Genre: Country/Bluegrass/Southern Gospel, Folk/Acoustic/Americana, Pop/Rock
For fans of: Caedmon's Call, Bob Dylan, Wilco, Elliot Smith, Rich Mullins, Keith Green, The Beatles
Label: INO Records

 1 of 3

It's been a big year for singer-songwriter Derek Webb. His 2005 release Mockingbird earned rave reviews and elicited responses ranging from deep appreciation to bristling concern due to its controversial subject matter. Then in late 2006 he poured fuel on the fire by giving away over 80,000 free downloads of the album on-line in partnership with his label INO Records. Major music industry media wrote all about the radical idea, and the nouveaux troubadour saw his concert audiences double in several markets. By daring to tackle difficult subjects like ethics, politics, and personal integrity with disarming vulnerability, Webb turned more than a few heads in the music industry.

Thus it is to a larger, and increasingly excited audience that he introduces his fourth solo project; The Ringing Bell. As the title suggests, this collection sounds clearly through the noise of the day, beckoning some, and warning others. It's a call to meaningful conversations and it's a great time. It injects songs into the cultural bloodstream that will move listeners to reflection and action while moving their feet. For, while those who have followed Webb's career, first as a member of Caedmon's Call and then as a solo artist, will not be surprised at yet another collection of memorable, reflective and significant songs, they may be surprised to hear the Texas native rock and roll!

"I have just been listening to too much Beatles and too much of the great plugged-in Dylan music," Webb admits with a laugh in his East Nashville home. "I love that raucous kind of rock and roll music and I felt like it was just time. The songs were asking for it. It's time to plug in and turn it up." Realizing that several of the songs he had been writing on the road were more riff-driven than strummed, and that the last thing he wanted to do was to re-tread previous musical territory, Webb took a left turn from the acoustic simplicity of Mockingbird to use 60's era rock and roll, the supposed music of rebellion, to explore the radical idea of…. Peace.

next page... |  1 of 3

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

FREE Newsletter Sign up now for the Christian Music Today weekly newsletter:    RSS Feed   RSS Help