i've had a Gospel playlist on my iPod for quite some time now. There's something really special about music in general, but add some uplifting lyrics inspired by The Man and you get something really moving. There's one guy ultimately responsible for me becoming interested in this spiritually-rooted music (well, aside from Him of course) - Mike McClure. It most likely started after i got The Great Divide project Dirt and Spirit - a Red Dirt compilation disc of Gospel tunes:
mp3: The Great Divide - Deliver Us
mp3: The Great Divide - Angels Over Me
mp3: Susan Gibson & Mike McClure - Hung Down Head
mp3: Tom Skinner & Mike McClure - Blind Man
pick up Dirt & Spirit here.
Mike McClure, the (then) frontman of The Great Divide, has quite a few religious flavored songs in his repertoire. i'm not gonna delve real deep into all of Mike's music today - i still plan on a full artist spotlight for him one day.
One of the most powerful and inspiring songs i've ever heard (and should have posted last Sunday for Easter) is Between Two Thieves. A simple but amazing re-telling of the resurrection.
mp3: Mike McClure - Between Two Thieves ~ from Twelve Pieces (2002)
Twelve Pieces was Mike's solo debut album, and is aptly titled as it is simply 12 songs that he probably had floating around waiting to be recorded without the mainstream country touch that The Great Divide had.
Here's some more of The Gospel According to Mike:
mp3: Mike McClure - Harder To Ignore ~ from Twelve Pieces (2002)
mp3: Mike McClure Band - Sweet Mother Mary ~ from EverythingUpsideDown (2004)
mp3: Mike McClure Band - Via Dolorosa ~ from Burtschi Brothers & Mike McClure Band (2004)
- Via Dolorosa is the road Jesus walked down on his way to the crucifix.
mp3: Mike McClure Band - Traveler ~ from Camelot Falling (2005)
Amen.
