The Waiting Kind

"But for those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."—Isaiah 40:31

Month after month in music industry magazines featured prominently in bookstores and grocery store checkout lines, artists regularly discuss their philosophies of making great art, the intersection of music and modern culture and tackle even loftier questions about whether they've written their best song yet.

And while there's certainly plenty of evidence that Boise-based band The Waiting Kind also appreciates—and understands—the power of a great hook on their brand new album, The Waiting Kind EP, none of these aforementioned conversations really matter all that much to lead singer Derek Henbest, guitarist Justin Newell, drummer Dustin La Mont or bassist Jeff Bull Jr.

If anything, they're happy to strip away all of rock 'n' roll's pretense so people can simply be encouraged, inspired and drawn into God's presence.

"We really want to make music that connects with people and their struggles," says Dustin. "I know when we've gone through trying times in the past, worship music was all we had. And there's nothing more fulfilling than seeing people connecting with God through worship. It's why we love what we do."

Since the band began in 2005, they've also experienced the inherent beauty of waiting in worship. Unlike life's day-to-day realities where waiting is nothing more than an inconvenience, those quiet moments where mankind's brokenness is met with God's redemption not only inspired the band's name, but the message they hope everyone listening will latch on to.

"There's a power to waiting on the Lord in worship," Derek says. "I'll still never forget the moment during a Delirious concert where Martin [the band's frontman] had just sang 'Rain Down' and said he didn't want to jump into the next song yet. He wanted to wait in the moment and just have the piano play. In that moment, everyone just knew God was there, and he didn't have to say a word. And that's what we desire because the strength that comes in that setting isn't like any other grace we've come to know."

What also helped shape the latest chapter in The Waiting Kind's ministry is the iron-sharpening-iron power of collaboration. After connecting on Twitter, the group began working with producer Jonny MacIntosh (Vicky Beeching, Trevor Davis, Sarah MacIntosh) and his wife Sarah, who writes, records and leads worship in churches around the world as well.

"We had done a full-length project, In the Land of Hope, by ourselves and rode that out for three years," Derek shares. "But we really wanted someone with an objective opinion to come alongside us. And thanks to working with Jonny and Sarah, we've been stretched in ways we never imagined. We were forced to dig deeper in songwriting and get better at our instruments, and it made all the difference in the end result."

Complementing the band's textured, cutting-edge Indie rock sound, the tracks on The Waiting Kind EP deftly explore the tensions of living in a fallen world and how God is consistently with us, no matter what we're going through. With "Your Love is Strong," a song co-written with Sarah, the lyrics point to how God is always a God of love, even when it might feel like He's far away.

"In the storms of life, we can start to think that God's not for us, God's not with us," Derek shares. "What I wanted people to know is that God is a God of love. It's love that causes His justice. It's love that leads to forgiveness. It's a declarative song of remembering that His love shines, no matter how dark things may seem."

God's consistent pursuit of us is also what fuels "Heaven Calls My Name," a song Derek and Sarah composed in response to the seasons where confusion and stress reign supreme.

"There are times when we just want to run, we want to give up and not worry about a relationship with the Lord," he shares. "Yet in those times he still cares enough about the relationship to pursue our hearts. Heaven is calling our name, despite all we're going through."

On the last song penned for the project, the anthemic strains of "Cross of Love," Derek teamed up with fellow worship artist Phil Wickham. Like the best collaborations, Phil immediately connected with what Derek was hoping to communicate on what's a strong, defining statement of what it means to truly lay everything at the foot of the cross.

"The Cross is something I've had to cling to in my life," Derek says. "But once we lay something down, that's it. It's over. And that's something I couldn't wait for people to hear because it's incredibly liberating. It just stirred something up inside of me."

As The Waiting Kind continues to lead worship at their respective home churches and travel throughout the United States, one truth can't help sticking with them, and that's how God is everywhere.

"Honestly what probably inspires us more than anything is seeing His Church rise up all over the country and getting to be part of that," Derek says. "It's one thing to say that God's everywhere, but it's something different entirely to see it happening. We get to play this small part in seeing His story told, and that's nothing short of exciting."

For more information on The Waiting Kind, please visit www.thewaitingkind.com.