Here are three new songs worth putting in heavy rotation this month:
"Glad In it," Chris Bender
The Stoughton, Massachusetts native is a rising star in the Gospel music world, having won a number of awards, collaborated with several notable talents in the genre and scored the previous top 25 hit "The Blood Song."
Bender's new offering _ "Glad In It" _ is another big winner, which fans immediately recognized as such and sent soaring to a No. 3 debut on the Billboard Magazine Gospel Singles Sales Chart in early August.
It's a wonderfully joyous R&B-drenched number that nicely highlights Bender's rich, smooth and comforting vocal delivery.
Does the name sound familiar? This singer shares the same name with his uncle Chris Bender, an R&B vocalist from the Boston area who achieved chart success for the album "Draped" before being shot and killed in 1991.
"You Will Be Loved Again," Tanya Donelly and the Parkington Sisters
Donelly is a first-tier alt-rock icon, having been part of no less than three of the genre's top acts _ Belly, Breeders and, best of all, Throwing Muses. So it's not surprising that her latest project, teaming up with the Parkington Sisters, is very much worth your attention.
So, give a listen to their latest single, "You Will Be Loved Again," which is a cover of a Mary Margaret O'Hara song from the late '80s.
"I first heard Mary Margaret O'Hara on the Throwing Muses tour bus in 1988," Donelly says. "'You Will Be Loved Again' is one of the purest and most loving messages in song, and The Parkington Sisters and I wanted to end our album with it for this reason."
The song is from the Tanya Donelly and the Parkington Sisters's self-titled debut, which will be released Aug. 14.
"Hard Times Come Again No More," Arlo Guthrie and Jim Wilson Release featuring Vanessa Bryan
It's the first new recording by Guthrie to be released in over a decade _ and it probably couldn't come at a better time. Hopefully, listeners will be able to find some comfort, relief and even joy from this gorgeous rendition of the Stephen Foster classic during these difficult times.
