can hear a good portion of the guitars, or at least I know what is there. I will explain this and more in some of my upcoming articles… but this is what I want to leave you with for now.
It isn’t about what we cannot do in life. We need to focus on the things that we can do – and as I found out, I could do much more than I thought I could. Even a year ago, the thought of actually completing enough songs for an album wasn’t even anywhere remotely close to the radar. It was impossible, wasn’t it?
In the notes below, you will get a glimpse of how this came to be, but I will be telling the whole, crazy story soon.
In these songs of Hope and Love, I hope that you will also find Hope and be encouraged to try something that seems impossible for you.
Go, and make heaven proud!
This album is dedicated to my family, Dawn, Tasha, Jon, Melody, Nolan, Camille, Kaylee and Spence, as well as my sisters Jan and Judy and their families.
My parents, John and Sue Gay would have loved this. We will never forget you and thank you for leaving us the legacy that you did.
I also dedicate this album to the remembrance of my long-time friend Inge Piche. I tried to finish it in time for you my friend, but I just missed you – but then I found out that I had not.
Inge’s story is almost sacred to me, but I have her family’s permission to share it with you at some point.
I have included sections under each song called “The Short Story”. I will be writing in detail about every song in a series that will be called, “Every Song Has a Story”. I honestly don’t think you will want to miss those stories.
Produced by – Greg J. Gay
Executive Producers
Daryl, Corinna and my daughter, Melody gave me endless help along the way. I couldn’t hear well enough to know if I had recorded a “take” or not. Anything could be wrong and sometimes I just didn’t know it. Others helped too and one day Melody came up with the term, “Team Greg”. I am honestly still kind of speechless about what Team Greg has done for me.
I will be writing about Team Greg soon, and how this all played out. It went way beyond these three, but they are the core. I never could have done this without them all.
- Daryl Wilson
- Corinna Montgomery
- Melody Koch
- Ken Cowie (Ken totally produced his own backup vocals)
Mixed and Mastered by – Daryl Wilson
Recorded
- Most tracks were recorded by Greg J. Gay at Expressong Studios. (Greg’s office!). Corinna Montgomery directly assisted me in getting started with, “I Like the Way You Shine” and “He Holds You in His Hand”. She also read some amazing technical documentation to me! 🙂
- Vocals for “Jesus Loves Me” were recorded by Lynne Martin.
- Bass for, “Go and Make Heaven Proud” and “He Holds You in His Hand” were recorded by Ken Cowie.
- Synth (and who knows what other magical things he did over there) recorded by Daryl Wilson.
Photography & Album Art – Tasha Chenard – Basically, if it looks good, my daughter Tasha did it. I’ll also be writing about how the cover photo came into being.
Go and Make Heaven Proud (the song)
The Short Story – I wrote this song for my daughters, Tasha and Melody, in the season of their high school graduations.
- Author – © Greg J. Gay – 2010
- Lead Vocals – Corinna Montgomery
- Background Vocals – Corinna Montgomery, Ken Cowie
- Piano – Corinna Montgomery
- Bass – Ken Cowie
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
I Like the Way You Shine
The Short Story – Written for my second granddaughter Kaylee, this song was left partially completed for years and was the first song I tried to finish after my wife Dawn encouraged me to give it a shot.
Note – The “Xylophone” track was 100% Corinna Montgomery’s idea> Daryl Wilson executed Corinna’s idea because she was injured at the time. Daryl also added some of his own creative synth ideas.
Author – © Greg J. Gay – 2017
- Lead Vocals – Corinna Montgomery
- Background Vocals – Ken Cowie, Corinna Montgomery
- Synth – Daryl Wilson
- Bass – Greg J. Gay
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
Jesus Loves Me
- The Short Story – I knew my grandkids would love this song, but it was specially recorded for my wife Dawn. She has worked with kids since she was 10 years old, and this has always been her favorite song. A children’s choir sang this song at our wedding in 1989.
- Author – Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915)
- Arrangement – Greg J. Gay
- Lead Vocals – Lynne Walker
- Background Vocals – Lynne Martin
- Piano Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Bass – Greg J. Gay
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
Sweet Camille
The Short Story – I wrote this for my first grandchild, Camille. Although some songs were ‘Song Renovation Projects’, “Sweet Camille” remains untouched and is still in its original form. I just like it the way it is.
- Author – © Greg J. Gay – 2016
- Lead Vocals – Greg J. Gay
- Background Vocals – Melody Koch (Camille’s mom)
- Piano Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Bass – Greg J. Gay
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
He Holds You in His Hand
The Short Story – I wrote this song for my grandson Spencer. Some of it was written as I went along in the studio. It was quite a creative ride! Some call the instrumental at the end, “Greg’s Beethoven Moment”. I will be writing about some of that, and it is totally different than you might think. Curious? Look up, “Charles Bonnet Syndrome”.
- Author – © Greg J. Gay – 2021
- Lead Vocals – Nolan Koch (Spencer’s dad)
- Background Vocals – Melody Koch (Spencer’s mom)
- Synth – Corinna Montgomery
- Bass – Ken Cowie
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
We’ve Got Love
The Short Story – I wrote this song back in my worship team days to explain the meaning of “Advent” I figured that if I didn’t know, neither would many others. Yes folks, we have a Christmas Song! My plan was to write a Rock Musical with this song as the central theme.
- Author – © Greg J. Gay 2008
- Keys – G
- Lead Vocals – Corinna Montgomery
- Background Vocals – Ken Cowie, Corinna Montgomery
- Bass – Greg J. Gay
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
Beautiful Dawnie
The Short Story – I wrote this song for my wife Dawn. I put everything I had into this song. It means a great deal to me since it is not only an expression of my love for Dawn, but also the story and conclusion of my heart towards God and what He has done for us.
I wrote much of it “in the studio” as I went along. It became one giant musical experiment.
There is a very special story that goes along with this song, and I will tell it later in the upcoming series called, “Every Song Has a Story”.
- Author – © Greg J. Gay 2022
- Lead Vocals – Greg J. Gay
- Background Vocals – Ken Cowie
- Bass – Greg J. Gay
- Drum Sequencing – Greg J. Gay
- Synth – Daryl Wilson
- Guitars – Greg J. Gay
Expressong 
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