Once renowned as the composer of such worship classics as 'Hosanna", CARL TUTTLE has now returned after a major spiritual struggle to head up new record label Sovereign Productions. Mike Rimmer quizzed the music biz veteran.
The name Carl Tuttle will ring strong bells for you if you've been a Christian for a while. Originally one of the leading lights of the Vineyard worship scene in the early '80s, seemingly all of us worshipped God with classic Tuttle compositions like "Hosanna". Then it all seemed to go quiet. Today, Carl has returned to head up a new radical worship label, Sovereign Productions, committed to pushing back the boundaries of worship music. Carl describes his vision as "To bless, build up and strengthen the Body of Christ by providing fresh, passionate and relevant resources." As you'll read, his own journey has not been an easy one and yet, having experienced the grace of God, he stands in a place to make a difference.
Mike: What ever happened to Carl Tuttle? We remember you as a worship
leader and songwriter in the '80s. Where have you been?
Carl: "As many people know I followed John Wimber and pastored at
the Vineyard Anaheim. Although the church did quite well, I didn't.
The bottom line is I failed. That is to say I failed as an elder of
the church. I abused alcohol and allowed my marriage to disintegrate,
to the point that I stepped down as Senior Pastor. My wife also left
me. We were separated for 18 months; I was placed under a disciplinary
process by the Vineyard and went through some very trying and
difficult times. Everything I had become dependant on was gone, my
friends, my wife, my position, my income, all in a matter of days. But
guess what? It is the best thing that ever happened to me! I've found
out that the discipline of the Lord is an extravagant expression of
his mercy. I've come out the other side of it much better off. My wife
and I have been restored to a much better relationship than we had
before and for the first time in years I'm at peace and content."
Mike: How did you come to set up Sovereign
Productions?
"Following my stepping down from ministry,
I worked in construction for about a year and a half. One day, I was
60 feet in the air, spray painting a large building at the end of a
long mobile extension lift and the thought occurred to me that there
may be something that remained from my prior life that was redeemable.
So I began to explore the idea of starting a new music label. I spoke
with friends and pastors and it felt like it was a good way for me to
use the experience and skills I had acquired over the years to
contribute to the Body of Christ."
Mike: What are you doing that's any different to other worship
companies?
"I don't want to get into a big comparison
thing in a negative way, but there are some differences that are worth
noting. First of all we are new. That gives us the opportunity to
experiment and take risks that established labels have a hard time
doing. Secondly we don't have any sort of sound or history to try and
duplicate, so it's easier to move forward rather than try to recapture
the past. And I guess one of the biggest differences that will affirm
what a bad businessman I am, is we refuse to own any of our writers'
songs. My songs are owned and it's been a painful and difficult
experience for me in trying to deal with my publisher. So
consequently, I don't want to own anyone else's stuff. So we develop
terms with our writers that allow them to gain back control of their
music after various periods of time. In affect we lease them."
Mike: What are your observations about the state of the
current worship scene?
"Frankly, for the most part I
feel it has flatlined. Because I have been a part of the Vineyard and
still attend a Vineyard church, I'll pick on us. With the exception of
the two worship albums produced in the UK recently, VMG is by and
large in a rut. What are we up to? 'Father's Heart 234'? Once a group
establishes their market it is really rare for them to deviate. There
are very few labels or artists that are really pushing us or dragging
us forward. Prosch did it, Delirious? did it, Matt has followed behind
nicely and given us great songs, but none of that is enough. We must
continue to move forward. If we quit making new wine, there never will
be any old wine."
Mike: Do you feel that the stuff you pioneered with vineyard
simply got stuck in a rut?
"Definitely. That's not to
say that Vineyard hasn't already done enough. I don't think any label
can boast of the catalogue of songs the Vineyard has. But as an
insider, my perspective is that Vineyard has a tendency to be looking
back at the way it used to be. But that is typical in the Church, we
are tabernacle builders, we worship the past. A wise man once said
that "when your memories of the past obscure your vision of the
future, it leaves you bankrupt in the present.' That is something we
all need to be wary of."
Mike: Tell me about some of the artists you have
signed.
"Let me say this first. Sovereign is not about
its artists, it's about a philosophy. It's not about personalities and
'acts', it's about attitude. A heart to serve and bless the Body. That
said, we are very fortunate to have Kate Miner. She did our first
worship album, which we did live from the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset
Strip in LA. The album is great, filled with passion and great
content. Matt Redman calls it Intimacy with guts.' Kate is a great
worship leader, songwriter and musician. She embodies so much of what
we want Sovereign to be. We have Micheal Pritzle of Violet Burning who
has done two albums for us. One a compilation of the four previous
Violet albums and the second an incredible worship album. We have a
group called SCSI, who have been reviewed in your magazine. They are
from Belfast and have a great sound and message."
Mike: Tell me about British distribution - will we be able to
hear Sovereign artists over here?
" We have signed a
deal with Word UK to distribute all our albums. I would imagine that
by the time this article's printed we will have two to three albums
released."
Mike: England is a bit of a hotbed for worship at the moment,
we have a healthy scene here. Do you think we really need any more
stuff coming over the pond from the USA?
"Of course!
There isn't going to be any one nation, any one label that will be
able to give expression to worship. It's like the churches I hear of
from time to time that only sing songs from their church. It's kind of
inbred I think. Because of the proliferation of' modern worship' many
congregations are hungry for new music, new ways to express their
hearts to God, so we need to continue to resource that. Tell me, would
you like to do without songs from Darlene Zschech? By the way, you're
right about the 'worship scene' over there, you are providing the
Church with really great stuff."
Mike: What plans do you have to make what you're doing in the
UK stand out from the crowd? What about working at grassroots level
with the Church?
"I don't know that 'stand out from the
rest' is the right idea. I do believe we have a contribution to make
and I think we will prove that over time. I think the creative
approach at our events will be pretty cool. I don't want to give
things away, but we have plans to do some really great stuff. One of
the things will be to hold a worship conference at Westminster Central
Hall in London called Worship The Revelation Of Jesus Christ. This
will be unique in that over the two-day period people will experience
the Word and worship in a way I know they never have before. Oh yeah,
the dates are October 12th and13th.
"Either before this or after, we will send out teams to various churches for nights of worship and in that way we will work with the local church. By the way, although I attend a Vineyard, Sovereign isn't part of a denomination, nor are we involved in any efforts to establish a 'ministry of our own.' Our goal is to come along side the established ministries and resource them."
Mike: What about a comeback album from Carl Tuttle?
"I don't think
so. At the most we will put out an 'oldies collection' maybe done by
some of the younger generation. I do some worship leading and some
writing, but frankly I have great joy in seeing others come to the
forefront and move us forward."
I love the honesty and direction of this article and of Carl's heart. I remember him when I went to the anaheim vineyard and am glad to hear how God is moving him forward into the present presence of God.