DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER, SING ME A SONG ABOUT JESUS

DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER
SING ME A SONG ABOUT JESUS

Mountain Home
MH13932

One of the hallmarks of the most enduring and influential bandleaders is their ability to spot and willingness to nurture young talent, thus paving the way for a new generation of trendsetters.

This certainly is the case with Doyle Lawson and his band Quicksilver, now in its 33rd year. And it’s certainly in evidence on their exemplary new gospel album.

Lawson, as always, is front and center on many of the tracks, playing and singing with as much gusto and assurance as always. But just as essential to this album’s almost seamless warmth and power are the seven members of Quicksilver and their formidable individual talents as singers, pickers and songwriters.

One of Quicksilver’s biggest strengths is the band’s three lead singers: Corey Hensley, who also plays five-string bass; Mike Rogers (who also handles guitar and percussion) and, of course, Lawson himself. Their collective power, along with Josh Swift’s impeccable bass vocal accompaniment, are front and center on a cappella tours de force like “The Greatest Creator” and “Going On Rome.”

Just a few of the other standouts here are the title tune (co-written by the aforementioned lead vocal triumvirate), a cover of Jeannie C. Riley’s “Be Not Afraid,” and the opening cut “Little Star.”

“Little Star” is one of three gems here that were penned by Randy Swift, who, with this song, brilliantly recasts a familiar children’s ditty into a deeply moving gospel ballad for listeners of all ages. (Mountain Home Music, P.O. Box 829, Arden, NC 28704, www.crossroadsmusic.com.)BA