Last April in Nashville, All Sons & Daughters performed some new songs at a conference I attended, and I couldn’t have been happier. Though I’ve loved their reverent, folk influenced approach to worship music for a while now, it was the story behind their newest album Poets and Saints that caught my attention. And as I’ve been listening to the new record, I realized hey, my Rabbit Room friends are going to love this! If you haven’t met David Leonard and Leslie Jordan yet, let me introduce you to one of your new favorite bands.
What makes Poets and Saints a truly special project is that the entire album was crafted as a poetic response to to the work and life stories of beloved saints and great writers of the faith—so yes, this might be the only album you’ll hear this year with songs inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, St. Patrick, C. S. Lewis, John Newton, and George MacDonald. Not a bad group of influences, right?
As part of the the songwriting process, the band, their families, their pastor, and a film crew traveled to Europe to visit the places these people called home. Listen closely to the songs, and you might hear percussion played with hairbrushes in William Cowper’s house, or waves crashing on the coast of Ireland.
Here’s the album trailer, with a taste of the Lewis inspired song “Heaven Meets Earth”:
And here’s the lyric video for “You Hold it All Together,” inspired by the life and writings of St. Patrick:
Poets and Saints released on September 2nd. You can find out more at their website.