SouthernGospelBlog.com

Rating: 4 (of 5)

Average Song Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Producer: Lari Goss.

Song List: I Want To Know That You Know; You Were Faithful Yesterday; Meet Him At Calvary; It Pays to Pray; Share It With Jesus; He is Loved; I’ve Been to the Bottom; Born to Serve the Lord; The Source of My Song; You’re Not Forsaken.

Available from: Artist, ChristianBook.com.

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Virtually all groups care about both the lyrics and the music of their songs. But close observation of group’s song and arrangement choices suggests that some groups (Signature Sound, Gaither Vocal Band) focus particularly on how a song works musically, while others (Perrys, Inspirations) focus particularly on how it works lyrically. Lyrically dominant groups will occasionally select a lyrically strong song that might not be as musically memorable, and vice versa for musically dominant groups.

Greater Vision’s appeal to their dedicated fan base is partially explained in light of the fact that they are a lyrically dominant group and tend to attract lyrically dominant fans. That is to say, if they release an album with several lyrically strong songs, they can get away with realising an album that (like Not Alone) has only one fast song (”I Want You to Know That You Know”) and only one big ballad (”You’re Not Forsaken”). The rest of the songs on the project are recorded at slow or medium tempo.

The concept of lyrically dominant song selection is well illustrated by two of the songs on the project, “He is Loved” and “It Pays to Pray.” On first listen, a casual listener might think the tracks were among the weakest on the CD. But a careful listener particularly attuned to unique lyric ideas would be grabbed by the message of “He is Loved.” Word is that “It Pays to Pray” is getting some of the strongest responses that any of the songs on the project are getting before live audiences. The story behind the song—how Rodney Griffin wrote it about his father-in-law’s conversion two months before his father-in-law finally softened to the Gospel and came into the Kingdom—connects with audiences and perhaps leaves them more receptive to the song. But the appeal of both songs is predominantly in their lyrics.

This is Jacob Kitson’s first recording with the group; he is featured on three songs, “You Were Faithful Yesterday,” “He is Loved,” and “The Source of My Song.” He does well on all three, and “He is Loved” seems to do particularly well at bringing out some nice tones in his voice. This is despite the fact that the tracks were actually recorded before Jason was hired. (Thus, Kitson’s second project with the group will be the first to feature songs picked for his voice.)

Though Not Alone has several songs that should do well on radio, and several that should go over well in live concerts, the project is unlikely to turn the world of Southern Gospel upside down. But Greater Vision doesn’t need such a project; they have several concert programs’ worth of hit songs and favorites that didn’t get sent to radio. All they need is a song or two for radio, and enough good new material to keep their concert programs from getting stale. Not Alone hits that mark.

Song list: Holy Angels; My Best Friend; Everything’s Alright; Family Bible; With Jesus I’ll Abide; A Lonely Mountain; The Old Crossroads; No Longer an Orphan; Shouting on the Hills of Glory; When I Met Jesus; I Won’t Have to Worry; I Have Decided to Follow Jesus; Troublesome Waters; I Will Sing; Pass Me Not.

Producer: None credited.

Website: http://tlmmusic.com/

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While this blog’s weekly reviews column focuses on reviews of nationally known Southern Gospel groups, every now and then a change of pace is nice. The Lord’s Messengers is a Christian bluegrass / Southern Gospel group based in Alto, Georgia. They have four vocalists, each of whom also play an instrument, and two additional musicians. The vocalists are Dianne Tench (who also plays rhythm guitar), Glenn Vining (lead guitar), Mack Anderson (bass), and Will Carpenter (banjo); the two other musicians are Don Wheatley (mandolin / dobro / guitar) and Carissa Woods (guitar / dulcimer / mandolin / banjo).

The album contains a mix of little-songs, classic hymns, and several current Southern Gospel songs (most notably two by the Primitive Quartet’s Reagan Riddle, “My Best Friend” and “No Longer an Orphan.”) There is also at least one new song, “I Will Sing,” co-written by group members Carissa Woods and Mack Anderson.

The album gets kudos for giving songwriter / publisher credit. While I don’t mean to imply that the reverse is always or even generally true, it’s still the case that groups that go to the trouble to list songwriter / publisher credits also tend to go to the trouble to pay appropriate royalties.

These days, Southern Gospel groups with three-piece bands are rare enough; a six-piece band is something the likes of which are only seen in the bluegrass part of our genre. While studio precision rarely captures the enthusiasm of a live bluegrass performance, this project is good enough to indicate that an evening with the group would be well spent.