Dailey & Vincent /The Gospel Side of Dailey & Vincent/ Cracker Barrel

This is a collection of heartfelt songs with didactic lyrics and feel-good music. Lead vocalists Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent make fine use of the country/bluegrass/folk tradition, as an outlet to express their faith. Along with sharing lead vocals, Vincent plays the upright bass, acoustic guitar, arch top guitar and mandolin. The duo is joined by additional personnel on the fiddle, DoBro and banjo, for most of the songs. Some songs feature a brass ensemble, string ensemble, piano and electric guitar. But, for the most part, the album consists of down home, acoustic bluegrass sangin' and twangin'. With complex harmonizing patterns and proficient musicianship, they collaborate very well, for a solid project. The sounds contained here will be found pleasing to the ears of even non-country music lovers (like myself). In fact, this project causes one to further appreciate the unique beauty of Southern culture.

Recommended: 1, 2, 4, 7, 9

1. Living in the Kingdom of God (2:50)
Uptempo classic bluegrass sound. Starts off with fiddling and intricate acoustic guitar strumming. Nice lyrics about a hopeful look to the end.

2. Eternal Vacation (3:49)
Slow tempo country stroll, with nice vocal harmonies and an excellent DoBro solo at 1:16, followed by a fiddle solo. Another song of hopeful preparation for the world to come.

3. Peace That Covers All the Pain (3:58)
Slow tempo, contemporary country pop sounding ballad. Music is not characteristic of the rest of the album, but lyrics are.

4. Cast Aside (2:35)
Upbeat, straight ahead bluegrass tune. Joyous melodies. Nice banjo solo at 0:49. Excellent exchange of harmonies by the two vocalists, expressing brotherly encouragement to cast aside burdens.

5. Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of The Lord (2:19)
Fast paced. Country lyrics with a slight "rap" flow. Syncopated poetic description of Genesis chapter 6.

6. Family Bible (3:35)
Nice rendition of classic Willie Nelson tune. Only voice and acoustic guitar. Pace is a pleasant slow mosey.

7. The Fourth Man in the Fire (1:57)
Another energetic bluegrass jam, with a rhythmic "rap-like" spoken word quality. Expositional lyrics that detail the Biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3), describing how Christ was with them in the fire.

8. Until At Last I'm Home (2:27)
Mellow rocking chair melody.

9. Cross Over to the Other Side of Jordan (3:26)
Lively toe-tapper, with lyrics that relate the Christian sojourn with Joshua and the Israelites' crossing of the Jordan River.

10. Come Back to Me (5:16)
Slow, contemplative song about the restoral of prodigals.

11. Welcome Home (4:10)
A downtempo tribute to military families. Lyrics describe similarities between a soldier's return home, a dying believer's entrance into Heaven, and Jesus' return to His Father's House.

12. Daddy Sang Bass (2:34)
A celebratory jam, where the guys reminisce about growing up in a poor home, that was rich in love, as demonstrated by their family song times.

-Librae Jackson (brother brae)