The Same Love, Paul Baloche – Album Review
Listening to a new Paul Baloche CD for the first time is like opening a huge stack of Christmas presents – so much excitement, anticipation of what’s to come, looking forward to discovering what new jewels will be inside.
With Paul’s latest release, The Same Love, that anticipation is greatly rewarded with a batch of fresh, 
powerful, creative new songs for the church. Even with this new project, Baloche’s 12th recording with Integrity Music, Paul continues to stay relevant and in tune with what’s happening today musically and in the church at large.
Collaborating with some of today’s top artists in the church, like Kari Jobe, All Sons & Daughters, Lincoln Brewster, Kathryn Scott and more, Paul delivers an album with themes of God’s faithfulness and mercy through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that showcases his unbreakable connection to and passion for the Church.
From the opening few bars of piano on the first track, the title song, you can tell this album is going to be an adventure into new territory for Baloche. Co-written with Michael Rossback, “The Same Love” invites us with a fresh, new sound to remember that God is calling us all by name with “The same love that set the captives free/The same love that opened eyes to see”.
Paul says of the creative process behind this album, “You’re trying to go places you’ve never been, deeper into ancient truths, stirring up your modern soul, if you will.” The result of this exploration is a progressive, yet familiar sound for Baloche, mixing all of these different elements of harmony, chords, lyrics, melody and vibe.
The album continues with “We Are Saved”, a song not only co-written with Ben Fielding, but Ben also lends his voice on this driving, Hillsong-esque anthem. Many familiar voices are heard along with Paul’s on this project, including popular duo All Sons & Daughters on “King of Heaven” and “Oh Our Lord” – two standout tracks!
Kathryn Scott lends her voice on “My Hope”, a powerful song of hope for the church. Baloche says, “Life is hard, people are looking for hope, and there’s not much to be found outside of the hope we have in Christ. My intent is for these songs to be honest prayers for the Church to sing…”
Other familiar voices you’ll hear are Kari Jobe on “Look Upon the Lord”, One Sonic Society’s Jason Ingram on “Reign In Me”, and Brothers McClurg on “Just Say”, which was previously recorded on their Alive EP with a whole different vibe. Other songs you may recognize are “Loved By You” and “Shout for Joy” which are co-writes with Lincoln Brewster and appear on his Real Life project.
Once again, Paul Baloche gives the Church a great gift with The Same Love. Paul’s voice sounds just as strong as ever, and the album is filled with songs that will work well in a corporate worship setting. From the simple yet striking “Your Blood Ran Down” to the full sound of “All Because of The Cross”, you will be sure to find a use for every song on this amazing album.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
-Review by Barry Westman
(review copy provided by Integrity Music)
Interview with Kari Jobe About Her New Album
Our team members, Chris Olson and Julie Terwilliger, recently had the chance to interview worship artist/songwriter, Kari Jobe, about her new album – Where I Find You.
In listening to the new record, we noticed an almost indescribable difference in the “feel” of the album as compared to your debut. Do you feel this album has a different feel (sonically speaking), and if so, what do you attribute that to?
I wanted this new album to have a really big sound. Mainly because of the season I was in when I wrote it…I needed music that was really moving and that I could turn up really loud and pray at the top of my lungs. I felt like my new album needed a stronger sound and more of a drive for people to get up, pace the floor and declare the Goodness of God.
When choosing a cover song to record, out of the many songs out there, how do you arrive on your final selection? (PS, LOVE “Love Came Down” on this album…)
I don’t ever go out looking for cover songs. I worship to lots of different songs all the time and “Love Came Down” just really really really blessed me in a major season of my life and I just LOVED how beautiful it is…and wanted to record it so more people in my circle would hear it!
When you write a song, do you intentionally write it as a congregational song, or do you write simply as an outpouring from yourself to God and see what comes out?
I think it’s a mixture of both. I have it in the back of my mind that I want people to be able to sing along so I’ll be mindful of that, but I don’t let it hold me back from pouring out what I really feel or sense. Sometimes it turns into a ministry type song that I can sing over people…and other times the songs are more congregational.
You are on tour a lot, but you also have a close connection to your home church in Texas. How do you balance being involved at the local church vs. touring and all that goes with being a performing worship artist?
