Genre:		Pop, Folk/Acoustic
For fans of:		Rich Mullins, Tom Petty, Big Tent Revival, Caedmon's Call, Chris Rice
Label:		Surrogate Records

	Buy 'em here! Without Looking Down Mitch McVicker

Life is good. Mitch McVicker should be a happy man. And he is. Yet, there abides in this rustic poet a sense that happiness is a fickle mistress that is not to be courted too earnestly, nor embraced too tightly.

"Happiness never seems to live up to what I expect," Mitch muses with that far off glimmer in his eye that is so common to those who tread in two worlds at the same time. "Happiness seems to be rather temporary. Contrarily, it is the gloriousness of the moment that keeps me going and moves me along through life—moments that are imbued with the glory of the Lord, that help me appreciate His work in all things. It is the gloriousness of the moment that points us towards our eventual, one-day-realized glory. I am afraid that sometimes my haphazard pursuit of happiness robs me of that expectancy, and I miss out on how glory impregnates each moment with life."

If these sound like the words of a religious mystic or a world-wary poet … well, perhaps they are. The Dove Award-winning singer/songwriter nearly lost his life in the same tragic accident that claimed his best friend, Rich Mullins, nearly ten years ago. Battered and broken, Mitch's road to recovery was arduous and laced with obstacles both great and small. Victories were often counter-balanced by setbacks, yet it was through this season of wrestling with God that he earned the right to limp.

"At times I've alternately been criticized and complemented for being something of a Lone Ranger," Mitch explains. "That is still a struggle for me. But during this season of my life I've been forced to accept the fact that we all need each other. We are built for community. When Jacob wrestled with the angel he walked away with a limp. That makes perfect sense to me now. We can't walk upright without leaning on someone else."

It was that realization that compelled Mitch to take a sabbatical from his rigorous 200-days-on-the-road regimen and concentrate his attention on his new family. Ironically, it was also the catalyst for a whole new collection of songs that comprise his new album, Love Will Rise, the debut project for the newly formed Surrogate Records label.

"I don't set aside time to go to some far off place and write songs," he says. "I never understood retreating from life to write songs. Aren't they an outpouring of your life? Songs happen when I'm driving, when I'm cleaning the kitchen, during sound checks. If I'm paying attention to life, to what is going on around and inside me, songs just happen."

While Mitch insists he never set out to make a thematic album, when it was all said and done, there was an overarching theme that suffused every song on the project. It was about being born again, about becoming, about the all sufficiency of love.

From the joyful, acoustic guitar strumming of "Hallelujah," with its gentle exhortation to "Turn your face to morning's blaze, May your day be graced by love," to the purely vertical rock worship anthem, "Wonderful," Mitch pours his heart and soul into this 13-song declaration of faith.

"Life, the blessing that it is, has its ups and downs, and a lot of times it seems there are a lot more downs than ups," Mitch says. "But the Lord's promise is that He will construct us, and I think a lot of time that happens through troubles. I think if a song is going to communicate with people, it had better be based on life and in reality. But anybody can write a morose, depressed song. I think the challenge is to look for the good and let that direct your attention back to the Giver of all good things."

Nowhere is that theme of embracing the goodness of God, even when circumstances seem to scream otherwise, more evident than in Mitch's wonderfully evocative song, "Strap My Hat On." "I'm not scared if the monster comes to drag me under," he growls. "I'll stay right here … Love Will Rise to my defense."

Mitch points to the works of Brennan Manning, John Piper and the Apostle Paul as inspiration for many of the songs on the album and for a number of "selah" moments in his personal faith journey.

"A big part of our faith walk is embracing the blessing of the present and not getting caught up in what will be, nor resting on what has been," he declares. "Paul makes the reference that we already have everything that we are. The Spirit has been placed within us, and we are the children of God. But one day it will be revealed in full what that means. So there is an anticipation of becoming that which has already been instilled within us.

"I tend to get stuck in Paul's letters," he confesses. "It is peculiar to me because I'm not sure that I would like him if I met him. He is the guy who is so hard and fast, so black and white. But he is also the guy who talks all the time about our freedom in Christ. What a dichotomy! But I love his writings and am constantly being impacted by them."

Nowhere is that impact more fully explored than in "Along With The Rocks," Mitch's introspective examination of I Corinthians 13. "If I don't love I am nothing," he cries. "Let my heart shout along with the rocks!"

It is that sense of being driven by love to declare the truth that permeates Love Will Rise and compels Mitch McVicker to leave the sunshine and gentle breezes of his Georgia home and the loving arms of his family and once more take to the road to share his songs with loyal fans and unsuspecting strangers.

"I went from being a young, traveling, play-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of guy to a family man," Mitch says. "Now I've got a lot more responsibility. It has been a great growth process. But this career or music ministry, or whatever term you want to tag it, is very important to me. I believe it is a call. I know the last thing the world needs is another Christian musician. But I also know that the world needs the truth. So I'm using the means that have been given to me to see that that happens a little bit."

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