JACOB BRYANT

                                                                "Outlaw Jesus"

                                                                American Roots Records/Thirty Tigers

With his most current single “Amen” having impacting Billboard’s Indicator chart, Jacob Bryant brought his brand of unapologetically outlaw bred styled country to the attention of those decision makers behind the dials, though Bryant’s rabid fan base caught on to him long before this.

His storytelling style pulls directly from the classic country ways of songwriting, while his transparent honesty has been the catalyst to making his songs connect and resonate his own true to life story – the good, the bad, and the ugly - with the listener: “Devil & an Old Six String,” “Angels on Earth,” etc.

“Outlaw Jesus,” his latest single, takes us straight into the heart of emotions that so many are feeling as they watch the negativity on news channels and see what is going on in the country today, but unlike so many songs that just complain and spew their opinionated message, Bryant offers a solution.

Written by Jacob, Joel Shewmake, and Jami Grooms, the song drips with traditional built instrumentation within its prominent steel guitar, but in true Jacob Bryant fashion, it teeters of the edge of rock as it slaps into his signature country tilt, fusing perfectly into the naturally built grit that shines through in his vocals .

Lamenting through the opening verse that he’s tired of what he’s seeing on TV, that he can’t believe this is happening in his country, and that it doesn’t matter which side of the fence you fall on – black or white, left or right – everyone has had enough!

But he also very cleverly foreshadows his solution to the problems in the opening verse as he asks, “What happened to In God We Trust?” and observantly states, “There’s too many empty church pews.”

With the chorus, he then strikes right to the point that we have a heart problem as he boldly declares “You can’t outlaw Jesus,” poetically nailing home the fact wrapped solution that as much as you try to push Jesus down and take Him out of our everyday way of life, He will ultimately rise again, love you just the same, and always end up victorious in the end.

Bryant moves into the second verse by telling the listener that in no way is he here to judge anyone nor think he’s above someone, but rather is just here trying to spread the good message out loud; as an additional bonus for his fans, he also drops an Easter egg of sorts as he calls back to his last album release when he namedrops the title of it by singing, “They call me bar stool preacher.”

This is certainly not the first time that faith aspects have found their way into Bryant’s songs – “Baptized by the River,” “Sometimes I Pray,” “Amen,” and his featured guest run on Tyson Leamon’s “High Road” – and while its message may be one that not everyone will want to hear (mainly because it will force them to face the truth) it’s one that everyone needs to hear and when God wants to move His Word into where it needs to be, He will unexplainably move all the right mountains to make it hit its intended mark.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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