John Batdorf FindsHope “In The Middle of It All” on Singles

The veteran singer-songwriter talks about an unexpected 11-song album, writing through a divided world, the healing power of music, radio support and why, after more than five decades, he still refuses to “settle.”

By KJAG Radio

For John Batdorf, songwriting has never simply been about making records.

It is about trying to make sense of life while it is happening.

That philosophy sits at the heart of Singles, an 11-song collection that wasn’t originally conceived as an album at all. Instead, it grew organically—one song, one idea and one emotional reaction at a time—until Batdorf suddenly realized he had created a complete body of work.

The catalyst was “Suffering,” written with longtime collaborator Michael McLean.

Batdorf says completing that song seemed to open the creative floodgates. One song quickly became several. Six songs were in progress before long, eventually becoming ten. Even when Batdorf thought the project was complete, another song—“Maybe Tomorrow”—demanded to be written.

That willingness to follow a song wherever it leads has been part of Batdorf’s creative life for decades.

Sometimes, he says, an artist simply has to get out of the way and allow the art to determine the destination. “Suffering” did exactly that, eventually becoming the foundation for an album he hadn’t planned on making.

Releasing Music While It Still Matters

There is another unusual element to Singles: Batdorf did not wait until all 11 songs were completed before allowing listeners to hear them.

He wrote them, recorded them and began releasing them as they were finished.

For an artist whose recording career stretches back to the early 1970s, that represents a dramatically different way of working.

Batdorf remembers an era when record companies largely controlled the process—choosing producers, developing material, booking studios and determining when an album would finally reach the public.

Home recording technology eventually changed that relationship, giving independent artists unprecedented control over their own recordings.

By 2020, Batdorf had embraced another change: instead of holding new music until he had an entire album, he began releasing songs when they were ready.

For him, immediacy matters.

The world moves quickly, particularly when songs respond to cultural anxiety, division and events happening in real time. Waiting too long can cause a song written for a particular moment to become an afterthought.

“Release the songs while listeners can understand and feel what you are singing about,” Batdorf explained.

That strategy helped shape Singles. Positive radio response to “Suffering” encouraged him to keep writing, leading to “Time Bombs” and eventually the rest of the record.

“In The Middle of It All”: Where Hope Actually Lives

Among the album’s most important songs is its opening track, “In The Middle of It All,” another Batdorf-McLean collaboration.

And Batdorf says the song’s meaning goes much deeper than simply telling people not to withdraw during difficult times.

When he began working on the lyrics, he found himself wishing a song could contain something like 20 different choruses—each one expressing another situation in which someone might have reached a place in life where hope seemed completely gone.

The moments when the internal voice says:

There is no way out.

Nothing is going to change.

It is time to give up.

But Batdorf’s reason for writing about those moments is ultimately hopeful.

The song argues that the love, encouragement, support and hope people desperately search for aren’t necessarily waiting somewhere far away.

We can exhaust ourselves looking for some distant answer. We can become frustrated because we believe we haven’t discovered the place where healing, connection or encouragement supposedly exists.

But, as Batdorf explains it, hope isn’t simply “out there somewhere.”

It is in the middle of everything.

That idea gives the album’s opening song a much greater significance.

“In The Middle of It All” isn’t asking listeners to pretend difficult circumstances don’t exist. It is asking them to engage with life despite them.

Too often, people respond to despair by withdrawing or becoming isolated. Batdorf sees that isolation as part of the problem. We cannot simply wait for someone else to repair everything while remaining disconnected ourselves.

Sometimes the way forward requires stepping directly into the middle of the struggle—the very place where we may discover the encouragement and human connection we assumed had disappeared.

As the opening song on Singles, it establishes much of what follows: darkness is acknowledged, but surrender is not the final answer.

Writing Through an “Unfamiliar” World

That tension between darkness and hope appears repeatedly throughout Singles.

On “Unfamiliar,” Batdorf confronts how different today’s world feels from the future he once imagined.

He came of age during the volatile 1960s, an era defined by political conflict, assassinations, Kent State and enormous cultural upheaval.

Yet Batdorf believed lessons had been learned.

Now, with grown children and grandchildren, he views today’s instability from a very different perspective.

The concern isn’t merely about what the world means for him personally anymore. It is about what future generations are inheriting.

That can become overwhelming.

But Batdorf also believes artists can help people navigate those emotions.

Music performed that role in his own life. Songs gave him hope and helped him feel less alone while growing up. He still believes music can perform that function today—even if all a song accomplishes is giving someone enough hope to make it through another difficult moment.

