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Back Porch Believer

Inspired from the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou", Back Porch Believer is a collection of hymns done in old-timey bluegrass-style simular to the soundtrack of "O Brother..."

Back Porch Believer features a variety of fresh, unique arrangements and adaptations of old favorite hymns found in various Christian faiths (Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, LDS, etc.).  The album offers new perspectives and provides sounds of rejoicing, spirituality, and fun.

Back Porch Believer ; Press Release 2006

Toe Tapping Hymns Challenge Conservative Music Tastes.

In December of 2006, Douglas Erekson released his first CD, "Back Porch Believer", a collection of old Christian hymns set to Kentucky Blue Grass. "It's Rocky Mountain Bluegrass," bristles Erekson, who insists, "There's nothing authentically Kentucky in my style." Still, it offers sweet and smoky slide guitar, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle that has a striking resemblance to the hit sound track, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

"Back Porch Believer" delivers fresh and daring arrangements of some old Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, and LDS hymns, as well as new ones offered by Erekson. The project has been well received by Bluegrass fans, as well as those who would not describe themselves as “...being into bluegrass...”

His rendition of "Sweet Hour of Prayer" is set to swamp-banjo, jazz-fiddle, and jazz-vocal harmony. Those familiar with the hymn might find it a little shocking when hearing this version for the first time. A conservative ear might consider it heretical. Regardless of your taste, it's still a fun, toe-tapping, tune that stays in your head. "I was surprised to discover myself singing the hymns under my breath while shopping at the store, and I realized, devotion doesn't have to be solemn all the time, or only at church." says Mark Hansen, music critic, and producer at Bait the Hook Records. You'll never hear it at a church meeting, but, you'll find it in the car stereo in the church parking lot.

Erekson's unique approach expresses deep-spirituality in a lively Appalachian style while avoiding the common pitfall of taking himself too seriously. The result is a surprisingly fresh and creative excursion through traditional songs like "Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” and “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. Alongside are Erekson's originals like "On a Mountain Top" and “Who's On the Lord's Side”, the CD becomes a new experience in gospel-music, all of it tinged with the plaintive nostalgia and joy known to mountain musical traditions.

If you enjoyed the hit CD soundtrack to “O Brother...”, then you won't be disappointed with its newest cousin, Back Porch Believer. Arranger and vocalist Douglas Erekson wipes the dust off traditional interpretations of hymns, as well as traditional bluegrass conventions, and re-invents the hymns with a delightfully witty and direct treatment. Featuring smoking instrumentals, the 14-cut CD combines bluegrass with a touch of jazz-vocal harmony, echoes of a tent-show revival, a trace of the blues, an offering of African choir harmony, as well as sounds so traditional you would swear they were coming from an old RCA Victor radio.

"Rarely will you find three generations able to rock to the same disc at the same time.” says Tim Holmes, composer and recording artist for MLBC, “Back Porch Believer is piety with a big smile.”

“The song that struck me the hardest was, ‘I Know That My Redeemer Lives’. This hymn has been solemnized and revered for more than a century, but until now, I’ve never heard any one sing it with the jubilation that the ‘sweet sentence’ truly gives.”