A songwriter that strives to "grab" the attention of people through his music and message of Christ to draw them near to God, TALON is singer/songwriter and producer of his first album, "No Turning Back" which showcases songs that show the need for total reliance on God. The album covers various themes of the human condition such as trials, triumphs, frustration, internal struggle, and overcoming obstacles written in a universal context to relate to all ages. Lyrically honest, real, and reflective, the album seeks to connect its listeners through the human condition and the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Composing and producing all 12 tracks, with co-producing by DJ Karl Forde on “Long Live the King”, including audio engineering throughout the album from Gerrick Moore, TALON's sound of Christian Pop on this album aims to deliver with its timeless message. As a songwriter first and foremost, his heart and passion for music remains the same right down to the imagery in his pen name; to “grab” the attention of all who will listen by sharing the importance of Christ and encouraging people to ignite their passion for God in their own lives. Expect the album to strive for nothing less. --- Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Thank You Letter: To Father God, Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit: this album is all for Your glory. You are my reasons and confidence for doing this. Thank you for giving me the gift to create music for You. Thank you for shaping me in the creation of these songs that You have given me and for giving me the ability to present it to bless and encourage the body of Christ and all those that don’t know You. I pray that this album will help aid others to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. Every note and lyric of this album is for Your glory alone. Mom: Thank you for all your prayer, love, and support in my life and for the album. Thank you for encouraging me and confessing the word of the Lord over my life for this “devil stomping music”. Thanks for being my biggest fan. I am yours. With all you’ve gone through & endured, your life has and continues to inspire me to be faithful to God in everything. Striving and pressing forward in Christ and being committed to Him is the heart of this album and I thank you for being a great example of that. I love you! Dad: Also my biggest fan! I am yours as well. Thank you for all your prayer, love, and support in my life and for my album. If it wasn’t for you & Mom giving me the foundation that you have in Christ, this could not have been possible. Thank you for supporting my dreams and always being there for me. It’s because of you why I want to be a father. Thank you for showing me how to be a man of God. I love you Dad. Grandma: I just wanted to tell you that I love you! I hope I will make you proud with my music and the man that I am becoming. To my Fam: The wait is over! Hope you enjoy the songs! We’ve all gone through so much in our family but know that God remains faithful. Let's stay close to God as well as each other and not forget the power of family. Love y’all. A big THANK YOU goes to Gerrick Moore, my audio engineer on this project; thank you for your expertise and your wisdom in assisting me on this album over the past four years that we’ve worked on and off together while I was finishing college & working on the side. It’s been a long time coming. Thanks for sticking it out with me and putting up with me in the studio to make the music the best it could be. It was a great time of growth. Thank you so much to Dondi and Sarah Byrd for your support and recommending G to me to work with. He was God-appointed; the right man for the job. Also, a big thank you goes out to my friend DJ Karl Forde; my co-producer on “Long Live the King”. You’re an awesome and talented man of God. Thanks for working with me on one of the first songs I made for this album years and years ago and understanding my vision for the sound I wanted to create in “Long Live the King”. I hope that we will create more great music together. Also, to the memory of your wonderful wife, Krista; thank you for your encouragement woman of God. I remember your pep talks to me years ago at church services on Wednesday nights that lifted me up and were so encouraging just when I needed it the most. Thank you for teaming me up with Karl to create “Long Live the King” and to have the honor of establishing a friendship within your family. “Long Live the King” wouldn’t have been the same without you and your connection. You are greatly missed my friend, your legacy lives on, and we in Christ will see you again when the Lord returns. I want to give a shout out to my church, Trinity Church International, because I love my church & my Pastors Tom and Mary Ann Peters. Having attended Trinity since 1999, the preaching and teaching that you’ve done from your pulpit has been truly anointed Pastor. You are a true shepherd. I respect you and thank you for preaching the word in spirit and in truth and with passion. May God continue to bless TCI in Lake Worth and around the world. I want to say to all those who’ve bought the album and support my music, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Thank you for being a part of my passion. This album has been in my mind and heart for many years, beginning back in 2004 when I wrote “Priceless”, the first song for this album. This album is my spiritual journey from where I’ve been to where I am going and I’m excited to finally be able to share it with you. This was a "homegrown" album, with