 Once you feel his touch, his love, your life will never be the same. Beautiful gifted singer, songwriter, speaker, author, Kathy Tricholi has served on the mission field all over the world, performing before millions for decades. Her numerous accolades include 24 recordings, 18 number one radio hits, two Grammy nominations, and the list goes on and on. Today, God is taking her down a new path, songs and sparks, the power of the spoken word with song to let his light shine through. This is her story. This is today's Nashville. This is faith. Beautiful Kathy Tricholi. I am so honored to sit down with you. I have been a huge fan of yours since I think the 90s. And what a blessing it is to be with you. Thank you. It really is fun to just sit down in my home and have an interview. It feels homey and warm and sweet, so I appreciate it so much. Thank you for inviting me into your gorgeous home. How long have you been in Nashville? Well, on and off for years, believe it or not, by Dan Harold, Mike Blanton, who managed Amy Grant, Michael Smith, they found me in New York and moved me down to try to get a record deal for me. So I lived with the Grant family for a little while, and then I left Christian music and then came back. Still lived in New York, was kind of going back and forth, and then probably the last 20 years have been here. Let's go back to New York. From the very beginning, you were born in Brooklyn. Born in Brooklyn, yeah. Tell me about your family growing up and your mom and dad and everything that took you from Brooklyn back to here. Point A to point B to Z. It's a long time. Well, born in Brooklyn and big, as you can imagine, not at the internal Italian family, but external, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. So my parents took me and my sister out to Long Island, 50 miles outside of New York City, and we were on the south shore of Long Island. I was two miles from the ocean. That's why living in Nashville, I always say when we have those hot summers, gosh, I miss the beach. And people go, miss the beach, and I'll always go Long Island and Island, and they go, oh yeah, we forget. So I moved to Long Island in the 60s, and we were around my mother's family, her sisters, uncles, cousins. So that's where I was brought up. My family or my cousins were my friends until probably high school where I branched out, but it was always about family there. What was high school like? Were you already thinking about a music career? Well, what happened was, you remember the tapestry record, right, Carol King? Musically, I was weaned on the big band, the Tony Bennett's, the Frank Sinatra's being the Italian family. But then at that time, in the 70s, it was James Taylor, it was Carol King, it was Carly Simon. So I had Carol King's tapestry record on, and I was singing, so far away, doesn't anybody. And my father, at the time, he passed away at 46 years old, but he knocked on my door, and he said, Kathleen, sing that for daddy again. And I was just singing to the record. He says, it sounds so good. So he kind of discovered my voice. And then I had a Spanish teacher. I would kind of start singing with the guitar, and I loved her and would meet her on one shower instead of being with my friends. And she put me, she wanted people to hear my voice. So she did a variety show around me in 10th grade. And I remember wearing a Carol King's tapestry shirt. I sat at the edge of the stage. I only knew like three songs on the guitar. She had other people, but she wanted to introduce me to my peers. And from that moment on, I was like the singer in high school. I did everything musical. So it was really, and I played the flute, too, in the marching band, believe it or not, at that time. But, and I used to, side note, used to lie about my age, 15, 16 years old, and I started singing in the clubs in the tri-state area. It's 16. 16. Believe it or not, my mother was so strict, but she was like that Italian mom, Kathleen, you were born to sing. You were born to sing. So whatever, you know, had to do with my voice. So I went, and it was really interesting because, you know, I was singing in that, that clanking, drinking, drunk atmosphere. But I was singing, you know, embrace me, my sweet embraceable, you all the standards, you know. And then I'd come Wednesday nights, Friday, Saturday nights, and then I'd go to school. Your voice is just amazing. Were you a believer at this time, or? No, I was what I call a creaster. Christmas and Easter. CEO. Christmas, Easter only. You're a CEO. Oh, CEO. I haven't heard, can I steal that from you? Yeah, you can take that. Yeah, that what, I mean, we had crucifix, you know, the whole Italian, I joke about it, you know, in some houses it was in every room above the toilet, but it was seriously for good luck. There wasn't a concept of, it was a religion. It was a religious God. It wasn't a personal God. And that's all I knew, really. But I had a sense, like even when I received my Holy Communion, I was in third grade and I remember just looking at the wall at the church, you know, as God woos us. I think back at some of those, and I