Hymns that heal

LR guitarist records album to help the grieving find harmony

Singer/songwriter Jason Truby’s latest album is an instrumental take on hymns.
Singer/songwriter Jason Truby’s latest album is an instrumental take on hymns.

Jason Truby's latest album is an instrumental collection of hymns intended to be a salve for the soul.

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Album cover of Hymns: Guitar Arrangements for Peace and Healing by Jason Truby of Little Rock.

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Jason Truby left the rock band P.O.D. in 2006 to focus on his own music, which he records in a studio above the garage of his Little Rock home.

Truby, a Little Rock native, is former guitarist for the rock band P.O.D. and an accomplished singer/songwriter. He's known for his finger-style guitar technique, which he features on the new album titled Hymns: Guitar Arrangements for Peace and Healing. Released in late July, it features 10 hymns, some well-known and others less so.

The project was inspired by Truby's wife, Audra, who suggested an album of hymns for those suffering from an illness, in treatment for cancer or grieving the loss of a loved one.

"When we are suffering, we really get inside ourselves and music can get in like a medicine," Truby said.

Truby began researching ancient hymns, as well as more modern ones. Finding just the right hymns took quite awhile. Some, like "Amazing Grace" and "It Is Well With My Soul," were naturals because of their familiarity and because they would fit in well with a project focused on hope and healing.

"Some are staples and you know that regardless of someone's spiritual background they've probably heard them," Truby said.

Truby said the lyrics of the hymns are powerful, but he decided to focus on instrumental arrangements and include the written lyrics with the CDs.

The oldest hymn on the album is "Be Thou My Vision." The lyrics come from an Irish poem dating to the eighth century that was later set in hymn form by Eleanor Hull in 1912. The hymn begins like this:

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

"It's very poignant," Truby said.

The fifth song on the album is "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," which begins with these lyrics:

O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home!

It's a hymn that offers a reminder of God's presence, Truby said.

"When we're suffering it's a reminder of who God is and that he's helped us in the past and all the people who came before us," he said.

Other hymns in the collection include "Come Thy Fount," "All Creatures of Our God and King," "Holy, Holy, Holy," "Before the Throne of God" and "Nothing But the Blood." The album concludes with "Doxology."

Little Rock physician Dr. Diane Wilder said music can soothe the heart "in a way that is powerfully restorative."

"Music understands and comforts," she said. "It empathizes with the listener, it brings hope or light or pathos so feelings can be expressed within the safety and understanding of instruments and song. ... It transforms the heart and brings forth powerful memories or strikes a chord of hope or brings forth a response of beauty or allows the expression of tears, frustration or anger.

"By evoking a responsive chord deep within, music gives voice to emotion and honors the patient's experience."

Truby said he created new arrangements for the hymns while keeping the melodies pure. In his take on "Before the Throne of God," Truby used a wood flute and a koto, a Japanese stringed instrument, that lend the hymn a subtle Asian feel. For "Be Thou My Vision," Truby emphasized its Celtic roots, he said.

The album is more than just a random selection of hymns. The flow of the songs, from one to the other, was important, Truby said. For example, the album starts off with "Come Thy Fount," which Truby sees as a prayer asking for God's help.

"The idea is that it would musically flow and there would be moments to carry people away without them knowing it would happen and letting them meditate on the lyrical content so it enriches them and helps them and hopefully leads to a little bit of relief," Truby said. "It's about the power of music ... it's a language of emotion and soul and the racket around us keeps us from being able to hear it."

Truby recorded the album in the studio above his garage. He listened to the hymns over and over again and was inspired by the lyrics.

"I was reminded and humbled that this is not about me," he said. "I felt like it came through me and not from me."

Truby said he has received positive feedback from listeners.

"I've had wonderful responses in emails that have said this is doing exactly what it was designed to do -- very tender and sweet and kind responses," he said.

And, thanks to an anonymous donation, Truby said he has been able to donate some CDs to CARTI.

"Our hope is other people will get behind it and we're able to make it available to other institutions," Truby said. "It's available for sale to the general public, but I like the idea of making it available to patients."

In addition to his own music career, Truby keeps busy by offering private lessons. He has about 50 students and offers an annual summer music camp.

Music has been a part of his life since childhood.

"I got my first guitar at 12, and I was obsessed with repeating songs I heard on the radio," he said. "I would stay in my room for hours. There's always been a passion there. God was summoning me through music ... and haunting me at the same time."

Information about Truby's music and lessons is available at (501) 650-4677.

Religion on 08/13/2016

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