My Hope Radio: In three or four sentences, how would you describe your journey of faith?
Ashley Claire Wicker: My journey of faith truly began my senior year of high school. I was invited to the local UPC church in my town by a good friend. I remember never having felt such a tremendous amount of love and mercy from who I now know as my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I honestly cannot imagine what or where I would be if He had not intervened in my life. I owe Him everything, and I place my complete love, trust, and faith in Him.

MHR: What is your favorite scripture in the Bible?
ACW: My favorite scripture is John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” I love this scripture because, when I am discouraged or frustrated and I read this verse, it reminds me that the Lord gives a peace not of this world; He gives us Himself to carry with us. It helps me to stand strong in what I believe and know is the truth. It is truly a peace that passes all understanding and will sustain.

MHR: What is your music background? (Who influenced you, when did you start singing, etc…)
ACW: I began singing before I began talking, as my dad likes to put it. I guess you could say I officially began singing in a traveling choral set of groups. I was involved in those different sets of choirs for about eight years. I continued singing in high school where I participated in the chorus groups there, and I was also involved in the North Carolina All-State Choir for two years as well as North Carolina Honors Chorus for four years. For the past two years, I have been taking voice lessons and have recently decided to minor in music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I was influenced by older choir members when I was younger. I would tell myself I wanted to be just as good as those older individuals were when I would become their age. I was and continue to be very dedicated to music.

MHR: What specific themes do you cover in your songs? Why?
ACW: My CD covers several themes. It’s really a collaboration of all different themes and encouraging words. From a song that speaks about being grateful for one’s ‘Deliverer’, Jesus Christ—a song that is my personal testimony—to a song singing about the deep love one has for the Lord. There is even a song from the point of view of the woman in the Bible with the issue of blood, and there are many more themes.
The CD also has several genres as well. There are a few gospel-type songs, a contemporary song, one with a rock feel, and another with a slight country twang to it. I included the themes and multiple genres so there would be a lot of variety. There is truly something for everyone!

MHR: Do you write your own songs? If so, discuss your usual songwriting process.
ACW: Unfortunately, I do not. I wish I could, but it is just not my area of talent.

MHR: Where can we listen, purchase from, and connect with you?
ACW: I have a Facebook fan page for my CD along with my personal Facebook page. Either one is perfectly fine to connect with me through. Also digstation.com, cdbaby.com, and iTunes (coming soon) have my CD/mp3 files for sale. There is a Youtube link on Facebook of a “mash-up” of all the songs on my CD, in order, that you can listen to for free. Of course they are just clips of each but it gives you a feel for what the CD is like!

Fun Stuff
Ice Cream or Brownies? Ice Cream! It’s my favorite dessert. My favorite flavors are chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chip mint.

Pizza Hut or Dominos? Definitely Dominos. I love their thin crust pepperoni pizza!

Slurpee or Icee? Slurpee! I like the Cherry slurpees at gas stations!

Fruit or Mint Gum? Definitely fruit. I’m not a big fan of strong mint flavors.

Laptop or iPad? That’s a tough one. If I had to choose, I guess an iPad because I just think they’re really cool!

This interview first appeared on www.myhoperadio.com. It is republished here by permission.