Judy Bailey and her German-born husband Patrick Depuhl have been travelling the world uplifting others with their music for the past 20 years. For the Barbadian from Sanford, St Philip, it is a way of giving expression to her real passion.
Judy graduated from Queen’s College and went on to the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus for a year to study maths, physics and computing, but “very soon I knew that was not my thing”. She later acquired a Master’s in psychology in Britain, but was still not satisfied this was the path she wanted to pursue.
“At 16 or 17 I remember just really kneeling down in my bedroom and saying ‘God, if you are really there, come into my life’ no big preach, no evangelist telling me do whatever, just in the silence of my heart. At that time, too, I started to write songs, and I started to rewrite the Psalms I was singing from church, putting my music to them,” she told EASY magazine.
For Judy, however, the music at that time was just a hobby. “I was not thinking of any career in music.”
But she went to live in England and someone at her church heard her songs and was so impressed that they gave the young Barbadian the money to record her first album, and soon invitations to sing started to roll in. She was singing and studying at the same time.
Judy’s music has since taken her all over the world, with performances in at least 30 countries and several recordings. She has done an album with international recording artiste Eddie Grant, another album in Nashville, Tennessee, performed in refugee camps in the Congo and in many concert halls and auditoriums as well as open-air concerts.
A few weeks ago, the Barbadian was on stage in Brazil performing for Pope Francis for World Youth Day celebrations organized for the young people of the Roman Catholic Church worldwide.
“This is the third time that we are doing the World Youth Day with the pope,” Judy told EASY as she relaxed at her parents’ St Philip home last week, her husband Patrick sitting beside her, while sons Levi, 9, Noah, 6, and Jacob, 4, busied themselves nearby.
She was “so pleased” to be invited to perform at another World Youth Day, after also being part of the line-up of artistes at such previous events in Cologne, Germany, and in Australia.
In Brazil, Judy gave eight performances, three of which were attended by the pope himself. She sang the German version of the World Youth Day Hymn before an audience of 3.7 million people at the mass conducted by the pope and also got the opportunity to sing one of her own compositions, Life Goes On, to about 3.5 million.
Barbados is also about to benefit from the talent of this native daughter. “I came in to be a part of the Anglican Provincial Congress with different clergy from across the Caribbean,” she said. At that meeting held in Barbados two weeks ago, she presented her CD Lift Up Your Hearts which contained new music she had composed for the Liturgy of the Anglican Church in the Caribbean.
She explained: “I grew up in the church choir at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in St Philip. I loved the depth of the liturgy and the text but I always thought the music should represent a little bit more of who we are.”
Even as a young chorister she felt a lot more could be gained from the worship if only the music reflected more of that Caribbean passion. Years later she has come up with “songs for worship which unite the joy and rhythm of the Caribbean and the ancient beauty and wisdom of Christian liturgy”.
“Every time I come back here and go to church the same thing is in my head – what can we do with this music to make it relevant, so I took some time to put some new music to the words, keeping the text.”
According to Judy, it is different from the typical music found in the Anglican church.
The CD, recorded in England and Germany, is “rhythmic, it is lively, it is very easy to learn and reflects the Caribbean”.
Patrick continues to be the wing beneath his Barbadian wife’s wings, supporting her throughout. Together they are a team. The two first met in Germany when she was invited to be part of a musical fair there. He was then an MC for the international artistes, also doing translation. She says: “There were no sparks or anything even though I remember thinking ‘He is a nice guy’.”
Patrick said in turn: “What we did together first was we got to know each other on the professional level and that was very nice and interesting for me to work with Judy.
“When we started working together, it just felt like a very good friendship and although we had grown up in different corners of the Earth we felt like we were very similar in some ways, in our outlook on life, and I think out of this friendship a relationship developed that was more.”
He added: “Raising kids together, there is not just this romance, but it is like we are really good friends, everything, just working together, travelling together, worshipping together, it fits really well.”
Based in Germany, the two maintain a busy schedule, doing lots of music, playing a lot in diverse settings, their music based in Christianity.
“You don’t necessarily hear God or Jesus in every song but I consider them Christian songs, written so that someone who is not necessarily in the church can hear them and relate to them and not have to learn about Jesus to understand what’s being said,” Judy remarked.
“The songs are about challenges of everyday living and perspectives of life in general, struggles and victories, and I think many people can relate to that whether or not they are Christian.”
This girl from Sanford, who now travels the world spreading the Christian message through music said: “I could never have seen myself doing what I am doing today.”
It is indeed the answer to the question she asked many years ago: “God, what would you like me to do?”