Learn more about
Our Mission
At 17Thousand Songs, we aim to capture, preserve, and share the stories behind our Latter-day Saint hymns. We provide a platform for our songwriters to share the inspiration behind their music and some of the life experiences that helped to shape their testimonies. We hope these stories will foster in our listeners a greater understanding for, and deeper connection to, the songs in our new hymnal, “Hymns — For Home and Church.” We also discuss the beautiful, unique doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ found in these hymns, and seek to honor Him as we honor what we consider to be His sacred music.
meet your host
Alaina Larsen
Alaina is a podcaster, songwriter, author, filmmaker, certified life coach, and community builder. She received her bachelors in Theater and Media Arts at Brigham Young University, and certified as a life coach through The Life Coach School.
Alaina began her filmmaking career as a professional wedding videographer and producer of heirloom-quality love story documentaries. She later produced her own music videos and has directed and edited music videos for Angie Killian, Blake Gillette and others.
Alaina began songwriting when the Church put out a call for new music in 2018. Together with her mother and arranging partner, Cris Conerty, they submitted more than a dozen songs, professionally produced several of those songs, and co-authored a Read or Sing™ children’s book entitled, The First to See: Mary’s Easter Story, published by Cedar For Publishing & Media. Her song, Believe in God, arranged by Daniel Blomberg, received an award of distinction in the Church’s 2021 Music Submissions.
Alaina joined LDSPMA (Latter-day Saints in Publishing, Media, and the Arts) in 2022 as the Director of Community where she helped the nonprofit organization expand its offerings to include services for the Latter-day Saint musician community. Her love for this community was one reason she created 17Thousand Songs. She is also passionate about the human story and the choice for faith. She hopes all those who listen to this podcast will be uplifted and strengthened in their resolve to live a faith-filled life.
MEET MEMBERS OF
Our Team
We are currently seeking people to join our team! If you would love to be a part of this historic project, please reach out to us at info@17thousandsongs.org.
Director of Production
Tres Larsen
Tres studied
Director of Research
Cris Conerty
Cris is a hymn enthusiast who loves the lyrics, music, and stories behind the hymns. She has been a ward music chairman and choir director many times, and loves helping others learn to sing and appreciate our sacred music. She assists our team in pre-production research, gathering information on our guests’ works, life experiences, and collaborators, as well as relevant articles about the hymns themselves and the gospel topics they discuss.
As the mother and arranging partner of our host, Alaina Larsen, Cris has also written and arranged many faith-promoting songs to bring comfort and courage to followers of Christ. As an award-winning songwriter, she has penned a lifetime of original music inspired by the highlights, heartbreaks, hopes, and heroes of her life, as well as arranged several songs in the a cappella barbershop harmony style. With the publication of The First to See: Mary’s Easter Story” (a children’s picture book inspired by her original folk song by the same name), Cris is humbled to now add “author” to her list of accomplishments.