Reviewed by Tony Cummings

As you'll soon be able to read in our Country Music Special in CR21, country has been a source music in the development of today's CCM but apart from that strange musical backwater known as Southern Gospel has had little impact on the contemporary scene until recent times. Now the CCM power brokers have belatedly put their bucks behind a new wave of young gifted country singers and songwriters so alongside the new CDs from Amy, Petra, DC Talk et al we're getting high profile albums from such as Paul Overstreet, Andy Landis and Bruce Carroll. For those who've been following Bruce's steady rise to ascendancy since his first Word album The Great Exchange' will know that Bruce brings almost a James Taylor-esque sophistication to the genre, and aided here by producers Brown Bannister and Tom Hemby makes music a long, long way from the previous generations of cowboy-hatted stereotypes. 'Walk On' offers poignant, Christian life-based ballads and contemporary country/folk/pop tunes. There are plenty of gifted friends dropping in to help Bruce including Chris Harris, Phil Madeira and Ricky Skaggs. The title track with its floating harmonies and soft country guitar is an understated opener, "Good Life" picks up the pace with a song dealing with the foolishness of chasing temporal prosperity while Gary Cotton's "It Took You" is an unmistakable country love song. The standout for me is "Sometimes When We Love" which continues Carroll's string of vignettes about the hopes and trials of Christian living. Let go of your prejudices about music heard in Irish pubs and pick up on the new sound of country gospel.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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