Fields of Grace (CD - 2003)

Additional personnel: DeAnn Whalen, Jenee' Keener (violin); Paul Nelson (cello); Jeffrey Roach (keyboards); Ken Lewis (percussion); Will Hunt (programming, loops).

Recorded at The Bennett House, Franklin, Tennessee.

In September 2003, Big Daddy Weave released their sophomore project, Fields of Grace. While their name may invoke visions of a ska group, the band is far from it. Instead, Big Daddy Weave -- made up of members Mike Weaver, Jay Weaver, Jeremy Redmon, Joe Shirk, and Jeff Jones -- offers listeners a style similar to that of Steven Curtis Chapman and the Dave Matthews Band. Produced by Mike Weaver and Jeremy Redmon, Fields of Grace clearly represents the collaboration of bandmembers who have learned how to play off each other. The musicianship is superb, including supportive organ and Rhodes licks, tight drum fills, confident guitars and bass, unselfconscious synth parts, and the occasional violin and sax. Vocally, lead singer Mike Weaver is in the company of Chapman, Bob Carlisle, and Bebo Norman. His strong voice serves each song well, drawing attention to the lyrical content rather than himself. Lyrically, the album follows consistent themes, such as freedom, grace, and mercy. The instrumentation and arrangement of each song is different, orchestrated appropriate to the meaning of the song. Tracks include "New Every Morning," "Heart Cries Holy," and "Be Your Everything." Fields of Grace is a well-recorded and well-produced album. It is evidence that Big Daddy Weave isn't the "typical" pop group. Instead, they are a band of five men who are striving to master their craft in a way that brings glory to God. ~ Ashleigh Kittle Slater

Take a combination of Dave Matthews-like jam-band stylings and Christian alternative rock and you have Big Daddy Weave. Their second album FIELDS OF GRACE is a perfect confluence of the instrumental smarts of the former and the simple, earnest lyrical bent of the latter with its unpretentious faith-based songs and live-in-the-studio feel. But the lyrics, as with all faith-based outfits, are where it's at. And here Big Daddy Weave come up trumps with an approach that combines simplicity and unimpeachable devotion in songs such as the searching "New Every Morning" and the pastoral "Completely Free."

These rockers for Christ have a mission, but they're not out to browbeat. The message on FIELDS OF GRACE is gentle, but consistent. The band sees this collection of songs as our opportunity to begin a closer relationship with God--and they make choosing this option sound several degrees more listenable than some of their more strident contemporaries. minimize