Baylee Littrell is being open about his Christian faith. The talented singer-songwriter just released a new song, “Hey Jesus,” which he performed while competing on the past season of American Idol.

“‘Hey Jesus,’ I wrote about three years ago, going through tough times with my faith in life, kind of doubting a lot, ” Littrell tells Everything Nash. “I experienced a lot of loss that year in my life, from people, to relationships, to everything in between. And it really made me question my faith for the first time in my life. I feel like a lot of people get hit with that. You’re raised in faith, if you are, and at a certain point, it’s your decision as an adult to keep going and put that trust in for yourself, to keep going in faith and not having someone else there to guide you. That was kind of that first point in my life where I was really questioning what I was gonna do. I didn’t feel guided in my faith. It was really hard to figure it out.”

In the middle of his struggle with his faith, Littrell penned “Hey Jesus.” The 22-year-old found healing in penning a song that was so honest about questioning his own beliefs.

“It reminded me of putting my trust in Jesus,” Littrell explains. “It was like this moment where I thought, ‘Wow, all the mistakes, all the imperfections, all the moments of doubt, all the moments of pain and anger, and all this stuff goes into the song.’ And afterwards, I felt so rejuvenated. It helped my faith. It helped my journey. It made me, again, feel so much conflict in my life, and change a lot of things that I was doing or going through, but that’s just a part of it. And it was a big slap in the face in the best way possible. Like writing that song was me coming back to God, and finding Him, and realizing He had never left. I was the one that left. So it was one of the coolest things.”

Littrell penned “Hey Jesus” for himself, never imagining he would release it, let alone perform it in front of the world on American Idol.

“I started playing it at shows, just locally around town, and then all of a sudden, it just came about and it was time,” Littrell shares. “I mean, thank goodness for that second round of American Idol, because otherwise I never know if it would’ve really come out.”

Littrell performed “Hey Jesus” during Hollywood Week, although he never could have predicted the impact the song would have.

“I got to that second round,” Littrell recals. “On the first, initial episode, I sang an original song. And so I was gonna keep that train going as long as I could for exposure and promoting just my songwriting ability, stuff like that. My mom came to me and she said, ‘Why don’t you sing ‘Hey Jesus’?’ And I was afraid to ruffle feathers. I was going through all this stuff. And she’s like, ‘Now’s the time to ruffle some feathers, if you want to. This is one of those opportunities, where this is a song that people need to hear.’ I wasn’t sure I was even getting through that next round. So I had this thing where I was like, ‘Well, if I’m going out, I’m gonna go out with a bang.’ I want people to hear this song, and I want it to be spread.”

By his own admission, the Georgia native was afraid of what the reaction to a song so open about his faith would be. Fortunately, he was pleasantly surprised by the fan reaction.

“I was terrified,” he acknowledges. “I haven’t been terrified in a long time up on a stage, and I was absolutely petrified,” Littrell recounts. “I got up there, and I sang that song, and I was calm. It was the most high-pressure situation, everybody judging you. And in that moment, I was at peace. It was probably one of the most spectacular feelings I knew. Then I was like, even if this episode doesn’t air, I knew I was at that point at peace with it. I just had a good moment. I looked around the room, and everybody, we were all just kind of worshiping together.”

“We all remembered who we belonged to,” he adds. “And that’s the one cool thing that I want people to keep remembering. So, it was so impactful, and at that point, I was like, ‘All right, this is coming out. We gotta release this.'”

Littrell is working on a new album, one he says will show more of his Christian faith, although he says it may not be all the record is about.

“I would say that this is the first step, but there’s probably another worship song or two that I will release, which I’m excited about,” Littrell reveals. “But at the same time, I’m still just writing singer-songwriter stuff, a little bit of indie stuff. A lot of acoustic music. with some folk elements to it. But I still want to show people, again, the imperfect side. So I want to be able to come in and release songs that I love about Jesus, but not just strictly do Christian music. Because to tell you the truth, those songs, writing those come few and far between, and when they do, they’re special. I don’t write a whole lot of Christian songs. and when that comes, I don’t take it lightly.”

Find “Hey Jesus” and all of Littrell’s music and upcoming shows at BayleeLittrell.com.

Photo Credit: Disney / Eric McCandless

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