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Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing Charlie
Zahm perform at the Moore's Chapel revival, Victory
in Jesus 2004. His incredible guitar playing was what, at first,
impressed me. His voice was technically good (he was on key) but not
something I would normally listen to. It is deep and very operatic. I am
used to hearing a smooth and younger voice on contemporary praise and
worship music. So his voice was something that took me a bit to get used to.
But after he played a few songs, I was getting into the music, which is a
mix of traditional Celtic music, hymns, and interesting arrangements of
current praise music.
The lyrics in his songs were the next thing that attracted me. They
told a story and painted a picture in my head, which is the entire point of
a song for a listener. So, after the service, I went over to his CD table
and purchased a CD called Out of the Mist. He had many CD's and I had no
idea which one to pick since I wasn't familiar with any of his work so I got
some help from a woman who seemed to know what she was talking about. She
recommended Out of the Mist so I purchased it.
After listening to it completely through once, I was happy that I
bought the CD. Most of the songs on the CD are very traditional sounding
Celtic songs with those story-tellin' lyrics. The music glides along the
orchestra backdrop provided by the John Southard Highland Orchestra. The
songs are varied from an upbeat hymn ("Bonnie Dundee") to a
dramatic guitar-driven ballad ("Hush, Hush") to my personal
favorite, a solo piano song with an incredible melody (Caledonia and Me).
The songs create a pallet of feelings and the listener will feel like he/she
has been on a journey after listening to the CD.
My only complaint about this CD is that it doesn't reveal much of his
talented guitar playing but I'm a bit biased since I am a guitar player so
most people won't find this a problem.
Overall, I think this is a very good CD and I would recommend it to
anyone looking for some good ole fashioned Celtic music and intriguing
lyrics.
Total Score: 7/10
Reviewed by: Mike Weaver
(Mike is the drum player in the Moore's
Chapel Praise Band)
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