I love what I do! It definitely never gets boring. I think it’s super important for worship leaders to stay connected to their local church. It gives such a covering and such a sense of reality. Going home and just serving your church and seeing people that you’ve known and worshipped with for years and years…it’s so good for your soul. I also have such an incredible church that helped me find the right balance of being home and being gone. Each scenario for an artist or worship leader is different, but you have to remember to serve your Pastor and really try to serve him as much as you can. He will usually give a good bit of wisdom to how much he’d like you to be home vs. being gone. It takes a lot of prayer though!
How has writing & recording this album changed you? Musically? Spiritually?
The season I was going through as I wrote this album was one the hardest seasons of my life. One of those kinds of seasons where you find yourself saying to God, “Really? Now? You know this isn’t the best timing for me to find out this information or to be in this hard place.” But as always, God knows everything and it served to be such a precious time of me crying out to God for my own life…and it turn out you can really hear it in the lyrics and vocals on the CD. I’m thankful that God uses our pain to help others…that makes hard things that we walk through in life worth it if it means other people’s lives will be impacted and helped along the way too.
Musically, I really feel like I have grown vocally since my last album…probably because I sing almost every day now, which is so fun. It’s made my voice stronger. But I believe that you can hear the “cry” in my voice in a lot of my new songs where I was really crying out to God for my own heart and life too. It makes me think of intercession as I was singing these songs over people…praying that they would help people. I was needing that for myself as well.
In talking about this album, you have said that we need to “learn to fall more in love with the Lord and trust Him in the middle of every storm.” What is the main thing you want listeners to get out of this album, and how do you see that played out in the album?
Life isn’t easy and sometimes the road God gives us to walk down is really rough and bumpy. But He never leaves us nor forsakes us, so we know that He will be in the middle of our season. Instead of getting jaded or getting angry at God, use the pain you are walking through to draw you closer to the Lord. He cares for us and will give us the strength and grace to walk through it all. You’ll be stronger on the other side.
Okay, this one is for the ladies; your style is so eclectic & fun, where do you get all your cute stuff?
Ha! Love this question! I really get a lot of my ideas from my sister! She is amazing! But also from People Style magazine, Free People, Anthropologie! You can get ideas and then always find stuff that looks the same at Target, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21! Just be creative!
Kari, thanks so much for taking the time to share with our readers!
Where I Find You, Kari Jobe – Album Review
Chris Olson and Julie Terwilliger had the opportunity to co-review Kari Jobe‘s new album, Where I Find You, releasing on Tuesday, January 24th. Here’s their conversational-style review…
Julie: Hey Chris! Once again we team up for a review of an epic album release! First things first, what was your first impression of this highly anticipated release?
Chris: After my first time giving it a full spin, I was immediately in love with the album. Admittedly there were a few songs that I wasn’t as bought into from the get go, but they came to grow on me upon future listens.
Julie: Same here, it grew on me & now I can’t stop listening to it!
Chris: I kinda expected this to sound like Kari’s last album, but it doesn’t. Hard to explain, but I believe this album more. Both albums have some nice layering and arrangements, and both have some good textures. But this one seems deeper, both sonically and lyrically.
Julie: I definitely noticed how polished it sounded at first. Although pretty much all of the songs are congregational friendly they are also masterfully produced for a radio hit. A few creative new sounds incorporated, but not to the point that the art is more noticeable than the heart of worship expressed.
Chris: The feeling I get listening to this album is far more tangible than I got with the last one. It’s still Kari’s soft, sweet voice, still a lot of “pretty” going on in the music. Directionally, the focus of this album is a little different. Kari herself says that this is about experiencing God’s presence, even in the midst of hardships. All of these songs definitely feed that theme, in the best way.
Julie: So what is your favorite song on this album? I would have to say mine is “Find You On My Knees” & “Stars In The Sky” – wonderful lyrics & lovely soaring vocals.
Chris: This isn’t a fair question! When I asked you the same thing in our last review together, you couldn’t pick just one, and I can’t either! My favorite songs on the album are “Stars in the Sky”, “Love Came Down”, and “Here”. “Stars in the Sky” just has an amazing groove with one of the best chorus melodies I have heard in a while. “Love Came Down” is by far the best rendition of this song I have heard, and the arrangement truly brings this song to life for me. “Here” is simply amazing. Listen to this song through some good headphones with your eyes closed. Do it.
