Safe Place

Description

Safe Place is the third album by the American singer and songwriter Michele Wagner, released on Benson Music Group in 1992. The album was recorded by Andreas Krause, Ronnie Brookshire, and Todd Robbins at Great Circle Sound and Quad Studios in Nashville, Tennessee; at North Beach Studio in Franklin, Tennessee; and at Doppler Studios in Atlanta, Georgia; with Tommy Greer producing. Mixed by Brookshire with assistance from Robbins at North Beach Studio.

Michele Wagner is backed by a session band featuring producer Greer on keyboards with Cheryl Rogers on additional keyboards and piano, Jerry McPherson on acoustic and electric guitars, and a rhythm section consisting of Jackie Street on bass and Steve Brewster on drums and percussion. Backing vocals provided by Cindy Morgan and Rob Frazier.

When we’re young, we dream of the time we can grow up and feel better about ourselves. Sadly, often the insecurities of our youth follow us into our adult life. Michele Wagner’s ‘Safe Place’ seems to be a response to just that, presenting a message of quiet hope in loud times, couched in a pleasant adult contemporary sound that just skirts “easy listening;” this is the promise of the gospel in musical terms for fans of Beth Nielsen Chapman, James Taylor or recent Kenny Loggins.

The musicians are top-notch, with producer Tommy Greer on keyboards, Jerry McPherson on guitars, Cliff Downs on 12 string guitar, Jackie Street on bass, and Cheryl Rogers (who sparkled so brightly on her instrumental Sha La Vah releases) on piano. The music, quiet and contemplative, is by no means elevator music; the mesh reinforces the words, protects them, projects them: “The child in you is hurting all alone/ No one to talk to, no one seems to know… he knows all the struggles you are going through/ He knows the pain you’re feeling.” If handled poorly, the lyrics may have seemed pat, simple inspirational cheerleading. Here, though, the simple but specific messages seem more like a friend offering a tissue or a shoulder to cry on.

The album ends with the gentle prayer, «Deliver Me»: “If I concentrate real hard/ Close my eyes and make it dark/ Push aside all wordly thoughts/ And slowly think of you… You deliver me/ You set me free/ You provide all that I need.” Again, what could have been so much bumpersticker fodder is presented with a freshness and honesty. There comes a moment when the only escape from the insecurities of our past is to remember our childlike faith; the moment crystallizes just as the band fades out and we’re left to ponder over Cheryl Rogers’ lilting piano solo that closes the album, before fading into memory.

Some will pass on this album because it’s not a darker, edgier examination of the human condition. But listeners who are ready for healing, who finds themselves attracted to the godly self-esteem messages of Lisa Bevill and Michael W. Smith but wonder if they’re getting too old, are ready to be reminded that “He considered the cost then went to the cross/ You must’ve been someone to him.” And Michele Wagner’s latest album becomes a ‘Safe Place’ where we can find comfort from our insecurities in the arms of our Savior. [Chris Well, CCM, October 1992]

CD tracklist:

01. Safe, Safe Place
02. Reality Is You
03. Someone Worth Dying For
04. Grace Will Let Go
05. He Knows
06. Face To Face
07. Nothing’s Gonna Stop This Love
08. Change
09. Is It Time?
10. Deliver Me

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Benson Music Group.