Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
Grand Canyon University worship arts online student Skylar Everett received an email about applying to perform at Monday night’s Songwriters Showcase.
Although she lives in Pueblo, Colorado, about 750 miles away, she was determined to perform.
She submitted “Joy” on an MP3 file to Moises Felipe, director for the Center of Worship Arts.
Once the song was approved, with less than two weeks before the event, Everett scrambled to make travel accommodations.
Her full-time job approved her time off, and she and her mother made the 13 ½-hour drive to the Phoenix campus, arriving around 1 a.m. Sunday.
There were no signs of fatigue, and Everett’s voice and guitar livened a supportive crowd at the Engineering Building courtyard.
“You never know to what extent the passion of our students can go,” Felipe said. “I love that she submitted the song for the showcase, and her song was great.”
Everett’s commitment to the event “is a testament to the far reach of worship arts and the connection through music that students have to GCU through (the album series) Canyon Worship, (music compilation project) The Grand Collective and all the musical expressions within the College of Theology and College of Arts and Music that we’ve put out through the years,” Felipe added.
For the first time in the history of the Songwriters Showcase, performers from The Grand Collective – an EP created, published and produced as a passion project by students – played three songs that will be part of its sixth release, scheduled for September.
This showcase featured newcomers, highlighted by Everett, who was determined to perform before she moves on campus next fall for her senior year.
“I’ve fallen in love with this campus,” said Everett, who also can play the piano, bass and electric guitar. “I’m super stoked. Everyone I’ve talked to (in the Worship Arts program) is incredible.”
She selected “Joy” because it’s “one that’s near and dear to my heart.”
“I wrote it in the middle of a mental health crisis. I had a very dark background. So that came into my early young adult years. I wrote it when I was in the middle of this in-between place of realizing that I had all the head knowledge. I’m very intellectual and all about studying theology.
“I had all of the head knowledge but none of the heart knowledge. I realized was missing that relationship piece of what does it mean to have a relationship with the one who is leading us in Jesus Christ.”
Elijah Zandt, who transferred to GCU from a Bible college in Georgia, said he was “terrified” after performing live for the first time but performed “God Almighty” smoothly.
“God helped me through it a lot,” said Zandt, a sophomore. “He talks specifically about anxiety for a part of it, and that’s something I’ve struggled with my whole life. Praise to God. He’s gotten me through it. There was a point where it was bad. I’m so grateful because I couldn’t have done it anywhere else.”
This was a memorable farewell for Phillip Babcock, who will graduate Friday with a degree in worship arts with an emphasis in ministry. Babcock performed background vocals on “Remain in Me,” a song he helped write for The Grand Collective.
Among the supporters were Babcock’s parents and three younger siblings, who flew from Florida to Las Vegas before making the five-hour drive to GCU.
“It was really cool to perform on this night, showcase what I’ve worked on, and the skills I’ve gained in four years,” said Babcock, who also assisted fellow students with lighting prior to the event.
This was a full-circle moment for Angelina Olson, who made her first Songwriters Showcase in December 2024 and returned to play the acoustic guitar and perform backup vocals for “Come Home Child” by CeCe Bedore and "Remain in Me."
“It’s precious to spend the last week of school playing music with all the people I met the first semester,” said Olson, who uses the stage name Angelina Grace.
Other performances included “Walk on Water” by Nevaeh Watkins; “Time after Time,” the first song written by freshman Savannah Rietz; “Show Me the True God,” which was written during the Grand Collective retreat last September; “God of all Grace,” written and sang by Samira Doxie; “Psalm 136” by Sam Benitez; and “Be My Compass” and "What a Beautiful Thing” by The Grand Collective.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
