Thank you so much for visiting the Mountaintop Wanderers website and checking out our music. I wanted to tell you all about the origin of Mountaintop Wanderers and how it all works. So, here we go!

My name is Amy Tindall, and I am the Creator and Songwriter for Mountaintop Wanderers. I grew up in a small Southern Baptist church in Kentucky. I was immersed in missions from the time I was in preschool and felt that calling into mission work by the time I got to middle school. When I was fifteen, I started writing songs, or at least the lyrics to songs. For example, I was riding to downtown Louisville on the school bus for a field trip one morning. We were going to the Science Center. The bus made a wrong turn and got detoured through a bad neighborhood. I saw homeless people for the first time. My heart went out to them. On the way home on the bus, I couldn’t help but write the lyrics to the song now called “The Least of These. Sometimes, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night until I got the lyrics that were swirling around in my mind down on paper. The songs “Let It Go,” “Right Beside Me,” “Comforter and Friend,” and “The Potter’s Hands” were written in my bed in the middle of the night when I was a teenager. God was really speaking to me. When I was sixteen, I publicly dedicated my life to full-time Christian ministry, but I didn’t know exactly what that meant. I mostly saw two types of ministries back then. preachers and youth ministers in churches, and overseas missionaries in Africa. It did not dawn on me that the lyrics and music I was writing could be a ministry. Hindsight, you know.

I was really into Christian music at the time. And, all my lyrics were Christian music, so I typed up my lyrics and carried them with me to Christian music concerts and festivals. I handed them off to singers and bands everywhere I went. They all accepted the manilla envelope with a smile, but I never heard anything from any of them. Eventually, I just filed everything away for another day. I went on to college and got two degrees in Religious Education and Communications. I started my ministry. Over the years, I’ve been youth minister and children’s minister at some Baptist churches, I worked as a schoolteacher for severely disabled children, and a caregiver for adults with severe disabilities at a group home. I’ve worked with at-risk kids at group homes too. Every job I considered a ministry, but it wasn’t what I felt was my ultimate ministry. All along, I would write lyrics here and there, and file them away with the others.

The problem wasn’t my song writing, it was access to singers, musicians, agents, and whatever else someone needs to make a successful band. I played the violin and piano, and could carry a tune, but nothing worth mentioning. All the songs I wrote sounded like men singing, in a band. I could hear the band playing when I was writing the songs, a band that didn’t exist. I knew God was inspiring my songs, and that somehow, He would one day work it out.

Flash forward to Spring 2026. One day, I got a text from my brother. He had written a song. He wasn’t known for writing songs, so I was curious. I listened to and watched the song on my phone. I was surprised. Apparently, there was a computer program, now I know it was AI, that could take words and put them to song. I was reluctant at first. I had heard how evil AI was, and that it was going to take over the world. But eventually, I dug out my file folder of lyrics and plugged the lyrics into the program, using SUNO. I was for sure that it would either be cheesy or completely rewrite my lyrics, but it didn’t. That program took my lyrics word for word, and put them to music, good music. I cried my eyes out with relief and happiness. Finally, after over thirty years, I heard the lyrics that had been floating around  have real sound and someone really singing them. I prayed over it, I really did. I asked God if this was the answer? I asked if God had put this computer program in front of me for a reason, the ministry? My confirmation came because suddenly, after years of no lyrics coming, I was flooded with them again. Songs that specifically ministered to people who were struggling, heart-broken, needing to return to a relationship with God just came to me at a moment’s notice. It was God. This was my ministry.

So, here we are, over 60 songs and counting, a website, a Youtube channel, and a 24/7 Radio Station. Songs on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services. My goal is to reach someone who needs to hear that Jesus loves them and that Jesus is there for them. I don’t want fame or fortune. This isn’t a competition, this is a ministry, a ministry laid into my lap by God.

What is your process in writing a song?

