With its big tent, country music certainly is one of the few genres of music which allows for a wide variety of styles and artists and no more is this more evident than with The Band Of Heathens, who have an exquisite sophomore release that finds the trio of Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist and Colin Brooks stepping-up their game.  One Foot In The Ether is a record with finds each member of the group taking lead vocals four times each, over the course of 12 tracks.  From the album opener “LA County Blues” to the closer “Hey Rider,” the trio makes some gloriously rich and texured country rock that recalls the Band and Little Feat and while you could make a claim that this record is derivative of both bands, it’s hard to argue with the results when they sound as good as everything on One Foot In The Ether does.  

“Shine A Light” is a soul-filled bluesy jam that focuses on gaining acceptance and love from God while “What’s This World” is acoustic rock that questions how the world seems to work as well as it does.   While these songs, and a few others (“Right here With Me” and “Let Your Heart Not Be Troubled” reveal a band that’s firmly grounded in their Christian faith, it’s not something that hinders the record for many great artists have written and performed from their Christian worldview and earned fans of all shades and creeds and that’s what makes the unifying force that it is and it’s what gives the One Foot In The Ether it’s cohesiveness and foundation.  Any way you slice it, One Foot In The Ether is just damn good music and sometimes it’s just  what the doctor ordered to cure an earache from the latest mainstream offerings.

You can support the Band of Heathens by purchasing this album at iTunes | Amazon | Amie Street.