remember as a little girl going, God, are you here? Where are you? Are you real? That kind of thing. And so, you know, he answers our prayer even when we don't really know what we're praying. He answers. Yes, he does. After 16, going into the clubs and singing, what happened after that? Well, I decided, I didn't want to go to college. I wanted to just be a singer. And my mother was a widow and my mother was also concerned about me not getting an education. So I decided I went to Berkeley Jazz School in Boston and went there for just a year and then came back home. And that summer, I was working a summer job. I wasn't making enough money in clubs and it was at a community pool. And I was in the office and a girl was reading her Bible every single day during her lunch hour. And I'd never seen anyone read the Bible before. I mean, it was really literally on an end table, in a living room, in a bedroom. It was for the holy people. And she read it, but not only read it, I could, you know, that aroma of Christ. She had it. I didn't know what I was smelling, but it was Jesus. And so through the course of the summer, she really kind of led me to the Lord and invited me to her church, prayed the prayer of inviting Jesus in my heart with her youth pastor. I love that. And I was 20 years old. 20 years old. You faced a lot of trials, though. You were talking about your father, your mom being a widow. And you lost your dad at a young age, right? Were you a teenager? Yes. I was 15 just turning 16. And so it was clearly, as you can imagine, pretty traumatic at that age to lose the male figure in your household. And so, you know, it was a big blow. I was a lot closer to my mom, but my dad was a sweet man, a kind man, but it was still a huge loss for me at a time where I needed a father. You know, Kathy, we're going to talk about it in a minute, but God has done and has taken you on an amazing journey. And we're going to talk about it right after the break. Kathy, at the age of 20, you met the Lord and embraced him. Let's talk about that time and where he has taken you. Yeah, 20 years old. Can you believe that by 24 years old, I was a national artist? So within those four years, it was a whirlwind. But, you know, I just started reading the Gospels and, you know, you could either just go, this is crazy, he's a liar, or you can go on my word, he's Lord. He's exactly who he says he is. And that's what happened for me. And this is so crazy to think about because of a lot of my friends that were brought up in the church knew that there was Christian music out there. I had no idea. I thought Christian music was black gospel music. So I just started writing my love songs to God. I had no idea I'm writing on the piano. I play a little piano, writing on guitar. And the youth pastor, I was going to that church after I went to my friend's church. That's the church I started attending. And I'd go in and play my little songs. And he'd go, you know this music out there like this. And I said there is. And he told me about Amy Grant. Did you know Amy's song or not? Oh, I knew nothing. I knew nothing. I knew Sinatra. I knew Carol King. I didn't know any Christian music at all. I mean I knew some holy hymns of the church that I heard, but nothing. And so what happened was, I just started singing a little bit at my church then someone would go, you know, there's a coffee house at this church all over Long Island. So I'd sing at one. I'd get invited to five. And my mother, you can't even believe what I was going through at the time with my family. Oh my God, she's born again. She's born again. She's an occult. You know, and they were like, had no idea that I had found the love of my life. You know, when are you going to sing normal music? What is it? And then I come home, you know, drive home. I might get $20 for singing. My mother was like, they're Christians. What are they paying you? You know, all that stuff. It was kind of crazy. But so at my church, the group Glad, remember Glad? They were coming in for a concert. And the youth pastor said, I want you to sing those two songs. You know, I had maybe two, three at this time, the songs were getting more and more. He said, just sing a couple before Glad. I was starting to do it, but you know, you got to realize these churches, who's fallen down, who's speaking in tongues, who say you can't raise your hand. I mean, it was all new to me. But I did sing two songs before them. And within six months they called my pastor and they said, we've had that Italian girl on our hearts. What is she doing? We want to put out money for a demo. We think she needs to really be heard. And so what happened was they were with Word Records and they did a demo and they played it for Mike Blanton, who was just joining with Dan Harrell. They were managing Amy Grant at the time. They were just about to manage Michael W. Smith and they flew to New York. I met my mom. What did your mom think? Well, at this time, my mother was so supportive, even though she didn't understand it all. I mean, my mother wanted me to sing like Streisand. But by this time, and my mother met the