Music

Rev. Baughcum’s Playlist: Music for Joy, Peace, & Praise

Most of my friends are content with Bach, Brahms, and other masters of the classical Christian musical canon. My preferences run in a different direction. First, I have a hard time sitting still for instrumentals…I need to hear the human voice in praise or prayer with our Savior. Second, I want a tune that stays with me…a tune that, unmusical even as I am, I can attempt to sing. Finally, I want words that are memorable, that inspire, uplift, comfort and move me. Even though my theology does not always match the lyrics in bluegrass and southern gospel hymns, I am drawn to them for their tunes and perhaps because of their emotional familiarity from my youth.

Here are a few of the songs that move me and help me in my faith journey.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken? (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) ▶️

Everybody who was anybody in country and bluegrass sang/played in this ultimate version of Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Crank up the sound to maximum volume and sing along at the top of your lungs with this group brought together by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Trust me, it will heal you.

I Find Jesus (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) ▶️

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band also has a wonderful song about finding Jesus in the mundane.

Daniel Prayed (Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless) ▶️

Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless may have produced the best bluegrass hymn of all time when they sang Daniel Prayed…high and lonesome and fast music…the fellow in the audience who interrupted the song with an enthusiastic yell was a cousin of Ricky Skaggs who later died as the result of a bite while handling rattlesnakes in a church worship service where he was pastor.

The Seldom Scene (House of Gold) ▶️

There have been a lot of great bluegrass groups. One of my all-time favorites was The Seldom Scene, a DC-based group.

Satan’s Jeweled Crown (Emmylou Harris) ▶️

Emmylou Harris got her start, I think, with Seldom Scene.

Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad (John Duffey) ▶️

What a loss when John Duffey died.

I Want to Hear Somebody Pray (Nefesh Mountain) ▶️

Believe it or not, there is Jewish stained-glass bluegrass music. Nefesh Mountain has a variety of songs, some sung with bluegrass musicians like Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas and others. See I Want to Hear Somebody Pray.

The Narrow Bridge (Nefesh Mountain Feat. Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and David Grier) ▶️

Bound for the Promised Land (Nefesh Mountain) ▶️

On Heaven’s Bright Shore (Allison Kraus) ▶️

I have been a fan of Allison Kraus for many years. For me her most moving song is On Heaven’s Bright Shore. Its promise of no little graves there comforts my grief over the loss of our baby daughter Samantha. Here is a very young Allison. And of course, it is hard to improve on her band Union Station.

I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow – Station’s version ▶️

Beulah Land (Allison Kraus) ▶️

While I am thinking about music that will break your heart—a lot of bluegrass will do that—see also Beulah Land. “Beulah” is a word used once in the Bible. It means “married” and refers to the perfect relationship God intended between God’s self and Israel. That perfect communion is available to each believer and we need not wait for “pie in the sky by and by.”

Beulah Land (Parson Squires) ▶️

For a happier version of Beulah Land, see one by Parson Squires done for the Gaithers.

Looking for a City (Happy Goodmans feat. Vestal Goodman) ▶️

One of the most joyful performances in Southern Gospel is an old one by the Happy Goodmans featuring Vestal Goodman and a young tenor in competition in Looking for a City. The sad part of the story is that Johnny Cook was closeted and later excluded from southern gospel because of his homosexuality, dying an alcoholic…and, yes, Vestal’s hairdo does make her look like Homer Simpson’s wife.

The Old Country Church (Bill Gaither) ▶️

The Old Country Church probably gives the listener as good an introduction to congregational four-part singing as I can find…again a collection of old-time southern gospel singers brought together by Bill Gaither. You can see the joy these singers felt while sharing their gifts.

My Name Is Lazarus (Greater Vision) ▶️

More recently I have been moved by this song.

He Didn’t Stay Dead (The Primitive Quartet) ▶️

Preachers are always looking for a good “line.” Try “he didn’t stay dead and he won’t stay gone” by The Primitive Quartet.

Two Winning Hands (The Hinsons) ▶️

Also, “there are only two winning hands [in the card game of life], and they were nailed to a tree.”

No Doubt Salvation (Triple L Band) ▶️

For a strong musical statement of what salvation means to those with a conservative (they would say “traditional”) theology, try the Triple L Band and No Doubt Salvation.

This Morning When I Rose, I Didn’t Have No Doubt (Mississippi Mass Choir and Mosie Burks) ▶️

Many African- Americans share that view.

Hayley Westenra

Sometimes earth is visited by angels. Check your Bible and you will find it so. One of those angels is New Zealander Hayley Westenra. Discovered at 15 as a street singer by the same guy who handled the Beatles, she is beautiful in body and spirit and speech, poised, and truly a gift from heaven. She does not specialize in gospel music but tends towards the international and operatic. However, her versions of classical hymns move me like no other.