How many singers does it take to change a light bulb? Two, one to change it, and the other to hog the light.
“How long has it taken to make these songs?” It was a fair question, and I laughed at how her eyes widened when I said it had taken a full year. Yes… one whole year to make 5 songs…
In January 2022 I sat on a balcony at Sea World Resort in Queensland and anxiously checked my phone. I had timed it perfectly, my two-year-old was sweetly napping in the room behind me, while my older kids had hit the theme park rides with their Dad. I took a deep breath and answered… I knew this zoom call had the potential to change the trajectory of my coming year and possibly even the trajectory of my life.
It was a meeting with two producers in Nashville, USA. I had already met Cody Norris and was now about to meet Erich Sandersfeld, the producer who went on to produce my EP Yours. Both of them had worked with the legendary Ed Cash to record pretty much every notable Christian Artist I had ever listened to. Cody had worked as a producer for Chris Tomlin and scores of other artists, and Erich had recently produced Megan Nicole and Sam Bowlds. I had sent away my demo tracks to Cody and long-story-short they were happy to work with me.
I love that the photo below looks like an awkward sibling photo… because truly, that is what it is. Erich is standing on the left, and Cody on the right. What an incredible privilege it has been to work with these two brothers in Christ. Both are just happy to be serving the Lord in their given fields and they do so with grace, humility and with very little thought for the incredible gifts and talents He has given to each of them.
I want to thank them both. Erich for the countless hours spent building these songs, for listening intently to the hopes I had for each one and then for making them even better than I’d hoped. Cody for the beautiful job mastering the tracks and for the encouragement to step out in faith and pursue the opportunity. I will never forget Cody looking straight at the camera on zoom (in a moment when I was seriously doubting whether the music I was making was good enough) and saying ‘Fern, any act of faithfulness is ALWAYS worth pursuing’.
I want to thank the Nashville musicians who played so beautifully on this album.
To Jess Grommet- thank you for playing the acoustic guitar, mandolin and banjo. Your incredible ‘Riff’ in the song Yours just made it into something ten times as beautiful! I love your style!
To Andy Ellison- thank you for playing pedal steel for this album. I’m not usually a pedal steel fan (I’m sorry America!) but you played it beautifully and I love what it adds to Morning Mercies.
To Billy McClaran – Absolutely gorgeous job playing the fiddle! Thank you so much!
Jurgen Sandersfeld- thank you for the epic string programming throughout… especially in ‘Yours’. Incredible job.
Joel Rousseau- Thank you for your beautiful backing vocals throughout the tracks – what a voice!
Erich Sandersfeld- even though I’ve already acknowledged that you produced… I also need to thank you for playing the percussion on this album, Engineering (also thanks to Anthony Vaticalos from Gnome studios ), mixing, and programming.
Special thanks to Kari Sandersfeld for the epic amount of hours this took your husband away from your family, it is always a team effort and I appreciate the sacrifice it required. And to Sarah Norris for the hours Cody spent and also for letting us use your house and the downstairs studio at little notice!
Thank you to Annie Smith, Heather Agnew and Jude Bourke (and also to Greg Smith and Malcom Bourke) for providing the support and encouragement I needed when recording in Nashville.
Enormous thanks to Brendan Scott and Bee Scott for their photography, videography, branding, and also their social media management input. The hours you two have invested into this project is nothing short of epic. I am humbled by your willingness to serve our Lord so faithfully with your talents.
Finally thank you to my husband Daniel and to my 3 wonderful children. You have all sacrificed in so many ways this past year to make this debut EP possible. From picking up the pieces while I was overseas to building websites, YouTube profile creation, SEO stuff and a million other digital things I don’t even remotely understand- THANK YOU!
And thank you foremost to God, without Whom, none of this would have been possible. May these songs bring Him glory. 
While it may only take two singers to screw in a lightbulb, it has taken the faithful work of 15 people to record these 5 songs and share them with the world. So… I am taking a moment to say thanks… and in so doing hopefully not ‘hog the light’…