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"Softly And Tenderly" by Robby Robinson: A Love That Won't Stop Calling


What happens when grief sends you back to the piano?

Robby Robinson lost his granddaughter, Zoe Bella Rae, in April. Grief like that doesn’t ask permission before it reshapes your days. So he sat down at the piano, the way he’d done for nearly five decades as Music Director for Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, and he simply played. No agenda, no performance. Just hymns that had carried him through a lifetime of faith and ministry, now carrying him through his grief. The outcome is an album filled with beautiful instrumental versions of hymns that are loved by so many. We picked “Softly and Tenderly” for this write-up.

Robby Robinson - Softly And TenderlyRobby shares: “‘Softly and Tenderly’ felt like the natural opening track. Its message of grace, comfort, and invitation has brought peace to generations of believers.” The lyrics of the song quickly come to mind as you listen to Robby playing, and it doesn’t picture a God standing at a distance, arms crossed, waiting for an apology. It pictures Jesus “on the portals,” watching, “calling for you and for me.” 

This patient, persistent love is the same love described in Luke 15:20, where the father sees his son “while he was still a long way off” and runs to meet him before a single word of explanation. God doesn’t wait for us to arrive looking presentable. He moves while we’re still far off.

Where does that leave you today? Maybe there’s a conversation with God you’ve been avoiding, feeling certain that you’ve drifted too far for it to matter. The good news is that you haven’t drifted too far! Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing, and that urgency cuts both ways: it’s a reason to stop stalling, and a reason to trust that today is still open. Don’t wait for a better version of yourself to show up. Come as you are. “Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home.”

(Related scripture: Luke 15:20; Revelation 3:20; Psalm 34:18)

 

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There are fourteen more tracks on the album “Hymns Of Hope: Piano Reflections”, each one chosen with the same unhurried, reflective touch.

“It Is Well With My Soul” carries its own history of loss, written by Horatio Spafford after he lost four daughters at sea, and Robby returned to it often during his own season of grief. “Be Thou My Vision” and “Holy, Holy, Holy” turn our focus upward, away from our circumstances and toward God. “This Is My Father’s World” and “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” frame faith as something that is lived each day, in the ordinary moments rather than dramatic ones.

Several tracks focus on the assurance that God gives us: “Blessed Assurance,” “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” and “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” all reminding us that security comes from God’s strength, not our own. “In The Garden” and “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” remind us that strength is close by because we have a Savior who walks alongside us rather than ruling from a distance. “The Old Rugged Cross” and “Amazing Grace” return us to the cross as the place where we may find nearness to God. “Just As I Am” closes the invitation theme that “Softly And Tenderly” opens, both insisting that grace asks nothing of us first.

The album ends with “Zoe’s Hymn Of Hope,” Robby Robinson’s only original composition on this album. Fourteen borrowed hymns prepare the way for this deeply personal track, a track written for his granddaughter and offered to anyone walking through their own valley of loss.


Background:

Following the passing of my granddaughter, Zoe Bella Rae Robinson, in April, I found myself returning to the hymns that have sustained me throughout a lifetime of faith, music, and ministry. Sitting at the piano each day became a source of comfort and healing.

The result is a collection of fifteen solo piano hymns recorded in a very intimate and reflective style, culminating with an original composition, "Zoe's Hymn Of Hope," which is dedicated to her memory.

I am also completing a companion devotional book titled Hymns Of Hope: Inspirational Devotions From A Seasoned Musician, inspired by the same journey. (with foreword by Frankie Valli).

Release date: June 29, 2026

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