Lord when she was dying, so my mother was, my mother's, I'm going to see her again. But at the time, she just, whatever's going to get me to sing. So she welcomed them. But I remember Dan coming with the green corduroy pants and the pink ox shirt. My Italian elders were like, who are these guys from Nashville, you know? But they just told my mom, we'll take care of her. We want to move it down south. So I did. And that's when I moved in with Amy's older sister and Dan Harrell. And they tried to get me a record deal. What two songs were they? Do you remember the two demos? Oh, gosh. I don't remember. They were songs I wrote. Okay. They were songs I wrote. I was writing a ton. But then after I got to Nashville, and you know this Terry, like, in your big fish in a small pond. So I was writing songs and everybody's like, they're so great, they're so great. You come to Nashville, they're not so great. And you've got to be okay to go. Your ears are pretty great. Well, I'm a songwriter now and I appreciate you saying that. But what I came to Nashville with, I had to understand that they weren't so great, that I needed better songs. So long story short, I sang for everybody. Nobody wanted to sign me. No one. They said she's a cabaret singer. She's not meant for Christmas. She's got to go back. And I was like, I remember calling my mom going, you know, maybe I'll get some gigs in New York, Mom. They started reunion records because of me. They said, we will start. You'll be our first record. And that's when I got, I sang a lot of Michael Smith songs. Michael and Amy wrote Stubborn Love. And much to my blessing and surprise, it sold 100,000 units in six months. And reunion records was started. Amazing. Isn't that wonderful? It was so great. But it was wild because, I mean, I was a baby Christian. I was a baby Christian doing this stuff. That was in the, what, 80s or 90s? 82 was my first record. So it's 41 years I'm doing this. When people don't know my history, and I say it on stage, I always say I was a child prodigy. It started when I was five. But, you know, I'm getting to still create and do and sing and have an audience. And with all that's happening in the world, I still get to have a voice. Well, you're so loved. Everybody knows your voice. You have such a different, unique voice. Thank you. And when people, you know, I tell people, I want to interview Kathy, oh, I love Kathy Turcoli. Oh, I love that. That's so nice of you. You are so loved. Thank you. So after you, after the hits, and you were assigned, what happened then? Well, honestly, I used this sentence a lot. We could be, our gifts could be intact, but we could be a mess. And so I was suffering with an eating disorder called bulimia. I was suffering with a little bit of depression. You know, it's sort of like God writes our story in his book, and we got to catch up to the story. But I was thrown out there because of my talent, but my heart wasn't. You know, that's why sometimes I say, well, these young artists on radio, when you get older, you're catching up to your story. And you have so much more to say, because God matures you. But I still, I sang and I was on the road, but I was not well. So I got out of Christian music for a while and moved back home. It's amazing sometimes that, you know, when people look at you and everything looks nice and shiny on the outside. That's exactly right. But inside, you know, you have a storm raging. And we're going to talk about that right after the break. Kathy, you were talking about taking a break. You needed to walk away because you were struggling with some challenges. Can you tell me about it? Well, you know, I could have kept going. But, you know, we have to reach a point where we also know that we need help. You know, you're sick and tired of being sick and tired that term. I think there's a lot of career Christians. You know, we just kind of put the car in drive and we keep going and we get away with the mask in the facade because our personal power, our charm, our gifts go before us and they carry us. And people will still write notes when their sermon is going on. People will still raise their hands and praise the Lord because God will use our gifts in spite of ourselves. But what's going on inside? What's really going on inside? He cares about our soul. All this is going to waste away. That's why Jesus, when he was touching people and healing people, what did he say, Terry? He said, you guys, I'm doing the New York version of it now. You guys are so impressed with me doing all this. But I want you to be more impressed with the fact that I could forgive you because it was about the soul. And so now, I wasn't even near as I started to get well where I am now, but it was a process of going, yes, I need to get well. Getting into counseling, I had to look at the stuff that was inside. You know, Psalm 51, you know, let there be truth in my spirit. Let my truth into your spirit. Be honest. And so I had to get that stuff up and out because then the true river of life comes out and splashes on people and not pollution, not going through rusty, dirty pipes. And so