Album Review: Ellie Holcomb - As Sure As the Sun

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that my sister, Sarah, and I are really big fans of a precious Christian singer/songwriter named Ellie Holcomb. In November last year, Ellie announced that she had recently recorded her first full-length album...but instead of having a record label back the project and promote it, she asked her fans if they wanted to do it. Y'know, fund the whole thing and tell all their friends. Her fans responded with a resounding, "YES!!!"

(How could we not, after watching the promo video?!)

Not just a few fans of hers responded, either: 1,756 of them, to be exact. She hoped to raise $40,000 in 50 days. Well, let's just say that goal was met in three days...and by the time it was all said and done, they raised $108,176 (and broke a Kickstarter record)!

Of course Sarah and I were ecstatic to hear about the album, and we quickly decided that we'd go in together on a pledge amount...because on Kickstarter, the more you pledge, the more cool stuff you get: signed albums, t-shirts, posters, accessories like scarves and jewelry, etc. Then, after the $40,000 was raised, stretch goals were met and we got even more cool stuff: a pdf of handwritten stories behind the songs...vinyl records...a concert release party in Nashville...(we really wanted to go, but we just weren't able to get up there).

We were super excited when our "goodie box" came in the mail!



Then, a few weeks later, we met Ellie after the Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors concert in Oxford, Mississippi in April...what a blessing that was!



Anyways. Now that I've told you the story about all the fun we had backing Ellie on Kickstarter...let me tell you about the incredible album she recorded!

Sure As The Sun

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

Ellie wrote this song for her precious little girl, Emmylou, but said that it was really the truth that she herself needed to be reminded of. She wrote it from Hosea 6:3: “Let us acknowledge the Lord, let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear. He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."

Marvelous Light

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

We first heard this song on the promo video for her Kickstarter project and loved it. Ellie was inspired to write this song by one of the characters in Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga. His secrets were exposed in front of the very people he was trying to hide from, and yet, “He moved through the days in peace and wonder, for his whole story had been told for the first time, and he found that he was still loved.” (North or Be Eaten!, p. 321) (Sarah and I recently filmed a video of us signing to this song!)

The Broken Beautiful

{audio} {official music video} {Ellie's story behind the song}

Ellie sings about how God can take the broken pieces in our lives and turn them into something beautiful for His glory. “You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.” Psalm 30:11. This song was released to Christian radio a few months ago and many people have discovered Ellie's music through it. You can hear her joy in the LORD as she sings!

My Portion and My Strength

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

One of my favorites to listen to on this album. "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you; yet I am always with You. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward You will lead me into glory. For whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26.

Night Song

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

"Be the truth that sings into my darkness / The melody of love that leads me on / Be the voice that comforts all of my sadness / Oh even when the suffering is long / Be my night song." I loved hearing Ellie tell the story behind this song during the release concert livestream. The melody is so calming and so are the lyrics!

Love Never Fails

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

Right before Ellie sang this song during the release concert, she said, "I wanna rollerblade to this song!" :) It's far more than a catchy tune with lyrics about love; it speaks of the unconditional love of God, and us showing that same love to others. "Help me trust that this is true / Help me to love just like You do / Oh, LORD, help me to live like / Love never fails."

Love Broke Through

{audio}

This song is the most similar, in terms of the sound, to the music Ellie's husband, Drew, plays with his band. She never did write a story behind it on her blog! "Your love has called me out / Out of my sorrow, out of my broken places / Hope has been renewed / 'Cause there in the darkness, there in the darkness love broke through." Only because of the love of Christ and His life, death, and resurrection can we have eternal life and hope in Him.

 Only Hope I've Got

{audio}

Ellie sings of how we are so quick to claim the gifts God has given us as if they had come from ourselves, yet it is all because of His work in our lives and what He has given us that we have anything! I'm reminded of Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." James 1:17 also says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

The Valley

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

Ellie recorded this song several years ago with Drew's band; she wrote it for several friends who were struggling with depression. She wove several Psalms into the lyrics, and says that it tells her own story as much as her friends'. "So come and find me / in the darkest night of my soul / In the shadow of the valley / I am dying for You to make me whole."

Songs of Deliverance

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

The sweet Jillian Edwards Chapman sang with Ellie on this song, lending her high, clear voice to Ellie's rich alto. "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 32:7. The hammered dulcimer adds so much to the ethereal effect of Ellie and Jillian's voices in this song!

Wanna Be Free

{audio} {Ellie's story behind the song}

“If the Son of God sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36. My first thought when I heard this song was, "Wow, Ellie, getting your inner Norah Jones on!" The organ and guitar combined with Ellie's soulful voice are awesome. "Oh, my Lord, come and set us all free."

Go to freeelliemusic.com to download a free sampler of songs from Ellie, including Marvelous Light and The Valley!

For the love of music and the glory of God,
Rebekah

The Stories & Songs of Andrew Peterson {Guest Post by Mamie Rose Carlstrom}

A couple of months ago, my dear friend Mamie pinned Andrew Peterson's new album on Pinterest, and I commented and asked her if she'd ever want to do a guest post about his music on my blog. She responded with an enthusiastic, "Yes, PLEASE!".  I was only slightly familiar with Andrew Peterson's music until recently, but since Mamie is a wonderful writer and has been a long-time fan of his, I knew she would do a beautiful job telling you all about him. Happy reading, and happy listening!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Could it be that the many roads

You took to get here

Were just for me to tell this story

And for you to hear this song

And your many hopes

And your many fears

Were meant to bring you here all along.”

