The Harp and the Bowl

If you missed my take on the latest United Pursuit project, “Found,” be sure to go back and check it out.

As I mentioned at the conclusion of that review, at my daughter’s encouragement I also got “Live at the Banks House” by Will Reagan and United Pursuit. I was equally blown away, but what struck me immediately was how this project was so distinct from Found in its sound. These guys will not be put in a musical box – one of the things I really love about them.

Whereas “Found” is full of lush pads and ethereal electric guitar arpeggios, Live at the Banks House is just raw and real. As you can see from this video clip, it is a sparse production with just a few guitars, an acoustic piano, a violin, some light percussion and a group of friends gathered to worship. Really worship.


YouTube Link

This project harkens back somewhat to the “Enter the Worship Circle” albums, the first of which came out in the late 90’s. While similar in concept, Banks House has an earthier feel and lacks the lavish and sometimes peculiar percussion mix of the Worship Circle projects (I recall one such sound being credited in the liner notes to “goat toes on cookie sheet”).

I love the genuineness of the worship that is captured on this album. And that is really the distinction here – it sounds as if the worship just happens to be incidentally captured rather than produced. Will Reagan is the worship leader for this intimate gathering of friends, which I suppose is why he gets separate billing on the album. But it really isn’t about Will or about the other band members or even the music. It is clearly about fostering the presence of God in the room and giving him the worship he is due, which is right in keeping with the band’s mission.

Band member Nathan Fray states their purpose clearly:

Our mission is to create a culture of worship and of hosting God’s presence, all centered around community living. It’s in this place of God’s life-giving presence that our songs are born and we pray will stir the heart of a generation to love Jesus and pursue Him with everything. This is our united pursuit.

I like it that the songs are unhurried - certainly more repetitive than what you’ll hear on major label worship projects (song length ranges from 5 to as long as 12 minutes, though some are across multiple tracks). Radio play is not the target here. Again, it’s a genuine worship environment, and this is the way this group experiences worship, including wandering off occasionally into spontaneous response. The way the worship of the other folks in the room is effectively captured and mixed in adds perfectly to the realistic feel.

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite track. “Help Me Find My Own Flame” (which actually spans tracks 4 and 5) strikes at the heart of the band’s mission. “I don’t want to ride on somebody else’s passion.” The chorus resounds “Help me find my own flame. Help me find my own fire. I want the real thing. I want your burning desire.” Despite the overused fire/desire rhyme scheme (which I have to admit penning in a song or two myself) the song is a cry for a life of genuine relationship and passion, out of which clearly flows the kind worship captured on this project.

I also love the message of the next track, “Nothing I Hold On To.” It’s a song of total surrender to God. “I lean not on my own understanding. My life is in the hands of the maker of heaven. I give it all to you God, trusting that you’ll make something beautiful out of me.” The track melds seamlessly into the next song, “Climb,” which furthers the statement of surrender, repeating the refrain “I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open.” Musically and dynamically the song takes an almost ten minute journey that “climbs” to a beautiful and powerful crescendo. And yet again the worship flows into “If I Give It All to You,” further extending the theme of surrender.

I could walk you through every track, but by now you get the notion that this is a wonderful and powerful worship project. It’s power is not in heavy guitar riffs, thumpy bass beats, or raucous tom fills. It’s power is in the presence of God that it fosters.

As I tweeted about “Found” I’ll simply say this: Get it. Now.