The Righteous Blues Band - He Gave Us Freedom! (2015)

I was searching for some new blues artists earlier this year and stumbled across The Righteous Blues Band. When it comes to blues, bands can be either hit or miss for me. The songwriting can be weak or the musicianship/album production just isn't there. When I got the debut album of these guys, I must say that I was quite impressed and was super excited to find that they were doing a new album.

Fast forward a few months when their latest album "He Gave Us Freedom" was released. Although I more of a classic metal fan, this CD has quickly risen to be one of my favorites. The style of blues here runs the gamut of the blues from rocked out Texas blues to a country swing to ballads as well. The musicianship here is strong with the dual guitar work of Terrence Hartley and Jay Hubbard. The leads have similarities, to my ears anyway, of some Stevie Ray with some BB King mixed in. Bassist Benny Strong and drummer Matt Coomer keep the band tight and are definitely there for more than just to make the guitarists sound better as seems the case with a lot of blues bands.

What really impresses me with The Righteous Blues Band is their genuine love for Jesus that flows throughout their songs. There is no sitting on the fence with these guys. While being very direct and up front that this is a Christian band, the songs never seem to come off as judgmental. This band just sings about the love they have for the Lord and leave it at that. In a day and age where secular crossover is more important than minisry in music, I find this simple faith approach refreshing.

TRACKLIST

01. He Gave Us Freedom!
02. Amen, Jesus Is Lord
03. He's the King of Kings (feat. Buddy Whittington)
04. He Washed My Blues Away
05. Take Me Higher
06. The Truth, The Life, The Way
07. Yes, I'm Redeemed
08. 1 John 4:4 Song
09. Talkin 'Bout Grace
10. Have Faith, Will Travel
11. Living Proof
12. A Little Bit Funky
13. He Gave Us Freedom! (Acoustic)