Kelly Joe Phelps - 'Brother Sinner & the Whale'

Since 1994, Kelly Joe Phelps has been hailed as a singer-songwriter's singer-songwriter, delivering the kind of earnest, humble, and infectious music so many other singer-songwriters wish they could capture. Much like other artists of his ilk (i.e. Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, Greg Brown, Bonnie Raitt), Phelps embodies a warm and comfortable pocket of traditional delta blues and contemporary folk fusion. His mastery of flat-picking and slide guitar alike make him an influence on plenty of guitar pickers, as well. On this, his eleventh solo album, Brother Sinner & the Whale, Phelps delivers a wonderful collection of original gospel tunes best suited for rooms of believers.

The annals of traditional blues, country, folk, and jazz music are all replete with god-fearing hymns which can be enjoyed by anyone who believes in any sort of faith. In the tradition of folk music, you don't have to necessarily believe in the scriptures of Christianity to have faith in the spirit. Prayerful music is in step with the journey of folk music, as it has been employed at the pulpit and on the picket line.

Then again, there's also plenty of music available for those who believe heavily in a Christian gospel. When it comes to that side of the spectrum, Kelly Joe Phelps' particular brand of testifying-and-witnessing folk-blues is likely to resonate with the church-going crowd. Those who don't fall into that crowd may enjoy the richly intuitive, haunting, stirring melodies and impeccable guitar picking. But, frankly, the repetition of images about sinners and the cross are likely to alienate those with more universalist, humanist, or secularist beliefs.

Granted, there are a handful of tunes here which veer somewhat to a more universal message. "Pilgrim's Reach" (purchase/download) is a tune about being lost in darkness and hoping against hope to find some light in the world. Though it includes some rather blatant recommendations about finding one's way in the world only through god, much of the song may be equally as palatable to those who find the light elsewhere.

As already mentioned, Phelps has always been hailed as a remarkable guitar player, and his instrumentals are proof positive to this end. Here, he includes an incredible instrumental guitar tune on the slide guitar, titled "Spit Me Outta the Whale" (purchase/download). As a secularist-humanist and great admirer of Phelps' musical prowess, it was honestly a relief to land on this mercifully scripture-free tune in the middle of the disc. (Of course, the song's title is straight out of the Bible.)

He also gives us non-thumpers a break on "Sometimes a Drifter" (purchase/download) - a tune (presumably) about Jesus, the human, and the lessons we can learn from exploring our existence through gratitude and keeping the faith. Unfortunately, it's the most musically uneventful moment on the disc. "Hard Time They Never Go Away" (purchase/download) completes this little mid-album quasi-universalist section, erring more on the side of the blues and faith-in-general than any scripture-thumping.

While most of the disc is a testimony to Kelly Joe Phelps' relationship with god and Jesus, the music itself remains beautiful and imaginative. Still, secularist fans of Phelps will likely be turned off by the amount and exuberance of preaching contained on the disc. Where it treads that fine line between folk-gospel and Christian contemporary, it often leans far more to the latter than the somewhat more universally appealing former.