(Photo :Jeremiah Jones )

Behind every hit song stands at least one great song writer.  Unfortunately in our age of digital downloads where album booklets are not always available many of these talented scribes have not received their due credit.  But this is not the case with contemporary Christian singer Laura Story.  Story first cut Jeremiah Jones' penned "What a Savior" and even released it as a radio single before her major label debut.  However, the tides changed when Story released her signature ballad "Blessings." "Blessings" catapulted Story to major stardom as she began to reign on the pinnacle of both Billboard's Christian album and singles chart, a fleet not accomplished by many of her female peers.  As she was riding the crest of her success, Story did not forget Jeremiah Jones.  Not only was the Jones' composed "What a Savior" included in her number one album "Blessings," but it was released as a follow-up to "Blessings."  "What a Savior" easily zoomed up the charts and became a top five Billboard Christian single.  But this is not the end of the story.  Story's producer Ed Cash who has had a reputation for helming some of the genre's landmark albums including Chris Tomlin's "Arriving" and Bebo Norman's "Big Blue Sky" saw the potential in Jones.  Vacating time from his busy schedule, Cash offered to produce Jones' debut album "Mighty River."

With such lofty endorsements by Laura Story and Ed Cash, "Mighty River" does not disappoint.  Having the congregation in mind, these eleven cuts were written to resource the church in its worship.  Like Chris Tomlin and Hillsong Live, the songs here are anchored on two axes.  First, the songs here are structured along flowing and catchy melodic lines easy for large throngs of worshippers to sing along.  However, unlike Hillsong Live, Jones has a more acoustic core than the rock anthemic template of the Australian mega-church.   Second, lyrically songs are unapologetically God-centered richly textured in the language of Scripture rather than just glorified love songs.  Case in point is the title cut "Mighty River."  Taking the image from Revelation 22 where out of heaven comes a flowing mighty river, "Mighty River" is one of the few songs that explores such a Biblical imagery and bringing it to contemporary worship.

Jones here offers his own take of "What a Savior," the song that first brought him to the dance.  Written at a time when Jones felt a sense of emptiness, Jones began reading Lester Sumrall's book "The Names of God."  After browsing through a litany of Hebraic and Greek names associated with God, the titular "Savior" was what kept coming back to Jones.  As a result, the worship favorite "What a Savior" was birthed.  Relative to Story's version, Jones' own rendition of "What A Savior" has more of a congregational feel carried by his grittier rock driven tenor.  And if you are looking for more worship numbers, "In the Arms," "Satisfy" and "Only By Your Blood" would be songs Chris Tomlin and his Passion Conference cohorts would sing to in a heartbeat.  Engaging, catchy and built around Christ-centered messages, these tracks would sizzle with Godly awe if performed live.        

But Jones is also careful not to fall into a predictability rut.  "Anchor" is Jones at his most heartfelt apogee as this gentle acoustic guitar driven ballad finds Jones in quiet worship of Jesus.  And he gets all bluesy with "If You Love the Lord" that has a built in R&B vibe indebted to the best of the Gospel greats such as the Winans.  In short, "Mighty River" is more than just the standard fare form of a worship record.  It is a record choke full of worship numbers both for corporate as well as individual devotions.  But it also branches out to other genres that makes the listening experience even richer.