ALBUM REVIEW - "Q & A: THE STAGES OF BELIEF" BY FORSAKEN HERO

I've been looking forward to getting to hear the new project out by Forsaken Hero, and I was not disappointed.

There are several strong tracks on the project, starting out with the lead off song "You Are The Light (We Praise You)"  and concluding with "Jesus Loves Me." In between are "Reliable," "Just Our Beginning (God So Loved Me)," "Questions," "God Doesn't Care," "Reason" and "Never Gonna Stop."

I was encouraged and blessed listing to this album and highly recommend it. 

For further information on Forsaken Hero and "Q&A: The Stages of Belief," you can check out their website http://www.forsakenhero.com/index.html or their Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/forsakenhero/about. They also stream on Spotify.

LOOKING BACK AT '22 - FAVORITE SONGS (PART 2 OF 6)

 

Reclaim The Day, from Get To The Point Festival. Left to right - WVIU bassist of the year Logan Morehouse, drummer Tristan Harris, lead vocalist Becca Sugg, and WVIU lead guitarist of the year Marcus Sugg. Did this band have any songs on my 15 favorite songs of '22? If so, how many?

Those of you familiar with my blogs and posts know I give lists on both fiction and non-fiction books. But how about music? 

To be honest, our budget for new books and records is usually zero, so I make use of the library for my reading. I regularly get CDs from there as well, but most of the time it's classical with some music like Yanni, and for the purpose of relaxing at night (which is why I don't check out Stryper). It's recently I started listening to more recent music on Spotify (and I also plan on listening some next year to WVIU and Silent Witness Radio (click here if you missed my interview with Gothdad of SWR).

So this year, I'll list my 15 favorite songs from this past year. With my books, I don't claim my favorites were all written that year, but rather were read that year (which allows Agatha Christie and Allistair MacLean to compete against Kerry Nietz, Nancy Mehl, and Donna Fletcher Crow). The music, I'm trying to deal with '22 songs, though a '21 song might sneak in there. (For example, one of my favorite songs came out last year as a single, but was on a EP and won the WVIU award for best rock song this year, so it qualifies).

Part of the reason of these lists is to encourage the artists included, but I want to be a good dad and not show favortism, so I pick a number (often, 10 is too limited so I make sure I expand it to include all my strong favorites), and then list the entries alphabetically by title. After all, I don't want an author or musician to think, "Oh, I'm #10 on a list of 10? I just barely missed it."

Before I start, I'll state that all of these songs can be found on Spotify. There are some artists who are yet to be on Spotify that I really enjoy (e.g. True Revival Band) or have a single out this year that didn't get on Spotify yet (e.g. Worhol) that I'd love to have on the list, or a song I heard live that's not recorded yet (speaking specifically of "Relief" by Tempus Unum). Hope to see them next year!

I'll admit I haven't seen the lyrics for most of these songs, so some of those comments will be more about style. But I really enjoy each song on the list. So are you ready? (And again, the numbers don't relate to ranking.)

1. "Captain Rescue Me" by Hubbards Marsh. Hubbards Marsh consists of my good friends Gary Wixtrom and his wife Amy Shreve. Amy has several excellent albums out as well. (By the way, I'd love to interview Gary and/or Amy for the blog.) This is probably one of the mellower songs on this list.
   
2. "Fear" by Divine Martyr. I absolutely love this song, which deservedly got nominated for best rock song in the WVIU awards.
   
3. "Framing My Perception" by Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh (aka GFM Band). Some of this band's songs are a little too hardcore for me, but I especially enjoy this song. GFM consist of three sisters, for those who haven't read my interview with them.
   
4. "Future" by Undefeated. A good rock song by another family group (two sisters and a brother; definitely want to get to hear them!).
   
5. "Give Me Faith" by Becca Sugg. Becca is lead vocalist and guitarist for Reclaim The Day (pictured above), which also has other entries on this list. I think this is a song that technically is a '21 song, but I'm counting it because I just discovered it a week or two ago.
6. "God of Revival" by Forsaken Hero. I love the title of the song, and I absolutely loved the song. When I interviewed Casey Price, I learned this was a cover of a Bethel music song, but I like this version better than the original. This also got a nomination for the WVIU awards (Another band I want to hear live.)
   
