SHOUT! Live

After being named New & Emerging Artist of the Year last year by the Americana Music Association, the former Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies front man Mike Farris gathered the Roseland Rhythm Revue (featuring the McCrary Sisters) behind him, and recorded this live album of Classic and Contemporary Christian and Gospel songs at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn. The Wheelies were a 1990s Nashville Rock band who was signed to Atlantic, and charted singles including 1993’s “Shakin’ The Blues.” In the 16 years since, Farris has discovered a love for Christian songs such as “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “Streets Of Galilee,” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” which he delivers here with passionate vocals and a powerhouse arrangement reminiscent of 1970s Soul and the Bluesy Gospel of Memphis, the city where the debut Wheelies album was recorded. The Sunday night Shout has become “kind of like a church for a lot of people who do not necessarily feel comfortable in church,” Farris says, and this album of 14 faith-based songs figures to help spread that message far beyond Music City.

DON’T STOP BELIEVING

Sharron Kay King’s personal testimony is remarkable, and it shows through in every note she sings and every song she writes. After years of drug and alcohol abuse, she was born again in 1987, and not long after that began playing guitar, writing music, and performing. It wasn’t always easy, but her persistence has more than paid off. King has a beautiful, clear alto voice and a knack both for writing songs (she penned three of the 10 here, including the title track) and for selecting those written by others. These include “A Little Hope,” Dave Salyer’s song about a woman who thinks she can’t have children but then delivers a beautiful, healthy baby. “Don’t Stop Believing,” which King wrote with Chris Binion is a ballad that talks about the ups and downs of life and points out that “when you least expect God to move, God will move.” Another highlight is “The Music Of My Heart,” a King composition that in many ways sums up her journey since 1987: “My voice is not one of an angel,” she sings, “my songs are simple but they’re true.”

LIVE

This high-energy live set was recorded in Memphis, and has the feel of a Sunday morning service at a Victory Cathedral Worship Center, which Norful founded. “I don’t have a Sunday-morning me and then a concert-night me. It’s all the same person.” In addition, that person is a tremendously talented and charismatic worship leader, pianist, and singer/songwriter who wrote or co-wrote nine of the 10 songs on this exciting album. The only cover version is Lionel Richie’s 1980 classic “Jesus Is Love.” EMI Gospel label mate Heather Hadley helps sing that one. Smokie has earned Dove, Grammy, and Stellar nods, and now his fans and parishioners get to hear and feel the experience of one of his shows and worship services. With powerhouse arrangements, funky vocals and harmonies, and irresistible energy, Norful has once again delivered a Christian message in a sensational musical package.

ALL ABOUT LOVE

The North Carolina-based Gospel Bluegrass ensemble the Cockman Family consists of five men and one woman, Caroline (Cockman) Fisher, who shares lead vocals with mandolin player Ben Cockman and banjo wizard Billy Cockman. Except for traditional numbers including “Angel Band,” family members wrote all the songs on this faith-based album. These folks are virtuoso players, writers, and singers. The Cockman Family has been proudly featured on several PBS specials, and named one of America’s 12 Most Creative Families by American Greetings Cards and USA Weekend. One of the numerous highlights here is John Cockman, Jr.’s “The Wheel.”

COMING OUT OF EGYPT

In the last 20 years, Tim Lovell has written more than 250 Christian songs, dozens of which have been recorded by other artists. Young Harmony’s version of Lovell’s “Little Things” appeared on a Dove Award-nominated album. However, it is Tim’s own versions of his songs, delivered in his own soulful baritone, that provide a special insight to his vision and gifting. He penned all 10 songs on this new album, with no co-writers. The arrangements are usually understated and acoustic, but the dramatic orchestration on the title track features percussion, piano, and lots of other instruments that add dramatic strength to a song which, like so much of Lovell’s work, is beautifully constructed with an uplifting Christian message.

LET IT RAIN

Canada’s Steve Rain wrote seven of the 10 tunes here, including “The Prayer Song,” which won GMA Canada’s Country/Bluegrass Song of the Year. He delivers it powerfully and passionately, with lyrics that include several passages from the Lord’s Prayer. Rain has a big baritone voice, which the production by Rain and Rob Hewes highlights nicely. The only cover songs on “Let It Rain” are traditional hymns, including “Just A Closer Walk With Thee,” which is done with a unique arrangement sounding much like Elvis’s Gospel recordings, with a backing vocal group that borrows a great deal from the famed Jordanaires.

THE JOURNEY HOME

As Kris describes this 16-album set of original songs, “ ‘The Journey Home’ is just that, songs about our journey in life from where we are, to where we know we’re headed, because of the great and mighty promises of Almighty God.” Miller was born into a Jewish household, but at the age of 17 she met a group of Christians who traveled the world much as Christ’s disciples had in ancient times, with bare feet and bedrolls. Now living in California, this album was recorded in Tennessee and includes award-winning Miller songs such as “Inner Cell Phone To Jesus” and “God Knows.”

BASICS

The basics about Russ Watson are that he has been performing since age 16, lives in Indiana, is busy touring festivals and churches in Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana this summer, and recorded these 10 Christian cover songs at the famed Gaither Studios in Alexandria, Indiana. He has a fine tenor/baritone voice, and does an excellent job choosing songs that fit his pipes and his message. These include a couple of other compositions by another writer here, with two different mixes of Watson’s strong takes on “Up From The Ashes.” Another tune, “God Knows,” also provides an ideal showcase for Watson’s rangy vocals.

YOU SET ME ON FIRE

Florida’s John Summerall is a veteran singer and songwriter whose guitar-based Country combines Honky-Tonk influences with occasional 1970s Eagles shadings. Summerall wrote 13 songs by himself, except for the title track which was co-written by Summerall and Carl Chambers, who also produced this album and wrote Alabama’s No. 1 Country hit “Close Enough To Perfect” in 1982. Some of John’s best work comes on danceable, humorous songs such as “No Tell Motel” and “Dawgone.” Summerall’s music has also become popular on the job: Co-workers gave John his guitar.

BE A BELIEVER: Music for Youth 2009

As the proud mother of three, singer and songwriter Lyndsi Houskeeper knows a great deal about what kids go through. In recent years, her songwriting has focused on the young people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, popularly known as the Mormon Church. Lyndsi has a strong, clear alto voice, and the songs here have powerful, uplifting messages. In “Destiny,” for instance, she sings: “In you I have a sister/in you a friend sincere/in you the way to heaven is perfectly clear.” The album includes seven vocal tracks, and six more which are instrumentals of most of the same songs.