Sunday Drive's Jeff Treece Talks About the Making of "A Million Miles"

With songs about strong belief, grateful praise and reliance on faith, Sunday Drive's latest project "A Million Miles" carries a resounding message that God is never too far away. With a classic country style and upbeat lyrics, the gospel group reminds listeners that following Christ leads to a joyful life, despite the ups and downs we all face.

Jeff Treece, Misty Treece, and Dusty Treece make up the award-winning trio that is Sunday Drive. Their God-given talent has garnered them numerous awards including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, and many others. Sunday Drive has performed at The Grand Ole Opry, Silver Dollar City, Dollywood and The National Quartet Convention and performed with artists like The Oak Ridge Boys, The Gaithers, Big Daddy Weave, David Crowder Band, The McKameys and many more. Sunday Drive has a unique ability to communicate through song and humor creating an experience and journey audiences won't soon forget

Q: Jeff, thanks for doing this interview with us.  Congratulations on the release of your new album "A Million Miles."  Walk with us through the making of this new record.  When did you start working on this record?  And what was the process like to get this record released?

A: Thank you so much, we are very excited about "A Million Miles". We actually started recording in May of 2017. My dad passed away April 3, 2017 and the night before his funeral God gave me a song about his journey home called "Angels Sing My Victory Song". God gave me the strength to be able to sing it at his funeral. We knew it would be a song on the new recording, so we started with that song by adding it to a session. We did that process with three songs and then finished the record by recording seven more songs. Of course, all artists would like to release the day it is finished because we are so excited about what we are hearing.

We set a release date and hold it back until we can create some excitement around it. We start with a social media campaign saying it is coming, another saying preorder it now, and also offer it to our mailing list before release date (it is a good idea to sign up on your favorite groups mailing list). We try to sell as many preorders as we can for the release date.

Q:  I have read that you spent a lot of time finding the songs.  How many songs did you listen to for this album?  And what was the criteria you used in selecting a song?

A: I write the majority of our songs and I took a different process to this record. We reached out to some writers that I know from 30 years of being a full time musician and they were very gracious to send us songs. From my time with The McKameys, I noticed something that Peg did . . She listened to every song sent to her so I took the same approach in looking for songs. If someone sent a song, we listened to it. We probably listened to over 100 songs. If the song touched us in some way or we felt it would be a good radio song, we took a closer look.   

Q:  Have you ever passed on a song that later became a hit for another artist? 

A: Yes, I guess every group has done that but on this record we passed on a really good song called "Grab Your Umbrella" that I just heard on the radio from The Talleys.

Q:  Talk to us about your single "Living in the Middle of His Will."  Why are you excited about this song?

A: "Living in the Middle of His Will" is written by Dianne Wilkinson and Lee Black. The strong southern feel of the song made it a shoe in for a first release and radio has really responded well to it. We are excited to see what God will do through this song, it is already playing on Sirius/XM and people are calling us about it.

Q:  You have always included a comedy song on your albums, including this one.  Why do you do that? 

A: I have always been on the lighter side of things and in my youth I heard a guy named Ray Stevens on the radio and I was hooked. I have written over 30 comedy songs. In a world that is in a hurry and ME ME all the time we need to realize how we are acting and the comedy lets me touch on a problem in a funny way and gets people to thinking without them getting mad. Don't forget, the joy of the Lord is our strength and laughter is good like a medicine. We hear so many times after concerts how people were uplifted by the comedy and we thank God He uses it for His glory.

Q:  Speaking of a million miles, where is the farthest you have had ever traveled? 

A: Probably California. We have been in every state except North Dakota, Alaska and Hawaii.

Q:  I love the album cover which shows a montage of photos. I guess each photo tells a story of how God had blessed you in your travels.  If you could pick one picture, where you felt the Lord ministering to you, which would it be?  And tell us about the incident?

A:  I guess the one that really stands out is the picture where Misty has her hands up praising The Lord looking over the Grand Canyon. Misty  had never seen the Grand Canyon before so she closed her eyes and I walked her to the edge. When she opened her eyes, she started crying and praising The Lord for what He has made.

 

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