Thank You Jesus, One More Time – Frozene Lott Hayes (LotHay Music 2008)

Thank You Jesus, One More Time
Frozene Lott Hayes
LotHay Music 2008
www.cdbaby.com

After losing two young adult sons in 2006, just six months apart – one to an act of violence and another to an automobile accident – Frozene Lott Hayes could have crawled into a hole and never come out. No one would have faulted her for that. Instead, she channeled her emotions into music and the result is Thank You Jesus, One More Time.

But what could have become just another indie gospel project among thousands released each year was turned into something special by multi-talented producer Nathan Young. The Nashville-based Young, director of the Orchestra Nashville Gospel Choir, is Hayes’ musical guardian angel: he produces the album, plays a wicked B3, directs the background voices, and demonstrates the magical musical drive more typically representative of big budget, major label productions.

Frozene is an old-fashioned, spitfire church singer in the style of Leanne Faine (who introduced her to Young), Angela Spivey, Dottie Peoples and Lemmie Battles. Thus, Frozene is at her best on the uptempo traditional numbers, and she knows it, too, because three of the thirteen tracks are rousing church wreckers.

The finest moment on the album, however, can be heard on the title track. Here, Frozene duets with an unnamed male lead (possibly Nathan Young). The two engage in a fiery testifying tournament that turns the heat way up on the performance. One can imagine assembled saints leaping to their feet, hands waving in testimony and voices lifted in praise and reverie.

Genesis, the young mixed vocal group that provides the background, offers quality harmonies and in some instances is given center stage, where they certainly belong.

No stranger to the recording studio, Hayes – who hails from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, just north of the Wisconsin/Illinois border and near Kenosha – already has two independent releases under her belt (1985’s Reach Out for Jesus and 2003’s Build Bridges Instead of Walls). She also provided lead vocals on two CDs by Rev. C.L. Fairchild and the Voices of Greater Faith.

Meanwhile, Hayes established the Lt. Robert Hayes and Aaron Hayes Memorial Scholarship and Youth Basketball Foundation (www.bobcatandgoat.com) in memory of her deceased sons.

One can only hope that on her next project, Frozene Lott Hayes focuses entirely on old-time churchy, traditional, bluesy songs, even recording some gospel chestnuts like “My God is Real” and “I Surrender All,” which would really demonstrate her ability to get the house.

Three of Four Stars