Do Yourself a Favor Posted July 22, 2010 By IronJedi,
If you aren’t familiar with music outside of what your local Top 40 Christian station plays, you should really expand your horizons. You would be doing yourself a favor by sampling music outside of the typical homogenized pop that is repeatedly played. Take a chance and audition music from small labels and independent artists. There are bazillions of websites that offer free samples representing every conceivable genre to be found in Christian music. Aside from Myspace, Amazon, Shoutcast, there’s also Indie Heaven, Christian Blues, etc.
As a case in point, there’s the Central Ohio band Windrush: not your typical Christian fare nor your predictable modern rock band. These guys create original jazz and blues-influenced classic rock with the focus squarely on GOD. With music that owes definite hat tips to bands like BTO, Foghat, Grand Funk Railroad, Kansas and Toto, this five piece band’s guitar and percussion laden songs harken back to a time when music was more visceral and organic. Stand outs include “Spirit Walkin’ Blues,” which features some standout old school guitar licks, the radio-ready “Psalm Song” and the power ballad “Favor in Your Eyes.”
The songs of Favor are handled proficiently by the band members and delivered with a flourish of genuine relish: these guys are skilled musicians. Singer Randall Rush has a husky delivery with a fine touch of grittiness. If there’s one blemish, it’s the unevenness of the mixing / production, BUT this is something that can be easily taken care of in the future and does not detract from the flow nor listen-ability of this great album. One final caveat- if you’re not acquainted with blues-inspired classic rock, be prepared for some recurring chord progressions. That’s not to say the songs of Favor are unvarying, but you will hear repetitious riffs throughout the rockers on this collection.
