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Interview with John McKivergan


Lyricist John McKivergan is driven by a deep spiritual calling to create music that inspires and uplifts. Specializing in Christian and socially conscious themes, John blends heartfelt messages with a range of musical genres from soft to hard rock, often rooted in Contemporary Christian sound. Though he does not perform or produce music himself, his collaborative approach with talented producers brings his lyrics vividly to life. With each release, John continues to build a body of work that reflects his faith, passion, and purpose. His latest single, "Jesus is Calling", releases June 3, 2025.

Was there something or someone who was the "catalyst" for you to go into music? Tell us about it. The catalyst for me getting involved in music I believe was the Good Lord. I have no musical abilities at all. At some point I got the idea to try to write lyrics. Given that the song lyrics I write are faith based / Christian lyrics I believe the Good Lord inspired me to go down this path.

Let's get this out of the way. What is the craziest thing that has ever happened in your music career? The craziest thing concerning music for me is that I am involved in it at all. I have no musical abilities at all. At some point I got the idea to try to write lyrics. Given that the song lyrics I write are faith based / Christian lyrics I believe the Good Lord inspired me to go down this path.

What has been the highlight of your music path? Since I write lyrics and have other people create the music and do the vocals the highlight for me is getting a song back from my producer and hear my words come to life. That is awesome!!

How do you approach songwriting or what is your creative process like? I continually get ideas for songs (again I believe Divinely inspired). I write an outline of the song figuring out how many verses / chorus or refrain / bridge / ending. I end up writing and rewriting many times. Once that is done, I go to a site titled Audio Jungle where I can put in keywords and it gives back a number of musical tracks. I select one to use as a reference track for my producer. I submit the lyrics / reference track / a spec sheet of what I want to accomplish with the song to my producer. We have a conference call to go over what I submitted to make sure we are on the same page before he starts creating. He then creates the music and vocals for the song. Once he is done, he sends me a track. I listen and once in a while suggest some changes. Once I agree to finished product I go into promote mode. Based on the agreement between the producer and myself I keep the rights to the song.




Do you have a new release? Tell us about it. My latest release due out 6/3/2025 is titled "Jesus is Calling". In summary the song is about Jesus calling all of us to personal one on one relationship with Him. Also, He calls us to a community relationship with Him.

If you could share the stage or a song session with an artist, who would it be? As I only write lyrics, I wouldn't be taking the stage with anyone. I would however, love to collaborate on a song with U2.

For fans who have never heard your music, how would you describe your sound? I describe the sound as a range from soft rock to hard rock depending on the song. I would also say that there is some Contemporary Christian sound in there at times as I write Christian songs.

What is your favorite part about being an artist? Is it songwriting, performing, producing...something else? Lyric writing.

When you are not doing music, what else do you enjoy doing? I am involved with our church as a parish council member. I have been working lately with redesigning the parish’s website. This is not exactly the same but is in the same ballpark as writing song lyrics. I am also an avid pickleball player. Beyond those things I enjoy quality time with my wife of 43 years.

What is coming up in the future for you? As stated earlier I am in the middle of releasing my new single "Jesus is Calling". I do have another single which is almost done being written. I believe will be next after "Jesus is Calling". It is untitled at the moment.


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