Christmas in a Small Town: Song Info

All is Well

Back Story

This 'new' Christmas song was written in 1989 by Michael W. Smith and Wayne Kirkpatrick. The song was chosen for this project because of it's powerful and emotional message. Though life may seem complicated and chaotic, Christmas is a time when humanity attempts to promote peace. "All Is Well" speaks to the comfort and reassurance associated with the Christmas season.

Lyrics

The lyrics to All is Well can be found here.

Artists & Credits

Ricky performs: piano, toy piano, keyboards, trumpet, background vocals and lead vocal.

Female vocalist: Kat Bowser

Duduk: Albert Vardanyan

The Canterbury Choir of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, GA, Brad Hughley, conductor, sings on All is Well. Singers are: Adrin Akins, Bill Atkinson, Susan Atkinson, Dan Beck, Danny Bevins, Jeffery Brown, Alan Clarke, Christine deCatanzaro, Jim Engstrom, Bill Gould, Jason Herman, Raymond Honeycutt, Amy Hughley, Margaret Johnson, Linda Jordan, Kathy Koporec, Debra Lankenau, Taylor Lewis, Stephanie Linz-Gould, Shannon Orr, Cary Patrick, Lisa Patrick, Anne Rector, Jessica Sachsenmaier, Helen Saile, John Sawyer, Carolyn Scott, Russell Smith, John Sumrall, April Whitt, and John Whitt.

Strings
Violins: David Davidson, David Angell, Pamela Sixfin, Connie Ellisor, Mary Katherine Vanosdale, and Karen Winklemann.
Violas: Jim Grosjean, Monisa Angell, Betsy Lamb.
Cellos: John Catchings and Anthony La Marchina.
Bass: Jack Jezioro

Production Notes

The choral/orchestral Christmas concerts I conducted between 1993-1997 traditionally closed with this simple but powerful Christmas song. Concertgoers would disperse into the snowy night humming the stirring melody - warmed by the simple message that all is well. In subsequent years I've done many solo Christmas concerts, but I had never included All is Well. In 2008, as I was preparing new arrangements for my upcoming Christmas concerts, I remembered how meaningful that song had been to me personally and how much the audience enjoyed it, so I included it in the concert. Once again it became the perfect ending to a magical night. Michael W. Smith and Wayne Kirkpatrick wrote this modern Christmas gem and the simplicity of it amazes me. Once you've heard it - you don't forget it.

The little toy piano from my childhood plays a significant role in this project. It starts the album and at times, carries the melody on many songs. Here, after All is Well fades away, we hear the toy piano one last time, playing one of the world's most familiar and beloved Christmas carols - Silent Night.

Although this song sounds less complex than others on this project, it was amazing to me that once everything was recorded for this song that it got the award for having the most individual tracks - 127! This is due in part to the fact that the choir is included on the last verse. Mark Hornsby, who was the mixing engineer for the project just shook his head - looked at me and said, "I guess that's the way they do it in La Veta!."

Kat's vocal on the second verse was sung layer upon layer to create an ethereal, almost angelic effect. She did an amazing job of singing sans vibrato keeping the vocal pure with no embellishment. There are 10 layers of tracks for Kat's vocals alone.

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