Julie: Comments on the collaboration of some of the contributors to this recording? Did that question have a lot of C’s in it, or is that just me? : )
Chris: Ed Cash produced this album (Best. Name. EVER.) with Matt Bronleewe. Matt’s addition to this on the producing side (although he did also cowrite a few tunes on the album) likely is part of why this album has a different feel and vibe compared to the last album.
Julie: I concur we could converse about this album quite a bit longer, but will conclude with any of your closing comments & considerations of these carefully crafted choruses. (Did I just do that ‘C’ thing again…?)
Chris: Ten C’s in that one! Nicely done! This album is something special. Lyrically profound and sonically inspiring. I have listened to this album several times, quite often through headphones while working. I have genuinely been moved almost to the point of tears while listening to this album. Almost. I don’t have tears . . . I am a man . . . So, if you crave a creative choral consideration of God’s consistent covenantal commitment to His children, consider cranking this album in a cab or your casa, or anywhere else you care to. You will be blessed! (Julie . . . that’s 13. Check. Mate.)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
(review copy provided by EMI)
Kari Jobe: Steady My Heart Music Video, Acoustic Version
Here’s a new song by Kari Jobe from her new album releasing this month:
“This Is What We Believe” by Aaron Shust – CD Review
Dove award-winning artist Aaron Shust is back with his latest project, “This Is What We Believe”, a very powerful and personal record that possibly contains Shust’s best collection of songs to date. There is an obvious depth to the lyrics and music in these songs. This project on the Centricity label, which was produced by the very prolific Ed Cash, was put together during a very tumultuous time in Aaron’s life.
If you follow Aaron on any of his social media sites, you may have seen Aaron sharing about a very painful ordeal with his then two-year old son, Nicky. He and his family had just moved from Nashville back to Pennsylvania, where Aaron grew up. Nicky was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis, a rare and painful condition where his body was unable to take in any nutrition. He was in the hospital for months, and after his body had rejected all other known food formulas, it finally accepted the last known treatment. 
Even then, he would have to be fed by a tube and on steroids for the rest of his life, since there is no known cure. The amazing end to this part of the story is that not long after that, they received an unexpected call from his doctor, saying that his latest tests had come back normal; it was as if his body had never had the condition, and from that point on, he was completely healed! The doctors couldn’t explain it, but the Shust’s were confident they had just experienced God’s miraculous healing power.
It was during this very stressful time in his life that Aaron started working on the songs in This Is What We Believe. Aaron says, “When your whole world is suddenly shaking, you need a firm place to stand. You see what it is in your life that’s stable and true and strong enough to hold you up, and you reach for that, you run to that. In a way, life becomes simpler because the distractions fall away and you find out what you really believe.”
The songs on this project are a bold declaration about who God is and who we are in Him because of His great love for us. They still have the signature sound of Aaron Shust’s straightforward, singable style, but Cash seems to have stretched him in new ways, both musically and sonically.
The title track, “This Is What We Believe”, is a strong, driving confession of who we serve – the risen Christ, who takes away the sins of the world. Almost creed-like, combining these words of truth with simple chord progressions, this song gives the church a fresh new way to declare what we believe.
The standout track to me is “My Hope Is In You”, a song not actually written by Shust himself, but one that he wanted to include because it expressed so perfectly what he was feeling during this time in his life. Written by April Geesbreght, this song starts off with a piano intro that grabs you with its driving syncopated rhythms, then keeps you engaged all through the song with the strong declaration that our hope is in Him alone, even through drought and storm. I love the rhythmic playfulness both in the melody and supporting band parts that make this song a joy to sing, and yet one that expresses just what we need to say when we’re going through struggles.
“Your Majesty”, a song that could easily be sung as a corporate worship anthem of praise, was written by Aaron over a period of several months, even though the lyrics came to him spontaneously the first time he strummed the chords. Aaron says that this song is “probably the only song I’ve ever written that just allows me to abandon myself in true worship of God every time I sing it.” It’s another powerful song of worship!
