Slow Revival

What does an artist do to follow up an album that yielded five number one songs and garnered lofty accolades,including being named as Christian Research Report's Best Album of the Year? Well, if the artist is CRR's 1993 Best Male Artist Bryan Duncan, resting on previous laurel's isn't an option. Those familiar with Duncan's searching and insightful song writing, passionate on-stage delivery and commitment to spiritual growth know he's constantly moving forward - and he's taking those who listen to his music along on that journey.

Fresh from the success of his last album, Mercy, Duncan once again delivers a powerful collection of songs with Slow Revival. And though some feel that he "arrived" with the Mercy project, Slow Revival deals with the fact that, although Bryan isn't yet where he'd like to be spiritually, he's found peace in the process. "It starts with confessing your own mistakes. That's what makes you open to slow revival," he says. "Slow revival is such an obvious choice to move from mercy. Mercy is like a white flag, you know, saying, 'I have really messed up here. Don't shoot me, even though You know that I know I deserve it. I need some compassion here.' Slow revival at that point is like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. It doesn't happen overnight - in fact, the ashes might not even move for a long while.

"This whole idea of slow revival, for me, has to do with a regeneration of the gospel," Duncan continues. "I think what I want to say to people with this record is that there's so much more that God wants for them than what they are right now. They have to understand that even though they might not be where they would like to be in their spirituality, they should not be discouraged or give up. Slow Revival is about taking courage in your shortcomings and remembering that God loves you unconditionally."

One of the songs on Slow Revival that best reflects this sentiment is titled "Traces of Heaven," a tune which Bryan co-wrote with Michael Omartian. The lyrics read: "I've learned a lesson, and I've learned it well / love don't get easier in the long run / I've washed my heart out in the tears I've cried / how I hate it, but I love it, and there's just no turning back...will I find a way, will I fall apart, will you love me win or lose / I keep reaching out to You / My hope lies in your love for me / In your faithfulness I can see / traces of heaven."

Getting to this point in his spiritual walk has been a slow process for Bryan, one that started when he began writing songs at 16 years old. Though he was born in Ogden, Utah, his family moved around quite a bit before settling in North Carolina where Bryan went to high school. His father was a pastor, and though some teenagers whose parents were in the ministry often rebel against the constant scrutiny of the congregation by using drugs or alcohol, music was Bryan's way of sorting out the issues in his life.

"I think music became a kind of salvation for me," he reveals. "It was a way of expressing my frustrations about feeling trapped. If I was angry I could play rock 'n' roll. That certainly expressed anger better than anything else. So it was, in some ways, my saving grace."

He was propelled on down the path toward a music ministry by an unusual gift. "A lady in our church gave me a guitar that belonged to her son who was my age but had committed suicide," Bryan says. "Looking back on it, it's like the Lord took something tragic and made it something else. I don't even remember that woman's name, but she has to have had some stake in all the songs that I've written since."

During college, a friend encouraged Bryan to pursue music as more than just a hobby. His musical ministry, which began when he formed the Sweet Comfort Band, eventually evolved into a solo career which has spawned such powerful tunes as "We All Need," "Ain't No Stoppin' Now", "Blessed Are the Tears," and "I Love You with My Life" from this Anonymous Confessions of a Lunatic Friend album to "Love Takes Time," "You Don't Leave Me Lonely," "Into My Heart," "When It Comes to Love," and "I'll Not Forget You"--all of which were number one songs from Mercy.

Duncan's ability to draw from his own experiences, to search his heart and write poignant lyrics from the feelings that churn inside him has forged a strong connection to his audience. "I'm attentive to the lyric, the meaning of songs," he says. "I will agonize over a preposition - should this say 'for' or should this say 'to'? Is 'with' the right word to suggest? I go over the lyrics with a fine tooth comb. They are raked over most of the time because I want to squeeze every ounce of truth out of those lyrics that I possibly can. You want to be able to say as much as you can in as few words as you can, words that capture the emotion."

Duncan succeeds in capturing a wealth of emotion on Slow Revival. Both in his lyrics and through the blue-eyed soul delivery that brings them to vibrant life, Duncan paints portraits of a believer seeking to grow in grace and love through a slow revival. "A Heavenly Light" is a cut Duncan feels is the centerpiece of the project. "I felt lost in a twist of reality / struck blind...squarely by the truth / I said I'm so far from where You are / Lord, even the wise man seemed to need a star / and so all of a sudden, a heavenly light goes on (it's a little brighter than before) / a light in the darkness always changes everything / I'm in a slow revival from a rude awakening."

Another especially poignant tune is the hauntingly beautiful "Lonely Tonight." Duncan's voice weaves around the lyric, wafting on the ethereal melody in a way that underscores the sense of vulnerability in the song. "Isolation is something I wasn't counting on when I started a music ministry," Duncan says. "I just didn't see it coming. I got out there traveling solo. I traveled around the world by myself almost all the time. I was completely disconnected from my family and from any community and I was blindsided by that. I never thought about loneliness. I never understood how loneliness plays on you and how you start to deteriorate. Without realizing it, I went out to save the world and almost lost my own soul."

Duncan credits "wise counsel" for pulling him back from the edge during that time. Since then he's learned to temper his passion for performing live with a workable tour schedule that allows him time at home in California with his wife and two children. He loves being at home, but admits that what makes the traveling worthwhile is performing live and interacting with an audience. "Music is more powerful than we give it credit for being," he says. "I definitely react to the crowd. That's the joy of it - communicating to an audience and seeing where they are. That's a chance to create some kind of safe place."

For Bryan Duncan, where he is now is not necessarily where he thinks he should be, but he's getting there through a slow revival. "I know I haven't arrived, but I'm okay where I'm at," he says. "God still loves me in my failures or in my struggle to achieve something that I don't have right now. And that's a very good place to be."