Here’s another track from Jimmy Needham’s bonus album, The Hymn Sessions. When Jimmy left his label to strike out as an independent artist, he used Kickstarter to fund his new album, Clear the Stage, but he produced this second album in order to thank his fans for the support.
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“Rock of Ages” as you’ve never heard it
In The Hymn Sessions, Jimmy takes some of the most popular and his favorite hymns and completely rearranges them into several different genres, including pop, jazz, and folk. They are not all as lively as “Come Thou Fount” but the style he uses for each hymn fits the subject matter perfectly.
In an interview with Sunnyshell.org, Jimmy talked about some of the reactions to The Hymns Sessions:
Ultimately, we decided it would be really cool to do a soulful, Motown feel, hymns album. It’s funny because this record was never meant to see the light of day. The whole record came out of the fact that the KickStarter campaign was so successful, I made the hymns record (a year ago) as a “Thank You” gift to the 300 people who supported my “Clear the Stage” project. I personally called all 300 fans to thank them and when I asked how they were enjoying “Clear the Stage” I was surprised when many said, “Oh, I haven’t listened to that yet. I’m still enjoying the hymns record.”