Chris Bryant – All I Need To Know

Chris Bryant
All I Need to Know
www.chrisbryantmusic.com

Inspiration is a funny thing. You never know where or when it will strike.

Just ask Chris Bryant. The Durham, North Carolina artist tells this story on his website:

“A couple of months ago, I woke up singing a song that I don’t remember hearing before. The refrain went something like, ‘The Lord is my shepherd and that’s all I need to know.’ I asked my mom and a few more relatives if they’d heard it before, and they hadn’t (I grew up in COGIC churches).

“I’m sure I heard it somewhere in passing, and it came back to me while I was sleeping. The next day, I came across an old book of ‘American Negro Spirituals.’ ‘All I Need To Know’ wasn’t in the book, but I ended up recording an 8 track CD with selections from the book and the song I woke up singing.”

The CD Bryant references gets his title from the song that he woke up singing, which may well be divinely inspired, because I’m with his relatives: it doesn’t sound like any spiritual or gospel song I’ve heard before. The album features the singer accompanying himself on acoustic guitar with electric guitar riffs, tambourine and other instruments making appearances here and there.

As Bryant indicates, the remainder of the songs are familiar spirituals channeled through the artist’s own musical interpretation. For example, his “Motherless Child” rocks like a slower version of Richie Havens’ fiery performance of the spiritual at Woodstock. “No Hiding Place” has a funky backdrop and “Free At Last” interpolates portions of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The recording session has the aura of a laidback, late-night folk jam.

The best part is that All I Need to Know is available for free on Bryant’s website: www.chrisbryantmusic.com. If you are afraid the Download SWAT Police are lying in wait for you, Bryant assuages your fears. He says if you download the music, you (and he) will be happy. So go ahead, hit that download button. How often can you find free anything anymore?

Three of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Free at Last”