We recently caught up with TobyMac for an honest conversation about his upcoming show, new music, and the faith that continues to guide his life and art. Known for his infectious energy and heartfelt lyrics, Toby shared not only his creative process but also the deeper meaning behind his latest album ‘Heaven On My Mind’—a project that beautifully reflects a journey of hope and faith.
TobyMac shared that this new season of music is deeply personal—born out of both joy and pain. After walking through the profound loss of his eldest son, he’s found that creativity and faith are tightly intertwined. “You don’t just create from happiness,” he reflected. “You create from life—every part of it.”
Listeners got a glimpse into TobyMac’s songwriting process, his collaborations with other artists, and how community helps keep his music grounded in authenticity. He emphasized the importance of surrounding himself with people who speak truth and encouragement, both in the studio and beyond.
But it wasn’t all heavy. TobyMac’s playful side shone through as he talked about his love of golf and cornhole—and even joked about how his latest music video features a Mustang instead of Bowling Green’s favorite, the Corvette.
As the conversation wrapped up, TobyMac shared his vision for the future: to keep creating music that points people toward faith, unity, and hope. His words were a reminder that even through life’s hardest moments, God is still writing a story of redemption.
Catch TobyMac live in concert at The SKyPAC on October 31—it’s a night you won’t want to miss!
Transcript
Larry: (00:00.076)
Hey Toby!
Toby: Larry, how you doing man?
Larry: Man, I’m good. It’s good to talk to you. Thanks for doing this, chatting with us for a bit.
Toby: No problem, man.
Larry: Let’s get into it then. So you’ve got the show coming up. You’re going to be here in Bowling Green, October 31st. Now, Toby, you know what day that is, right? It’s Reformation Day.
Toby: I know I haha… Absolutely, it’s Hallelujah Day.
Larry: So how do want to convince people like, okay, it’s the day that people go out and get candy and stuff, but how do you want to encourage people to say, you know what, come instead, spend some time with me and the show.
Toby: Well, you know, man, I always try to number one, create an atmosphere that everyone’s welcome and create an atmosphere where one name is lit. Sure, ain’t the name Toby Mac, but it’s the name of Jesus. So you’ll hear that my song, you’ll hear all the things that walk through. You’ll be invited to worship. You’ll be invited to dance. You’ll be invited to sing. It’ll be a better celebration than Halloween, that’s for sure.
Larry: Here’s what I tell people. It’s like, I mean, how often are you going to get this show? Cause you’re only doing it in eight cities. So Halloween comes every year. This doesn’t.
Toby: Yeah, it’s kind of like this, you’re getting the raw kind of like uncut like trial. I’ve always wanted to do a tour where we play a whole record from start to finish. And this is, you know, this record is, it’s been my life for the last three years. So I’ve poured my poured all the things I’ve walked through into these songs. And I think we’re all walking through and I always feel like we’re all walking through kind of the same things. They might be different names and faces and different circumstances, we’re all, most of us out here that would come to this show are trying to live a life of faith in God. And some days we struggle and some days we’re striving and some days we’re achieving, you know what mean? And I love to talk about all that. I love to write about life interacting with our walk with God and all the things that come with that as believers.
Larry: I heard you say that this is something that you’ve been wanting to do with an album for a while now. So why this one? Cause you’ve done several albums. Why is this the one where you’re going to do this type of concert?
Toby: I don’t know, I looked up and I saw, you know, kind of a hole in my schedule. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I love this record from the start to the finish of it. I love every song, you know, of course I wrote this whole bunch. Of course I like them. If I don’t, something would be wrong. I wouldn’t put them out if I didn’t. But I think, you know, it’s sort of a story to tell. It’s like…God has been so kind to me through what I walk through. And I think this moment when you go from looking back to what has devastated you to, and you don’t think you’ll ever look forward, but when God begins, this hope kind of rolls in and you see this hope for the future, it’s a beautiful moment and it’s worth writing about and it’s worth thinking about.
Larry: Yeah, I think one of things you said there is that we’re all kind of going through these things and this is, you know, a story that this album tells. And I was thinking you’ve done so many different albums, but in a people’s, their day to day, they can feel like they’re stuck, right? Like, I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing. Is this where God wants me? And maybe as songwriter, as an artist, you’ve been there as well, a moment where you’re just stuck. God, I don’t know how to go forward with this song or whatever it might be. How does…Toby Mac deal with it when you’re feeling in that place of being stuck?
Toby: Man, I’m there a lot. And I’ve been there a lot. was stuck, definitely stuck in grief, kind of, in losing my firstborn and walking through that deep valley. Felt stuck, not just a day, not just months, but just many, many times for different reasons. But I think God’s offer of this hope, you know, that it’s just, I talked about it a second to go, but I’ll talk about it again because it’s just it’s this hope that we have that is bigger than our fears. It’s bigger than our pain. It’s bigger than what we’ve lost. And I am counting on that with everything in me. But the reminder of that every day when I’m stuck is really God’s Word. Like, I don’t mean to sound like some old preacher dude, but the truth is when I open God’s Word, He speaks to me.
Like it might be through these stories, it might be through these parables, but he speaks to me. I think you can’t really, if you’re not reading, not talking to God through prayer, he’s not talking to you through his word. Like that’s when I’m in a relationship with him. That’s when I can move forward. That’s when I feel, that’s when I feel like this sort of communication happening. And I think, I don’t know, I always say, do I really have a relationship with God if I’m not opening his word every day? And I’m not praying because that’s a relationship and that’s what I want and that’s what has gotten me through those tough times.
