I have to give a shout out to The Geek (aka The Science Fiction Twin) for pointing me to my latest musical obsession: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. If you like gospel and southern roots rock then you've got to listen to this woman and her band. She sounds like a cross between Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers and Janis Joplin with a deep soul connection to the Hammond B3 Organ. Her song, "Nothing but the Water" may be the very best song I've heard all year long. It makes me think I'm at a revival and makes me want to raise my hands...expect you don't hear the amazingly sultry sounds of a Hammond B3 at most southern revivals I know of.
We're talking about songs and prayers of lament in the Bible study I lead this week and I have every intention of talking about Negro spirituals and the blues as recent expressions of lament in American culture. I think that some of her music fits within this tradition. For much of the modern American evangelical church, lament is a lost practice. This is one of the things that has led to a faith that is flat and shallow and doesn't speak to any of the real issues in people's lives anymore. I think that's why music like this is so important. Unlike the tripe for Jessica Simpson and Fergie and so many other pop bands these days, this kind of music reconnects us with our need to cry out when we hurt or grieve or feel disconnected from the God that sustains us all in this life. It gives voice to the sense of brokenness we all feel and our need to get right.
Anyways, enough of the sermon. Give this music a serious listening to. You won't regret it.
Thanks for Reading.
