ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
This year’s Five State Fair is bringing some things back for this year’s festivities, including the popular Gospel Songfest.
This year’s Gospel Songfest will be headlined by Jason Waller and the CrossPoint Worship group, and Waller said he is excited for the opportunity to visit Southwest Kansas.
“It was shortly after the beginning of May when the Fair Board got in touch with me, and the first time they contacted me, I was somewhat confused because I thought I was being contacted about something else,” Waller said. “CrossPoint Church has multiple locations throughout the state, including Liberal, so when I was initially contacted, I thought it was about something more church-related and from someone who knew about me since we do quite a bit of traveling and ministry. But when I got on Facebook and looked, I realized I didn't have any mutual friends with the person who had reached out to me, so it became apparent the conversation wasn't going to be church-related. So I called them back, and they told me they'd heard my name from a youth conference I'd performed at in Kansas City, and everything went from there. Like I said earlier, I do a lot of worship leading and performing at conferences and camps, but not a lot of festivals and fairs and those types of events, so we were all a little caught off guard but pleasantly surprised to be asked.”
Waller said he has been involved in the music industry for more than a decade, though not exactly by choice, as he tells it.
“Honestly, in many ways, I feel like I more stumbled into the industry – I didn't actually set out to have a music career that would be how I would provide for myself and my family. It all rather fell into my lap by God's grace to where I had a love for sharing the Gospel and seeing that transform people's hearts and lives, and music was a really great platform for doing that,” Waller said. “I really rather stumbled into it as opposed to some musicians who say they knew from the beginning music was what they wanted to dedicate themselves to for their lives. It's been about 14 or 15 years now that I've been in music. I'm a local worship leader at CrossPoint Church in Salina, and that's where my heart still is. I really got my start leading worship, I've been doing that for 15 years, and I'd been recording music for YouTube and gaining a subscriber base there, and we've got subscribers from many different areas. I'd started my YouTube channel when I was a junior in high school, and I didn't really start playing live on a consistent basis until about 15 years ago.”
All of his experience so far, Waller said, has kept him going.
“Especially with the traveling and songwriting and leading worship, that side of everything is great because I get to meet so many new people and see their lives changed,” Waller said. “I feel like I have a front row seat to what God's doing more than I feel like my music is the thing that's doing that.”
Waller said he hopes to see high turnout to the concert, which will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6 at the Grandstands.
“So many people are looking for hope right now, so if anyone needs some extra encouragement, they should totally come out to the concert,” Waller said. “Or, if anyone's looking to hear some good music and experience some good live entertainment, they should also totally come out that night. I think everyone who comes out will have a great time no matter what. People can expect some original music and stories behind those songs from us, and they'll also hear music that, if they're familiar with more Christian radio, they'll have heard before. I love Liberal and have a heart for that community, I've been there for conferences with different churches, so I'm excited to connect with people I've been privileged to meet before as well as some new faces. I'm really honored we have the opportunity to be there and perform and share God with the people in the audience.”