And Then There’s “Puppy Love 2.0”

Not every song on Singles carries the weight of the world.

Batdorf and McLean also allow themselves to have some fun.

Enter “Puppy Love 2.0.”

No elaborate metaphor is required here.

It really is puppy love.

Batdorf says McLean unexpectedly arrived with lyrics about the joys of puppyhood. His initial reaction was essentially: A song about a puppy?

Then he realized how cleverly the idea worked.

Batdorf even recorded barking dogs for the ending—a production decision that still cracks him up whenever he hears it.

After songs confronting suffering, social division and uncertainty, something playful gives the album breathing room.

“Maybe Tomorrow” Brings the Hope Back

The final group of songs also includes “Maybe Tomorrow,” which arrived almost immediately after the darker “Unfamiliar.”

Batdorf describes the track as a necessary emotional response to what came before it.

If “Unfamiliar” acknowledges darkness, “Maybe Tomorrow” provides the possibility that tomorrow may still offer something different.

The song arrived extraordinarily quickly.

Batdorf says it seemed almost as though the song were begging to become part of the project, and he wrote and recorded it at “warp speed.”

That contrast was important enough that the album’s sequencing reflects it intentionally.

Songwriters Shouldn’t Be Afraid of the World

Batdorf has never subscribed to the idea that musicians should avoid uncomfortable subjects.

He grew up listening to artists including The Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon—songwriters who weren’t afraid to respond to what was happening around them.

Those songs mattered because they gave listeners something deeper than entertainment.

They reminded people they weren’t alone.

Batdorf has occasionally encountered listeners who tell him to stick to music and “stay in his lane” when he writes about social issues.

His response is straightforward:

This has always been his lane.

He believes strong songwriters can communicate serious ideas without turning the song into a lecture. Sometimes the message arrives directly. Sometimes it works better through metaphor, personal experience or even humor.

The song ultimately determines the approach.

“Whatever seems the most organic approach gets the nod,” Batdorf says. “The song idea evolves sometimes on its own and I just follow along.”

“Never Settle”

Considering Batdorf made his first recording with Batdorf and Rodney in 1971 at only 19 years old, the enthusiasm with which he speaks about new songs is striking.

He does not sound like an artist merely maintaining a catalog.

He sounds like somebody still chasing the next great song.

Batdorf’s personal songwriting motto is simple:

“Never Settle.”

He views the ability to write music as a gift, and taking that gift for granted would be a form of disrespect.

Over the decades, his career has traveled through numerous different phases—recording artist, staff songwriter, commercial producer, studio singer, television and film composer and eventually back around to recording his own material again.

He admits that, like most young musicians, he once dreamed about becoming a rock star.

Life took him in directions he could never have anticipated.

He has no regrets.

Batdorf even wrote a song called “Famous Enough,” reflecting his realization that success didn’t ultimately require achieving the exact level of stardom he imagined as a child.

He got to spend his life making music.

That was success.

Radio Still Means Something

For all the transformation that has occurred in the music industry, one thing has not lost its magic for Batdorf:

hearing a song on the radio.

Batdorf credits AirPlay Direct with helping independent musicians connect with stations around the world without the enormous expense that once came with mailing hundreds of promotional CDs and one-sheets.

But beyond the technology, there is something more personal involved.

In a world where algorithms increasingly decide what listeners encounter, an actual radio programmer choosing a song still carries emotional weight.

“It means everything to any artist who has poured their heart and soul into their recordings,” Batdorf says.

And there remains a particular experience that streaming hasn’t been able to duplicate.

Driving down the road and suddenly hearing your own recording coming through the radio speakers.

Batdorf calls it magical.

The Next Song Is Already Calling

With Singles complete at 11 tracks, one might expect John Batdorf to finally close the studio door for a while.

Apparently songwriting has other plans.

Batdorf says another idea has already appeared.

If he finishes it—and if the song meets his standards—he is considering adding it to Singles as a bonus track.

That might be the perfect ending to this particular chapter of John Batdorf’s story.

An album that began accidentally with one song may not actually be finished after all.

Because after a lifetime of songwriting, Batdorf is still listening for whatever comes next.

And perhaps that is the larger message running through Singles.

The world can become dark.

Life can become unfamiliar.

There are moments when hope appears absent.

But Batdorf isn’t interested in pretending those places don’t exist.

He wants to write from inside them.

Because sometimes the thing we’re searching for isn’t waiting beyond the struggle.

Sometimes, as “In The Middle of It All” reminds us, hope is already right there with us—

in the middle of everything.

For more on John Batdorf and his music, visit JohnBatdorfMusic.com.