Great Street are a duo from Louisville, Kentucky - Joy Clevenger (vocals) and Michael Warner (acoustic guitar, fiddle, mandolin and backing vocals).
Most of their folk-celtic repertoire celebrates Christianity and pledges their faith in the glory of the Lord.
They take their name comes from Revelations 22 : "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb down the middle of the great street of the city".
Their god is an unstintingly kind, compassionate, benevolent force for good. On the track called God Said, the deity is depicted as an all singing, dancing, weeping, laughing, loving saviour.
"Not everything we write is overtly Christian" claims Clevenger but religious overtones are unmistakable on all the songs, even when faith doesn't seem to offer much comfort.
Hungry & Cold is a kind of Lord do not forsake me plea from someone who homeless, lonely, sad, desperate ("The world wants to throw me away". Wife's Lament is adapted from an old English poem about a woman bemoaning her fate in a wide world full of longing.
Thank You God typifies the belief that even when things do not seem to be going to plan, there is comfort to be drawn from the thought that an unseen being is watching over us. This song is written from the perspective of a lonely woman consoled by the reflection: "my worst day could not outweigh this world of suffering".
Your Hand is the voice of a sinner appealing to her "God of justice, God of grace" for mercy and compassion; Room For My Soul is like a prayer : "Oh God my creator / Your God is my guide" and Til We Laugh is about enjoying the pleasures of life while being aware that we are "one step from Your eternity"..
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On Someone, the sun's rays signify the hope that the shepherd will find his lost sheep and I Must Praise gives yet more thanks to God's justice, love and mercy "I will raise my eyes unto His throne".
A Mother's Song is about unconditional love from a mother to a child where thanks to God is implicit.
All this is delivered in a sweet voice that oozes sincerity and serenity with tasteful, unfussy backing.
All this might be bearable were it not for the fact that, the older I get, the less patience I have for anything to do with orthodox religion.
Nowadays, I tend to have more sympathy with the sentiments of Julian Cope who, on the sleeve to his album You Gotta Problem With Me, issued the warning "If you've got a friend in Jesus, stay the hell away from me"..
I think even believers would find the relentless goodness and 'praise the lord' sentiments on this album tiresomely repetitive while for Atheists these are musical equivalent of holding up a red rag to a bull.
Great Music's website
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