Romans 8:31 says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" If the "us" is the average Christian songwriter, then we'll say that God is probably not for songs filled with clumsily rendered metaphors or music that is as restrained as a Van Halen cover band.
Luckily, Bradley Hathaway effortlessly weaves his faith frankly into his lyrics without going from 0 to 60 in bombast. It might come from the Fayetteville, Arkansas, native's background as a spoken-word performer who eventually journeyed into setting his work to music. His sound is reminiscent of Keith Carradine's "I'm Easy" from Robert Altman's Nashville, and features Hathaways lyrical sentiments buoyed by a refreshing straightforwardness.
Wed., March 18, 7 p.m., 2009