, a Harrisonburg, Virginia-based band made up of primarily 草莓社区 (EMU) graduates, is taking centuries-old hymn texts and putting them to music that is accessible and appealing to younger Christians.
Their first album 鈥溾�� was released in June 2013.
鈥淭here are many really meaningful texts in old hymns,鈥� said Seth Crissman, a 2009 EMU graduate, who is also a current student at . They have deep profound spiritual truths that are sometimes inaccessible because of the music.鈥�
Greg Yoder, a 2009 graduate of Goshen College added, “Seth found these great hymn texts that he wanted to use at , where many people who come to worship didn’t grow up singing hymns.”
Eastside Church is a recent church plant in Harrisonburg where Crissman serves as a music pastor.
鈥淢usic is incredibly formative,鈥� Crissman said. 鈥淲e are being shaped in our theology and our understanding of who we are by music.
鈥淚n churches where 鈥榩raise music鈥� is the main music, we generally only sing things written in the last 10 to 15 years, when thoughtful writers have been writing music for churches for 1,500 years. There is rich theology that can be accessed by arranging these hymn texts so that they are appealing to a more modern ear.鈥�
One example is a hymn called 鈥淐ome Down, O Love Divine.鈥� The text was written in 1367 by Bianco da Siena. Crissman encountered this song in the 鈥淗ymnal: A worship book.” The arrangement was written in 1906, but most members of the band had not sung it often despite many of them singing hymns in their congregations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good introduction to the richness of the text,鈥� said Mitchell Yoder, a 2009 EMU alum.聽 鈥淔or people who have grown up singing traditional church hymns we chose a lot of texts that people tend to not sing.鈥�
Several of the band members started playing worship services at EMU in 2007. In 2010, they added band members Greg Yoder and Michael Yoder. In 2012, they became The Walking Roots Band, which they describe as 鈥渁coustic Americana, faux-folk, blue-ish-grass, roots music.鈥�
鈥淓ven though we are mostly a folk band, faith and church music is definitely where our roots are musically and personally, so it made sense to do this album first,鈥� said Jackson Maust, a 2009 EMU alum.
They will be touring Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana in early July. The group intends to release a folk album in the fall of 2013.
鈥淲e aren鈥檛 just a band that plays reclaimed hymns,鈥� said Greg Yoder. 鈥淚f you come to a concert you鈥檒l hear some of our folk music, some silly songs and some reclaimed hymns. We are Christians in the world, and we’re also complex people and we want our music to reflect that.鈥�
To see The Walking Roots Band tour schedule, order a CD, or hear a sample of 鈥淪helter: A Hymn Reclamation Project鈥� visit their website at . The band will be playing in Harrisonburg on . Tickets are available at the door.