Thanks for bearing patiently with the sins of my youth. (I.e. the recent “Spring Cleaning” series.) There are more, but I’m going to give you a little break from that nostalgic tour de force, and introduce something brand new.
“Awake, Sweet Gratitude,” was written for the recently released Cardiphonia compilation Ascension Songs, a great collection of 18 retuned hymns by great songwriters around the USA and beyond. The text is by Augustus Toplady. It does a great job of exploring the role of Christ as the heavenly intercessor–we have a sympathetic advocate in Jesus, who lived among us and ascended in body to the Father’s side. Check out the PDF leadsheet to study the words more carefully.
I took a little different tack on this recording. I wanted it to be a group project, so I enlisted the help of a number of friends from Grand Rapids and beyond. Each contributed a track or two, then I combined them all into a mix that sounds surprisingly coherent given the variety of voices and instruments that went into it. Here’s who took part:
- Jess Alldredge, backing vocal and violin
- Luke Brodine, backing vocal and accordion
- Michael van Patter, accordion
- Bruce Benedict, mando
- Dave Landrum, banjo
- The Church of the Servant Zoombaphonics, choir
- Greg Scheer, lead vocal, trumpet, trombone, guitars, mandolin, string bass, drums/percussion
