By Clare BruceWednesday 10 Jun 2015MusicReading Time: 2 minutes
It’s rare for a musician to stick around for so long that two generations of fans can say they grew up with his music. But that’s how it’s turning out for Colin Buchanan, who’s been singing songs about God for kids, for nearly 30 years now.
Colin told Hope announcer Nick Bennett that he’s now mixing with a generation of adults who grew up on his songs.
“I’m getting used to the fact that adults will walk in [to the studio], sing on my record, and say ‘and by the way we used to go on holidays when I was a kid listening to your kids album’, and ‘I listened to your kids songs before I went to sleep at night’,” he said. “At first I used to think to myself, ‘Surely I’m not that old’ and then I realised, ‘Wow, kids grow up – what a lovely thing to be involved in peoples’ childhood’. It’s a treasured heritage really.”
Colin Buchanan is known in Australia not only as a children’s musician but also as a country artist, and a songwriter who works with greats like Lee Kernaghan. He co-wrote with Lee on the Spirit Of The Anzac’s album released this year, which was the number one album on the ARIA charts for five weeks. Yet for a man so successful, he’s as unassuming as they come.
Why He Puts The Bible To Music
Colin began putting Bible verses to music when he was a teacher.
“I was teaching Sunday School and working in a Christian school at the time and we would learn memory verses,” he said. “You’d hear the kids in the playground walking around singing haircare commercials or fast food commercials and you’d think, I should write a few songs with a jingle-approach but put God’s truth in there.
“That’s how it all came to be. I found it a lot easier to remember verses with music. Little did I know that I’d be making albums nearly 30 years later.”