That old-time religion

I gave a copy of our new CD, SWEET FREEDOM, to my friend Beth at church this morning. In a way, she started this whole business of a benefit CD for HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS. When her husband Don died, she asked that I play the piano for the funeral service. He had always enjoyed my keyboard musings. And, because he had a love for trains, he wanted an old railroad song sung at his funeral service: Life's Railway to Heaven. I asked fellow-musician John Mulder to join me for the funeral music. A fellow prison worker liked it so much he suggested a fund-raiser in his church. John and I added a few more musicians for the fund-raiser, and people liked that so much we decided on a CD. The rest is history.

Charley Honey, fine religion writer for the Grand Rapids Press, did a story about the CD yesterday, and called it a "delightful collection of old-time gospel chestnuts." In fact, when he listened to the CD, his first reaction was: Old-Time Religion. And I guess he's right. We chose titles that history has proven to be popular, Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, The Old Rugged Cross.

I hope you will give a listen. You can download your own personal copy of the album on iTunes or Amazon...or better yet you can ask me to send you a hard copy, so you can play it in your car when you drive to work.

It's called SWEET FREEDOM, and the other musicians are Lee Ingersoll, Cal Olson, Roger MacNaughton and David Mulder. We suggest a donation of $15, and the money goes right into the operation of HFP.

Said Charley Honey: "Their fresh treatments of these sentimental favorites could warm a wintry soul."

Give it a try and let me know.

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