Terry Frazier & the Tears of Joy – Keep Lookin’ to the Hills

Terry Frazier & the Tears of Joy
Keep Lookin’ to the Hills
Firstlite Records (2010)
www.myspace.com/terryfrazierthetearsofjoy

Terry Frazier declares his personal testimony at the start of the title track: “I’m from the old school, I love old school, and I’m always gonna be old school.”

Carlos Gregg then strikes up the “old key” on his guitar, and the Tears of Joy join Frazier on a bluesy, languorous medley of wooden church songs.

It’s not surprising that Frazier is old school. He and the Tears of Joy hail from Hartsville, South Carolina, deep in the heart of traditional quartet territory. Their EP Keep Lookin’ to the Hills speaks to their musical proclivities, sporting soulful songs such as the title track and the optimistic and drive-tempo “God Can,” the latter featuring a fistful of hard-shouting during the vamp.

The EP concludes with “Heaven Is Just Down the Road,” a wistful discourse on the land beyond the river and how one must live to get there. It concludes with a remembrance of quartet singers who have been an inspiration to the group, men such as Willie Neal Johnson, Robert Blair and Tommy Ellison who have gone on down that very road recently.

In addition to Frazier, the Tears of Joy are Michael Grady, Joseph Ricks, Cornelius Bush, Min. Bernard Stevenson, Brandon Brown, and Chad Frazier.

Keep Lookin’ to the Hills is short but to the point.

Three of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “God Can.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.