Many Roads | from the album Counting Stars

In September of last year, I sat down on the front row in a little concert hall in Nashville, TN. I was here to see my favorite artist perform a release show for his brand new album “Light for the Lost Boy.” I was trembling with excitement for several reasons. (One of which was the fact that others such as Steven Curtis Chapman and his family, Jason Gray, and several others were sitting in the very same auditorium several pews behind me, but that is beside the point.) It was because I knew this music was powerful. I’d been listening to Andrew Peterson for as long as I could remember, and it had never ceased to do wondrous things in my soul.

To be honest, I’d been having a pretty tough year. It was also a great year, don’t get me wrong, but at the same time, things had happened that’d chewed up my little girl heart and left it lost in the wilderness clinging to Jesus.

It just so happened that the ten new songs he was about to sing were all about the process of growing up and being made into something new.

 (Picture credit: Mamie Carlstrom)

And so I sat with anticipation. Knowing that somehow, God was going to use this in my life.

And boy, did He ever.

I ended up sobbing through most of the concert. Tears were literally streaming down my face.
It wasn’t bad crying.
Instead it was catharsis.
It was letting go.
It was healing.

“It's there on the page of the book that I read

The boy grew up and the yearling was dead

He stood at the gate with the angel on guard

And wept for the death of his little boy heart

I say, ‘Come back soon.’

We wake in the night in the womb of the world

We beat our fists on the door

We cannot breathe in this sea that swirls

So we groan in this great darkness

For deliverance

Deliverance, O Lord”

Come Back Soon | from the album Light for the Lost Boy

Andrew Peterson (henceforth “AP”) is like none other that I’ve ever listened to. He’s like the musical cross between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.  He cuts one deep to the soul. I’m often left aching because he so poignantly sums up what I’m feeling.

“Love is not a feeling in your chest,

it is bending down to wash another’s feet,

it is faithful when the sun is in the west

and in the east.”

For the Love of God | from the album The Far Country

“It knocked me down, it dragged me out,

it left me there for dead.

It took all the freedom I wanted and gave me something else instead.

It blew my mind, it bled me dry, it hit me like a long goodbye,

and nobody here knows better than I that it’s a good thing.

Love Is A Good Thing | from the album Resurrection Letters Vol. II

What I love about AP is the fact that he somehow combines passion with gentleness. He can soothe and convict all in the same breath. I’m sitting here trying to write this, but really, all I want to do is copy down every single one of his lyrics ever and let you read them. Or better yet, post links to all of the songs on YouTube and lock you in a closet for 24 hours so that you’ll have time to listen to all of the beautifulness.

  (Picture credit: Mamie Carlstrom)

AP is husband to Jamie, and a father to two boys and a girl. Several of his songs are directed at them. (For example: Family Man, You’ll Find Your Way, World Traveler, Dancing in the Minefields, to name just a few.)

“Like their father, they are looking for a home

Looking for a home beyond the sea

So be their God and guide them

Till they lie beneath these hills

And let the great God of their father

Be the great God of their children,

Let the great God of my fathers

Be the great God of my children still.”

God of My Fathers | from the album Counting Stars

AP is not only a songwriter. He also writes books and is a regular contributor for his community website “The Rabbit Room.” Recently he wrote a letter to his little boy that really grabbed my heart. You can read it here.

“But everything I had to lose

Came back a thousand times in you

And you fill me up with love

Fill me up with love

And you help me stand

'cause I am a family man.”

Family Man | from the album Love & Thunder

Listening to AP’s music is not unlike going on a journey, a journey through our lives. During the span of our years we go through valleys and stand on mountaintops. We feel close to the heavens and in the pits. But every step of the way our Jesus stays close, whispering His love. His promises are “written in a script of stars.”

We are eaten by the ache for the reckoning, we are restless to see God’s face, and yet in the waiting and the asking of “how long?” we carry our cross and sing on.

“And when the world is new again

And the children of the King

Are ancient in their youth again

Maybe it's a better thing

A better thing

To be more than merely innocent

But to be broken then redeemed by love

Maybe this old world is bent

But it's waking up

And I'm waking up

'Cause I can hear the voice of one

He's crying in the wilderness

"Make ready for the Kingdom Come"

Don't you want to thank someone for this?

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallalujah! Hallelujah!

Come back soon

Come back soon.”

Don’t You Want to Thank Someone | from the album Light For the Lost Boy

If you have never listened to Andrew Peterson, I highly encourage you to do so. Look him up on YouTube or create a Pandora Station…better yet take the plunge and support his family by buying a song or two or three. Which ever it is, sit back and let yourself be enveloped in the deep lyrics and melodic notes. Take time to listen carefully, you might just find a little bit of your story told within the folds of the melodies.

Mamie Rose Carlstrom is a nineteen year-old young woman seeking to devote every area of her life to Christ. She loves reading, writing, family, the color gray, music, dancing, movies, travel, modest fashion, Adventures in Odyssey (don’t laugh), photography, the Green Bay Packers, meeting famous people, and healthy smoothies. Not necessarily in that order.
She scribbles blog posts at: www.ransomedbyone.wordpress.com.
And her Pinterest page can be found here.