Yancy on Ministry to Children, Her New Album "Taste and See" & More

By Timothy Yap Feb 11, 2015 05:26 AM EST

Yancy returns February 10th with Little Praise Party: Taste and See - the fourth release in the popular worship music series for young children. The album and companion DVD include 15 easy-to-sing songs, with two bonus tracks exclusively available at iTunes. Yancy's Little Praise Party series engages kids from the very start with non-stop sing-along fun for the entire family. In addition to CDs, each project in the series has a companion DVD filled with exciting animation with on-screen lyrics to help visualize the words and stories portrayed within the songs.

For more than a decade, Yancy has been making a wide range of music that has found an audience with Christian music fans of all ages. Upon arriving in Nashville, Yancy quickly became one of Music City's most sought after songwriters, co-writing songs with Third Day frontman Mac Powell, penning the Jaci Velasquez hit "Something Beautiful" and the chart-topping, ASCAP Award-winning song "I Don't Want To Go" for Avalon's Grammy and Dove nominated Oxygen album. As an artist, Yancy has released radio-friendly pop/rock albums and multiple projects for kids and young adults, while sharing the stage with Michael W. Smith, Newsboys, Plumb and many more.

Hallels: Yancy, so grateful to be doing another interview with you! Congratulations on the release of another volume of DVD and CD to your LITTLE PRAISE PARTY series "Taste and See." What inspired you to write and record albums for children in assisting them to worship?

Well, I started writing songs for kids just filling a need. The first Little Praise Party album was made for my local church. I wrote those songs for the kids at my church and had no idea how God was going to take those songs and have churches around the country and world really sing-along. I grew up around Children's ministry. (My dad has been a children's pastor or Next Generation pastor my whole life.) It's fun to see how God mixed my life experience with my love for music to do what I do now.

Hallels: What are your goals for your LITTLE PRAISE PARTY series?

For young children and parents to have great music they both can love- that helps them learn truth from the Bible and sing praises to Jesus. I want this generation to taste and see that the Lord is good.The DVD option is great for home use but also serves as a great resource for Churches to do kids worship in their services and classrooms. I love helping resource the church and families with GREAT music for kids.

Hallels: Do you find it easier or harder to write for kids rather than adults? How is writing for children different?

Well, a mix of both. The key with kids music is simple concepts that aren't too complicated so that is where the challenge can come in. On the flip side writing for adults can have broader subjects and concepts which can also take even more creativity...so I guess it all depends on the day.Limited vocabulary is the biggest difference with the kids music I write.

Hallels: Let's talk about your new record "Taste and See," how's this new album different from the first volume in your LITTLE PRAISE PARTY series?

Well, the first record in additional to the original songs had some Sunday school classics on it like "Father Abraham" and "The B-I-B-L-E". The "Happy Day Everyday" record featured some seasonal songs to carry kids and families through some of our biggest holidays of the year including Valentine's, Easter, birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This record, Taste and See, is all original songs with the exception of "I Love You Lord". I guess it's more songs of me sharing and teaching Biblical truths. There are songs about being obedient, prayer, and our Super Wonderful God. As a bonus there are a couple more Easter songs and a new Christmas song too. I have a little boy who just turned four and had a lot of inspiration at home to write the messages that are in these songs.

Hallels: You have also release the LITTLE PRAISE PARTY apps, tell us more about that?

For each of the albums there's a companion DVD which features animated music videos for each song. Alot of families have those DVDs and alot of churches use them to do kids worship with. The app features 5 different songs you can watch anytime. The playlist changes once a month. It's a great way to have sing-along fun on the go for your kids and at the same time plant God's truth down in their hearts as they hear the messages and learn to sing the songs. Because I made a Spanish version of Little Praise Party last year each month one of the videos is featured in both English and Spanish which is great for bilingual children and education.

Hallels: Tell us a little about your own personal involvement in children's ministry in your local church. In what roles do you serve there?

I'm not on staff at a church anymore...I spend my time traveling the country working with a lot of churches doing family concerts. I lead worship at a national event for preteens called SuperStart. Also for the past four years I've written and produced original music for Standard Publishing's Vacation Bible School curriculum. In addition, I serve on the worship team at my church leading adults and students in worship.