Different Story

In his first full-length album since 2013, longtime International House of Prayer of Kansas City (IHOPKC) worship leader Jon Thurlow addresses themes of redemption, trial, and hope on Different Story.

Jon, whose first Forerunner Music album was the live Stand in Awe and has appeared on numerous Onething Live albums, took some time to craft the songs on this release, thanks in part to various personal challenges and transitions. The birth of his and his wife, Kinsey’s, first child, a daughter, in late 2016, provided a metaphor for the album’s production. “With any birth, there’s challenge,” Jon says. “It’s intense, and oftentimes there’s pain involved. That was definitely the case with this album. It was a process, it’s hard, but we’ve got some beautiful music and songs that came through the whole journey.”

The title track to Jon’s first Nashville recording was influenced by his first time working with legendary multi-Grammy-Award-winning producer Brown Bannister, and multi-talented Ben Shive (Laura Hackett Park, Brandon Heath, Bebo Norman, JJ Heller, Andrew Peterson). “I had a melody and some lyrics, and I was talking to Brown about how the Lord takes our messed up, broken stories and He redeems—He rewrites them through Jesus,” Jon says. “It’s a very hopeful song, an anthem.”

Other highlights include the first studio recordings of “Shout Your Name,” title track to the 2014 Onething Live album, and “Your Love is Better,” a prayer room favorite, as well as a full band version of “Still Looking Back at Me,” from his Walking Through the Night EP.

Jon says that latter song, which is sung from God’s perspective to a hurting woman who refuses to quit, “feels a little more epic and dramatic (thanks to live strings), and the vocal has a little more expression to it."

His hope for listeners is that “the songs be an on-ramp for them to connect to the Lord, whether in prayer or with the song coming from the Lord’s heart back to us,” he says. “I want them to feel a pull back to Jesus, that it would be a connection point.”

Track List:

1. Your Light
2. I Want You
3. Different Story
4. For You
5. I Want Your Heart
6. Your Love is Better
7. Closer
8. Power of Your Love
9. Need to Know
10. Shout Your Name**
11. Still Looking Back at Me

**This track is not included on vinyl due to space.