Zak and Sara – Heirloom

By Ryan G

Zak and Sara Strout, a husband and wife worship duo who pastor the music end of things at a church in Maine, have created a labor of love in Heirloom. A labor of love squarely directed above – a seamless overlap of genuine worship and exploration of realms of music the two of them are passionate about. Several modern giants in gospel folk are named in their influences. John Mark McMillian, Rend Collective, The Welcome Wagon, All Sons and Daughters – very impressive. That list isn’t there because it looks nice. One can tell that they truly look up to those musicians – not as projects to imitate, but as examples of artists that have taken the style that Zak and Sara love so and channel it reverently and with substance.

Heirloom is a collection of gospel songs re-imagined. Hold on – I can already see you cringing. No! “Mighty to Save,” “How Great Is Our God” or whatever the current Tomlin or Hillsong thing is don’t make appearances. What we have are 6 classic gospel songs and hymns. The instrumentation stands out as being the biggest thing that does the rebranding of sorts. A thundering placement of a floor tom in “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go”  emphasizes this point. Other times, a rearrangement of the song’s structure takes place. “All Creatures Of Our God and King” retains the familiar melody, even going so far as to be sung in the key I’m the most familiar with. Yet, the traditional verse/chorus/verse format is shed.

Something I appreciate about this EP is the fact that all of it seems to be genuine. “In the Garden” is so familiar to many that I can’t really draw comparisons to an original. What I can do, though, point out that you don’t hear about too many folks in my generation singing that song in church. What Zak and Sara are doing on this record and in Maine I think could spark renewed interest in some of these classics. They aren’t trying to make an old song fresh again for the sake of being hip. They are just being themselves and trying to spread the love.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/105652213[/vimeo]

Score: 4/5

Zak and Sara on Facebook. Buy the EP here.

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