Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Producer: Kevin Ward
Label: Radiant Records
Website: www.InnerFireMusic.com

Song Titles: “Good Thing,” “You Keep Bringing Me Here,” “Take ‘Em To The Lord,” “A Little Further Down The Road,” “God’s Gonna Make A Way,” “No Distance Too Far,” “Falling Forward,” “Mighty To Save,” “How,” and “On God’s Green Earth”

Innerfire is a mixed trio based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The group is a combined ministry of two couples. Singing members include Johnna Carroll, Bernie Joyner and Faith Joyner. Johnna’s husband, Scotty Carroll, runs sound for the group and preaches at their events. Innerfire formed in 2005.

Their self-titled CD begins with a pop inspired track called “Good Thing.” The phrase “it’s a good thing” is burned into your skull by the time this song ends. You’ll hear it five times in every chorus, and the bridge is that same line repeated several more times. At four minutes and seventeen seconds, the last minute and a half wears out the welcome. (The arrangment moves at a peppy clip, and could have easily been condensed down to less than three minutes.) Fortunately, this sort of thing doesn’t turn out to be a trend for the entire CD.

“You Keep Bringing Me Here” is written by Gina Boe and Marty Funderburk. The hook in this lyric is vague for the first two verses and choruses. “You keep bringing me here,” but where exactly is “here?” The song’s bridge is put to good use defining the “here” we were wondering about. Speaking of Funderburk, he had a hand in writing half of the songs on this CD. “Take ‘Em To The Lord” is one of his. It’s the sort of upbeat Southern Gospel song the Martins might have recorded in their heyday. (For a male quartet version of the same song, find a copy of Glory Ahead, a 2007 release by the Anchormen.)

The pace slows for “A Little Further Down The Road,” featuring Bernie Joyner. He’s featured again on “God’s Gonna Make A Way.” His voice has some unusual overtones that could be developed into a defining sound for the group, but he depends on glottal throat clearing gimmicks on more energetic cuts. Producer Kevin Ward co-wrote “No Distance Too Far” along with Kristina Hodges. I’m pretty sure this is a cover song, but I can’t remember who recorded it previously. It’s a nice easy going song that suits the female singer perfectly. (Sorry, I’m not familiar enough with the group to distinguish one lady from the other.)

“Falling Forward” has an eighth note bass guitar rhythm underneath that gives this arrangement forward motion…a bit of word painting there in the instrumentation. “Mighty To Save” is a cover of the worship anthem originally popularized by Hillsong. “How” uses a simple but very effective piano accompaniment to convey the prayerful message, “How, I love you, Lord.” The CD closes with another praise band inspired track titled “On God’s Green Earth.”  This cut was originally recorded by Point Of Grace. (A country gospel group called Brush Arbor recorded a different song by the same title in 1994. It was considerably more low key, but the theme is so similar that I have to wonder if the writer’s knew about it. Click HERE to see the lyrics.)

Innerfire shows a great deal of promise as a Christian pop act with the occasional nod to Southern Gospel. This CD contains a mixture of styles, but the mixture doesn’t feel random. It’s too bad we’re living in a post-band, pro-tracks era, because this is the sort of style that would have sold like hotcakes with a supporting concert tour and the backing of a major record label in the early 1990s. If you like groups like Avalon with a hint of the Martins, you should check out Innerfire.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Producers: Mike Upright and Scott Barnett
Website: www.mikeuprightenterprises.com

Song Titles: “Please Tell Me Again,” “When I Lay My Isaac Down,” “The Hero’s On The Hill,” “The Common Man,” “To Get To Me,” “Great Physician’s Hand,” “He Is I Am,” “Love Letters In The Sand,” “Folly Of A Fool,” and “God Is In The Room”

Nutshell Analysis: The last time I reviewed a Mike Upright CD, I compared his voice to Marty Robbins and Ed Bruce. Listening now, I think a better description is “a dialed back version of Bo Hinson.” He sings the same type of lyrics you’d expect to hear on a Hinsons CD. A typical line is “if you’re looking for a hero, the hero’s on the hill.” The difference is that Upright sings at 7 or 8 on an intensity scale of 1 to 10. Bo Hinson is somewhere around 15 (still on a 1 to 10 scale). The result is a very comfortable, easy going Country Gospel recording.  

