Christian Music veterans Bob Bennett, Bill Batstone, and Alex MacDougall have re-recorded some of the greatest Contemporary Christian Music songs of all-time on JESUS MUSIC AGAIN: Remembering & Renewing.
Joining them are friends Buddy Greene, Linda McCrary, Alfie Silas, Anne Barbour, Bob Somma, and special guest Phil Keaggy. Thus the recording features a gifted musical collaboration and signature styles of some of Christian Music's pioneers.
Individually, Bennett, Batstone, and MacDougall have recorded and/or toured over the years with such distinguished artists as Amy Grant, Richie Furay, Daniel Amos, Michael Card, and Bruce Carroll. That list also extends to artists whose songs are represented on JESUS MUSIC AGAIN: Love Song, Barry McGuire, Keith Green, Andrae Crouch, Larry Norman, and Second Chapter of Acts. (Songs are also included from Bob Dylan, Blind Faith, and one new Bennett/Batstone song "More Than Halfway Home".)
As songwriters and artists with extensive catalogs, Bob Bennett and Bill Batstone have penned some of the most enduring worship and story songs of faith. However, JESUS MUSIC AGAIN specifically reaches back to identify and repurpose songs and anthems that were the soundtrack of New Faith during the Jesus People Era of the late '60's to early '80's. This music still resonates with most of those who heard it first "back in the day".
"This is an absolute labor of love," says Bennett. "Our vision from the start was to revive some of the songs we remembered best, to treat them with the respect and musicianship a 'remake' would demand, and to musically make them our own for the present day."
JESUS MUSIC AGAIN is alive with songs well known by title alone: Easter Song, Until Your Love Broke Through, U.F.O., Soon and Very Soon, Little Country Church, There is a Redeemer, and a nine-minute Scripture Medley of songs that could literally be a worship set list for any Service or Bible Study where young Jesus People gathered.
MacDougall says "Our dream is take this music back into the Church as soon as possible. We believe a JESUS MUSIC AGAIN evening will be a special gathering for everyone, a way to reconnect with old friends, to share these songs again and see God move." Bennett concurs, "As the music goes out by download/CDs and we tour, we hope to gather together all who might recognize these songs or have an interest in what it was all about. To both remember where we came from and to renew our lives to Jesus' Gospel in the here-and-now. Billy, Alex, and I want nothing more than to encourage those still in the Faith and lovingly re-call those who may have wandered a bit, for whatever reason, and invite them to come Home … that together we might all finish well! The "JESUS MUSIC" is the basis of it all, but the "AGAIN" is essential!"
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