KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY
Announcing Confessio: A diary of hymns and songs that underscore the Gettys’ Irish American journey. This collection is a ‘confessio’ in word and note of the musical and spiritual roots that continue to call us to the ancient paths. ‘For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground… Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…
and with his wounds we are healed’ (Isaiah 53).
Announcing Confessio: A diary of hymns and songs that underscore the Gettys’ Irish American journey. This collection is a ‘confessio’ in word and note of the musical and spiritual roots that continue to call us to the ancient paths.
We know well how a trees’ roots go down vertically beneath the soil but don’t often realize how they also reach out horizontally, sometimes several times wider than the branch width of the tree. When Psalm 1 compares the godly life to a tree planted by streams of water it is a water stream reached for by millions of people over centuries and around the world who have joined their roots together.
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)
This idea of intertwining roots also paints a beautiful picture of how our musical roots link. They help strengthen old shelters and blossom new trees. Over the last 20 years of writing and recording music we have leaned on this - the heritage of our Irish and Scottish roots and how they grew across to the new world where we now make our home.
This album shares the words and melodies of that journey.
Our good friend and Irish painter Ross Wilson painted the cover image art. It was inspired by an old Georgian property close to where we live in Northern Ireland called Leslie Hill Estate. The trees have grown there for centuries and reminded us of a congregation of singers and the generations that have grown up beneath their shade.
Confessio
This Is My Father’s World with Runkerry Reel
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Pass the Promise (Ft. Sandra McCracken)
Amazing Grace (Ft. Dana Masters, Kirk Whalum)
Waulking Song / All My Heart Rejoices (Song of Anna) (Ft. Sandra McCracken)
Brightest And Best (Ft. Ricky Skaggs)
Immigrant’s Song (Ft. Jordyn Shellhart)
Come Thou Almighty King (Ft. The Getty Girls)
It Is Well With My Soul
How Can I Keep from Singing?
Be Thou My Vision
Farewell to Ballymoney (Instrumental)
And Are You Sleeping?
In Christ Alone (Ft. Alison Krauss)
Keith and Kristyn Getty are the pre-eminent modern hymn writers in the world today. Their hymn “In Christ Alone,” written with Stuart Townend, is one of the most-sung hymns in the world, estimated to be sung by over 100 million people each year. In 2017, Keith was honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, marking the first time the award has been given to an individual in the world of contemporary church music. As ambassadors of hymn writing, the Gettys have performed for presidents and prime ministers, and their annual national hymn tour and Christmas tour regularly sell out venues such as The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Since its founding, Getty Music, has expanded to include a publishing company of modern hymn writers, a record label, touring company, online learning company, charitable foundation and an annual “Sing” Conference & Festival which brings nearly ten thousand people to Nashville. Keith and Kristyn are the authors of the book, Sing! How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church. Keith & Kristyn live between Nashville and Northern Ireland with their four daughters.
Alison Krauss is an American bluegrass country singer and musician whose storied career includes 14 albums, including five solo, seven with her longtime band and musical collaborators Union Station, and the Robert Plant collaboration Raising Sand, which was certified platinum and won five Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. She’s sold more than 12 million records to date, and her honors include 27 Grammys, nine Country Music Association awards, 14 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, and two Gospel Music Association Awards. She became a member of the Grand Ole Opry at age 21 and frequently collaborates with artists from numerous genres, including Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Kenny Rogers, Vince Kill, and more. In 2013 she performed at the Kennedy Center’s “American Voices” festival and has performed for three presidents—George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
Dana Masters is a singer and performer best known for her work alongside renowned artist Van Morrison. She was born and raised in the deep south of the United States by family who ushered in and were deeply involved with the Civil Rights Movement of the '50s and '60s. After many years in the music industry, she met and fell in love with a Northern Irishman and decided to take a leap and make Ireland her home. There, she became deeply involved in the Irish jazz scene. Now, Dana is determined to pour all of the experience, passion, and creativity collected in the last 6 years of crafting music with Van Morrison into a unique project inviting the listener to not only hear, but to see behind the curtain of songwriting, producing, and arranging into the rebirth of an artist as she steps onto her own stage to tell her story in her own words.
Sandra McCracken’s prolific contributions as a songwriter, modern-day hymn writer, and record producer have brought grace and clarity to her soulful, folk-gospel sound. Whether in a theater or in a chapel, she is a dynamic performer who blurs the lines of what church music sounds like, captivating and inviting audiences to sing along. While many of her songs like “We Will Feast In The House Of Zion” and “Thy Mercy My God” have settled into regular rotation in Christian worship services internationally, she has also had songs recorded by All Sons And Daughters, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Audrey Assad, A Rocha Compilation, Bifrost Arts, Caedmon’s Call and others. She is further a founding member of Indelible Grace Music and Rain For Roots (children’s music) and has been a guest writer for Art House America, She Reads Truth, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, RELEVANT Magazine and more.
Ricky Skaggs, Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, is truly a pioneer of Bluegrass and Country music, earning 12 #1 hit singles, 14 GRAMMY® Awards, 11 IBMA Awards, nine ACM Awards, eight CMA Awards (including Entertainer of the Year), two Dove Awards, three honorary Doctorate degrees, a GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame induction, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's 2013 Artist-In-Residence, an Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award in the Instrumentalist category along with countless other awards. Since he began playing music more than 50 years ago, Skaggs has released more than 30 albums and has performed thousands of live shows.
Kirk Whalum is a Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and songwriter known for his collaborations with Barbara Streisand, Luther Vandross, Quincy Jones, and especially his solo on Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." He has recorded over 25 solo albums, including "For You" and the series "The Gospel According to Jazz." An ordained minister, Kirk also hosts the podcast Bible in Your Ear. In addition to music and ministry, Kirk has a passion to educate young, aspiring musicians and is currently engaged as a music professor at Visible Music College in his hometown of Memphis, TN.
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