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Five O'Clock Band's New CD
The Advent Five O'Clock Band's new third CD, In the Hands of the Maker, was released Thursday, April 22, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at The Red Cat coffee house in Pepper Place. The event featured food and beverages in addition to the new CD, and the band played some songs featured on the recording.
For this recording, the band enlisted the help of friend, producer, and folk music pioneer Fran McKendree, perhaps best know for his work with the band McKendree Spring. McKendree and recording engineer Casey Wood from Nashville came to Birmingham for two weeks while they worked on a number of songs that were eventually pared down to the 13 tracks included on the record. According to bassist Dwight Williams, “the process of recording this album was streamlined relative to our prior projects.” Through many late-night rehearsals, McKendree assisted in the arrangement of each track before the band ever entered the studio. "Fran was very collaborative, very hands-on. His input greatly impacted the final result," says guitarist Bill Marshall. McKendree works on numerous production projects across the country every year, in addition to recording in his home studio in Hendersonville, North Carolina. The songs that comprise "In the Hands of the Maker" are a mixture of traditional Christian spiritual music and contemporary songs that borrow from genres in the spectrum of alt-country and blues. The opening track, "In the House of the Lord," is based on a Sudanese spiritual that Williams heard while traveling to Africa for mission work. The band rearranged the song and added a new chorus to create a unique version that marries influences from African and calypso rhythms. Overhauled versions of traditional standards such as "Amazing Grace," "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah" appear on the album, as well as an original piece written by member Leif Bondarenko, "Man Named Jesus." The blues cut is sandwiched between covers of songs made familiar by Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, and Jerry Garcia. Proceeds from the sale of the CD will go towards the Sawyerville Summer Camp and Youth at Risk. The CD will be available for sale at the release event on April 22nd and at The Episcopal Book Store on April 25th and thereafter. Three free samples can be downloaded from this link.
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