CHARLES WESLEY GODWIN * CHRISTIAN NAME *

When you release a project like Charles Wesley Godwin’s 2023 critically acclaimed Family Ties — a highly personal, 17-song diary-like LP that was both universally praised and also catapulted the West Virginian singer-songwriter to new heights in his career —  the outside perception is that there are greater expectations on whatever music comes next. Ask Godwin however, and he’ll tell you that instead of dwelling on any chatter that accompanied such a revered release, he did what he always has done: Godwin simply kept on writing. “I’ve learned from the past that it’s not good to stop,” says the singer-songwriter – a humble songsmith whose music is deeply felt, undeniably intimate, and, over the past few years, has been connecting with audiences in ways he could have never imagined when he began his career just over a decade ago. “The more consistent I am and the more I’m putting in the time and effort to my songwriting, the more the songs come and the more I’m able to be productive.”

For Charles Wesley Godwin, music – and more specifically, songwriting – has forever been a direct reflection of what lies on his heart. 2019’s Seneca is a young man’s reflection on place, on upbringing, on a way of life that is and always will be his native West Virginia. 2021’s How the Mighty Fall is a treatise on mortality and the contemporary, commonplace entanglements that threaten to derail us. 2023’s fan-favorite Family Ties is an equal-parts tribute to and dissection of complex, albeit achingly beautiful familial dynamics. And now, with Christian Name, Godwin’s much-anticipated fourth full-length studio LP, the musician returns with his most vividly compelling, stunningly sincere, and spiritually profound collection of songs yet. 

Due July 24 via Big Loud Records, Christian Name, for Godwin, is undoubtedly an intensely personal collection of songs — a journey inside the courageous singer-songwriter’s soul. It’s a stunning 12-song collection, and one that doubles as a mechanism for the musician’s otherworldly healing. Christian Name is more than just another body of work; it’s how Godwin learned to live again. Through moments of mourning. Through tales of redemption. And ultimately, through a tried-and-true reaffirmation of his faith. 

“That’s what the album’s about,” Godwin muses one recent morning. “It’s about mourning, but it’s also pointing to God as a healer and my salvation.” 

In 2024, Godwin and his wife, Samantha, suffered an unthinkable tragedy when their third child, Samuel, was stillborn. “To put it simply, my heart was broken,” Godwin says quietly. “It took me a few months to get myself back up off the ground, so to speak, and get back into the game and to write songs again.” And while the human instinct following such loss might be to turn away from the divine, Godwin says the devastating experience recommitted him to God and firmly cemented his faith. “Coming out of that, I recommitted to my faith in God more so than I have at any point in my life. It really changed me,” he says, speaking to not only his personal transformation over the past few years but also to how this distinctly spiritual quest is reflected in Christian Name. “The point of this project was to point to God,” Godwin continues, “and let people know he’s really helped me through this time in my life.”

So did songwriting: Godwin says that while music had always been a form of therapy for him, recommitting to his craft in the wake of such a trying time was more therapeutic than ever before. “These songs really meant a lot to me,” he says, explaining how the 12 songs that comprise Christian Name are, in many ways, snapshots of his passage towards sacred absolution. “There’s parts of me and parts of the things that I’ve gone through in the last couple years that are in each and every song on this album.”

“Learning to trust/Ready to get back up /Hard things hurt but my faith still works,” Godwin sings on the heartwrenchingly beautiful “Try Again,” which, following a powerful opening sermon, kicks off a tantalizing narrative through line on the LP that captures the singer’s meditation on finding hope again amid the darkness. Later, on the contemplative “I Caught The Sunrise,” a reflection on forever carrying one’s memory with you, Godwin proclaims, “Was blind but now I see/Today, I caught the sunrise.” And on the magnificent closing track “Brand New,” Godwin declares, “Heaven humbled me in fire/Damn near melted all the tire tread/Radiator couldn't burn no hotter/You made me, you made me/You made me brand new.”

While Christian Name is without question a highly personal affair for Godwin – he took direct inspiration for both the album title and album cover from his late grandfather, Charles Godwin, a Methodist preacher –  he’s quick to note how critical a role his creative community of friends and musical collaborators played in the album’s conception.

Not only does Christian Name include a pair of thrilling feature collaborations – the earworm “Better That Way” with Luke Combs and the remarkable “Hey There, Son” featuring Wyatt Flores – but it’s also the result of Godwin partnering with some of music’s most treasured songwriters: Stephen Wilson Jr. (“Brand New”),  Liz Rose (“I Caught The Sunrse”), Lori McKenna (“Hey There, Son”), Aaron Ratiere (“God’s Been Good To Me”), Travis Meadows (“Try Again,” “Every Once In Awhile”), Scooter Carusoe (“Better That Way,” "Hallelujah High,” “Place I Know”), and Tom Douglas (“Street Advice”). 

“I had a lot of help with this album — I sought out people and they brought a lot of the hope and the light and the lighter moments of the album,” Godwin offers. “That was a lot of their influence. The album needed that.”

Perhaps few played as critical a role, however, as Godwin’s Alleghany High bandmate and Christian Name’s producer, Al Torrence. While Christian Name was recorded over several months at a variety of studios in Nashville and New York City, Godwin recorded the bulk of the LP at a familiar place: Torrence’s Music Garden Studios in Pennsylvania.

“He’s world-class,” Godwin says of his longtime friend, Torrence, with whom he’s now been working for a decade. “Al knew exactly what I was going through throughout this process. We have a mutual respect for each other, and we each bring our own ear to every project we work on together.”

As Godwin now prepares to unveil this highly intimate and personal Christian Name, the singer-songwriter says he’s never been more content with where things stand.

“This album, more than any other, I'm at peace with whatever happens going forward,” Godwin says. “I prayed on this album a lot. And I truly believe there’s a purpose to all this.”

Info & Photos : 

http://www.charleswgodwin.com