Way Live

On a Friday night in Memphis, there's music everywhere. You can hear it on Beale Street, on South Main. You can hear it at the clubs in midtown, in Overton Square. And at 6 p.m., you'll hear it just beyond the heavy wooden doors at St. John's United Methodist Church on Peabody. This is music for the broken, and those who don't know they're broken. It's for the recovering, and those who don't believe they're recovering. It's got a message for those who need to hear one, and it's plainly stunning, for those who'd rather not. John Kilzer's The Way services at St. John's are a little more than two years old now. It's not a typical church service and he's not a typical reverend. And the record that's come out of all of it -- The Way Live, released this fall - demonstrates that at the heart of all of it is connecting people through music. The Way has been attracting top notch musicians to it's stage since it's beginning - when the band leader is an artist like John Kilzer, it's not hard to get the best to come and play alongside you. The Way Live features regular The Way musicians like Steve Selvidge (The Hold Steady, Big Ass Truck), Jim Spake (Cat Power, Lucero), Sam Shoup (Memphis Symphony Orchestra arranger/conductor), Richard Ford, Jim Duckworth and more. The record was produced by The Way percussionist and renowned drummer Harry Peel. As Harry tells it, they'd always talked about recording some of the material they were playing on Friday nights at St. John's. Well really we're always saying, 'Let's record something, let's make a record,' Harry says. But then one day this investor came into the picture and the conversation changed to, let's really do this. And so, they did - with the backing of a generous donor who believes in the music, the project, the artists and the cause, they were able to record The Way services live about once a month beginning in October of 2011. They captured eight or nine songs each time, and after about four months of laying down tracks they had the raw material they needed to complete a record. With Harry at the helm, they carved out the tracks that would be included on the album and commissioned artists in recovery to create artwork for the album cover. The Way Live features Kilzer originals and stunning cover versions of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and more. All proceeds will suport The Way recovery ministry. The official release is slated for August 3.