![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kid_ramos_strange.jpg\")
As a general rule, I steer clear of reviewing gospel or gospel-informed music. I have nothing against the style; it\u2019s simply that the perspective of the core messages don\u2019t resonate with me. Peace, love: sure, of course. Devotion to a high power in the form of what-have-you: not so much.<\/p>\n
On one level, that means that on the occasions when I do cover that kind of music \u2013 about two dozen time over the past 20 years \u2013 it\u2019s because something about it moves me. And it\u2019s definitely the case for the new album from guitarist<\/em> David \u201cKid\u201d Ramos. From the title on down, Strange things Happening<\/em> draws form the best in gospel, old and new.<\/p>\n First, the old: the album title is a reference to the most well-known tune from Sister Rosetta Tharpe, one of the progenitors of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. \u201cStrange Things Happening Every Day\u201d rocks. It rolls. It swings. Kid Ramos plays lean, sinewy notes that sprinkle gold dust on a spare but note-perfect arrangement. Brian Templeton turns in a soul-stirring vocal in the tradition of jump blues singers, but with the gospel commitment intact. Dave Liminas organ work is a delight as well.<\/p>\n Listeners who don\u2019t understand English (or who simply don\u2019t focus on lyrics) may miss out completely on the soft-pedal (yet ardent) religious undertones that underpin the album. But they\u2019ll get the feeling of ecstatic joy that pervade the music. \u201cHow I Got Over\u201d underscores just how much electric blues owes a debt to gospel. Same for \u201cI\u2019m Working on a Building.\u201d Its lyrics are unashamedly devotional, but its message \u2013 musical and otherwise \u2013 is universal. It\u2019s like blues without the sinister, dangerous edge.<\/p>\n And joy isn\u2019t the only emotion explored on Strange Things Happening<\/i>. A passionate and heartfelt lead vocal from Kid\u2019s kid (Johnny Ramos) is supported by a first-rate minor-key slow-blues arrangement and some soulful backing chorus vocals. The gospel-rockin\u2019 \u201cJesus Dropped the Charges\u201d is a fun if familiar melody with an uptempo message and some tasty instrumental working.<\/p>\n Singer\/blues harpist Brian Templeton\u2019s original \u201cAn Answer for Isaac\u201d channels gospel into some wonderfully distorted blues rock. \u201cGod Walks the Dark Hills\u201d is the closest thing to traditional gospel on this set, and it\u2019s done well. \u201cSatan\u2019s Jeweled Crown\u201d leans into Mexican musical traditions with solid results. \u201cNobody But the Lord\u201d is thrillingly uptempo big band blues.<\/p>\n Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cEvery Grain of Sand\u201d dates from his Christian period, but its lyrics transcend religious divisions (hey, even George Harrison covered it live on a radio show). Kid Ramos does a nice job with it as well. \u201cMore Love More Power\u201d has the feel of The Band\u2019s Last Waltz<\/i>: a buncha musicians onstage, leaning into the song with feeling. Ramos wraps things up with a bouncy number, \u201cI\u2019m a Pilgrim.\u201d It\u2019s another song that demonstrates that music genre divisions are, ultimately, constructs of critics and not always meaningful. Sorta, one might lope, like religious differences, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a general rule, I steer clear of reviewing gospel or gospel-informed music. I have nothing against the style; it\u2019s simply that the perspective of the core messages don\u2019t resonate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,35,49,65],"tags":[5703],"class_list":["post-29525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-gospel","category-new-release","category-review","tag-kid-ramos","cat-9-id","cat-35-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29527,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525\/revisions\/29527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}