Oh, Me Of Little Faith

In my continuous journey to find and highlight exceptional songwriting, I arrived this month on “Oh, Me Of Little Faith,” a song written for the contemporary Christian genre and successfully introduced to bluegrass fans by the husband-and-wife team of Wayne Benson (Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out) and Kristin Scott Benson (The Grascals) as part of their forthcoming project on Mountain Home Music.

First written and recorded by artist Matthew West (Live Forever, 2015), the song in Kristin and Wayne Benson’s hands could, I think, prove to be a treasure the likes of Blue Highway’s “Someday” and other beloved bluegrass gospel favorites.  

Released in April 2022, “Little Faith” has been well received by radio. It remained on the Bluegrass Today Gospel Chart for seven weeks, where it hit #1. Mountain Home A & R Director Jon Weisberger called it “well-crafted” and a “great illustration” of why he’s excited to see this music power couple finally getting to record together. “I recall hearing a rough mix of ‘Oh, Me Of Little Faith,’ when it was recorded and being knocked out,” he said. “Kristin and Wayne are thoughtful musicians; that’s evident in their taking note of the song in the first place, in the careful arrangement, and, as always, in their playing.”

From Sorrow Comes Joy and Discovery

“I love listening to adult contemporary Christian artists like Andrew Peterson,” said Kristin, who despite being “fairly in touch” with the genre for many years, first learned of West’s body of work through the illness and passing of a loved one. 

“It’s sad and joyous at the same time,” she explained. “I lost my first cousin to a brain tumor. While he was passing, his family was around him singing a Matthew West song, ‘Heaven is the Hope.’ They played the song at the service, and I loved it. It starts out slow, a typical song you envision singing in that moment, but then turns lively and celebratory. That’s exactly how Kin lived and died. He was the happiest, most magnetic personality, and he and his family honored God throughout the whole thing.”

After the service, Kristin listened to West’s music. “When I got to ‘Oh, Me Of Little Faith,’ it was one of those moments when you feel like a song was written specifically for you,” she recalled. “In [the book of] Mark, there’s a story about a desperate father who begs Jesus to heal his son, but Jesus questions his faith. The father says, ‘I do believe. Help my unbelief.’ I think everyone can relate to that. We have faith, but it isn’t unwavering. Also, I’ve always had the thought, ‘Faith isn’t all I lack. I need help with everything else, too: love, strength, hope, peace. This song speaks to that. As soon as I heard it, I knew I would record it somewhere, some way.” 

The Writer and the Writing

A five-time GRAMMY^® nominated artist and Dove Award “Songwriter of the Year,” West has more than 130 songwriting credits to his name, with cuts by Rascal Flatts, Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, and many others. After recently winning his fifth career ASCAP Christian “Songwriter of the Year” award, West revealed some thoughts about writing for others when he said, “It’s proof to me that God can work all things for good … I feel so thankful to write and record songs that I’m passionate about but then also be just as passionate about working with some of my favorite artists, being part of how they share their story with the world.” 

“Little Faith” covers much spiritual ground by using repetition and consistency—two powerful tools for a songwriter. In this song, West delivers that uniformity even as each verse explores a different spiritual quality—faith, hope, peace, love, strength—while staying on topic within each stanza. As a bonus, each verse shares strong lines related to its subject. For example, in the verse beginning “Oh, me of little faith,” West includes the line “I’m down to my last mustard seed.”  What areward for listeners—and similar nuggets are found in subsequent verses (e.g., Oh, me of little strength / I’m weary from this heavy weight … Oh, me of little hope / What I would give to know, etc.). 

While consistency helps move listeners along, even a pleasant pattern can grow tiresome. Thankfully, just as we might get weary, West supplies a subtle change—and more information—in the chorus, which sums up well the singer’s personal conflict between doubt and trust (Lord, I believe but help my unbelief cause / trust and fear are fighting and I’m somewhere in between). It goes further then to discuss the WHY behind the trouble believing (I’ll never understand how you, a God of endless grace / can love oh me of little faith). 

Putting a Project Together

The chance to record the song came in 2020 when Kristin and Wayne—usually busy with separate touring schedules—found themselves home together with something unusual: spare time. Wayne recalled the sudden shift brought on by the pandemic. “During the shutdown, musicians were trying to reinvent what they could do,” he said. “IIIrd Tyme Out went 18 months with only about six gigs. Normally, we play 100 shows a year, with travel days, rehearsal, and studio time. Kristin and I both went from this full-throttle schedule to just sitting at home. It was a crazy adjustment, and we would look around and be like, ‘Whoa, the dishwasher’s unloaded, the clothes are washed, Hogan’s not hungry right now, and we’ve already vacuumed the floor.’ You could actually think about something else, and that’s how this project was born.”

Having decided to record “Little Faith,” the couple began considering who could sing lead on the song. Their thoughts went to their worship pastor and friend, Heath Williams. “Heath is a great musician, singer, and writer,” said Kristin. “He has amazing pipes, and every time we hear him, he inspires us. We asked him, and he said he would. Heath isn’t a bluegrass artist, but he’s so versatile that we’ve adopted him into the bluegrass family.” 

Wayne added, “Yes, we were lucky to have Heath’s vocal tone and delivery on this. He is very much influenced by the contemporary Christian genre musically, so it made a nice blend to have him sing this track. The overall arrangement and what we arrived at is like some of the music that we play in church, where we work to blend what we do (with banjo and mandolin) with what the contemporary musicians there bring to the table.”

Getting Out of the Way

In listening to West’s version and then to the Benson’s version of “Little Faith,” it’s apparent that Kristin and Wayne didn’t have to “change” the song’s feel to make it a “bluegrass” song. “I love playing banjo on this kind of song, and I tend to gravitate to songs with this feel,” said Kristin of the way the song lopes easily along. “Our objective with the arrangement was to not get in the way of the song. 

“We just did a barn burner, ‘Red Mountain Wine,’ that is all about the picking. There’s certainly a place for that, and it’s so much fun, but there’s also a place for the understated, smooth approach that we took to this song. Our goal was to honor the lyrics while supporting them in a tasteful way.” 

“Oh, Me Of Little Faith” was the second of four singles released so far from the album Benson, which is set for release early in 2023. Kristin and Wayne are both back to living under the busy schedules that come with being “band” people, as they call themselves. 

Find out more about Wayne Benson and Kristin Scott Benson and the Benson project by visiting mountainhomemusiccompany.com. Also, check out another resource that developed from pandemic-related downtime, Wayne’s World of Mandolin (YouTube). Learn more about Matthew West at matthewwest.com.