This installment of Sunday Morning Revelations comes from our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson. We will offer reviews of Gospel bluegrass releases on Sunday’s from time to time.

Thank You Lord is Hickory Hill’s first all-Gospel recording. It actually dates back to 2000 when the band comprised John Early (guitar and vocals), Don Eaves (banjo and vocals), the late Jimmy Godwin (guitar, fiddle and vocals), Ronny Singley (mandolin and vocals) and Bob Stegall (bass and vocals).

At that time they were just coming of age as one of Texas’s most popular acoustic groups. Their abilities had been recognised within their home state and across the USA, with SPBGMA nominations for providing an entertaining show while performing in a ‘contemporary’ style. Also, the band had showcased at the IBMA 1996 World Of Bluegrass event in Owensboro, Kentucky.

This CD is not your standard selection from Gospel music’s tried and trusted catalogue, although that assertion might be called into question with the presence of Connie Gately’s Shouting On The Hills Of Glory and a medley based on Larry Sparks’ Thank You Lord that the group heard done by The Whites at a Kerrville bluegrass festival.

In the short time that he was a member of Hickory Hill, Godwin was a prolific songwriter who had a marked influence on the band’s repertoire. For this set he contributed no less than five songs, demonstrating a deep affinity with the scriptures and an ability to compose good original songs to fit the need.

One such song is The Rock, co-written with Early and inspired by Psalms 61 and 62, done as a quartet with a call and response feature. Two others are the songs of salvation - one for a Hobo who was both Lost And Found - one of four duets, and The Salvation Of John Harlow, the recitation, with organ backing, that brings this set to a conclusion.

The two other Godwin songs illustrate a love of the little country church house. Red Roses are a feature of one such place of worship, while Old Time Feeling, the first Gospel song that Godwin wrote, notes the one place where Jesus Christ has an abiding presence. (more…)