CeCe Winans Interview

Who Is CeCe Winans?
CeCe Winans is one of the most awarded and celebrated names in Gospel music. She’s won Grammy Awards, Dove Awards, Stellar Awards, and more both as a solo artist and as one half of the platinum-selling duo BeBe & CeCe. CeCe has performed on the Grammy Awards, American Idol Season 6 Finale, and many other high profile television appearances. Winans just released her latest recording, Thy Kingdom Come to much critical acclaim. Thy Kingdom Come is CeCe’s eighth solo recording.

Key:
L> Leah
C> CeCe Winans

L> It is such an honor to be able to sit down with you today. I’m so excited about your new record. Why don’t you tell me how you feel about it, and what the focus of it is.

C>Well this record is entitled Thy Kingdom Come, and it’s a really good CD. It really is! I was listening to it last night, and it’s just a really uplifting record. It encourages God’s people to praise and worship Him and to remind them the power they posses inside. A lot of times we forget who we are and whose we are. So therefore we live beneath our privileges. We go through unnecessary hurt and disappointments because we forget the power we posses. We are overcomers, and everything will be okay if we can just focus in on who we serve - the King of Kings! We have a lot of good music on here. Some slow, some fast, but all of it is very celebratory. It starts off with welcoming the Father in - reminding us that we need His presence, and in His presence we really do find fullness of joy.

L> I feel like saying “Amen,” when you talk!

C> Ha! That’s fine! The album goes on from there and just takes you on a ride. One of my favorites songs is entitled “Worthy,” and it’s reminding us that because of the blood of Jesus, we are worthy to be victorious and to live this life of righteousness. Because of who our Father is, we are a part of the royal priesthood. We need to be reminded of that. We have one on here entitled “Holy Place” that I pray again will usher people into the presence. It talks about Heaven, but also it lets you know that you can have Heaven on Earth. When you enter into your prayer closet daily, we’re supposed to experience Heaven on Earth, and really get lost in His presence. Then we have a song called “It Ain’t Over.” So sometimes you have to go from a proper situation to having some attitude and get angry enough to speak to your situation and to your enemy and to your circumstances. You have to say, “I’m not out, I may be down for a minute, but I’m not out!” We all experience falling, but a lot of people don’t know how to get back up. It’s not over. God has the last say so! It’s a great song. We have a lot of fun. We’re going to try to come up with some new dance moves or something for it. HAHA! I’m going to have a good time encouraging the body of Christ to be the body of Christ on this CD.

L>Now, you did some songwriting and co-writing on this record, and our readers are always interested in that. Do you have a certain process that works for you?

C> No, no they all happen different ways. Sometimes they come real fast, a lot of them come out of experiences. Very seldom do I just down and write the whole song. I did that with “Forever” on this CD. It just talks about praising God and that’s my favorite thing to do. Other songs come in stages, where you get a hook for a song or you experience an awful, awful pain and you try to put it in words, so it takes longer. A few of the songs I did with the producers. They had some music and a few of the lyrics, and I sat down with them. So, they all just come different ways. I love Tommy Sims, I love his writing. I love his producing, I love him. He’s my brother. I had a good time writing with him, even though he’s such a deep writer. Sometimes, I’m like “Tommy, tell me what that means.” HAHA I can’t sing it if I don’t understand it. So sometimes writing with him is very challenging. I have to try to put my deep hat on.

L> Has songwriting always been a part of what you do?

C> No. When I started out with my brother BeBe, he did most of the writing with the producers. I never felt like I couldn’t write, I just didn’t have time to write. It was very time consuming. I had babies, and I was like, “I’m just showing up to the studio. Y’all show me the song, and if I like it, we’ll do it.” That was it. I started doing some co-writing later. My brother in law, Cedric Caldwell, who is a great producer, he said to me, “CeCe, sit down and go write.” I was like, “Okay, I will.” I get ideas, but I wouldn’t follow through with them. Then you have to understand that when God drops something in your heart and gives you something you have a responsibility to share that. When I realized that it was beyond the artistic side of writing, but it went to being a good steward of what God has given you, then I started writing more. So, I’ve become a writer, and still I’m not the kind of writer who takes three weeks to just go and write. I think I could do a lot more if I took more time. It’s a process. Everybody is different.

