Audrey Hatcher penned the lyrics and music to the song "All My Praise" with her acoustic guitar in an honest moment of prayer. She had crafted numerous songs before -- songs like "I Need You" that led fellow worshipers in surrender and "The Nunnery" that united audiences in laughter - songs that quickly caught the attention of Nashville's musical community. She had written so many well loved songs by 2001 that she released her first independent studio album 1553 Delmar to a full house at Nashville's legendary Exit/In and became a staff songwriter for the Gospel Division of BMG/Brentwood Benson Music Publishing. Now with the success of "All My Praise" and the growing number of endearing songs on her set list, Audrey is experiencing an ignition of popularity and a unique connection with audiences far outside her Virginia hometown and Tennessee roots.
Dove Award winning trio, Selah, recorded "All My Praise" on their 2004 album Hiding Place. In the spring of 2005, the song spent five weeks at #1 on the Inspirational Charts, and climbed to the Top 10 on the Adult Contemporary charts. As radio stations increasingly aired Selah's moving recording of "All My Praise," Audrey continued playing live across the country, meeting new people who told her about the significant role of her music and message in their lives.
After performing a youth benefit concert in Mt. Vernon, IL, Audrey met a woman in Stage IV breast cancer preparing to start her first round of chemo therapy the next morning. After the scary diagnosis, this woman found hope and encouragement from God through the song "All My Praise." She listened to the concert that night and marveled that the Lord would encourage her on the eve of her difficult treatment directly through the woman who wrote the song that was comforting her.
Audrey heard moving stories like this one in response to 1553 Delmar as well. In the summer of 2004, Audrey received a letter from a chaplain in the US Army whom she had never met. While stationed in Iraq, he and his battalion saved their batteries during the day in order to play her album at night. He sought her out and wrote to express his appreciation for her talent and return the encouragement that she had given to them.
Since the release of 1553 Delmar Audrey has recorded two more albums to meet the demand of her growing audiences. In March of 2004, Audrey provided fans a seven song CD entitled "Unreleased" featuring her solo version of "All My Praise", the awe-inspiring song "Somebody" and the must-sing-to praise song "Surrounded" produced by Jimmy Collins (Matthew West, Plumb). Later that fall Audrey delivered such an exceptional set to 3,000 enthusiastic students in Wheaton, IL, the recording easily became her third album, Live at Wheaton College, released in February of 2005.
In between travel dates Audrey is currently cultivating her next full length studio project with producer Steven Leiweke (Erin O'Donnell, Plumb, Joel Engel, Spin Worship). The new music is more guitar-driven folk with a bit of an edge, reflecting well the sound she showcases in intimate live performances. Audrey notes about the new tracks "The more I tour and meet the people that God allows me to write music for, the more I am inspired to encourage others and write the message - the message we all need to hear." She writes about forgiveness and grace, leaving home and self discovery, and trusting a mysterious, omnipresent and loving God.
