As Point of Grace members Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, and Leigh Cappillino packed for a writers retreat with songwriter Natalie Hemby, the trio received a pre-trip prompt. “Natalie had texted and said, ‘Hey, be thinking before you get there, is there something you want to say? What are some things that are resonating with you?’” Jones shared with The Epoch Times.
The Christian group has released several albums over the years featuring a wide array of hymns and covers. Still, the purpose of this writer’s retreat was to pen original material. One day, just before the trip, Cappillino was reading Proverbs 8, which introduces Lady Wisdom, the poetic personification of divine wisdom expressed through truth and virtue. “We were like, ‘Lady Wisdom’ would be such a cool title for a song, for a record,” Jones said. The group realized they had found the name for their album before attending the first writing session for it.
A Dream Come True
All 10 tracks on “Lady Wisdom,” the first release featuring all-new material by Point of Grace in 14 years, chronicle the bandmates’ life experiences and lessons learned, with faith, optimism, and love at the center of each song. “We’re ladies, and we’re trying to walk in wisdom. We’re these moms and friends and wives trying to walk through life with wisdom,” Jones shared.
Point of Grace first formed as a quartet in the early 1990s, and the current trio has been performing together since 2008. After decades of making music, the singers have much to celebrate and reflect on, and Jones felt that the writer’s retreat would be the perfect environment to pull songs out of their respective stories.
She called the retreat a “dream.” She always wanted to participate in a writer’s retreat, and suddenly she found herself working with award-winning Nashville songwriter Natalie Hemby, Dove award nominee Cindy Morgan, and Nashville recording artist Stephanie Chapman, whose songs have been recorded by hit artists such as Eric Church and Martina McBride. As collaboration began, the reality of writing an all-original record set in, leaving Jones to wonder if they were up for the challenge. But a little encouragement went a long way. “Cindy Morgan was a beautiful cheerleader for us,” Jones said, noting that Morgan reassured them their personal experiences could not only inspire songs but also inspire others. And with the encouragement of their record label team as well, they got to work.
‘The Night Will Be No More’
A group favorite on the album is the evocative track, “Folly,” which finds Point of Grace exploring how easy it can be to fall out of step with faithful wisdom and get caught up in life’s various distractions and dramas. “It’s the track that draws us all in. We all love that track,” Jones said.
A personal favorite for Jones is the tender-hearted “Lunchbox Notes,” which draws on the imagery of a mother leaving notes of faith and encouragement in her child’s lunchbox for him to find at school. But the initial inspiration behind it came from a conversation she had with Chapman about aging parents. At the time of the writer’s retreat, both musicians’ mothers had recently passed away. “We were talking about the things I miss about my mom, and … the gratitude that we both had, that our moms were putting words of wisdom in our lives at all times, whether I was 3 years old or whether I was 50 years old. Our mothers spoke to us,” Jones shared. She then thought about her son, who was about to get married, and through the emotional well of losing a parent and witnessing a child embark on a new chapter, “Lunchbox Notes” was born.
The group was surprised by the intense listener response to the album’s powerful closer, “The Night Will Be No More.” The song extends hope and grace to those going through trying times, and Point of Grace has received remarks from fans who’ve been comforted by the song’s message. “It is one that was kind of a sleeper to us. We loved it, and we always love to end our records with something a little more thought-provoking,” Jones said.
“But we have gotten so many comments on that song. It just shows that there is a longing that so many of us are walking in right now. It’s a song [that says] keep holding on. We’ve gotten comments from those who are really hurting, who have lost loved ones, who just needed that reminder.”
“The Night Will Be No More” sports an angelic string section that was recorded live. “The strings definitely set the mood of the song,” Jones shared. “It’s like this whisper of hope, and then it grows, and it grows,” she said of the song’s dynamic build that comes to a full swell by the final measures.
Friendship Forged in Music
One moving track on “Lady Wisdom” exploring the value of true friendship, “Good Friends, Good Medicine,” is in perfect alignment with another project the group has been working on. The bandmates started a podcast named after one of their hit songs from the mid-1990s, “Circle of Friends.” The Point of Grace singers playfully refer to it as a “POGcast” after their band name. A new episode debuts every Wednesday online, and Jones shared that they cover everything from messages of faith and funny personal stories to nuggets of wisdom.
“I think it is an extension of this record and our friendship. It encircles friendship. … It’s a chance for us to bring people in. And for them to have a place [where] they can feel like they’re a part of a friendship, and join in with us.”
It’s also a way for the singers to continue the legacy of a friendship forged in music that is still going strong. “We are celebrating in this season, these years of friendship,” Jones said. “There’s no one I’d rather travel with. They are so, so fun. We have lived so much life together.”
After almost 20 years together performing as a trio and as one of Christian music’s best-selling groups, Point of Grace may be just getting started.
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