There are several other great songs on this project, including “Risen Today”, a modern version of the classic hymn “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”. No matter where you stand on the current trend of updating classic hymns, it would be hard to argue that this song isn’t an instant Easter classic on its own, with the all the familiar phrases of the verses, and the soulful expression of praise in the new chorus.
It is definitely worth your time to give this record a listen! You will find several songs you can include in your services about who God is and how He is our Shelter, Peace and Rock in times of trouble. If you’d like to hear more about this project from Aaron, and also hear him tell Nicky’s story, watch the video below.
-Review by Barry Westman
(review copy provided by Centricity Music)
EPK:
Kari Jobe Shows off Her All About Worship Trophy!
Recently we held our very first All About Worship Awards and sent off trophies to the winners. Kari Jobe, who was the winner of Interview of the Year (for this interview), was gracious enough to take a picture with her trophy so we can share with all of you!
Thanks so much, Kari!
All About Worship Award 2010 Winners Announced
Back in October we announced the first annual All About Worship Awards and asked you to vote. We announced the winners on Episode 58 of the All About Worship Awards. In case you missed it, here are the winners of All About Worship Awards 2010:
Artist of the Year: Vicky Beeching
Band of the Year: Hillsong United
Album of the Year: Eternity Invades by Vicky Beeching
Song of the Year: ”Our God” by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin, Jesse Reeves
Twitterer of the Year: @vickybeeching
Interview of the Year: Kari Jobe (read the interview)
Embarrassing Moment of the Year: Carlos Whittaker (Episode 34)
From the All About Worship Team, HUGE congrats to all the winners! Big thanks to hundreds of you that participated and made this a very fun first year for the AAW Awards!
Gateway Worship’s God Be Praised – CD Review & Giveaway
Gateway Worship has finally released its third live worship album, and it was well worth the wait! With such great songs as “Revelation Song”, “The Lord Reigns”, “You Are Good”, “Save Me” and “You, You Are God”, and wonderful worship leaders such as Thomas Miller and best-selling Kari Jobe, coming from their previous worship albums, I was really looking forward to what this project had in store. This team of musicians is from Gateway Church near Dallas, Texas.
“God Be Praised” features 15 new high energy songs of praise and intimate moments of worship. The album opens with the energetic duo of “God is With Us Now” and “Praise Him”, followed by a song that really is at the heart of the theme of this album, called “Victory”. This song declares “Satan has no power/there’s freedom in the blood of Jesus/ there’s victory in the cross/I’m breaking free/all my chains are gone”. That’s really the overarching theme of this album, says Associate Pastor and Worship Leader Thomas Miller. “I am praying that the music from this album will be songs for people and churches everywhere to declare the absolute, complete, overwhelming victory that we all have in Jesus,” says Miller.
The album takes a more intimate turn with “Stay Amazed”, which is a powerful worship song, perfect for worship team, choir and soloist – “Oh holy God, I pour out my praise/on the One who never ceases to amaze.” A familiar hymn takes on a new chorus in “Oh For a Thousand (Hallelujah)”. Kari Jobe then makes her first solo appearance on this album with the powerful song “O the Blood”. This song is going to the top of my list for songs to do as we approach communion or a cross-focused service (“what a sacrifice, that saved my life/yes, the blood/ it is my victory”). “One Single Drop”, written by Walker Beach, starts with a nice acoustic guitar/vocal combo that almost has a very nice acoustic vibe to it, which then develops into a beautiful duet with a full string section. You can hear Walker tell the story behind this song here.
Another highlight was Kari Jobe’s “You Are For Me”. Kari made this song popular on her solo debut album, but I was so glad to see that this great song was included on this project. In this context of a live worship album with the theme of victory in Christ, this song gives worshippers a chance to sing with full assurance that “I know that You are for me!” The closing song, and title song, “God Be Praised” is a great way to end the album! This is a song that starts quietly, but builds into a driving, strong statement of praise that lifts your voice and heart to heaven.
Overall, I would say this album has a lot of very usable songs for congregations of any size. Even though on the recording you hear a choir of hundreds and a full team of musicians, these songs are rich in lyrics, and accessible enough that a team of any size can use them to lead their congregation to the throne. I’d highly recommend it! You can watch some of the songwriters and worship leaders give you their thoughts by watching this video below. You can also listen to/download the album on iTunes (releases November 9th).
