Matthew West believed in Anne Wilson long before her now very successful career began. The veteran Christian music singer began working with Wilson when she was just 17 years old, penning several songs with Wilson, and fellow songwriter Jeff Pardo, on Wilson’s debut My Jesus record, including the title track.
Although Wilson didn’t have much success or many accolades when West began working with Wilson, he had a hunch that the rising star would soon be a mainstay at Christian radio. When the three finished writing “My Jesus,” while he had no idea the song would earn the Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year, West did rightfully predict that the uptempo tune would have some sort of an impact.
“I knew Anne had something very special,” West tells Everything Nash. “I knew that the Lord was gonna do something special through her. The fact that He chose that song made it even more special. I’ll never forget sitting there writing that song together, and it felt special in the moment, but you never know if a song’s gonna be special, if it’s gonna be a No. 1 or anything like that. We just knew we wrote something that meant something to us that day, and that’s usually the first ingredient and necessary ingredient. You walk out of there going, ‘Okay, I think we got something special that means something to us.’ And then you let the chips fall where they may.”
West, who just celebrated his 12th No. 1 single with “Me On Your Mind,” teamed up with Wilson for a collaborative version of the song. Wilson and Pardo also co-wrote the song with West.
“I’ve written a lot of songs these past couple of years with my friends Anne Wilson and Jeff Pardo for Anne’s debut record. Together we’ve experienced a special creative connection that’s not always easy to find,” West said of their duet. “I had this idea for a song called ‘Me on Your Mind,’ that was rolling around in my head the whole time we were writing another song one day.
“As we finished that song and Anne began heading for the door, I told them about this other idea,” he continued. “She sat back down and we wrote a song that makes me cry every time I sing it! It was only fitting to put a version out featuring my friend, collaborator, and incredibly talented young artist, Anne Wilson.”
Wilson just announced that she had signed to West’s Story House Collective as a management client, further sealing their personal and professional relationship
“Our Story House team is thrilled for the opportunity to partner with an artist as remarkable as Anne,” West says in a press release. “I’ve been a believer in her since our very first writing session a few years ago. She’s the real deal. Her talent is undeniable, her story is powerful, and her mission is clear. We are honored to serve her artistic vision and beyond excited to help plot the course for even bigger and better things ahead for her.”
