Back in 2007, I (Nate Downey, acoustic guitar, vocals), along with Aaron Souza (drums/background vocals), Lane Kennard (electric guitar), and Joe Montgomery (bass) , put together a band for the purpose of singing congregational worship songs at our church in Fortuna, CA (the now-closed This Side of the Rock Fellowship). Our goal was to be a group of musicians who were as passionate about the subject of the songs we were singing as we were about how well we played the songs. This often led us to mine the deep Christian music traditions looking for doctrinally rich songs that had much more to say than most of the current Christian “worship scene.” We began to work on arrangements of traditional hymns that preserved the lyrical content of the songs but brought the music into more of a modern context

During the year of 2007, we played alot of music together (along with Quentin Salmon of Antarctica fame), hung out with our wives and kids, read the Bible and prayed together, and worshiped Jesus together with the people of This Side of the Rock. It ranks among the top musical collaborations of my (admittedly short and amateur) musical life. At the end of 2007, This Side of the Rock closed it doors and while we kept spending lots of time together, we stopped playing music.

In spring 2008, our  friend/bassist Joe Montgomery was nearing graduation from Humboldt State and making plans to move back to his hometown of Seattle. Before he left we spent one wonderful day recording some of the songs that we played together. We were rusty and out of musical shape, but we had a blast. Over the months and with persistent reminders from Joe, Aaron, Lane, and I continued working on the songs.

The first song that has been completed is our arrangement of what is arguably the greatest hymn of all time, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. This song was written by Isaac Watts in 1707, with the music written by Lowell Mason in 1824. You can learn more about the song here.

Download When I Survey the Wondrous Cross