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Label: Lamp Music Group

Song Titles: “You Can Start All Over Again,” “The Power,” “Somewhere In My Past (There Is A Cross),” “Ready To Go On A Journey,” “Living For The Call,” “Mercy Made A Way,” “He’s Been So Good To Me,” “Let Me Introduce You To Grace,” “I’m Gonna Rise,” “He’s Been There Too,” “He Walks With Me,” and “Teach Me Lord To Wait”

Nutshell Analysis: The solo vocals on Living For The Call are a bit stiff in spots and the vocal blend doesn’t always gel. Otherwise, this is a very good CD. There’s a strong selection of songs, most of which were new to me. No producer was listed for this CD, but Mike Pillow produced this CD, while Danny Crawford handled keyboard and orchestration duties. (Crawford has produced a number of Crossroads artists in the past.) My favorite cut on the CD is “He’s Been So Good To Me.” It has a Dixieland feel. Other strong selections include “Mercy Made A Way” and “Somewhere In My Past.” “Teach Me Lord To Wait” is a note for note, phrase by phrase, copy of Gold City’s version of the same song.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Producer: Bill Gaither
Website: www.gaither.com

Song Titles: “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross,” “The Lily Of The Valley,” “Fill My Cup Lord,” “More About Jesus,” “God Bless America” (DVD only), “One Big Heaven,” “Rock Of Ages,” “All People That On Earth Do Dwell,” “Then I Met The Master,” “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” “He Was There All The Time,” “Jesus I Come,” “The Love Of God,” “Abide With Me,” “Stand By Me,” “Hallelujah, Praise The Lamb,” “Through It All,” “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power,” “Does Jesus Care?”/”God Will Take Care Of You,” and “May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You”

You may recall a pair of hymn-based releases in the Gaither Gospel Series from 2007 titled Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art. Rock Of Ages is taken from footage captured at that same session. You may also recall that this particular session included a number of Southern Gospel groups who aren’t always part of the Gaither entourage. As with Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art, you’ll again have to be content with watching many of them just sit in the choir and sing along. The Collingsworth Family, Blackwood Brothers, Greater Vision, Talley Trio, and the Florida Boys are featured while groups like the Greenes, Perrys, Whisnants, and others look on. Several artists that were featured on the first two releases are featured again on Rock Of Ages.

With the exception of “God Bless America” (performed by Acoustix), the CD contains the same songs that are found on the DVD. The CD clocks in at an hour and fifteen minutes. The DVD is 90 minutes due to some additional footage of Bill and/or Gloria introducing the songs. Speaking of Gloria, be sure to check out the bonus section of the DVD if you buy this product. She has a great challenge for songwriters regarding the responsibility to write scripturally sound lyrics. Unfortunately, this sincere moment was relegated to the Bonus section in favor of a more scripted introduction to “The Love Of God.”

Taken collectively, there are some gems on the three releases we’ve seen so far from this session. When you consider Rock Of Ages individually, though, it doesn’t quite measure up to other Gaither Gospel Series titles. The hymnal at my church includes plenty of selections that break the 60 beat per minute barrier, but you won’t find many of those here. If you took all the footage from Rock Of Ages, Amazing Grace, and How Great Thou Art, you could compile two 5-Star products. Unfortunately, the route of quantity was chosen over quality when it came to this session.

One guy isn’t just dead. He’s WORSE than dead! That has to be my all time favorite line from a Star Trek episode.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Producer: Lari Goss
Label: Daywind

Song Titles: “All Creatures Of Our God And King” (includes “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing” and “O Worship The King”), “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Tell Me The Story Of Jesus,” “The Stranger Of Galilee,” “The Lily Of The Valley,” “The Wondrous Cross Medley” (included “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross,” “The Healer,” and “The Old Rugged Cross”), “Christ The Lord Is Risen Today,” “Redeemed Medley” (includes “Since I Have Been Redeemed,” “Redeemed, How I Love To Proclaim It,” and “I’m Redeemed”), “I Know He Heard My Prayer,” “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and “Jesus Is Coming Again Medley” (includes “In Times Like These,” “The Solid Rock,” and “Jesus Is Coming Again”)

Hymns Of The Ages was previously offered as an exclusive product of InTouch Ministries. Daywind has dressed this recording in fresh packaging for retail. The approach to most arrangements is the same…heavily mixed string/brass moving at slow to mid-tempos. The only tracks that approach “upbeat” territory are “Lily Of The Valley” and “Redeemed Medley.” If you’re expecting a few arrangements in the vein of “He’d Still Been God” or “My Name Is Lazarus,” you will be disappointed. This CD has more in common with Lari Goss’ choral arrangements than the production work he typically does for a Southern Gospel group. A few arrangements build to a dramatic finish while other selections are more easy going from beginning to end. The Ruppes join Greater Vision for the first medley which includes “All Creatures Of Our God And King,” “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing,” and “O Worship The King.” Another change of pace is their a cappella take on “Christ The Lord Is Risen Today.”

