An intro to the SOFHAL website
by Mal Graetz
The SONGS-of-faith-hope-and-love website was launched in October 2020.
The idea of the music website originated from a website produced by my son in 2018. The thought was to include music from Christian artists on that site to download for free. After that site wound up, I began talks with Rod Boucher about the idea of producing a website for pre 2000 songs.
My challenge was, how do I salvage all my old records and cassette tapes of Christian artists that I still valued? Many of the songs still seemed vibrant and relevant for post 2000. After a gathering with Rod Boucher and Gerry Holmes on the outskirts of Melbourne in April 2019, we resolved to make the dream a reality. In mid 2020, Chris Adams came on board to remaster the songs. He has been instrumental in enhancing the old recordings from the 1970’s-1990’s.
I first met Rod (and Vivi) Boucher in his “One Man Band” days after I came to study in Adelaide in 1972, the heady days of the counterculture and “Jesus Movement”. Good*God recording studio was dreamed about by Rod and took shape in 1977 in Adelaide, South Australia. Many groups and individuals passed through Good*God Studio during the late 1970s – 1980s. The recordings were provided free of charge according to God’s provision, whereby Christian artists and performers would have access to the facilities provided by God through faith.
I connected with Gerry and Jo Holmes in our “Jireh Christian Community” days in Norwood in the 1980’s when we met at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church. I have been inspired by Gerry and Rod’s musical gifts and have enjoyed working with both of them and their families over the decades.
The overall aspiration of the SOFHAL Music Project is to digitalize and archive pre 2000 songs from Christian Artists in Australia (and beyond). The purpose of the website is to freely distribute pre 2000 songs and music from Christian Artists in Australia (and beyond).
There is no charge for artists to have their albums on the SOFHAL website. Any songs we offer for download are free of charge. We want to make available the lyrics, the lyrics & chords and where possible the sheet music. We encourage participating artists to have a web page to share their own musical journey.
We also want to promote artists featured on the SOFHAL website by providing links to any of their other songs or albums on music sites or their own personal website.
Please note that any albums included on the SOFHAL website are subject to the discretion of the site promoters.
To contact us, please fill out the form below. We'd value any
feedback to improve the website.
Feel free to suggest any albums for us to consider for uploading.