It’s an immediate sound, a lilting, free-flowing, singer-songwriter sound with an energy of playing before a live audience. It’s that immediate and intimate sound that makes Sara Groves’ O Holy Night Tour Live: The Prison Show a tremendous joy.
Available for a free download (as of this writing) from Groves’ Website, O Holy Night features Groves’ own songs along with her fresh, organic take on Christmas classics, including the very rich “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” Groves’ band is in great form, accenting her sweet vocals with punctuated rhythms and highlighting fills. On top of that, the audience’s warm reception is definitely evident as the band is introduced.
Known for her work for international justice, it only makes sense that Groves would also bring a word (and songs) of hope to a women’s prison. The light of Christ shines through in an upbeat Natalie Merchant sound, a groove folk akin to Red House Records artists, an innocence and joy that retains an accessibility not always known by other Christian artists.
