A
Review of Mike Westendorf's "Color Through
The Gray"
by Mike Cowan Raw
and intimate, soft and restless, "Color Through
the Gray", Mike Westendorf's latest project,
is full of longing and of sweet satisfaction.
It is a paradox of feelings that does a great
job of portraying the emotions involved in the
pursuit of God. A yearning of the soul; that while
it is an ever present hunger and thirst for more
- there are still moments of great satisfaction
when the Creator turns His gaze our way. The opening
guitar chord in "Come" drones through
the first track with a relentless pulse that pulls
the listener into a fantastic journey. The lyrics
"Come all ye who mourn, come all ye who fear,
come all ye who sing for joy" open the album
with an invitation to anyone to have a real encounter
with Jesus Himself.
Guitarist
Rick Yocum's playing is powerfully executed in
these tracks. My favorite types of records are
those that leave production at the door and invite
the listener into a private room where the artist
bares his or her soul. Mike accomplishes this
with ease. There are moments, while listening,
that you forget where you are and all of the problems
that exist in your world and you just let the
music bare itself to you in such a completely
honest and pure way. The guitars on each track
are very reminiscent of Don Mclean, Neil Young,
James Taylor and other great pickers of the last
three decades. This record is certainly in good
company. The title track, "Color Through
the Gray" is a song that expresses the need
for us to find fulfillment and hope even in the
most mundane of circumstances. "What happened
to the rainbow that I used to know; what a show.
What do I owe to see it once again, to have the
chance to see it once again."
Mike
manages to achieve a sound that is purely acoustic
and ethereal at the same time. It may remind some
of the deeper thinkers who listen to this record
of the irony involved with our flesh coming in
contact with something Divine - something supernatural.
The arrangements are simple and easy to grasp
yet lyrically deep and fulfilling. This is a great
worship album. As each song played I found myself
wanting to worship God in my own secret place
- something that is absent in much of Contemporary
Christian music today. You can certainly hear
Mike's desire to worship His God and his invitation
to his listeners to do the same. "Be still"
God calls to each of us. "Be still and know."
The messenger in "Color Through the Gray"
knows, and wants to share a little of that knowledge
with you. |
