A joyful noise

Jason Truby’s new album, Redemption, to be released just in time for Easter

Jason Truby performs at the release show for his album All Is Calm in Little Rock in 2017. Truby celebrates the resurrection of Christ in his forthcoming album The Day of Our Redemption, which debuts April 16.
Jason Truby performs at the release show for his album All Is Calm in Little Rock in 2017. Truby celebrates the resurrection of Christ in his forthcoming album The Day of Our Redemption, which debuts April 16.

Musician and composer Jason Truby's newest album will be released days before Easter, but its 1970s sound seeks to reach back to celebrate the event of an even earlier time -- the resurrection of Christ.

The Day of Our Redemption is the Little Rock native's latest release since his 2017 Christmas album, All Is Calm. The independently produced double album splits its tracks between vocal and acoustic original and cover songs from the likes of musical artists Keith Green, John Michael Talbot, Billy Sprague and Phil Keaggy.

Truby, a former guitarist for P.O.D. (Payable On Death), is known for his finger-style guitar music, and has released albums since his time with the band including Entropy and Hymns, the latter of which was created to provide comfort for those who are ill or grieving. He also teaches music to dozens of students at his studio.

Truby said his goal in creating an album devoted to the resurrection -- the Christian belief that Jesus was raised from the dead three days after he was crucified -- is not to encourage people's beliefs, but to celebrate his own belief in it through music.

"It's extremely important to me [to celebrate the resurrection] because that's our connection to the creator," Truby said. "[The album] is just simply a celebration of a truth that has been revealed in my life. ... It's 'believe or don't believe,' and I do believe. So this is an expression of that -- to encourage those that do, and to give hope to those that don't."

Truby said he felt drawn to covering songs from the 1970s and early 1980s.

"That's when I really experienced Christianity for the first time, and there was an interesting purity about the content at that point in time," Truby said. His vocal album includes a cover of Dallas Holm's "He Is Risen," which Truby recalled seeing Holm perform with his family when he was 7 or 8 years old.

The song -- in which Jesus speaks of his resurrection on the cusp of his crucifixion -- was hard for Truby to listen to at the time, but ultimately clarified for him the meaning of the resurrection.

"I remember listening to the song and I remember feeling really sorry for Jesus," Truby said. "Like, 'What are you doing, just talking about [hurting Jesus] ... and him not fighting back' -- it bothered me. And then it was just a simple message: 'This was God's son, and he did this so we could be connected to our creator, and that he rose from the dead so that it would all be taken care of.'

"He did this so that you could know him, and it was that simple."

Christian guitarist and songwriter Phil Keaggy sent Truby a never-released song of his own to be covered on the album, also called "He Is Risen." The two friends and fellow artists have performed together for more than a decade and at a number of benefit concerts.

"[Keaggy] sent it to me, and it's quintessential '70s, which is so cool," Truby said. "He really liked the way it turned out. ... The lyrics capture that [sense of] 'Nothing's perfect.'"

Truby used guitar amps from the decade to help capture the 1970s sound -- two of his go-to amps were produced in 1968 and 1974 -- which he said lent a background to the music that in contemporary music is removed during production.

"They just made things in a way that they'd had this tonal quality, and they recorded analog [vs. digital]," Truby said. "It just had a life in it that made you feel like you were sitting in the room with the musicians."

While his other albums are available on iTunes, Truby said The Day of Our Redemption will have a limited online track release and will primarily be released in CD format. It's an intentional decision, he said, for people to engage with the album, although he acknowledged that there will be people who will want to access the music through more instant, digital platforms.

"I know that for some people it's like, 'I'm going to get it on Spotify and put it on my playlist,' [but] I'm kind of leaning toward, 'Hey, you're going to have to put this [CD] in and you're going to have to push play.'

Truby's album is available April 16 and can be bought through jasontruby.com or by calling his studio at (501) 650-4677.

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The Day of Our Redemption by Jason Truby

Religion on 04/06/2019

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