Part of my brain recognized the source material: from Bible Study Camp, long-ago church services, and a steady diet of Preachin’ The Blues. However the roughshod performances of Life Is A Problem allowed these songs–familiar and not so–to engage my mind and spirit in a new way. I wasn’t exactly saved it, but I had a moment of clarity, and was able to hunker down and, within a couple of repeated spins, polish off the onerous grown-up task that sought to hijack my beautiful Sunday.

I slapped on Life Is A Problem, a collection of 20th century American sanctified blues recordings compiled by our Portland friends at Mississippi Records (and annotated by Mike McGonigal of YETI).This weekend, I found a sacred equivalent. And though the peace I needed required keeping my eyes open–and focused–it was an old-fashioned vinyl LP that proved my salvation. Grappling to concentrate on some long overdue financial paperwork, and desperate for a suitable soundtrack.

Now some of the selections were familiar, at least on a fundamental level. “A Night in the House of Prayer” by Louisiana preacher Rev. Lonnie Farris uses “When The Saints Go Marching In” as its jumping-off point, yet the execution is so fevered and frenzied, my noggin had trouble reconciling its well-known content with the outrageous execution. Ditto for the rendition of “Pray On, My Child,” featuring the slightly dissonant, close vocal harmonies of the Willamete Gospel Singers, and an unhinged instrumental run through “Amazing Grace” that closes the record with what sounds like a disintegrating guitar being held together solely by faith.

How odd. I don’t consider myself as a religious body. And yet once again, when I sought peace and rejuvenation, it was the songs of Jesus and Mary that redeemed me.

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