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(Review by Barry Westman)
Leave a comment (of at least 2 sentences) on this review by Monday, November 15th @ 6pm CST, for your chance to win this CD. We’ll pick two random winners! Be sure to check back on 11/16 to see if you’ve won.
All About Worship Plus Launch
We are so grateful that since 2005 we’ve had the opportunity to serve the worship community around the world by providing encouragement, inspiration, and resources. As you know almost all of the content that we provide is free. We work diligently to create unique content, exclusive to All About Worship, such as our podcast and articles.
We are now offering a Plus Membership for those that are interested in not only helping us continue, but also gaining access to valuable content.
Here are some of the features that Plus Members have access to:
-Two new exclusive training videos (about 5 minutes each) every month from worship leaders/speakers like: Jared Anderson, Chris McClarney, Dwayne Moore, and others.
-Ability to submit one song a month to the All About Worship Podcast, which has several thousand listeners worldwide. We will carefully select one song from our members’ submissions to feature on every off week of the podcast, which is usually 2-3 times a month.
-Access to worship training teleseminar archive AND free registration to future teleseminars.
-Access to exclusive bonus interviews, giveaways and more.
The value of these benefits far exceed $3.99 a month, but we want to make the Membership available to as many people as possible, so we are keeping the monthly fee at a very low cost. Please consider becoming a Plus Member, not only for the content, but to support what we are doing. Your membership is vital in ensuring that we are able to continue to do what we do at All About Worship.
If you sign up by November 5th, we’ll enter you into a giveaway for your chance to win Worship Vocal Workshop DVD by Paul Baloche, Kari Jobe, and others.
Head over to our Plus Membership Signup page for sample videos and for more details. Thanks so much!
-Wisdom M.
Why Did The Worship Leader Cross The Road?
…because God called him to mentor the young guy on the sidewalk with a guitar in his hand.
I am a big believer in mentoring. I believe that every church leader should be mentoring at least one person, but preferably more. Maybe the reason I believe in it so much is that when I was in my pre-teen years, a couple of church leaders took me under their wings and mentored me.
First, it was my youth pastor, who was also the drummer of the church. I was a part of a small Korean church at the time. I had moved to the United States just a few years back. I was still learning English and still felt out of place in the English-speaking youth group. My youth pastor started spending time with me one-on-one, teaching me how to play the drums. It was very exciting for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long because he left the church, for reasons I did not know.
Then, there was our choir director. He started taking time with me after school, to teach me how to play the guitar. Not only that, he started teaching me worship songs. He helped me start to come out of my shell and start singing out loud, which I hated to do.
In high school, I picked up the bass guitar and ended up joining a worship band in my senior year. We got invited to many different churches and events to lead worship. I didn’t tell many people at my church (a large, mainly Caucasian church) about my bass playing, but word got around and my youth pastor found out about it. One Sunday morning, he saw me and said, “Hey Wisdom, I just heard that you play the bass! Go in the youth center and play with the team this morning. They’re rehearsing and we have a bass guitar waiting for you on stage!”
That was my first Sunday, of many Sundays, as a part of the youth worship team. From there, I became the first student worship leader for the youth service and eventually ended up being in charge of the whole team…(and later became the youth pastor). I also started leading worship for the adult services on a regular basis. I never imagined I would lead 1,000 adults in worship as a young student. It was the grace of God and my youth pastor believing that God can use teenagers.
In my adult life, I’ve been in different leadership roles. I’ve been a youth pastor as well as a worship pastor. In whatever role God entrusted me in, I always believed that one of my main jobs is to mentor others, young and old. Mentoring is not just about age; you don’t have to just mentor those younger than you. I’ve mentored individuals on the worship team twice my age, but spiritually still young.
Worship leaders, if you’re not regularly spending time training up and mentoring others, I encourage you to pray and ask God to bring individuals to mind that He wants you to mentor. Don’t start mentoring someone just because you need someone to fill in when you’re on vacation. Mentor someone because you want to help that person discover and grow in their gifts so they can better serve the Body of Christ. You never know…you could be mentoring the next Matt Redman or Kari Jobe.
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Article written by Wisdom Moon, founder of All About Worship.
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