Curt Brickley is a Christian songwriter, poet, and storyteller whose life has been marked

by both adventure and adversity—and ultimately, by redemption.

 

Born with a spirit of determination, Curt grew up writing, exploring, and pushing himself

beyond the limits. As a young man, he ran onto the field as a Division I wide receiver for

the Arkansas Razorbacks, feeling the roar of thousands of fans in the stands. Soon after,

he earned the honor of becoming a U.S. Marine, graduating as his platoon’s distinguished

honor graduate. Whether he was skydiving, racing bikes, or working in faraway countries,

Curt’s life was a series of bold steps, hard work, and big risks. But no amount of courage

could prepare him for the fight that would define his next chapter.

 

Over the course of a decade, Curt survived four heart attacks and underwent eight heart surgeries. The most severe—a massive STEMI—came while he was alone on a bike ride in rural Arkansas. For 3.5 hours, one of his heart’s main arteries was completely blocked. Statistically, the odds of surviving were stacked against him, and many wouldn’t have made it through the night.

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Survival came at a cost. The aftermath brought profound cognitive challenges: memory loss so severe he would forget his own name, behavioral changes, and reoccurring mini-strokes that left him disoriented and uncertain. Even simple tasks like reading or carrying on a conversation became a struggle. At times, he felt like a shadow of the man he used to be—embarrassed, frustrated, and ashamed. But God...

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Out of that brokenness came something no one could have predicted. Where Curt’s frontal lobe injury once felt like the end of his identity, it became the doorway to something new. Researchers call it “paradoxical creativity”—a phenomenon where damage to the brain’s frontal areas releases unfiltered creative expression or "unclamping"!

 

For Curt, that meant finally being able to do something he’d tried for decades: turn his poetry into music. The first time he sat down to adapt an old devotional, the words flowed effortlessly. What had always felt impossible came alive, song after song, session after session. In the middle of the night, he would wake up driven by a compulsion to create, sometimes writing for twelve hours straight.

 

Since then, Curt has written and recorded dozens of songs—honest reflections on faith, struggle, loss, and the hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. His music is raw and real, born from both the mountaintops and the deepest valleys of the human experience.

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When people ask what he would do if he could be nineteen again, Curt doesn’t hesitate: “I would trust God with all of my life and not just with my death. His plan, His way, will lead to the greatest joys and expressions of true happiness, love, and contentment.”

 

Today, Curt sees every lyric and melody as a way to reach others who feel worn down or unworthy—those who need to know that no matter what they’ve lost, they are never beyond God’s redeeming grace.

 

Whether you find yourself in a season of triumph or a season of brokenness, Curt hopes his songs remind you of this: It’s never too late for God to do something beautiful with your life, with your pain, and with your circumstances; incredible or remarkably average, God has plans for you!