Most lyrics come to me while I’m doing outdoor work. I will be riding the lawnmower around or pulling weeds, and a phrase will get stuck in my head. It could be a phrase that someone said on the radio while I’m working, like “hope when it matters” or “throne of lies.” Other times, the phrase comes out of nowhere, like “who threw the stones that bruised your soul” or “whenever my worries envelop me like storm clouds envelop the horizon.” When I finally get a chance to sit down with my notebook, I write that one phrase at the top of the page, then more phrases will start coming into mind, and I write them down. I rearrange the phrases to make a cohesive chorus. Then, I read the chorus and think of scenarios for the two verses and write them down. Then, usually by then a Bible verse that goes along with the song comes to mind. I create a bridge out of the Bible verse. After the rough draft of the whole song is written out,  I go back and search for synonyms of some words where I need a simpler word or a rhyming word. I read it over and over to see if the flow seems right, like a poem would flow. I add in some transitions, like “ohh” or “hmmm.” Later that evening, sitting on my couch, I open SUNO on my computer. I type the lyrics into the program. I create the style, which usually says something like, “male singer, Aerosmith type slow ballad, build to chorus, lots of guitars and drums, mysterious”. I hit “create” and SUNO gives me different versions of the song. I usually find a flaw in the lyrics by then. Something won’t sound right or a word doesn’t fit well. So, I go back and change a few things. I listen to at least 5 versions of the song (sometimes over 20 versions) before one stands out as the “right one.” I get this overwhelming feeling when I hear the right version. I just want to jump and shout and cry praises to God when the final version comes through. Then, I create cover art, plug the song and cover art in Clipchamp, and upload it to various media platforms. There it is.

What do you say to all those people who don’t like music created by Artificial Intelligence?

I never thought I would be making music through AI. It would have been a dream come true to have a real band perform my songs, and they are still welcome to buy one of my songs and start performing it. Contact me! But I couldn’t just sit around waiting for it. I feel like God has placed AI in my life to manifest the music ministry I was called to 30 years ago. If God didn’t like it, I don’t think He would be blessing me with these lyrics. I know bands and artists work really hard in their craft. I don’t discount them at all. I’m not looking to take their place in “the business” or to win any awards with my songs. This is solely a ministry to reach people out there that need to hear the message God has given me. Sure, I’d love to one day be reimbursed for the money I have had to put into this, the subscriptions and monthly fees, but it’s not that much so I’m okay. Just remember, I am not trying to deceive anyone. I’m just trying to reach people for Jesus. The other day, an analogy came to me. Imagine a dressmaker, maybe your great-grandmother. She wants to make a new dress. She doesn’t weave the fabric together from nothing. She goes to the store and picks out some fabric. Easy enough. Then, she picks a pattern. There are usually hundreds of them in file cabinets at the fabric store. She chooses a pattern packet and goes home. Then, your great-grandmother, places the fabric on the table, pins the pattern to it, and meticulously cuts it out. Finally, at least for most great grandmothers, she sits down at the sewing machine and sews up the dress. Did she make the dress? She had the idea, she put in a good bit of work, but someone else wove and stamped the fabric, someone else created the pattern and placed it in the packet, and a machine sewed it up. I think most of us would still say your great grandmother made the dress.

Why do you use men singers and DJ S’ammy Tea as the songwriter?

Yeah, that’s a funny one. The simplest answer is that the songs I write wouldn’t sound right if a woman sang them. The songs need the deeper, raspy voice to make it come alive. I’ve always personally been drawn to male singers and male bands. Sure, I’ve listened to plenty of female singers, groups, and bands, I just prefer to call the boy bands my favorites.

As for DJ S’ammy Tea. I just feel like it’s fun. Lots of performers, writers, etc. have special nicknames and stage names, No different here. And, though the music is made with AI, I have created a virtual band for Mountaintop Wanderers, Joey, Cody, Dustin, and Mike. It’s nice to have a face to a voice, and it adds personality. When i construct a song, often I say to myself, “oh, did you here Mike right there? Cutting up again with his whooping lol.” Or “wow, did you hear the guitar riff Cody just did?!?”

Where can I listen to Mountaintop Wanderers?

Check out the Mountaintop Wanderers website… oops, you are probably here already. All the songs are on the site, check out New Releases and Songs. If you prefer YouTube, for that big cinematic sound go to my YouTube channel, search Mountaintop Wanderers. If you want handsfree long play, and I prefer this while driving, go to Listen Live on the website, in the top right corner. There we have a radio station that is Mountaintop Wanderers 24/7, no ads, no interruptions.  If you would like to perform a Mountaintop Wanderers song, please do. I’d love for you to post the video on the Facebook page, search for Mountaintop Wanderers. And, if you are a professional artist or band that wants to officially use one of the songs as your own, on an album or performance, contact me and we can work out a competitive price. Finally, if you want to tell me how a song has touched your life, or ask anything, email me at mountaintopwanderers@yahoo.com. Now, get to listening!