Track Listing

1. We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus

2. If You Believe

3. Blue Heeler

4. Take Your Burden to the Lord and Leave it There

5. Just Look

6. I am Born to Preach the Gospel

7. To the Work

8. When I Take My Vacation in Heaven

9. Heaven

10. If We Never Meet Again

11. Fifty Miles of Elbow Room

12. Stand By Me

13. Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down

14. Softly and Tenderly

Click on above buttons to hear samples of select tracks

  

 More info & Reviews 

The ‘It’s Real!’ CD is the dream-child of old friends Terry Darmody and Steve Messer. It was inspired by their long-term affection for vintage gospel and ‘roots’ music. With Steve’s band, Strange Country, and other generous contributors, they revisited 14 classic songs, chosen for their liveliness and clear, challenging messages.

The result is a richly diverse gospel music experience where contemporary sounds reflect reverence for tradition, and where city meets country in an electric-acoustic harmony of influences from blues to brass to bluegrass.

The 12-page sleeve insert explains how and why they did it, while introducing the new listener to historical gospel music legends such as Blind Willie Johnson, Fanny Crosby, Washington Phillips, Arizona Dranes and Charles A. Tindley. Most important of all is the intention to leave listeners with the impression that these guys believe the gospel they’re singing about. In other words, it’s real.

 In the 1960s, Terry sang & played harmonica with Sydney’s Original Battersea Heroes, a good-time/rock’n’roll/jug band. That developed into Uncle Bob’s Band, an audaciously diverse outfit that amalgamated genres like 1930s swing, 50s r’n’r, 60s psychedelic & sharp 1970s original song writing. After Uncle Bob’s Band, Terry supported Ken Brumby on harmonica & sang with hot Melbourne comboes Les Swing Modernes & the Fabulous Nudes. Since 1981, he’s been singing gospel in pubs, jails, churches, Praise Corroborees & an acapella quartet the Amazing Grace Bros, as well as coordinating a weekly gospel music show on Sydney’s Radio Skid Row.

 Steve Messer’s Strange Country comprises Steve Messer (harmonica, mandolin, slide guitar and vocals), Steve Camp (acoustic guitar and vocals), Darryl Thompson (electric guitars, dobro, lap-steel, accordion, piano, organ and vocals), Rod Boreham (bass and vocals), Paul Rooney (guitars), Chuck van den Belt (guitars) and Michael Stritch (drums).   The band’s sound fuses elements of country, bluegrass, blues and gospel into a high-energy whole. Focusing principally on the original songs of Steve Messer and Steve Camp, the boys can also dip into a back catalogue of gospel songs and instrumentals drawn from a variety of traditions. Strange Country’s instrumental and stylistic versatility mean they are equally at home in large venues or in the acoustic intimacy of a house concert setting. 

  The band appears annually at the Tamworth Country Music Festival where, as well as performing their own material, they have been relied on by numerous other artists to supply backup. Steve Messer won the Hohner Golden Harmonica Championship there in 1999 and 2000 before being asked to judge the award in subsequent years.

Strange Country has performed across Victoria with occasional trips interstate. In 1995, Steve Messer traveled to Canada for a three week tour, while in 2002, the band appeared on an ABC radio “Local and Live” concert broadcast live throughout Victoria.   Steve Messer has released two albums of original songs, “Work and Church and Saturday” (1992) and “Strange Country” (1998). 2004 saw the release of the band’s album, “Country Bazaar” which earned the band nominations at the 2005 Tamworth “TIARA” awards (best instrumental) and the 2005 Victorian Country Music Awards (band of the year, album of the year and instrumental). 

  ‘IT’S REAL!’ the band’s latest album was released in 2008. It is a collaboration with Sydney gospel music livewire Terry Darmody, a rootsy exploration of a variety of gospel styles.   The core of Strange Country has been together over 20 years. Their performances combine deft musical interplay and full-bodied vocal harmonizing along with songs rich in life’s joys and struggles, hard times, high hopes and the triumph of faith.

  You can e-mail them via smstrangecountry@yahoo.com.au