GASTONIA — As vice provost and chief communications officer at Belmont Abbey College, Rolando Rivas has spent much of 2020 dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic at his place of business, but the pandemic has also inspired a reflective tone in his personal music writing as well. This past year has challenged everyone, but combine that year with the loss of a father, the near loss of a mother, and some personal health concerns and there’s a recipe for inspiration.
Rivas just released his latest album, “Bountiful,” in which he looks back on the past year and a half and invites listeners to see the blessings God continues to bestow.
“Despite all the challenges, despite the loss, let us keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, and let us realize that yes we are still blessed, and our lives are truly bountiful,” Rivas says.
The new album is comprised of 14 songs that cascade through this year and last year – the year Rivas’ father passed away and his mother moved in with his family in Gastonia.
“Last year seems eons ago and yet is still fresh in my mind. Dad passed somewhat unexpectedly, and Mom had just recovered from a seeming deathly spiral, and alone at home, with my family traveling back and forth from Texas to help my parents I was often there with my guitar, and songs would just come.”
The pandemic also provided an inspiration. Like everyone else, Rivas found himself locked indoors – again with a guitar available – and the daily difficulties inspired new songs.
“These songs would literally show up out of nowhere, a phrase here, a melody there, and then suddenly a complete song,” Rivas reflects.
Four of the songs, “His Presence,” “You Alone (There is Nothing I Shall Fear),” “Nothing Has Changed,” and “I Will Hope in the Lord,” all directly respond to our times. “I kept wanting to remind people that while we might feel stuck, we might feel alone, we might feel desperate, God still has us, God is still with us, and yes nothing has changed, because Jesus still died for us and we still have our salvation in Him.”
Rivas also pays tribute to his parents love in “The Sacrifice of Love” and “God Will Wipe Every Tear Away.”
When his father died in August 2019, Rivas felt a strong sense of having to let him know how much he had meant to him. A song seemed the best way to pay tribute to him. “They both sacrificed for us, love is that – a sacrifice – and they gave our family that sacrifice day in and day out, with their love for each other and every sacrifice they made to keep our family happy, and loved.”
Later in 2019, his mother moved in with his family. “I wanted to give Mom that gift of a new home with her grandkids, and we’ve loved having her with us.”
“Bountiful” was released Dec. 1, and is available for streaming or purchase on iTunes Music, Spotify, Amazon (a delivered CD option), YouTube Music, Pandora, iHeart Radio, Napster and many more online stores.
“Bountiful” is Rivas’ third album. He released his first, no longer in print, in 2008. His second album, “My Cup Runneth Over,” was released in 2018 and is also available on iTunes Music and Spotify. That album reflects on his two daughters leaving to pursue vocations at two different monasteries in Pennsylvania and Alabama, as well as has songs for each of his children and his wife.
Rivas began composing music out of necessity since borrowing a guitar from a high school friend in 1984 and has tinkered with music since.
“I didn’t find my muse until I turned to God for inspiration, He brings the songs now, I just play them,” he says. “If there’s anything good in my music it’s because of Him. I truly believe He wants these songs heard. Why else would He give them to me, such an average musician – there’s no doubt it’s all Him!”