By Adam McLane  Let's get real honest with ourselves about music. Most youth workers love modern worship music. Go to any concert or conference and the youth pastors rock out and bounce around just as hard as the students. The problem with this is simple. It does not accurately reflect the musical style many of our students experience in church. And whether you think it is right or not, the reality for most congregations is hymns are here to stay. In his latest project, Roots Run Deep, Jadon Lavik seeks to foster love for the old hymns to a brand new generation of listeners. With solid vocals and a raw, acoustic style Lavik has produced a tremendous album for your collection.

Included in this release are traditional sounding arrangements of songs like, "Come Thou Fount," "Blessed Assurance," "I Need Thee," and "What a Friend." These tracks would make any hymn loving member of your church smile. They are recorded in traditional keys, at traditional tempos, with acoustic instruments, and very little in the way of recording effects. Also included are updated versions of "I Surrender All" and "Wondrous Love." These arrangements strongly reflect their originals however add a few twists, turns, and new melodies to force the toe to tap.

"All the arrangements are unique, and some do not sound much like the originals," Lavik explains in a press release. "I composed and produced virtually the whole project myself, and I worked hard to present my interpretation of each hymn." At first blush, it is easy to write off a project like this as a way to build a more traditional base audience. Since the tours Lavik has been on, Rebecca St. James and Barlow Girl, draw a more mature audience it could be surmised that this was a strategic release to boost record sales and move tickets at shows. But Lavik counters that, “I love old hymns, for me, this is not about making a strategic career move. I wanted to do it because I have a deep reverence for the songs.”

This much is certain, Lavik is building a fine repertoire as Roots Run Deep is significantly different from his first two releases. At the same time, the 29-year-old singer continues to mature and this release is his strongest from top to bottom; there is not a track on the album I would cast off as the weakest. While it doesn't represent stylistically what I like to listen to all the time, Roots Run Deep is definitely strong enough to keep around. This is a great album featuring some of the greatest hymns of the faith.