Spotlight on Emerging Indie Artists, Vol 3

Welcome to a special edition of Spotlight on Emerging Indie Artists on Blue Muse Views and Reviews and on my podcast called Blue Muse Independent Voice. I would like to provide a review of select songs from the cd "Living Gifts" by the group, GraceFlock out of Peachtree City, Georgia. Of course, as always, I play the songs for you on the podcast which should post on the 10th.

I hope you will forgive me for my bias as I was once a part of this particular group. GraceFlock performs every Sunday at Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church. They have two excellent cd's, "Living Gifts" and "Alive In The Lamb". I happen to be a little bit partial to "Living Gifts". Maybe it is because I played the bass on many of the songs and added a few guitar parts. I also wrote one of the songs. However, I will not say which song. I hope you will check it out and perhaps devote a few minutes of your valuable time listening to the much more talented, remaining members of GraceFlock who continue to inspire folks on a weekly basis.

GraceFlock is Lans Rothfusz, Kathy Rothfusz, Brandon Rothfusz, Preston Rothfusz, Gary Pederson, Christie Pederson, Karla Dietmeyer, James Callison, Penny Kahley, Mark Summers, Sue Summers, Frank Trembley, Robin Merriman, and Karen Ladman. Lans and Gary write all of the original songs (with the one previously cited exception) while Kathy, Karla, and Christie assist with arrangements. They also provide workshops on developing successful contemporary services and they have a songbook coming out very soon to accompany their two cd's.

The first song I would like to review is one of my favorites. It is called "Eyes of Hope". This song was written by Gary Pederson after he witnessed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi Mississippi in 2005. Gary was so moved by the expressions on the faces of the victims that he wrote this song. This song jumps out and grabs me right away as it has a beautiful melody with great lead vocals and harmonies. The instrumental,performed by Kathy Rothfusz on recorder, sends chills up and down my spine. Of course, the lyrics are wonderful, but the building counter vocals in the end are beautiful and may symbolize the growing number of voices of those who respond in difficult times.

"Think About These" with a haunting melody sung by Gary is again very well done with counter vocals by Christie Pederson. Kathy's flute instrumental is very appropriate in this setting. The bridge section is a wonderful addition to the song leading into added percussion and back to the prechorus and chorus.

The song "Sacrifice" is another one of my favorites from Living Gifts. This song starts with an interesting reggae style keyboard leading into wonderful melodies in the verse and chorus. I love the violin fills provided by Karla Dietmeyer when she was only in 9th grade, I think. Karla's violin solo is very appropriate for the style of this song. The counter vocals are wonderful, as well as the return to the keyboard in the ending.

The next song, "The Lost One" comes straight from scripture. Many of the other songs on "Living Gifts" come directly from scripture or from Luther's writings. I love the violin intro and the soft acoustic guitar and congas in this song. Gary's vocals are very strong on this song. The melodies in the verse, prechorus and chorus are wonderful. Christie's voice lends a lot to this song. The cello and violin break in the middle fits very well. It is almost like the celloist and the violinist are sisters. Wait a minute, they are sisters!

The last song in my brief review is "Joyful Noise II", a remake of an instrumental (appropriately titled "Joyful Noise I) that was recorded by Lans Rothfusz with his group in Oklahoma. The baby in the intro is Lans' oldest son Brandon who is now a senior in high school. I love the rhythm in this song that reminds me a little of the song, Tequila. Kathy's flute is amazing. I think she must have gone to school or something. This song is really inspiring to me.

All of these songs have great lyrics and rich textures that come from excellent songwriting, arrangement, singing, and instrumentation. In addition, the production quality is extraordinary, particularly given that it was done in the Rothfusz home studio. Not bad for a meteorologist!

Finally, GraceFlock is kicking off their Midwest Tour on June 14th in Peachtree City, Georgia. They will play at Christ Our Shepherd in Peachtree City on June 14th, Resurrection Lutheran in Newnan, GA on June 18th, First Lutheran in Alexandria, MN on June 24th, St. Matthew Lutheran in Columbia Heights, MN on the 25th, Christ Lutheran in Glencoe, MN on June 26th, Jackson Lake Lutheran in Amboy, MN on June 27th, Dale Lutheran in Kenyon, MN on June 28th, Good Shepherd Lutheran in Rochester, MN on June 28th, Zion Lutheran in Shawano, WI on June 29th, Bethel Lutheran in Madison, WI on June 30th, Word of Life Lutheran in Naperville, IL on July 1st, and Faith Lutheran in Washington, IL on July 2nd. Each show is at 7:00 p.m. except Kenyon, MN which is part of the 10:30 a.m. Worship Service.