Most of you will remember Scott MacIntyre from American Idol season 8 when he was the first blind contestant to become a finalist on the show. Since then Scott has gone on to release albums, tour around the world, and is now releasing a book sharing some of the more unknown parts of his story.
Last week I had the opportunity to talk with Scott about his life, his music, and how God has worked in his life despite several insurmountable circumstances.
Here’s a few pieces from my conversation with Scott MacIntyre:
Tyler: In your life you’ve had to overcome several seemingly insurmountable circumstances, what are some of the keys to how you’ve been able to overcome those?
Scott: Choosing the title of the book was one of the hardest things of the whole book writing process because you really want to give people the essence of the book. When we settled on “By Faith Not By Sight” I knew that was what it was supposed to be called because that has literally been the theme of my life. I didn’t know how I was going to learn how to play the piano if I couldn’t even see the sheet music in front of me…I didn’t know how I was going to compete in the very visual music industry without my sight. I didn’t know how I was going to connect with people on the competition of American Idol if I couldn’t even see the television cameras. I certainly didn’t know if I was going to tour again or be able to share my music when I was dealing with kidney failure and strapped to a dialysis chair 3 times a week…In the midst of the darkest times of my life I’ve had to make the choice to have faith or have nothing.
Tyler: Malcolm Gladwell talks about how it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. I’m wondering, when you aren’t touring, how many hours to do you spend songwriting and practicing music?
It can be 14 to 18 hour days. When I was writing the book I was usually doing 14 to 18 hour days sitting at my computer writing, editing, and pouring over the manuscripts everyday, and it can be exhausting at times. Fortunately I love what I do and that’s the one thing that compels to keep moving forward. People forget that it’s fun to make music but there’s a whole business side to it and it can be very cutthroat and very grueling. It’s a constant battle to stay on people’s radar.
Listen to the entire 30 minute conversation with the audio player below where we talk about Scott beating out Lady Gaga, Scott’s encouragement for the upcoming generations of Christians, and the difficulty of being a Christian in the music industry today.
Come here to listen RSS readers.
Show Notes:
Link to Scott’s book By Faith Not By Sight on Amazon.
Link here to a special website for churches, schools, and all of you, with ways to download free mp3s from Scott and also an opportunity to have him visit your town for a private concert.
Short description of the book:
This is Scott’s story of how God used a dedicated family, a selfless acquaintance, hardship, and a host of characters to give him life, faith, determination, and experiences most can only imagine.
Peek behind the scenes to see how he learned to overcome his disability, how he made it in the music industry, how he found the love of his life, and how God taught him that in all things, we can truly achieve our dreams By Faith, Not by Sight.
