Heavenly Blues is a sampler of Christian blues music, that does a pretty good job of doing what I assume it was meant to do--introduce someone to some of the Christian artists out there that are blues-influenced.
Blues music is a genre that just recently seems to be gaining popularity in the contemporary Christian music scene. For anyone with an interest in this type of music, Heavenly Blues gives a taste of seven different artists over fourteen tracks. From the southern rock/blues of David Payton to the more traditional blues of Larry Howard, to the instrumental offerings of Q-Stone and John Amato, this album proves that there are as many different faces to blues music as there are to any other type.
I especially enjoyed Amato's "Amazing Grace," with some awesome saxophone playing, and "Bluesman" from Q-Stone. Howard has a very traditional blues voice, more on the rough side, and it suits his songs well. Payton, formerly of Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart, is more in the vein of Lynyrd Skynyrd and other southern groups, and provides some good listening. The other artists--Toni Rossi, Bryn Haworth, and Buddy Greene--had strong songs, although I didn't enjoy them as much as the other musicians.
If you have an interest in blues, this is a good album to use to explore the possibilities available in Christian music today.
