On the new record, "The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood" : RYAN DELMORE - vocals, acoustic guitar, 6 and 12 string electric guitars, papoose, harmonica, bass, percussion, ordian. MARC FORD - acoustic, electric and slide guitars, papoose, bass. MARK FOLKROD - drums, percussion, harmony vocals. "SKINNY" LARRY SCHUBERT - pedal steel. RICK KAMRATH - organ, handclaps.
JANIECE HUDGINS - accordian. KIRSTEN FORD - harmony vocals. CHRIS LIZOTTE - harmony vocals, backing vocals, handclaps, recording, producing, mixing. THE HARMONY SISTERS REVIVAL CHOIR - JANINE SYLSTRA, JAMIE EICHLER, KIRSTEN FORD.
Influences
JESUS, the Word, Sarah Michelle, my boys and girl, P.J. Wahl, Chris Lizotte, John and Marie Barnett, Mom and Pop, brother Darren, Zeb Zaitz, Skinny Larry, Bob Whitaker, Adam Pasion, Chris Chabot, Jose Rivera, Brennan Manning, Ed Piorek, John Wimber, Steven Collins, black coffee, california country, texas country, Cameron Ingalls, Bob Dylan, dusty strings, mexican radio, The Staple Singers, Jimmy Lester, Gillian Welch, C.S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, The Amazing Folkrod Brothers, Louvin Brothers, Stanley Brothers, Delmore Brothers, Donovan Lorenzen, Mom and Dad Kriwinski, Marc Ford, Buddy and Julie Miller, Bill Mallonee...
Best known for contributing songs to the Vineyard's "The Burn Service", "Never Looking Back" and "Sweetly Broken" compilations, Nipomo, CA's Ryan Delmore releases his full-length debut "The Spirit, the Water & the Blood", a remarkable album of new material on Vineyard imprint Varietal Records.
Delmore, a worship leader in the Vineyard church for over 15 years, has crafted one of the most well-made, honest and unique worship albums I've come across in a long time. By blending his alt-country, rock, folk and gospel influences, Delmore mines territory inhabited by like-minded artists such as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Ryan Adams. I find it difficult to make any comparisons within the Christian community because aside from some of Delmore's earlier work, I honestly haven't heard anyone else bring this particular sound to worship music before.
The album's eclectic batch of songs range from louder, full-band praise songs featuring B3 organ and pedal steel ("Provide For Me", "Jesus' Name", "The World Can't Take It Away"), to more intimate acoustic guitar-based worship songs ("Sacred", "Nowhere To Be Seen", "True Religion"). Most of the songs feature Marc Ford's exceptional electric guitar work, and female vocalist Kirsten Ford, who counters Delmore's grittier vocal style with honeyed tones that are occasionally a dead-ringer for Emmylou Harris. The album was brilliantly recorded and produced by fellow worship leader Chris Lizotte, who also contributes harmony vocals, and who knew exactly how to bring out an authentic, rootsy sound without over-producing the recording to the point of homogenization. There is a warm and genuine nature to the sound of these songs that you don't often hear in today's worship music. At times the playing can sound quite loose, but the musicianship is definitely there, and it adds a ton of character to the album as a whole.
Not only does "The Spirit, the Water & the Blood" come from an authentic place musically, but it is spot-on lyrically as well, especially from a spiritual standpoint. Delmore borrows liberally from Scripture in every song, including references to Luke 1:46-47 and Isaiah 61:3 in "Sing Like Mary Sang", James 1:27 and Luke 4:18 (among others) in "True Religion" and many, many more. In addition to praising God's other attributes, most of the songs tend to focus on Christ's sacrifice for sins, His redemptive and transformative love, the life He has brought us out of and what He desires of us from that point forward.
As an added value for worship leaders, the enhanced CD features printable lyric sheets and chord charts for every song on the album. I can see quite a few of these songs being used regularly in worship services or to accent a message or Scripture passage referenced in a particular song. I recommend this CD to worship leaders seeking songs with a country-rock feel for their Praise and Worship, and to anyone who is a fan of the folk-rock, country-rock or alternative-country styles of music.
For my money, it's one of the best releases of the year in any genre.
Review by Marc Dooley - www.worshipmusic.com
For this week’s “Tuesday Tee” we’re offering one of our classics – the “Sugar Banner” for only $17.95! But only until midnight Tuesday night! Each Tuesday we plan to offer a different design – sometimes one of our greatest hits, and other times we’ll dig deep into the vault of over 10 years of designs.
The sale will end @ midnight each Tuesday night. Not only will the price revert to normal, but sometimes we’ll put a design back in the archives and it may disappear altogether. It’s a fun way to bring pieces to life and give special attention to different designs from our collection.
Thank you for the add my precious new friend, I hope you accept these videos as a gift from me, to you. Love you and have a pleasant evening.~Love Bran~
