Musician Scott Goudeau left behind a successful career in the secular world to focus on Scripture-based music. He is now the music director and RCIA director at St. Stephen Catholic Community in Old Hickory, and has a new album out, “All Things New,” that he will promote by leading local parish missions this winter.

As a well-known rock musician in New Orleans, Scott Goudeau was playing guitar for the likes of Harry Connick Jr., Bernadette Peters and Englebert Humperdink. But God called him to follow a different path.
 
Now, Goudeau is creating music to immerse his listeners in Scripture and in the Catholic Church’s teachings.
 
His latest Christian album, “All Things New,” was released in November 2014.
 
An aficionado of many musical styles and a traveling musician since he was 15, Goudeau spent the next few decades of his life chasing stardom throughout South Louisiana and New Orleans. As a secular artist, he played alongside the Celestial Spring Jazz Quintet, the New Orleans Symphony Summer Pops Orchestra, and under bandleader Dick Stabile at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans. 
 
“I had a good career in the secular music world,” Goudeau said. “I was well-known in the Louisiana music scene. I was playing for Allen Touissant and other famous local musicians. I was writing music. I had my own band. I was a producer. I was doing audio engineering. And I felt God calling me to step away from all of it. I talked to my family about it and they supported me. I didn’t play or do anything related to music for about 6 months.”
 
The next time he played again, he was helping to lead music for Mass at St. Margaret Mary Church in Slidell, Louisiana.
 
Since then, he has moved to Nashville and played alongside Catholic artists Greg Walton, Joe Hand and Delores Park. He has also made several appearances on EWTN and was a featured presenter at New Zealand’s Eucharistic Congress in 2004.
 
He is currently the music director and RCIA director at St. Stephen Church in Old Hickory, and is pursuing catechetical certification from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio and from the Diocese of Nashville. He will earn his certifications in 2016.
 
“I wear two different hats at St. Stephen’s, but my two jobs there are related in a way. As an RCIA instructor, I’m trying to teach people about the faith. And as the music director preparing for the liturgy, I’m trying to connect the music for Mass to Scripture,” Goudeau said. “So I hope that the music I write teaches others about Catholicism, and that I can use it to hand on the faith to others in a clear and succinct way.”
 
In recording “All Things New,” he hoped to do just that.
 
“Some of my fellow parishioners encouraged me to record this album,” Goudeau said. “The title of it comes from a verse in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 43, where God says He will make all things new. It’s not a concept album with a unifying theme, but all my music is rooted in Scripture and consistency in Church teaching. The most important thing I hope to convey is that my songs are true to the faith.”
 
To promote “All Things New,” Goudeau will be doing a series of parish missions across Nashville, beginning in February.
 
“Of course, I’ll do concerts at these events, but I really want the main focus to be on Scripture,” he said. “The music speaks for itself, and I am called to teach others about the faith. Overall, I really just want my music to bring the Gospel message correctly.”
 
Goudeau will lead a parish mission at St. Stephen on Saturday, Feb. 21, the first weekend of Lent. He also will be having a meet-and-greet at St. Mary’s bookstore in Nashville on Saturday, Feb. 28. He hopes to have a good-sized turnout at both events. 
 
“All Things New” can be purchased at St. Mary’s, on iTunes, on Amazon.com, and on his website www.scottgodeaumusic.com. It can also be downloaded via Spotify.

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