L> I want to talk a little bit about your success and ability to blur the lines of genres. You make use of your gift in every way.

C> I think we put each other in a box. I’ve been called everything. I don’t know if that’s been the best thing for my career, cause I’m doing so many things. I don’t ever want to say I can’t do a song that ministers to me and gets me excited, because it doesn’t line up with this or that. You never know who God is going to reach with that sound and that feel. When you look over my career, you do see everything. It’s a colorful world. A colorful career. HAHA! I think it’s what keeps me fresh, ‘cause I’m not afraid of a challenge. I get excited. You always want to grow. Lord knows, if I had been doing the same thing as long as I’ve been doing this, I might be kind of crazy right now. It keeps everything very lively and exciting, and it’s something that comes naturally for me. It’s not something that I try to do. I’m just being CeCe. Some people like it and some people don’t, but over the years, God has used it greatly.

L> You seem like you’re at peace with that. Like you don’t care what anyone else thinks as long as your spirit is okay with it.

C> Yeah. I have to be able to live with myself, knowing that I believe I have done what God has told me to do, and at the end of the day rather than results in sales or not, I’m at peace. If God is smiling on me, everything else will be okay. You have to be true to yourself and true to your gift.

L> Well, that’s great advice for all the new artists this year at GMA. Ya know the truth is, we probably won’t see half of them here next year. How do you account for your longevity in this industry?

C> Yes, well God never goes out of style. If it’s His will for me to be here, then that’s where I want to be. If it’s His will for me to leave this industry next year, then I want to leave. My desire is to please Him. Wherever He wants me to be that’s where I want to be, because that’s where I’ll accomplish His will in my life. God keeps giving me something to say, and as long as He does that, I’ll do it. I can’t take any credit for that. Sometimes I think, “How long have I been out here?” And I think “O Lord!” Time flies, and I’ve been blessed to continue to relate to people.

L> Let’s talk about the Winans family for a minute. Now it seems every time I turn around, there’s another Winans!

C> Yes! HAHA There are a lot of ‘em.

L> Well, I want to talk specifically about your children. Your son is on this record, right? Train up a child in the way he should go, right? How did you instill in your children music, ministry and calling?

C> Yes he is. Well, I’m still trying to do that! HAHA! My son is 22 now and my daughter is 20. I think you just have to live a life in front of them. I have been blessed to know the truth, and I don’t stand for anything but that. Kids will be kids, and they have to have their own experiences, but there is power in a praying mother. I remember calling my mother and saying , “Mom, I’m doing everything you told me, and they still aren’t listening to me!” HAHA! She said, “Girl, just keep doing it, keep believing it.” You have to know that God is faithful. I have great kids, but they’re kids and they make mistakes, and they’re going to make some more, but I have to trust that what I put in them will keep them, and if they stray away they’ll come back. I just believe that my son and daughter will both do what they’re called to do. You just keep pouring into them. Even though they’re both young adults now, you just keep training, you keep teaching, you keep loving and praying and studying the word. You have to create that time with them.

L> Well, I’ve got one last question. It’s a beauty question. Any secrets? Because you are beautiful!

C> Awww, listen to you. No...you are beautiful! No, I don’t have any secrets. I mean, I really do think that beauty comes from the inside out. I happy, and I’m happy with Jesus alone. I’m happy whether I’m a size 8 or a 14. I’m happy, and when you’re happiness is really in the Lord, it shows. I’m peaceful, I’m excited about life, I’m excited about God. So my beauty secret is loving the Lord. It really is. That’s it. You are so cute. I love it!

L> HAHA Thank you so much! I’ve really enjoyed our time together.

C>Me too!

More information on CeCe Winans can be found at her website.