Description
From the first blast of slinky wah-wah guitar that kicks off the title track, it’s clear that Coming Up Through the Years is no CeCe Winans or Kirk Franklin record. Anthony “Amp” Daniels, leader of the Dedicated Men of Zion, was surprised when co-producer Bruce Watson first asked this eastern North Carolina gospel quartet to make such “old, old-school music.”
But Daniels and his fellow vocalists put their own contemporary stamp on these songs, merging their 21st century sensibilities with classic soul and gospel. Co-producer Jimbo Mathus, a fellow Music Maker Foundation artist who rose to fame with Squirrel Nut Zippers, wrote most of the album’s songs and led a band of funky Mississippi musicians.
It’s all rooted in the music Daniels heard and sang growing up in Union Grove Free Will Baptist Church in Farmville, N.C., as well as family groups he and other members have performed with, including Faith and Harmony and the Glorified Vine Sisters and Family. They call the result Sacred Soul, and you’ll understand why as you listen to this boundless mix of bluesy numbers, energetic stompers, slow ballads, and songs with an “old, old-school” doowop feel.
