PEABODY ― Resident Renee Leavitt is No. 1 ― or at least her music is.
The resident songstress is in the early stages of her music career, but already has an important milestone under her belt: a chart-topping country gospel hit in “Walk With the Big Guy.”
“It means a lot to me that people connected to my music so much that it has become No. 1,” Leavitt said. “So it felt like a success to me.”
“Walk With the Big Guy,” off Leavitt’s most recent album “The Sequel” hit the top of CDX TRACtion’s Southern Gospel/Positive Country chart on Wednesday after 16 weeks on the chart. CDX TRACtion is a technological service that is used to “identify the music tracks performed on both major market and secondary market radio stations” and uses that data to create chart reports.
Leavitt says she understands why her song ― about turning to God during tough times ― has garnered such broad appeal.
“I think that a lot of people go through tough times and I think that the song and the lyrics really suggest that even through the tough times and the trials and tribulations, God is always there with you,” she explained.
Leavitt is currently a graduate student of theology at Boston University; she is also a lifelong member of the Catholic faith who has “always had a very good relationship with God.” It was this special relationship, she said, that inspired her to sing.
“I really wanted to try and help other people understand my own personal relationship with God and how God makes me feel,” she said. “Basically it’s that we go and talk together and walk together and that he’s there for me always. So I put that into writing and I was very successful in getting a good song out of it.”
Leavitt will soon be able to revel in her success among fans and friends, as she’ll be performing at F355 Prime Italiano Restaurant at Mills58 in Peabody. Further down the road, in August, she’ll be performing at SoulFest, at Gunstock Mountain Resort in New Hampshire. And, of course, finishing up grad school.
“I’m a very busy person but I always make time for everything,” she said. “I’m doing grad school courses, I’m learning about different ways that other people are connecting with God. I think that, throughout my grad studies, learning about the different experiences with the Divine has helped me write and perform.”