Late on Tuesday night of this week, I visited Word Music’s website to see about licensing some choral tracks for a recording. Word’s site referred me to Musicservices.org, which collectively represents EMI CMG Publishing, Mercy Vineyard Publishing, Word Music, Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, and Maranatha Music.

This afternoon, roughly 36 hours after I had submitted my request, I got an email with an attached PDF file containing all three licenses I had requested! The rate wasn’t too bad, either…$60 per track with the right to manufacture 300 pieces of product. For comparison, Daywind quoted me $125-175 per track the last time I checked (three or four years ago).

Of course, that’s just for the use of the recordings. I’ll still have to pay standard songwriter royalties on any titles that aren’t in public domain.

If you’ve ever tried to license an existing recording or pay a mechanical royalty in the past, you probably know that it can often take weeks and sometimes as much as six months before you get acknowledged by the publisher.
This is more like it ought to be.

Now, I have to go buy a shotgun. Flocks of flying pigs can wreak havoc on a paint job.

I should probably add that two of these tracks are full blown Lari Goss arrangements with all the attention to detail you’d expect from Goss. If you’re a local artist struggling with studio costs, but your inner sense of perfection demands a professional touch, it’s worth checking out…especially if you have a mixed group…but also for male quartets if you don’t mind adapting vocal parts to suit the pre-determined key.

I hear people use redundant acronyms in speech from time to time. I remember a professor back in college mentioning a “DOS operating system,” for example, or someone might say, “We’re eating KFC chicken.”

I’m a little more surprised when a large business does this. Here in North Carolina, RBC Centura is changing their name to RBC Bank. I guess they collectively forgot that the “B” in RBC already stands for “bank.”

For a practical analysis of the “1000 True Fans” theory by a musician who is actually making a living independent of record labels, click HERE.

For my previous article on this topic, click HERE.

Click HERE first for background if you have no idea what I’m talking about.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Producer: Bill Gaither

Campfire Homecoming Song Titles (CD): “Jesus, Hold My Hand,” “Livin’ In The Rain,” “Lead Me To That Rock,” “Can’t Stop Talkin’ About Him,” “Mansion Over The Hilltop,” “Touch Me Lord Jesus,” “I Have Found A Way,” “Let The Redeemed Say So,” “Denomination Blues,” “The Unclouded Day,” “Speak Love,” “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” “Hold Me While I Cry,” “Leave It There,” “Kum Ba Ya”/”Take My Hand Precious Lord,” “The Holy Hills Of Heaven Call Me,” “Softly And Tenderly,” “Yes, I Know,” and “O The Blood Of Jesus”/”Nothing But The Blood”/”Near The Cross” (Medley)

Homecoming Picnic Song Titles (CD): “”This Great Caravan Keeps On Rolling Along,” “I’m Living In Canaan Now,” “Sky Full Of Angels,” “I Was There When It Happened,” “I’m A Soldier,” “Did You Ever Go Sailin’,” “Farther Along,” “I Heard It First On The Radio,” “Palms Of Victory,” “Sally Goodin’”/”Wildwood Flower,” “He Pilots My Ship,” “Sweet Forgiveness,” “The Sweetest Song I Know,” “Without The Lord,” “Mama’s Teaching Angels How To Sing,” “What A Day That Will Be,” “Eastern Gate,” “Gentle Shepherd”/”I Will Serve Thee,” and “Look For Me”

These CD and DVD projects follow the Gaither formula…a heavy dose of old material mixed with a few recently released songs that spotlight specific artists. This time, the setting is a campfire and a huge picnic lunch. Highlights from these two companion products include Joey Martin’s “Speak Love,” “He Pilots My Ship” featuring Buddy Mullins and Mike Allen, and Buddy Greene’s comical “Denomination Blues” with Jeff Taylor. Greene’s instrumental duet with the Isaacs (”Sally Goodin’”/”Wildwood Flower”) also stands out. Becky Isaacs Bowman, Mike Allen, Russ Taff, and Ben Speer eventually get cranked up on “The Sweetest Song I Know” with Michael English joining them on the third or fourth encore. The Booth Brothers steal the whole show on “Without The Lord.” The blend, diction, and the touch of lighthearted comedy they bring to the table are hard to top.