Help Fund a 3-Song EP about Grief, Grace, & God in the Waiting

Hi, I’m Brian Spahr. I’m a songwriter, a pastor, and a storyteller.

In 2025, I gave myself a challenge: Write and share a new song every single week for a year. It was a messy, beautiful discipline. I recorded voice memos in my office, in the car, and at the kitchen table. Most of them were just rough sketches—moments in time that I shared and then moved on from.

But three of them stood out. They kept raising their hands and didn't want to stay as rough drafts on my phone. They wanted to be finished. These three songs tell a specific story about a place I visit often. It’s a place I call Struggleville Junction. Before you read any further, here's what I'm doing:

I am raising $4,500 to take these songs into the studio and bring them to life!

The Songs

This EP is a collection of "quiet companions" for the road between grief and grace. You can listen to the voice memo versions of each song by clicking on the title. Hopefully you'll be able to sense there is more here than my iPhone can capture.

1. Struggleville Holiday

This is the anthem for anyone who has ever felt stuck in a loop of anxiety. It’s about a town where the "currency is universal" and you can visit the "What-If Gallery" or the "Trail of Regret." It’s a little funny, a little sad, and very real.

2. Garbage and Gold

We all have that one box in the basement full of "hand-me-down clothes" and "worthless baseball cards." This song is about the hard work of letting go. It’s about realizing that sometimes we have to clear out the clutter—physical and emotional—to "make room for peace."

3. The Waiting Room

This song is the heart of the project. It’s set in a room with "humming fluorescents" and "chicken soup philosophy" on the wall. It’s a song that asks: What if the waiting isn't just wasted time? What if the waiting is where we find out we aren't alone?

Why I Need Your Support

I don't just want to record them; I can do that on my own. For these songs, I want to add the cello that makes you feel the "lonely relief," and percussion that sounds like a clock ticking in the waiting room. I want to involve some of my amazingly talented friends and work with Aaron and Vanessa Johnson and producer Nate Yake at Elev8 Sound Studios in Detroit (these folks get me and I'm can't wait to work with them!) This kind of work isn't cheap but I think creating something lasting and beautiful is worth investing in. 

Here's what your support will provide:

• Studio Time & Production: Producer Nate Yake is going to breathe all kinds of life into the songs and help the recording best express the heart and message behind them
• Session Musicians: I have incredible friends who can play the crud out of their instruments.  More important, they know how play what a song needs.
• Mixing & Mastering: The final polish. This is where it all comes together.
• Physical Copies of the CD: I like music I can hold! CDs aren't as cools as Vinyl, but they are still pretty awesome.

I hope you’ll join me in bringing these  songs to life. Thanks for all your support!