I've recently been introduced to Real Live Preacher. I have been enjoying his writings because they are honest. He recently has been sharing about his battle with depression as well as other subjects.
I've also been listening recently to Ashley Cleveland, who has such a great bluesy voice - sort of a cross between Janis Joplin and the Indigo Girls. There is raw honesty in that voice as well as the songs on her previous albums. She has won two Grammy Awards, and was the first woman to win in the Best Rock Gospel Album category.
She has reworked hymns on her incredible new album "Men and Angels Say." You can listen to clips at her website. Musicians in the contemporary Christian genre have been covering hymns with a modern musical interpretation. Hers easily is one of the best.
These are not hymns set to power chords or knock offs. Incredible musicianship and vocal styling honor the hymns while, Cleveland makes them her own - and ours.
Just a piano accompanies her on "All Creatures of Our God and King." As I listen, I picture myself looking out over the span of creation, and experiencing awe that is beyond words.
When she sings "It Is Well With My Soul," you believe it. I really wanted to sing along with this song for the first time. She brings and exuberance that I haven't heard elsewhere.
The invitiation, "Come Ye Sinners" would bring just about anybody down the aisle. You believe the promise of new life is really real.
Steve Winwood joins her on "I Need Thee Every Hour." The two attend the same church for a while in Nashville.
This is an album that captures the exuberance that life can be before our loving God. I want to stand up, arms stretched out and sing so joyfully, "Take my heart, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."
An excellent interview with her can be found at Christianity Today.
I'm looking forward to seeing her at the Cornerstone Festival.
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