Smalltown Poets

Item: Smalltown Poets
Author: Roger Appelinski

(1997)

Reviewed by Roger Appelinski

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Label ForeFront RecordsThe LighthouseNovember 1997

acoustic rock alternative rock ccm pop rock

For those of you that read liner notes, you might recognize the names of three of the five members of Smalltown Poets: Michael Johnston (lead vocals, guitar), Danny Stephens (keyboards), and Byron Goggin (drums). This trio was part of another five-piece a few years back called Villanelle. They now join with Miguel DeJesus (bass) and Kevin Breuner (guitars) and forge a new sound on their very promising self-titled debut.

Their style is an even balance of driving rock, alternative pop, and acoustic folk that is fresh and enjoyable. It's also well-produced, full of strong background vocals, and catchy. While it's hard to define the sound down more than that, but fans of Collective Soul and Jars of Clay would probably appreciate this immensely. I suspect that fans of PFR and Carolyn Arends would enjoy this project as well.

Lyrically, the Poets take an even-handed tour through the Christian life: God's call for us to draw closer to Him, the promises and encouragements of God, struggles with our sinful self, and the freedom that God blesses us with. The electric guitar-driven "Everything I Hate," which talks of how we give into the urges of the flesh, leads right into a gentler song of devotion to God, "I'll Give," which opens:

Yesterday I lived for me And I was so alone as I could be Then I saw You and how You give Yourself away And I want to live for You today I'll give; I'll hold nothing I'll give and I'll hold nothing back

A favorite of mine is "Trust," which tells of a man resisting God's call:

So he sat behind his natural defenses And there he wrestled with the song He heard his name in every line, his life in every measure Faced with feelings he could not explain

And, God's "call came out again:"

Take this bread, drink this cup Know this price has pardoned you From all that's hardened you But it's going to take some trust He lost a heartbeat when he heard the testimony Another soul forsaking pride And quickened by the Spirit He's so sure that he could hear it Jesus his Savior calling him to come

I think that the name Smalltown Poets is a great name for this band. They avoid the "Nashville" sound (hailing from Duluth, Georgia) and they definitely put some time into their poetic lyrics. Almost every song shows a unique song structure-not the same old verse, chorus, verse, chorus, instrumental, chorus that is so often used in pop music.

The Smalltown Poets CD is an AV-enhanced CD. It teams with your web browser to allow you to go song-by-song through the project and read the lyrics as you listen. You can also watch a few movies that show a little road footage, concert performances, and some behind the scenes shots. I was somewhat disappointed that they didn't add any information about the band (e.g. biographies). But I guess that's rather minor.

I'm glad this is in my collection, and I highly recommend it.