HOME

My new album - NOW AVAILABLE

This mammoth new album, inspired by the concerts that began during lockdown, features some brilliant young guest musicians and is now available to buy.

Home - album cover

On March 28 2020, as the world wrestled with words like ‘pandemic’ and ‘lockdown’, I set my iPhone on the end of my piano and began to play. I’d been moved to pray, write, and share what I could, and that first concert included a brand new composition, ‘Love’s Ever Presence’.

40 Facebook Live concerts and 60 new songs later, I find that many have been inspired by my growing understanding of HOME – our spiritual centre of peace, joy and power, ever-present and available to all. I pray that this selection – this labour of Love – brings peace and healing to all who listen.

HOME includes new settings to words by Mary Baker Eddy, William Luce, Robert Key and from the Bible, plus new arrangements of a couple of old favourites. And I’m hugely grateful to have been able to include my old Newsong Group friend and colleague, Tamsin Bland, and her two musically gifted, grown-up sons Jamie and Monty, without him I couldn’t have made this album the way I imagined it.

It’s taken a while to get here, but I hope you’ll agree it was worth the wait.

Thank you for your help. If you contributed to my Indiegogo campaign you’ll be getting your ‘perks’ as soon as I can.

Music reaches beyond national and denominational borders; it can lift, heal and connect with people of all beliefs and none. I’d love this work to bless more people - and it’s never been more important than now to find ways to connect with and support our fellow children of God.

Please do share with all those who might appreciate this CD full of new tracks.

With love

Andrew x

This Is The Time To Pray: My single for Christian Aid

 
 

50% of all sales goes to Christian Aid’s COVID-19 appeal

If ever there was a time that the world needed prayer and healing, now is that time.

This Is The Time To Pray - Andrew D Brewis Cover.jpg

We’re all going through a particularly weird time at the moment, and I find my peace through my music and writing new tunes to wonderful words.

So when a listener to my lockdown concerts sent me a poem by William Aubert Luce, called This Is The Time To Pray, I immediately felt drawn to set it to music. Six weeks later, it’s ready for the world. My hope is that its healing message will reach the widest possible audience. Plus 50% of the sale price of each download will be donated to Christian Aid’s COVID-19 appeal.

I hope the song will inspire people of all faiths and none to pause, reflect and pray. And then send some money to Christian Aid. Their local partners are hard at work in some of the poorest parts of the world, providing basic essentials like soap and water to prevent infection in places where health care is sparse. You can help by:

You can download the single right now from my shop and beat the rush! Or you can…

You can also help me spread the word by sharing this page on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and wherever else you spend your online social time. Thank you!

Press release

A Hymn for the world - A fundraiser for its poorest

Hymn writer teams with Christian Aid to raise funds for Covid 19 appeal

Singer and hymn writer Andrew D. Brewis is hoping to raise thousands of pounds for Christian Aid’s COVID-19 Appeal with his new single, This Is The Time To Pray. The new song, based on a poem by the late William Aubert Luce, has been written, recorded and published in just six weeks, and was released on Saturday, May 23rd on thetimetopray.com.

“If ever there was a time that the world needed prayer and healing, now is that time,” says Andrew, who composed and performs the song. “William’s poem is beautiful, simple, urgent, and inclusive. And even though it was written years ago, it’s both completely timeless and really timely. It urges us to take a good look at ourselves, and to look to God for direction.”

“When I read the poem, I knew it was a healing and unifying thought that deserved to be shared as widely as possible. And I thought it could do some added good if it raised money for a worthy cause.”

Christian Aid will receive 50% of the takings from the new single for their COVID-19 appeal. “As hard-pressed as we are here, there are many other parts of the world where this disease could be completely devastating,” says Andrew. “As Christian Aid is fond of saying, ‘Love unites us all’ and I think that’s a message that’s shared by the song. I’d love it to be shared widely: I think the message can bring us all together, and the funds raised will help those most in need.”

Jill Stone, one of Christian Aid’s UK regional managers was delighted when Andrew called to offer to raise money for the COVID-19 appeal with his song.

“We are thrilled that Andrew is raising money for us through the launch of this song. The lyrics talk about joy and hope, light and love, and we all need more of that. Our local partners are working quickly to limit the impact of coronavirus in some of the most vulnerable communities around the world, providing basic essentials like soap and water to prevent infection in places where health provision is totally inadequate.”

This Is The Time To Pray, by Andrew D. Brewis, was released as a digital download at www.thetimetopray.com on Saturday May 23rd, and will be released on iTunes, Amazon Music, Youtube and Spotify on Wednesday May 27th.

About the song and its singer

Andrew has been a singer/songwriter and jazz musician for 35 years and has been writing inspirational music for 15. He’s recorded around 80 tracks on a collection of CDs, performed them in the USA and South Africa as well as at home in the UK, and eight of his hymns have been published in a hymnal used in churches all over the world. But he’s never written and recorded something as fast as this.

“We’re all going through a particularly weird time at the moment, and I find my peace through my music and writing new tunes to wonderful words,” says Andrew. “I’ve been performing weekly inspirational concerts online since the UK lockdown started, and a Facebook friend sent me this poem to see if I’d like to write a melody for it.

“The music came to me all at once, like an answered prayer. Then on April 11th, I shared what I’d written with my Saturday night audience. Their response was really positive.”

As a performing artist, Andrew’s own earnings have collapsed during the Lockdown, with 45 upcoming gigs cancelled. And with a young family to support, he couldn’t afford to record the song. So he turned to his loyal fans. “I launched an Indiegogo campaign and raised over 500 pounds to pay for the studio time – all carefully socially distanced, of course!”

This Is The Time To Pray was first published as a poem in 1963. As a playwright and screenwriter, William Aubert Luce wrote works for Julie Harris, Christopher Plummer, George C. Scott and Claire Bloom, among many others. He also crafted a number of poems that have been set to music and sung as solos or choral pieces in churches all over the world. Sadly, Luce passed away last December, aged 88, but his godson, Grant, has been in touch with Andrew from British Columbia in Canada to give his blessing.

Andrew hopes the song will inspire people of all faiths and none to pause, reflect and pray. And then send some money to Christian Aid. “I’m not sure we’re going to manage Colonel Tom’s giddy heights,” says Andrew, “but every penny will make a difference.”

Lyrics

The words of the song, slightly adapted from William Luce’s original 1963 poem, are:

CHORUS
This is the time when the world must pray
To hear the Father's call,
This is the time to tear each wall down,
And free us, one and all.
This is the time to forget the past,
And find a better way,
This is the time when heart meets heart,
This is the time to pray.

VERSE 1
This is the time to be strong and bold,
To fight for what is right,
This is the time for a song of joy
To end the lonely night,
This is the time for clouds of strife
To fade and melt away.
This is the time to pray.

VERSE 2
This is the time when the streams of hope
Must overflow the land,
This is the time to put all your faith
Into the Father's hands,
This is the time to make war and hate
The dreams of yesterday.
This is the time to pray.

NOTES TO EDITORS