Susan from California asked me to listen to a CD she and her husband Keith Johnson have just produced. They wanted to know what I thought of it. I don't know why they picked me, but I am so grateful they did! This CD is a whole new kind of Christian music, but it isn't only for Christians. It's written from the heart about the things that are in the heart of a Christian. So it would appeal to Christians... and also to people who want to know what we are really like, on the inside.

The SOUND of it... I actually had it running the other day for more than four hours on continuous play, and here I am running it again today-- it is that pretty, that fresh, that solid. I wake up hearing these tunes coming back to me, lifting me up, settling me down, reconnecting me to the Divine.... This music has me flying, and I have decided it will be this year's Christmas present to each person I hold dear-- I will be proud to support this project with every Christmas dollar in my budget. It inspires, it soothes, it challenges, it says what some of us struggle to say, but says it effortlessly.

According to Keith's liner notes, "You won't find the usual 'Oh Lord, you are worthy of our praise' songs on this CD; to be honest, I'd feel a little presumptuous telling God that he measures up to my standards. My songs are about people who are discovering they aren't worthy of God, about people who don't know how to follow God, about people who sometimes are scared he isn't even there.... And my songs are about how God accepts us in our weakness anyway."

The songs themselves are masterpieces of writing and rhythm and melody. They don't sound like anything I have ever heard. The arrangements are clean and spare and so lovely that they make you sing inside. Keith's voice, and the voices of various ladies providing backup vocals, including Sue, make you think you are right there with them singing with friends, and yet the quality is so high that it is also completely professional. Here are some of the phrases in these songs that jumped out at me as truth--

From Baptism
When a baby cries a 1000 angels cry.
When a baby laughs it fills up heaven.
You can see it in her eyes.
She has her mother's eyes.
It fills up heaven.

Some lies are only told by fearful hearts.


From Carry You Away
This time it's different
This time you're a little stronger
And a little less willing to lie about the pain.


From Saved by Grace
We see the smiles
We see the sunshine on their faces
But we can't see their trials.


From Lord, Liar or Lunatic
"Is Jesus a Lord, a liar or a lunatic?"
At least I think that's what he said.
And I wondered "Is this man a lunatic?
Or a liar, or the Son of God?"


From Dave's Song
Sometimes I hide my face, sometimes I feel your grace
Sometimes my faith's a lie; sometimes I start to cry
Sometimes your voice is clear. Sometimes the song is near--
You're singing, "You're still welcome here."


From Wash it All Away
... and if He told you, you must believe
and if you asked Him what that means
if you said you're not sure how and He said I know
And the tears stream down your face when you realize your freedom...
The tears He cries mixes with the ones in your eyes to wash it all away.


From Would You?
Would you walk into the shadows of an alley
If you heard a man calling out your name?
Would you wonder if it's true?
Was he calling out for you or was it just a name he knew?


From God's Light
It's a light...God's light.
Sometimes it's hidden in the pain
But it's the kind of light that never goes away
It's a light that's breaking through the dark
It's a light...God's light.


Soon, I hope they will get the sound clips up on their website so you can catch the excitement I caught. The rest of the lyrics are there already. Just CLICK HERE

Sue has shared with me that the way this CD was made is a marvelous story, and I hope she will post some of what she told me, right here in this thread. It's the story of believing in the music-- whatever kind of music it may be-- and making it happen, or allowing it to happen... answering that sense that something needs to be sung and heard. I think there is a lesson there for us all. What if every one of us believed in our music enough to just go for it?? ("Would You?" indeed.)

After I have gotten my own copy to keep, which I will purchase, I am taking the review copy they sent me to my local Christian radio station, to urge them to listen to it and play it. I have asked Sue (and she agreed) to provide other Mudcatters with review copies, if they will agree to forward it to their local station after they listen to it. I am sure it will turn up in the Mudcat Auction, and hopefully it will be featured on Mudcat Radio, too.

Thanks Sue.

~S~