Genre-bending acoustic quartet Act of Congress brings its unique blend of pop, folk, gospel, and bluegrass to The Hymns That Made Us, a full-length album available at digital and streaming outlets everywhere here and through Centricity Music's new distribution arm, Residence Music.
 
This self-produced album, The Hymns That Made Us, was mixed by four-time GRAMMY Award-winning Ryan Freeland (Bonnie Raitt, Ray LaMontagne) and reimagines timeless classics that invite listeners to worship with thanksgiving, confession, prayer, lament, and praise.
 
"The Hymns That Made Us is our tribute to the timeless songs that have become the soundtrack of our lives; the triumphs and tragedies. We hope you love this album!" collectively exclaims the band consisting of Connie Skellie (violin, vocals), Adam Wright (mandolin, vocals), Chris Griffin (guitars), and Tim Carroll (bass).
 
Among the ten hymns selected by the band members for this album is "Christ the Solid Rock," which has proven especially poignant for Skellie as she teaches her kids that their identity is anchored in Jesus and not their circumstances. Both of her sons were born with an incurable eye disease.
 
Carroll and his family lost their home in a catastrophic fire last year and have found comfort in singing "'Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul.'" Carroll found a new depth in the beloved "It Is Well" after reading the story of hymn writer, Horatio Spafford, who lost everything in the Chicago fire of 1837.
 
"I became a believer during college while studying guitar. Hymns were unfamiliar to me, but I would use those timeless melodies as practice," says Griffin, who leads worship at the nation's second-largest church, Church of the Highlands. "'Come Thou Fount,' in particular, was a song I would sit on my front porch swing and play, exploring alternate chord progressions and harmonies. Along the way, the lyrics, 'Teach my heart to sing Thy praise,' really sunk in."
 
"The songs we're writing now and the album we just released have so much to say about who we are and what we believe," sums up Wright, who shares lead vocals with Skellie. "I want people to see authenticity. I want them to feel served. I want them to find the joy we feel in this music."