Unless you’re new here, you know by now that Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One is finished and will be released soon. Neil Robins produced it at his studio here in Louisville: The Whitechapel. Worship & Arts Pastor Mike Cosper acted as Executive Producer, and the two took our record to Craig Alvin in Nashville to mix it at The Great Gazoo Reading Room (pictured). Twitter quote from Mike Cosper: “Craig Alvin rocks my world.”
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Andrew Mendelson at Georgetown Masters handled the mastering, just as he did for Before The Throne. At any given time, Georgetown Masters is responsible for the mastering of many top records, and has worked with everyone from Garth Brooks to Iris DeMent, and from Tom Petty to Alison Kraus.
As I type this, I’ve just finished a proof-reading session for the booklet that will accompany the CD with Mike, Neil and Sojourn Editor-Genius Beth Crouser, who probably could and will find at least ten grammatical errors, mispellings and typos in this blog post. Latest discussions: when to capitalize “psalms,” and “gospel,” and whether the final sentence of the booklet needs a spiffy new verb.
The booklet, CD jacket, artwork and everything look amazing — a fitting companion to an album with phenomenal work by no less than 35 musical artists. Yet even with all the many voices, instrumentalists and songwriters, I think we’ve managed to avoid that “compilation project” feel. Variety, yes. But everything fits together to form an “album” in the truest sense of the word.
After listening to the finished project all the way through recently, I reread Mike’s original letter to our songwriters. It seems like forever ago, but what strikes me as I read this is, “I think we got it.” Not just the songwriters, but every person who had a hand in this collection of songs. Mike’s 18-month old letter:
Isaac Watts left a legacy of hundreds of hymns, rich in theology, with a firm center in the gospel. His words … transcend the span of 300 years that separate us and illuminate afresh the power and wonder of the gospel. It is this vast catalogue of songs that serves as a springboard for our next songwriting adventure.
Your assignment: rewrite the Isaac Watts hymnal. Take these lyrics as a springboard and rewrite the words and melodies. Capture the language of our time and place and keep vibrant the message of the songs. Look for ways to refresh metaphors and imagery in the songs … and write melodies that will fit contemporary song arrangements.
I have a vision for a new recording project dedicated to Isaac Watt’s legacy. I want to capture the weight of our sin, the glory of God,and the sufficiency of Christ in reconciling us to Him in the words and mood of the project. I also want to keep the spirit of the hymns at the core of the songs – so try to write melodies that stand on their own as well as work in contemporary song.
And so here we are, with a completed set of song files and liner/cover art files, that will soon be a stack of CDs (of course Over The Grave will be on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, etc. too). The fact that I have heard and seen these things in one form or another does not diminish my excitement over having the finished project in my hand. Can’t wait!
Can’t wait!!!