Hymns for the Heart

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was asked to play Amazing Grace at a performance, and it was so moving on the armonica I decided to record an album of the great old Gospel hymns. I grew up with these hymns, so they can really take you back...

Many of these hymns have remarkable stories. Amazing Grace, for example, was written by John Newton (1725–1807). He was a slave-ship captain and considered himself an 'infidel' until a severe storm at sea caused him to throw himself on Divine Mercy. The ship survived, he eventually became an Anglican minister, and ultimately, after several decades, an abolitionist against slavery. His lobbying efforts were instrumental in the abolition of slavery in Britain in 1807. (Almost 60 years before slavery was abolished in America in 1865.)

I specifically looked for hymns with lyric melodies that would work especially well on the armonica.