Among the forthcoming releases from Pinecastle Records is a collection of a dozen Gospel songs from Nothin’ Fancy.
The Virginia band has seven previous albums, three of which have been released on the Pinecastle label. Lord Bless This House (PRC 1162) is their first Gospel set.
Nothin’ Fancy – Mike Andes (mandolin and lead vocals), Tony Shorter (bass, and baritone vocals), Gary Farris (lead and tenor vocals), Chris Sexton (fiddle, viola and lead vocals) and Mitchell Davis (banjo and bass vocals) – are supplemented by studio guests, guitarist Cody Kilby, co-producers Rhonda and Darrin Vincent, and Steven Sheen (finger style lead guitar).
There are three original songs; Lord Bless This House, God’s Heavenly Shore, from Mike Andes, and Let Me Catch A Fish from the ubiquitous Halls, assisted by Troy Engle, an instrumental; Bells Of Saint Mary, and a variety of ‘oldies’; Gone Home (from Bill Carlisle); the Easter Brothers’s Heart That Will Never Break Again – on which Rhonda Vincent adds her usual impeccable vocals; Soul Of Man Never Dies (Wayne Raney); House Of Gold (Hank Williams) – both arranged for four voices; an up-tempo version of Peace In The Valley (Thomas Dorsey) and the PD song Lord I Hear Your Call included.
As previously noted, the band has three lead vocalists, ranging from Farris’s intensity to Andes’s more mellow tones, with Sexton somewhere between. With those contrasts allied to the varied instrumental arrangements, Lord Bless This House is full of fervor.
The CD is scheduled for release on January 27th.
