Man in the Middle
Radio Special with Tom Dooley
Aired 8/11/84
Man in the Middle
Radio Special with Tom Dooley
Aired 8/11/84
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At the age of 10, Wayne Watson had already dedicated his life to Christ. It was quite a few years later, though, that he dedicated his life to the music ministry. Wayne’s mother was the organist in their church and tried to pressure him into music but he rebelled. He wanted to be a baseball player, and he had plenty of opportunities but he finally realized that the Lord was not leading him in that direction. After singing in choirs and being asked to perform at numerous functions, he decided to pursue music. In 1972, he attended Louisiana Tech and studied vocal music. Wayne began his professional career in 1978 by recording an album on an independent label. Now, in addition to writing and performing, Wayne also enjoys producing albums for other artists. He has produced two albums for Harvest, the very popular duo of Jerry Williams and Ed Carr. He feels a strong responsibility to minister to people through his music, but he feels his first responsibility is to be a good father. He has two sons, Neal and Adam, and though he travels, he does get to spend a lot of time at home. In just a few minutes, we’ll meet Wayne Watson,
but right now, let’s listen to the music from the album, Man in the Middle.
Get ready because I guarantee you you’re about to hear some great songs
wrapped up in outstanding production. The very first cut is a beautiful
statement about God’s incredible love and grace extended to us - it’s called,
Love Found a Way. |
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| Tom: That’s the very first song you hear when you put on the new Wayne Watson album, Man in the Middle. It’s called Love Found A Way. What a tremendous song to open with and that’s just the beginning. This album is full of great songs like that. And we’ll listen to them all during the next few minutes. Right now, let’s meet the man behind the music, Wayne Watson. Wayne, let’s begin by covering your childhood background. What kind of environment did you grow up in? |
Wayne: I grew up in Louisiana, in north Louisiana, in a little town called Wisner, and in a very nice Christian home, good atmosphere. I was not a bad boy. Sometimes I kid around with people and talk about the degree I could go into talking about my gory past, but I don’t have any. So, I could make it all up and make it sound gory. I could make up lies and be exciting. But I really had a very, I guess, what you would call a very sheltered upbringing in that I was sheltered to the point of not getting into a lot of trouble when I was a kid. My parents demanded respect - they call it respect - I call it fear. They demanded that I just obey and do what they said. They were on top of me all the time and at the time, I really rebelled against it internally but I didn’t go against their wishes and now I look back, and thank the Lord for it because they protected me. I’ve never experienced a lot of the heartache that a lot my friends that I have now have experienced but I really can’t say that I wish I had those experiences because I’m afraid they would leave some scars and pain that I could never erase. There’s some pictures that I have seen, whether it be on TV or movies or in books, or whatever, there are some scenes that I can recall that I wish I had never seen before - not necessary from an entertainment standpoint but just some things that I have ingrained in my mind that I wish weren’t there. |
| Tom: Of course, it’s difficult
if not impossible to avoid seeing and hearing a lot of those negative images.
How can we as Christians counteract the world’s influences and minister
to one another in these areas? |
| Wayne: Psychologists will tell you that once something is there, it’s there. And you can’t erase it. And the bible tells me “that which is impossible with man is possible with God” and He can remove that. So I pray sometimes that He will heal my memory of those bad experiences and those bad mental images that I have. |
Tom: Well, let’s move along to another song on your new album. Celebrate is a very positive affirmation of God’s goodness. |
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Wayne: I have experienced such heaviness and such seriousness in the past few years, and it’s been shown in the past few records...sort of a heavy, serious tone. And, I’ve rediscovered the joy of my salvation this year, and it comes forth in the song Celebrate. |
Tom: Wayne covers a lot of ground on this new album and although he is very much a professional. both on record and in concert, his primary motive is ministry. We’re going to take a short break and when we come back, Wayne will talking about the very important subject of faith and of course, we’ll hear some more music from the Man in the Middle album. We hope you’ll stay with us as we continue with the Wayne Watson Radio Special. |
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