When the Pope visits America, musician Lenny Smith always gets a call from the diocese, asking permission to blast Smith's famous worship song, "Our God Reigns," from the Popemobile. This internationally beloved song, which represents the height of Smith's fame, (and the song he cannot escape from), also appears on Deep Calls to Deep, Smith's latest release on Soundsfamilyre, the label of his son, Daniel Smith, of the renegade Danielson Famile. It appears on the new album alongside 15 more melodies that run the gamut from Folk Mass-like music to ballads that work the bones, to beautiful rock 'n roll with vintage organ and a Kinks-like peculiarity. At 58, Lenny Smith is a dangerous romantic more committed than ever to dangerously real music. Don't expect the old gem to be polished up with a brass quartet or a feverish violin; Smith has left it pretty much alone, he and the guitar, quite unadorned and happily situated next to newer, just as appealing material. The title track, "Deep Calls to Deep," is taken from the Psalms, and throughout the album the listener acquires carefully crafted melodies and licks. All are strange and loveable, like a favorite sock, or a favorite set of marbles. Gulp the whole album down or pull out a singular element, like a string of taffy, or a beautiful new cat's eye; enjoy it in all types of sunlight, at all times of the day. The music of Lenny Smith is peculiar yet familiar, name same as the label where it lives - it saves the revolution for the Holy Spirit, which holds its writer in full sway. This stuff is a doorway into the holy city, a way to celebrate awakenings, broken chains, a turning to the heart of the matter.
This is rock 'n roll.
Besides the fact that they have both recently released albums, Lenny Smith and Pope John Paul II have a lot in common. Both have Catholic roots, are highly intellectual but streetwise, engaged in the arts, they've dabbled in poetry and Latin, studied philosophy at school and arrived at Christianity with all this baggage in tow. Neither man's cerebral nature kept them from hard labor - the Pope worked as a stone-cutter in a quarry, and in a chemical plant, and Lenny left his job teaching Latin to start painting houses. True, they went in completely different directions - Karol Jozef Wojtyla became Pope in 1978. By that time the popularity of Smith's "Our God Reigns" had spanned the earth, cropping up in songbooks in England, California, and Australia. And Lenny had dropped out of seven years of seminary to wed Marian, a lovely woman who loved the Lord and Lenny, and together they had five children. While Pope John Paul traveled the world, alternately infuriating and earning the adoration of the masses, the Smith children grew, and Lenny wrote more songs. But Smith too has a reputation for telling it like it is, for turning tables over and earning the adoration of the church and the folks who encounter his music.
When the Smith children grew up, something strange happened. Son Dan's senior thesis in art school at Rutgers University turned into an explosive - then successful band, the Danielson Famile, and a young son's unique vision brought Lenny's legacy full circle. It is because of that Holy Rounder that we present Lenny Smith on the pincushion of Soundsfamilyre. We would be lying if we told you this was not an incredible moment. We would be lying if we told you that Danielson fans are always Lenny Smith fans, and vice versa. But we would also be lying to you if we did not say that the ones who can approach both - the elder father with his melodies about the Holiest of Holy Spirits, and the younger son yodeling for the Spirit to wrap around melodies - do not encounter something quite remarkable. Inside aren't we all children, rattling our tin cans, don't we all long for the tender strains of folk, the warm soul of the organ, and the rock n roll trenches of the gut? Oh you critics, you pill-popping computer geeks, you indie-weathered women, open your ears, open your ears! Grab your best chewing gum and chomp into this music. It might not make you wise, but it may make you bold. I propose that all people need all these things, and that all people therefore need the music of Lenny Smith. Pope John Paul II himself would not disagree.
- Melissa Herwaldt
I think I should be thankful to you for most of the music I like being brought to my attention! New Jerusalem has truly been a godsend. It's really encouraging to hear and see fellow lovers of Christ with similar eclectic tastes and such amazing talent!-L
I think I should be thankful to you for most of the music I like being brought to my attention! New Jerusalem has truly been a godsend. It's really encouraging to hear and see fellow lovers of Christ with similar eclectic tastes and such amazing talent!-L
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