7. "Mystique" by Divine Martyr. This is a unique entry on the list because it's the only instrumental. 
8. "Remnant" by Ignescent. The title definitely got my attention, because I think the American Church too often forgets God usually works through the remnant. This hard rock song is as good as the title.
9. "Send Down The Fire" by Beth Hall. This is one of two songs by Beth on Spotify, the other being a Christmas song. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more from her.
10. "Sentenced To Life" by Reclaim The Day. I fell in love with this song when I first heard it. This song was the winner for Best Rock Song in the WVIU awards.
11. "Testimony" by Hush Harbor. This song blew me away first time I heard it, and I had the privilege of hearing them do this song at the Get To The Point Festival.
12. "Truth" by Divine Martyr. Yes, the third and most recent Divine Martyr song on this list. And would you mind if I mentioned it's my favorite by them? One night last week, as I was lying half asleep, this song was going through my brain (with Bruckner's 6th symphony, 1st movement alternating with it).
13. "World Gone Mad" by Upstanding Gents. This band's music reminds me of Lifesavors and Altar Boys from the '80's. 
14. "You Chose Me" by Toni LaShaun. The most uplifting song I heard this year. Thus, I wasn't surprised when it won the award for "Songs that remind us of our purpose."
    
15. "Yours Alone" by Reclaim the Day. If you count Becca's solo song, Reclaim the Day tied Divine Martyr with most entries for this year's inaugural list.

But what will be on my list this coming year? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

INTERVIEW WITH CASEY PRICE OF FORSAKEN HERO

 

A week ago, I checked to see who was coming to the Kingdom Come Festival this year and scrolled down the list. (Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Angie Leyda of Always One Ministries, who puts the festival together each year; if you missed it, click here to read it.) One of the bands listed was Forsaken Hero. I listened to their songs, and was impressed.

I'm interviewing guitarist/lead vocalist Casey Price. The other members of the band include Casey's sister Emily (vocals) and brothers Marcus (lead guitar), David (drums) and Matthew (bass, piano) Collins.

 JR: When, how, and why did the band start, including the choosing of your name? Could you introduce who all is in the group?

CP: Forsaken Hero started in High School. Over 11 years ago! Crazy how time flies! The name was based on our love for Skillet. Both Forsaken and Hero are Skillet songs. But the scriptural meaning is Jesus is our Forsaken Hero. We forsake him and sin daily. But he still died for our sins anyway!

JR: How many CDs do you have out? Could you tell us about them?

CP: Forsaken Hero has released 4 albums. Only two of them are currently available as well as some singles that were released not on disc between those periods of time. The first two albums in 2013 and 2016. Where made before we rebranded and started making professional records in Nashville etc.

JR: I’m looking forward to hearing you this year at the Kingdom Come Festival this year. I also notice you have quite a long list of people you’ve opened for, including Stryper. Is there a concert that has been especially memorable?

CP: There's so many memories of so many different shows over the years. The two Stryper tours we did were wild. Kingdom come is always a blast because there are so many amazing bands we are friends with it's just such a great time of fellowship and worship. Probably our favorite show we've done was a youth conference in Indiana in 2020 right before the pandemic, over 1000 high schoolers on fire for God, worshiping and singing and jumping around and praising together was just such an amazing experience!

JR: I consider Christian musicians are often on the front-lines of Spiritual Warfare. What sources do you have for godly encouragement? Any mentors or authors or bands that lift you up?

CP: Mentors are definitely our church family and peers at Highlands Fellowship in the Virginia and Tennessee area. Most of our band members play at different campuses since our church has multiple locations so there's a lot of people to create friendship and Godly bonds with. Musically Skillet's Comatose and Awake albums were a huge blessing and influence in my life and music.

JR: The first song I heard of yours is “God of Revival”, and absolutely loved it. What inspired that song? I’m sure you agree the church – at least in the U.S. - needs an awakening – what do you think it will look like, and is there anything we need to do for it to occur?

CP: So God of Revival is actually a cover song. It's originally by Bethel worship. We just loved the song and the lyrics and message of the song but the real song is very soft until the end and it gets huge and I was like what if we made our own version and had it big right at the beginning?? That would be awesome! We don't release a lot of cover songs to streaming since there's a lot of red tape getting the rights to the song etc. But this song was very important to us to release to the world.

JR: Thank you for your time. What’s on the horizon, both in recording and in performing? How can we keep up with you?

CP: Forsaken Hero is currently writing our new record now. And we also came out with a hard rock side project called Sonflower Seed. Same message just heavier music. We currently have one single out "Fate Holds The Gun". And our next single will be releasing soon. And Forsaken Hero will be announcing new music soon as well!! 

If you'd like to keep up with the band, you can click here to get access to their webpage and social media sites