'We can rest': Polk native Jonny Diaz, a Christian pop artist, has his first Gold song

LAKELAND – Jonny Diaz’s Lakeland roots have finally stretched far enough to strike gold.

Diaz is a Lake Wales-born, Lakeland-raised contemporary Christian pop artist now living and recording in Nashville, Tennessee.

On Dec. 11, family, friends and staff at the Nashville-based music label Centricity Music gathered with Diaz to present him his first Recording Industry Association of America Gold certification for his 2015 song “Breathe.” The song comes from his 2015 album “Everything is Changing” and was certified Gold in August after it was downloaded or streamed more than 625 million times.

The recent RIAA Gold certification joins Diaz’s other accomplishments, such as having his major record label debut album — 2009’s “More Beautiful You” on INO Records — chart on Billboard’s “Top Heatseekers” and “Top Christian Albums” charts.

From his home in Nashville where he’s lived for the past 15 years since leaving Lakeland, Diaz, 40, said he has been in “awe” of how God has used his song for the past seven years. He said the song “Breathe” was recorded with four studio musicians in Nashville at The Sound Emporium studio with producer Chad Copeland producer and released at end of 2015.

“The message of it really is that we’re able to rest in what God as done for us. As Christians, we don’t need to work our ways to Heaven; we can ‘rest’ in what the Savior’s done. (‘Breathe’) is encouraging people to just take a breath and remember that God is in control,” said Diaz, who lives with his wife, Libby, and children, Charlie Grace, 8, Dodger, 6, and Duke, 4, in Franklin, a Nashville suburb.

Diaz, a 2002 graduate of Winter Haven’s All Saints Academy and 2007 graduate in marketing from Florida State University, said he was surprised to receive the Gold status but knew the song was being steadily streamed over the years as well as getting some radio play. He said since it’s not a recently written and recorded song, it was somewhat “out of sight, out of mind” and he was happy with the surprise news of its RIAA Gold status.

At the time of its release, Diaz was on the recording artist roster at Centricity Music, an American contemporary Christian music label that was founded in 2003 in Seattle and has an office and studio in Franklin. He is no longer with the label, although he was honored for his accomplishment at the Centricity offices.

Over the years, Diaz said he’s heard from people impacted by the message in “Breathe,” from an emergency responder who listened to the song each night between calls, to a little boy who listened to it during all of his chemotherapy treatments and whose parents played it at his funeral, to a woman going through a divorce who started each day listening to the song for inspiration.

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“I was really surprised. Having them surprise me with that news was really fun,” he said. “It allowed me to be able to relive the journey of the song a little bit and think about all of the stories people have shared about how it impacted and affected them, which was really cool.”

At Centricity, John Mays, senior vice president of Artists and Repertoire and one of the label’s founders, said the label currently has 17 artists signed, including Lauren Daigle, Jordan Feliz, Katy Nichole and Andrew Peterson. He said he thinks “Breathe” became so popular because of its ability to resonate musically and lyrically with a cross-range of people, and in Centricity’s 20-year existence, Diaz’s Gold certification was only the label’s sixth in any format.

“In an age when busyness and urgency drive our culture, the song encourages us to stop, take a breath and regain perspective on the things that are most important. That message resonates powerfully with almost everyone, especially in a society rampant with anxiety and depression,” he said by email.

A bass player himself, Mays said Diaz excels because of his relatability with his audiences and relaxed nature as a performer as well as his penchant for songwriting. He said during performances, Diaz comes across more as a friend than an artist.

“In the best kind of way, he is ‘everyman,'” he said. “As long as there’s a place for live music and an artist with something to say and a skillful way of saying it, there will be a place for an artist like Jonny.”

Diaz came from a family of baseball players. His older brother Matt Diaz played 11 seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Atlanta Braves, but also a couple of seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. Matt now coaches Lakeland Christian's baseball team.

Jonny Diaz originally went to FSU on a baseball scholarship. During his freshman year, he said he felt God was calling him to pursue his passion in music. Raised in the First Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, he was the worship leader and led music for the church’s youth group.

Since his debut album, 2003’s “Shades of White,” Diaz has released six LPs and four EPs, the most recent 2020’s “Hear That Story.”

Diaz said he still visits Lakeland a few times each year, the most recent this year for Christmas, and as for his future goals — in or out of music — he said he’ll be spending more time with his family, doing less touring and being the “best father and husband,” he can be.

“I’m still trying to assess how long God wants me to do this and how long I’m going to be making new music and take my own advice and take a breath and realize I don’t have anything to prove with it,” he said. “But I think I’ll always be creating music to some extent, whether it’s for a living or not.”

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 'Breathe' turns gold for Polk native, Christian artist Jonny Diaz