Little Rock musician Trevor Bates has recorded an unconventional religious-themed album; it's not the sort of music praise and worship teams typically sing or Christian radio stations usually play.
"And Other Lesser Feasts," which will be released for streaming Friday, focuses on a number of obscure but interesting martyrs, mystics and saints.
It "blends the hissing and howling of found sounds captured on tape with American primitive guitar," the album's promotional material states. "Haunted finger-picked acoustic guitars and droning organs permeate the entire album."
The recording was inspired by "Lesser Feasts and Fasts," which the Episcopal Church uses to supplement the Book of Common Prayer.
Bates picked up a free copy when his own parish, St. Michael's in Little Rock, was winnowing its library collection.
The discarded reading materials, he discovered, were somewhat eclectic.
"There were books about different religions -- about Islam and about Scientology," he said. "I got a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. ... I even got this occult book called 'The Book of the Law.'"
"Lesser Feasts and Fasts," however, is the one that captured his imagination.
The book's preface says it is "intended to reflect a balance of women and men, orders of ministry, races and ethnicities, and historical time periods."
"These stories are fascinating, you know, and miraculous and mystical too," he said.
The tracks include "The Beheading of Catherine." Rather than blood, milk supposedly flowed after the Alexandria saint's decapitation, a detail that fascinated Bates.
"Thecla's Coat" focuses on St. Thecla, who purportedly survived an attack by man-eating seals.
"Wisdom of the Abbess" pays tribute to Hilda of Whitby, who is said to have counseled English kings and turned snakes into stone.
One of the song titles mentions a New Testament city. But Bates says the song was inspired by Damascus in Van Buren and Faulkner counties, population 384, rather than the Syrian citadel.
Many of the women highlighted by Bates were "defiant thought-leaders who turn victimization back onto their oppressors," the promotional material notes.
The recording includes what Bates called "found sounds."
"There's nature sounds in the album," he said. "We would take a little field recorder out and just record crickets. ... But also we would go to Goodwill and just buy cassette tapes and just listen."
"Lesser Feasts and Fasts" includes samples of what they discovered at the second-hand store.
Elizabeth Henry-McKeever, St. Michael's primary priest and pastor, said Bates has been active in the parish for years.
"He's so creative, and the sources that influence his style are really eclectic, and that makes for really interesting music," she said.
At St. Michael's, Bates' wife, Elly, teaches Sunday School; her husband focuses on hospitality.
"Trevor's one of our four brunch team captains, so he has a whole crew that he's prepping, feeding and cleaning up [with]," Henry-McKeever said.
Bates, who works as an information technology consultant, grew up in the Church of Christ, which eschews instrumental music in its worship.
He joined St. Michael's after moving from Fayetteville to Little Rock about a decade ago.
He enjoyed the worship, but it was the food and fellowship that sealed the deal.
"Every Sunday after Eucharist, there's a brunch," he said. "Everyone sits down together and eats and breaks bread together, and that is what brought us back."
St. Michael's is a welcoming parish, embracing LGBTQ people, Bates said. It's also a "safe space for questions," he said.
"I, a lot of times, struggled with believing," he said. "I can question some of these things and it doesn't mean that I'm going to be judged; I'm going to be accepted."
At St. Michael's, "[I can] explore my own spirituality and my own relationship with God in a way that is positive. And I'm reaffirmed and I'm encouraged, and I really appreciate that about about the Episcopal Church."
"And Other Lesser Feasts," by Trevor Bates, can be bought at trevorbates.bandcamp.com. The album will available for streaming on Friday.