Cascade Courier - Your trusted local news source since 1910

TobyMac remembers going to his first official songwriting session for his current album, “Life After Death,” and it wasn’t the usual pleasant feeling.

“I was driving out there and I was like ‘What am I doing? Am I going to write a song like everything’s back to normal?’” he recalled in a recent phone interview. “It made me sick, almost, honestly.”

Normally, writing songs with a collaborator would be exciting, something to anticipate as an artist wonders if some creative magic will happen in that writing room that day. But these weren’t normal times for TobyMac (whose real name is Toby McKeehan).

In October 2019, his oldest son, Truett Foster McKeehan, the oldest of his five children, died from an accidental overdose. An aspiring musician, Truett, 21, had just launched his solo career. He had battled addictions in his past, but signs were pointing toward a bright future, and Truett’s father was proud of what his son had seemingly overcome and accomplished.

“You feel like you shouldn’t go back to what (you do),” TobyMac said of the first writing session. “If you go back to normal, in some way you’re dishonoring your lost loved one.

“But when I got there, I just started writing this song ‘Faithfully’ about, it’s a very personal song,” he said. “It was so deeply personal to me, about God’s faithfulness at the hardest time in my life.”

It should be noted that “Faithfully” wasn’t the first song TobyMac had written about losing his son. He released the top 5 single, “21 Years,” in January 2020.

“‘21 Years’ came like almost within the first month, but it was because I didn’t view that as songwriting,” TobyMac said. “I viewed that as a song to honor my son’s life. Thank God for the 21 years I got to interact with my boy. I immediately started just turning my faith to God and trying – trying – there were times when I struggled through that, but I found God to be kind in the end and I wanted to remember all of the best things about my son in that song.”

As he moved forward with songwriting, it became clear that “Life After Death” would be about losing Truett and the path toward healing that TobyMac and his family had taken over the preceding two years.

“Life After Death” starts on a hopeful note with “Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)” and “The Goodness,” songs that promise God will be “rolling up His sleeves” to help in times of trouble. And even when songs touch on “dark days” and “long nights” (as on “Show Up Choose Love,” “Faithfully” and “Rest”), a similar ray of hope from God’s love filters through the lyrics. Musically, the material isn’t the downer the subject matter may suggest. Yes, several songs touch on sadness and loss. But the soulful “Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)” and the hop-hop track “Life On It” are upbeat and at times even bouncy, while “Deeper” and “Fire’s Burnin’” are chipper bits of R&B-laced pop.

The aforementioned “The Goodness” became a key song in helping TobyMac find his emotional footing during the writing, as it describes how God is the unshakable goodness in life.

“I didn’t think I’d ever write another song that felt like joy or was uptempo,” TobyMac said. “And when I got hit with that, there was just so much promise in it for me at that moment, that that song poured out of me.”

Honest and relatable lyrics – and lots of catchy songs that have blended hip-hop, R&B, pop and rock -- have been key ingredients in making TobyMac one of Christian music’s biggest stars.

He began his career alongside Michael Tait and Kevin Max in the trailblazing and hugely popular Christian hip-hop group, DC Talk before he launched his solo career in 2001.

In all, TobyMac’s eight solo albums have sold more than 5 million copies combined and won seven Grammy Awards. So far “Life After Death” has given TobyMac two No. 1 Christian music singles in “Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)” and “The Goodness,” as well as a pair of top 5 singles in “Promised Land” and “Cornerstone” to go with his seven previous chart-topping songs.

Those songs, some other hits and several selections from “Life After Death” figure to be included in TobyMac’s shows this summer.

“I put a record out about every three years, and I always like touring when I have a new record out, like any artist would. So yeah, I put a record out this past fall, so I’m excited to share new music with people,” TobyMac said. “I usually put six to eight off of the newest record in the set, which excites me and excites the band to dive into new territory and take people on a different ride than we’ve taken them on (before) because of the new material.”

Toby Mac will be featured at the Montana State Fair in Great Falls on Monday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. With more than 16 million units in career sales and a whopping seven Grammy awards, Toby Mac’s career continues on the fast track. Each of his six studio solo projects have achieved gold certification, a first for any artist in the history of his label, Capitol Christian Music Group.