|
In popular music mythology, there is perhaps no better
known legend than the one in which pioneering bluesman
Robert Johnson goes down to the crossroads, presumably to
make a deal with the devil: however, you'll get a slightly
different twist on that notion from
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Zack Reynolds who
in a live setting plays harmonica, drums and sings in the
rootsy American style known as "The Blues".
Reynolds, who hails from the San Francisco Bay region,
took an early cue from his professional drummer dad, and
began picking up the sticks at the age of four. Harmonica
and vocals would follow years later. Zack decided early
that he did not want the life style that was so commonly
associated with the music world but by the time he moved
to Nashville in the late 1980's, he was pursuing a
self-described "selfish and empty" lifestyle.
"When I came to Nashville I was serious enough
about music that I wanted to make a living out of it, I
wanted to be a star".
"I went through talent contest and the country
thing, "he says," and decided that
my heart wasn't into it. I was blues, and that's what I
felt". With a blueprint firmly in hand, Zack
assembled an ever changing trio - Zack Zappin' and the
Situation - and methodically made his way into Nashville's
modest but well supported blues scene. A fellow blue's
player with a foot in the door of Alligator Records got
the label's attention with word of Zack's unique tri-fold
chops. Work soon began on a demo which was to be presented
to Alligator execs for earnest consideration.
"We were getting the tape together, and I was
still playing the clubs," Zack explains, "and
all along the Lord was tugging at my heart. As I was
starting to find out about God, I started seeing that my
life was the blues song that I had been singing, I was
trying to fill my empty soul with something. I began
crying out to the Lord. I said "Lord, if this
is not your will, close the door." Soon after,
Zack affirms that God did indeed close the door. "The
whole thing fizzled out and I knew it was God,"
says Zack.
However, before leaving the blues behind, Zack was
inspired to write about his change of heart in the style
that he knew best. Several of these songs would resurface
years later on Zack's self-released "Glory
Bound" project. A nearly three year period followed
which found Zack drumming in church, being discipled,
getting heavily into the word and in 1993, being called to
preach - specifically in prisons. He began to be convinced
that the street-level sound and redemptive emotional power
of the blues made it an ideal vehicle for getting the
Gospel into the prisons and onto the streets. Zack still
believes that the message of secular blues is incompatible
with the Christian life, and realizes that "people
from all kinds of musical backgrounds are coming to the
Lord, and lifting Him up the way they know how".
Just as importantly, blues is a format in which Zack can
communicate at an honest, gut level. "It's the
music that's in me that is a tool to break down barriers
and get the people to receive us so that we can talk about
the Lord".
In
prisons across Tennessee, the Blue Glory Band's
appearances - and altar calls - are well attended. Recent
performances in Nashville area churches and homeless
shelters indicate that the trio's foot-clapping brand of
Christian blues appeals to folks of many varied ages and
backgrounds. In fact, the band's sound is sufficiently
compatible with traditional gospel that the producers of Music
City Gospel Show will be including videos of the Blue
Glory Band in their show. The positive response to his
music, the promise of wider exposure and recent
endorsements from Slingerland Drums and Lee Oskar
Harmonicas are all encouraging Zack that he's in line with
God's will. However, he is quick to point to his priorities.
"The Blue Glory Band's heart is in the jails and
prisons. We believe that god wants to use the music that
we do to provide the means we need to be able to go into
the prisons to help set the captives free".
|
