Album Notes

It’s the ageless struggle between self and selfless. Between what we need to do and what we want to do. Between what we are and what we should be.

Out of this dichotomy flows the inspiration for the new Boochie Shepherd album “Vertical.”

“That inner conflict is something that I battle personally,” says frontman Brandon McCaghren, “and I know it’s something that a lot of other people are fighting, too. I want to help them see that they aren’t alone in the fight.”

From the opening line of the album, that message is crystal clear:

You say you want a revolution…
Well, it starts right here.
But from the looks of the situation
Your feelings are unclear…

The layered guitars of the title track and other rockers such as “Pull My String” build the perfect foundation for McCaghren’s vocals to deliver the musical equivalent of a punch to the stomach.

In the emotive, acoustic guitar based track, “All the King’s Horses,” McCaghren laments the fact that so many of us have failed to do the very thing we were created to do, and in so doing, have left a hungry world starving in our wake.

Who’ll save the Kingdom from
All the King’s men?

“That song was difficult for me because it is so self-indicting. It’s just so easy to become the very things you stand against if you aren’t careful,” says McCaghren.

Armed with transparency and honesty, Boochie Shepherd has become a favorite of Christian music fans, both young and old, who have seen them share the stage with artists such as Aaron Shust, The Afters and Hyper Static Union.

Drummer Heath Hood says, “I always imagined that our music was really relevant to young people, so to see parents and even grandparents embrace it is overwhelming.”

That universal appeal is clear in the infectious hook of tracks like “Plain and Simple” and “Perfect Little World” and in the thundering work of guitarist Brandon Denton in “Brighten Your Eyes.”

“We just want to be regular people with something really important to say,” states bassist Jeff Hubbard. “Our generation holds the power to change the world, and we want to wake them up to that fact.”