Search - Children of the Heavenly Ki :: Children of the Heav'nly King

It may seem like skewed praise to champion a CD for its booklet. This two-disc Library of Congress collection (part of its Archive of Folk Culture series), however, is one of those rare CDs where the accessory is worth the price of the entire package. The 98-page booklet is fleshed out with photos, maps, lyrics, notes, and a remarkably thorough bibliography. All of which illuminates the preaching and singing contained on the CD. At times, you may feel like you're sitting in a back pew during Sunday services. These recordings were made in the late 1970s (they seem much older) as part of a folk- culture study conducted over a 750-square-mile area in the central Blue Ridge Mountains. Modes of expression vary from congregational singing to testifying to sermonizing. Everything heard here, however, affirms the fervency of a place where faith is fundamental. --Steven Stolder