I had to do some work to get well. And before I knew it, the addiction of bulimia fell off. Just I started to get well on my person. I found a little church on Long Island. I was bitter towards Christians. I was bitter towards Christian music as far as like a lot of things I encountered as a baby Christian. I got in this church. It was just like a little hospital for me. I got up every time they asked for prayer. It's like that God, make me what you've made me. Have at me. Have at me. And you know, slowly but surely I became well and continue to become well. I mean, I still came back into Christian music and had stuff. Terry, who doesn't have stuff? We have stuff, but are you willing to go through the Gethsemane time like Jesus did? Not to compare ourselves, but I'm really afraid. I don't want to look at this. I don't want to die. Jesus invites us to die. Who wants to die? Do you? I don't want to die. We want the resurrection without the passion. See? And so what I needed to do was just go, yes. That's there and I hate it. Holiness is not a joy ride. It's not a walk in the park. And Terry, you know these days, even in the church, people going, Jesus is love. He's love, but isn't Jesus love? Jesus is also holy. He is. He's holy and he wants a holy church. So in my own personal life, I'm on that path of what is it God? Whatever is not of you and whatever is of you, let me walk in that path. I love that. So at that time, 10 years, it took you 10 years? Yeah, I mean, it was a process. It's all been a process. I came back, but I'd say the last, I would say honestly the last 10 years, 15 years of my life have been me catching up to my story. I love it. You know, you did write a song and sing a song that I love the most. And it is about God who's, that he is love. Yes. But you're right. I mean, a lot of people want to look in to say that, that he is holy. But can you sing a little bit of that song for me? Sure. Yeah. Well, there's a part in it says, some call him a prophet, some call him a saint, some couldn't believe their eyes or the words he had to say. Some thought he was crazy, some thought he was strange, but I have felt his touch and I'll never be the same. I call him love, I call him mercy. And that's the kind of God that's going to come at us. We're afraid because we think him coming out to that place, Terry. It's going to be like our father's came at us or he's going to be guilting us or it's going to be passive aggressive or it's going to be manipulative. God doesn't work that way with our stuff. I'm learning a ton as I dig in. He'll give us all we want of heaven. He'll fill us up if we ask him. What's next for you? Well, I've been, I think probably a lot of people have gone through this with COVID. COVID was kind of the spot where I went. I'm at this almost 40 years. I'm on the road. I'm doing this and that. You know, you kind of, and I'm entrepreneurial, so I'm always doing what is the next thing, next thing. And I really felt like the Lord was asking me to sit and wait and have him show me each thing I was supposed to do. So the only thing that came in my mind was I'm going to take the low hanging fruit of people that want to hear me sing. And then the most beautiful thing was creating new music with Dr. Michelle Morgiata that I started a year ago. It's called Songs and Sparks. We were recording our own music. And Terry, it's some of the most beautiful stuff. David Wilkerson said, Christian music should come out of the womb of holiness. And I've been asking God, please let that come from me. So we've been writing this and so I've been calling it Songs and Sparks. Sparks are, I'm doing a little message before the song and then I'm singing the song. So it's just started the last year. You can find it on all streaming platforms. We only have about a minute or so left. What do you want to say to somebody that's struggling today that is listening to you and the message that you have for them? I want to say to you that there's been times where I wanted to even take my own life. And you can't believe when you're in the midst of it that there'll be a new day. You can't believe when Jesus was on the cross that there was going to be a resurrection three days later. His people all around him didn't believe it. But I'm telling you, it's been a new day for Cathy Tricholi in all the darkest nights of my soul. You put your stake in the ground. You stay in the Word. You get around good people that are going to speak to you about Jesus, that are living Jesus. And you put that truth in your soul and it will grow. The seeds of it will grow into a beautiful garden. And before you know it, you're going to find freedom. You're going to find healing. You're going to find a clear conscience. You're going to find ways that you're hearing God in the ways you've never heard Him before. You hang in there. He's a God who never, ever lets us go, ever. Cathy, thank you so much. What a blessing you are. Thank you. You know, the Word says, when you live in love, you live in God and God lives in you. Call Him love today. He is your holy God. This is Today's Nashville. This is faith.