One of my favorite recent releases is Chicago-based singer/songwriter Susan Werner's The Gospel Truth. As songbook-style albums go, this one is both one of the most creative in a while (putting an agnostic spin on the bluegrass-gospel and spiritual hymn genre), and one of the most versatile. The Gospel Truth approaches spiritual music from the point of view that spirituality is about reckoning with the world around you, and most theologies agree that people should help out their neighbors.
No doubt that some music fans will not appreciate Werner's daring with this record, but she was careful to iterate in our recent interview that she had no intention of making The Gospel Truth a protest album. Indeed, if you listen all the way through, it's hard to miss the fact that Werner is as much paying homage to spiritual song as she is raising questions often faced by people of all faiths.
Read about that interview, check out my review of The Gospel Truth, or just comment below. Have you heard The Gospel Truth? What do you think about Susan Werner's approach to different forms of American gospel music?
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