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Beth Nielsen Chapman's 'Hymns'

Published December 8, 2004 at 9:00 PM PST
I tried to get very still when I came in [to the studio]... I just wanted to stay open to any kind of guidance that I could get.

Beth Nielsen Chapman's songs have been recorded by Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Faith Hill and other major artists. And she's had adult contemporary pop and country hits of her own. On her new collection of Latin hymns, the singer-songwriter finds a different voice to sing the spiritual songs of her Catholic youth.

"My intention was to get out of the way of my personality as a singer and open my voice up and just let it be very neutral," Chapman tells NPR's Melissa Block. "The wind of the song is blowing through instead of being a part of making it blow through."

Chapman says she meditated each morning during the recording sessions. "I tried to get very still when I came in [to the studio]... I just wanted to stay open to any kind of guidance that I could get."

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