Larry (05:22.018)
That relationship is so important and we do have to go to God each and every day. So thank you for saying that. As we’re looking at this album and the songs that you’ve got on it, as you said, it tells a story. And one of those that people have really enjoyed is ‘Little Church’. And that tells that story right there. You know, there’s definitely a heart in there. You know, I could use a little church, a family is what you say in the song. That’s what church is supposed to be. And so I’ve enjoyed hearing that song.
And you’ve also had several artists, a lot of features in your album as well as we’ve seen come out. What’s one of the artists that kind of surprised you? You know, cause you know what you’re going to get from them, these artists that you’ve invited on. What’s one of them, the artists that’s like, man, that kind of surprised me from, from this person?
Toby: Yeah, think Forest Frank, I kind of expected him to just sing on this song or rap on this song and he sort of sent it back to me and, he sort of like took the song and sped it up and then he also put his verse on and I thought he would like sing over the choruses, do chorus two or whatever, but he just put this really, really cool verse on it and then did just a couple little vocal ad libs and he…And I was surprised that he didn’t sing anything on the bridge. I guess I was surprised at how kind of honoring he was of what I did. And I wanted him to take it and totally, you know, do whatever he wanted with it. So it was actually interesting. It was less of a collab and more of he took it, sort of sped it up, dropped his verse on it and changed it a little. It was more like a Forrest Frank remix almost, but it was supposed to be, Hey, will you do a verse and a chorus on my record?
I loved it. love this first. I heard it. I was with my family my wife’s from Jamaica. So we were there He like FaceTime me and said what do you think about this? This is really great, My boys are the backseat thought yo that forest he sent me it was cool It was a cool moment and I think he really understood the heart of the song heaven on my mind He just did a crazy great job on it.
Larry: (07:26.284)
Yeah, we’re playing that right now. And it’s one of those songs. It’s like an earworm. It’s stuck in your head. I wake up in the morning and I’ve got that in my head. It’s great. I love it.
Toby: I agree. It’s kind of earworm for me too, but what better thought to have your earworm on than, I got heaven on my mind. It’s like reminding you of everything, where we’re putting our treasure. Where are we putting our treasure? Are we stacking it up down here on earth and counting on that? Are we counting on eternity?
Larry: Yes, and I think that’s what hits about it. Like it’s got a great beat, but of course that message right there is just important and I love it.
I want go back to a ‘Little Church’ real quick because I saw there’s a video or a video clip anyway of the song where you’re pulling up in a church and you’re in a classic Ford Mustang. Did you choose that car? What’s with that?
Toby: Well, we wanted to do a classic car I wish I could say it’s mine, but it’s not and I actually use that in another video I love I do love classic cars and I and I am interested in classic cars, but I don’t own one. So that’s just that’s just being straightforward but we we needed of we needed a car for the song rear view Which is another song on this record so…They sent me like 25 cars to choose from and I chose that one. I like the color. like the classic Mustang feel. So when we did the ‘Little Church’ video, I’m like, we just use that same car? Maybe that’ll be a theme to this record. And I did say to the guy, hey man, this has become a theme on my record will you sell it to me. He’s like, nah, I’m not gonna sell you that.
Larry: (09:15.63)
That’s funny. So well, here’s the thing though. Bowling Green is going to have a little beef with you on the Ford Mustang because Bowling Green is the place for national Corvette.
Toby: I know, I’ve seen it, I’ve passed it many times on the highway. I haven’t been there yet, maybe I need to go on my trip.
Larry: You should, it’s actually a really cool exhibit. So I’ve been actually in Bowling Green just a little over a year now. And that was one of the first things I went to check out. It’s actually pretty cool that what they did with it. I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s pretty impressive. So yeah, a good stop for sure.
Toby: Yeah, I mean, I maybe I need to step in there. Maybe I’ll open my mind to to to to, you know, another kind of beautiful car.
Larry: There you go. You might get a classic Corvette instead. Who knows?
So we know, all right, you went to Liberty University, but what was the scholarship that Toby Mac got when he went to Liberty University?
Toby: (10:08.248)
The scholarship I got was not in music, it was in golf. And I still love that sport to this day.
Larry: Do you get to play often?
Toby: I do. I’m gonna play today when I get done with my interviews.
Larry: (10:18.914)
All right. So cool. know that, yeah, you being competitive. I’ve heard it, you know, Hey, TobyMac is a competitive guy, likes to get out there and do the sport. I wish that I could play golf. I’ve never I mean, I’ve played golf, but I’ve never really played golf. It’s always just been like goofing around with friends and stuff. So not the sport that I do, but if we do get a chance to play some cornhole together, I heard that’s something you enjoy as well.
Toby: I love cornhole and I am competitive. I love playing cornhole. But yeah, if you come backstage, maybe we can play a little cornhole in Bowling Green. Me and a couple guys in my band love to play.
Larry: That’s cool. All right. I know you got a few minutes here. Then you got to go. But I just wanted to ask one quick question we like to ask is…If you could have dinner with anyone from the Bible other than Jesus, because we know, hey, of course Jesus, but other than Jesus, any character from the Bible, who would you like to have dinner with and why?
Toby: Man, that’s a great question. I think probably Paul, just because he was so, like the way he spoke and he had so much confidence, it feels like, not in himself, but in Jesus. And I think like, he had so much knowledge and he was so active. And I’m an active guy.
I love to be on the move doing things, whether it’s playing sports or doing things for the kingdom. I want to be active. I want to be doing shows. And I just think that the way he taught and the things that he sort of was about and how he was active with intensity, I would love to ask him some questions.
Larry: (12:08.396)
That’s great. Yeah, I agree. Well, Toby, I thank you so much for taking this time to chat with us today and we look forward to you when you are here in Bowling Green.
Toby: Thank you man, I enjoyed it. Look forward to seeing you guys come out to the Heaven on My Mind Start to Finish Tour. It’s gonna be a new experience. Let’s go!