not very much bells and whistles, but I am proud of it and it communicates the energy and passion of what I want to share with everyone. The vehicle of sound can always get better in time with ever increasingly expensive studio production, but it's my message that I pray you hear the most. I pray these songs will speak to you and find you where you are in your own life; whether you have a relationship with the Lord or not and encourage those of you who don’t know Christ to make Him the primary focus of your life. Please pass on word of my album to your family, friends, and those you believe it has the ability to speak to! I pray this music will start or continue to stoke the passion in you for the one true God because the Christian life is far from boring! In Christ, we all have a testimony and a mighty, awesome God to be excited about! Lastly, I grew up in the church all my life. However, I still fell away from God and fell apart doing my own thing; chasing sin and living in sin. I don’t pretend to be above it all. We're all human. We struggle. We fall. However, we shouldn't use that as a crutch to stand on to do whatever we want. Like Paul in the Bible, I can take no glory in myself or the music; I’m the least to say the most. Without Christ, I am 100% a disgusting mess; I am nothing. With Him, I am the best version of me, striving and progressing to be better every day. He is the gravity in my life in a dark and fallen world that is all about getting high on life & doing whatever you want to please yourself. God was faithful to me when I was not in life and strengthened me by His empowering grace to persevere in Him, even in times I thought I was going nowhere, and He will do the same for you. When you truly make God your main desire, you realize there is nothing in this world to turn back to. That’s the heart of the album. This world will give you imitations, temptations, and gratifications to attempt to replace the void in all of us that only God can fill. No Turning Back speaks to that end. It is more than a title; it’s a declaration, it’s a statement, it’s a call to arms. I urge you to go forward in Christ, cultivate your relationship with God every day through prayer and reading the Bible, and answer the call He has placed on your life. Know your identity in Christ. Choose the Kingdom of God over this temporary dying world. It is the greatest choice we could ever make. We serve an incredible, exciting, fun, passionate, and fantastic God who is our biggest fan; just as we should be of Him. Thanks to everyone supporting my music at this early stage. It truly means a lot to me. God bless you all. TALON --- How You Can Receive Jesus As Your Lord & Savior God has impressed on my heart to leave you with these final words. My music is all about drawing people near to God through Christ. So for those of you who don't know the Lord, I would be remiss if I didn't at least share with you how you can make Christ the Lord of your life. It truly is the most important decision you could ever make, and you don’t have to wait for a church service to make such an awesome decision. Wherever you are, you can receive Christ into your heart and life. I do however encourage you, should you decide to make Christ the Lord of your life and you aren't yet part of a church body, to seek out a Holy Spirit-filled church in which the fullness of the Bible is taught and believed. It’s vital that you grow in Christ after accepting Him into your life because you have an enemy named Satan, who seeks to uproot you and keep you from the upward call of God in Christ. This is not to instill fear in you for “greater is He (God) that is in you, than he (Satan) that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else (Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Romans 10:9-10 goes on further to say, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” It’s that simple. In saying this, it doesn’t mean that all of a sudden life is easy and you’ll never face problems. Life is war and there is a battle for your soul between God and the devil and the Spirit of God versus your flesh. In life, no one is perfect. People will offend you; even Christians. This world will try to break you. You could be your own worst enemy. We’re all human at our core. Christian or not, life is tough all around. However, as a Christian, we have the hope of Christ that we look up to and place our trust in. Christ is our saving grace and the only sure foundation that is built to last. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." So be real before God. Tell God that you believe that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for the sins of mankind in order to bring you back in connection with Him and that on the third day, He raised Jesus from death, ensuring you life eternal through Him. Ask the Lord for the Holy Spirit to guide you through life and that you'll come to know His voice. Grasping this wonderful and powerful truth is life changing and I pray you come to know it as soon as possible. However, be aware as I mentioned, you have an enemy named Satan. He will try to hold you back and keep you stuck in your past life before you made your decision for Christ. Your flesh and your past memories can try to rise up and get the best of you. However, though you are in this world, you don’t have to be of it. Ignorance is not bliss. You can leave it behind and press toward Christ each day as you take up your own cross by dying to your old self and walking in new life following Him. It’s a sacrifice worth making and one in the end that you won’t regret.