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Alberta-born singer Jodie Leslie got her start in music at the age of two, and while that has always been a passion, her life took a different career path for a period of time.
"I went into college taking equine sciences," Leslie says. "So some veterinary courses for horses and training courses, and I ended up finding myself over in Europe riding and training horses and while I was over there I really gained a hunger for being on a worship team, singing with a band."
When Leslie came back, that's exactly what she did, join a worship team. After joining the team, she felt the Lord tell her to make a change. "I felt the Lord calling me out into the secular music industry. You'll hear a lot of people start in the Christian music industry and then they go secular, well, it's exactly the opposite for me."
While she has always put her faith into her music, she says it's nice to come full circle and be 100 per cent in Christian music now.
As Leslie takes her own personal experiences as inspiration for her music, she shares how 'Learn to Love,' was inspired by her mom who had seven bouts of cancer. "One was a miraculous disappearance of a tumour the size of a grapefruit. The words came into my head faster than I could write them and I just feel like that was one of those blessings that came down from Heaven."
Another one of her songs, 'Tell God,' is all about the power of prayer. "I can imagine people on the radio listening and be talking to God in your car. You can be talking to God when your toddler is screaming at the top of their lungs. You can always reach out to God and He will give you that peace that passes understanding."
One of Leslie's favourite parts of making music is getting to hear the encouragement that comes from those who hear the songs, wherever they are even if that is in a drive-thru. "A girl was listening to my music in the drive-thru getting a coffee. The lady inside says that she knows the song and it gave her so much hope. They had this little connection before they both went their separate ways. Music can really connect us."
Leslie's song, 'Give God the Glory,' is an honest song about brokenness and darkness. "The Bible says we all fall short of the glory of God, and the truth is we are all in process. So don't be afraid to be the real you. God meets us where we're at. We don't have to be perfect. That's the whole idea of Jesus. We need Him. We've all fallen short and every day can be new."
While Leslie says she likes all types of music, one special moment of her career came from a hard rock group.
"My husband and I, went to Las Vegas for their [Stryper] 30 year anniversary tour, In God We Trust. It was on my anniversary, he [Michael Sweet] gave me a shout out and he said, 'I just want, you to know, I really like your voice. And I really like your music.' Apart from my anniversary, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me."
Leslie says that she is gearing up for the release of new music. "We're happy to be putting out an inspirational album, which is a collection of inspirational songs that have been put on each album. This is an easy way for people who want to hear inspirational music to find a collection of all of my works in one place. It's called Through the Years."