"The prayer behind it is that people
will not see the people on stage,
but will see Jesus."
Rhett Walker and Olivia Lane performed at the Ignite Men's Conference in Lynchburg, Virginia, and we sat with them to discuss their hopes of the weekend, as well as God's presence in their lives.
Interview by Cody Cooksey
March 13, 2026
What are your hopes for this weekend?
Rhett - Every show we go and do, the prayer behind it is that people will not see the people on stage, but will see Jesus. That they'll find grace, mercy, whatever it may be. People come in here, and are finally able to release some of the demons, struggles, and frustrations. That’s my prayer for this weekend, that it could be a weekend of freedom for once.
Olivia - I was going to say the same thing, just to lay something down and to leave it. Lay it at the altar and don’t pick it back up again. Just let it go.
What brought you into the music scene?
Olivia - I was originally in country music because I wasn't a believer until 2018. I learned to write a song in Nashville, did country music for a while, and then the Lord got a hold of my heart in 2018 and I decided I don't want to do country music anymore. I want to do Christian music, try and write a Jesus song, and it turns out, it's gone pretty well for me so far. So I think I'm gonna stay here as long as the Lord calls me to it, stay obedient and see what happens.
Rhett - I grew up as a worship leader and everything kind of unfolded. My wife and I, married 22 years this year, were a teenage pregnancy story. I wrote a song about that. It got nominated for a Grammy and off it went, so I’ve been going through whatever door God opens until He closes it.
Tell me a little bit about your most recent album “Days That We Dreamed Of”?
Rhett - My first song ever was about that teenage pregnancy moment. I knew that not everybody has that moment, but everybody has a moment where they go “I'm on a quick road to destruction. I need Jesus, or whatever that thing is, and then you find out it is just Jesus." Now that we're celebrating my oldest daughter turning 21, and celebrating 22 years of marriage, I wanted to just look back over the 20 years when I wrote it. I was like, "What has God done?" Every time something would have hit the fan, or looked bad, or felt weird, every time I look back on those moments where I got scared or anxious or worried, God was always faithful. Every single time, He was faithful and constant. So I was like, "Man, I want to write because we are living the days that we dreamed of." A lot of people think of that, and they go, "Oh, once I get this house, once I get this promotion…", No, you're living that. God is faithful every day, you’ve got food on the table, a family that loves each other. These are the days that we dreamed of. It kind of encapsulates those past 20 years.
Tell me what it's like to host Sirius XMs The Message.
Olivia - It's a job I never thought I'd have, and I'm so glad I do. It is a testament to how sometimes you just have to feel the fear and feel so inadequate and do it anyway, if God is there with you through it, because He has the best things in store, even when we are so scared. I feel like sometimes in the Christian world, they say “you'll know it's right if you feel the peace.” I didn't feel the peace. There was a knowing that I needed to step through that door. Not knowing what the outcome was going to be, I was fully prepared to be fired, but now, here we are three years later, and it has refined my faith, who I am as a musician, and who I am as a person, a wife, and a mother, and it's helped me grow in my faith, too. Being able to encourage people every day is such a blessing, and such an honor. It's really cool. One tip that I've really learned is the economy of words. You can make two minutes feel like 30 seconds, or you can make 30 seconds feel like two minutes. In learning to tell a story, Jesus was the best. He told the best parables and got right to the point, and they were so deep layered. I just want to tell a story like Jesus. So the more that I can learn and understand the Word, hopefully that will help me in my storytelling. So if anybody wants to be in radio, learn how to tell a story.
Rhett - I love how you said “do it through fear.” Me and my family, especially my kids, have a saying where we say, "Do crap scared." You might be scared half to death, but do it. You might fail, but just do it.
Where has God been in your life lately?
Rhett - This is the first tour that all but one of my kids are on stage with me at the same time. I've got my son, he plays guitar, my oldest daughter sings, but now my youngest daughter sings, and my wife travels with me, and my youngest son travels, of course. I got signed in 2012, and it’s like I just hit the road. This is ministry, this has power, and I think there's something special about your kids being able to see you be vulnerable and go, "God, I need you”, day after day. He's finally opened up that door after working 12 years. I get to wake up on the bus with Olivia and all these cool people, my wife and four kids. This is my youngest daughter's first show. It's only the blessing of His grace that he'd go “You've worked hard, so here you go”, and to be able to do it is awesome.
Olivia - It's also a testament too, of you being Christ led and the leader of your family, you know? Being able to see that on the road. I was just talking with my husband and saying I want to do what Rhett and his family are doing. I want to have the family together. You know what I mean? It's cool for me now that you ask where God is in my life. I think I'm starting to understand that I need to shift my mindset to “how do I genuinely get on stage and worship, and kind of shed that performer identity?”, because the Lord has just been pruning me so much in that area, and I'm sure He will continue to do that. I've been walking with the Lord for eight years, but it still feels like my world has been completely turned upside down, and I'm still learning so many things. He gave me the scripture Colossians 3:23 recently (“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."), and I really struggle with that. I really struggle with perfectionism, or people pleasing and not pleasing just God, for an audience of one. So it'll be really, really awesome to see people who are older and wiser, who have been doing it longer.
Rhett - TobyMac did it best. Somebody said something about people pleasing in an interview, and he said “To be an artist, you have to be a people pleaser.” How do I bring this audience in? If I just go up there and just sing, it could be a worship song, but they're not brought in. You have to try to perfect that. I'm doing this. I'm people pleasing for the Lord. For the Lord.
Olivia - That's exactly what my husband said. He said, "Well, if you have a problem with it, just give it to the Lord.” Let him use your people pleasing. I've never thought about it that way. Okay, that's good advice. I feel like the Lord is really asking me in this season to just try to let it go. Let's just try to let it go, try to just focus on me. It feels like it's a brand new season.
Check out Rhett Walker on Instagram, Spotify, and RHETT WALKER.
Check out Olivia Lane on Instagram, Spotify, and OLIVIA LANE.
Rhett Walker and Olivia Lane with We Are Vessels Media's Cody Cooksey