Richey Recommends: "Cardinals & Fireflies"
The Delightful & Dulcet Tones of Bill & Cherise Stutzman
One contemporary church theologian has remarked that if Lent is the season to “give up things,” Eastertide should be the time to “take things up.” I thought I would dust off and resurrect the old “Richey Recommends” and take an opportunity to explain why you should include this excellent album for your listening enjoyment, especially this spring and Easter time.
I was thinking about how to describe the music on this album. Bill Stutzman’s lyrics and tales on this album remind me of Randy Newman if somehow he was a faithful Christian and had a more palatable singing voice. At first, I thought Bill’s voice quality reminded me of Don McLean. But then I thought, his voice has a similar timbre to Phil Keaggy’s smooth tenor sound. And while Bill would likely not want his guitar-playing ability to be compared with the incomparable Phil Keaggy, “Bill ain’t no slouch,” as we say here in the deep South, when it comes the guitar. His playing style even reminds me of James Taylor or Paul Simon.
What makes the 2014 Cardinals & Fireflies album meaningful is what makes all good art meaningful: its layered meaning that compounds interest as you return to it again and again. Allow me to highlight a few of those tracks for you.
A Few Tracks to Listen to First
Cardinals & Fireflies (First Track)
The title track is optimistic and refreshing. It celebrates the wonders of creation in things like Cardinals and Fireflies. Check it out below.
Asleep Beside Me (Third Track)
This Track will get in your ear, and you will hum or sing the lyrics like we do in the Richey house. Bill’s fingerstyle accompaniment on the guitar and his wife Cherise’s vocals make this a pleasant four minutes of listening enjoyment.
Dearest Magdalene (Big Burn)
The sixth track on the album is where this duo’s songwriting shines in a hauntingly beautiful way. Here, a father writes a letter to his family that he sent away during The Great Fire of 1910 in Idaho. Bill’s wife Cherise’s howling harmonies set the sober and still hopeful mood of this ballad. It is fascinating and mesmerizing. Enjoy!
Other follow-up tracks worth mentioning:
Marian’s Lament (5th Track)
View from a Hospital Bed (7th Track)
Mountain Chickadee (12th Track)—This last track is a lovely way to end the album, featuring Bill, Cherise, and their kiddos singing. It has a great message: “Sometimes you gotta sink deep before you can sing.” The tapestry of piano and bells makes this a worthwhile benediction to this great album.
Pray for the Stutzmans
Bill’s wife Cherise has had some health troubles. They are walking through Cherise’s health hurdles with grace and thankfulness. Bill and Cherise have been teaching music in Idaho and Washington since I met Bill in 2011 at a classical school conference I attend each summer. We’ve kept up and visited at conferences together over the years. He’s transitioned into school administration, but he is still a musician and music teacher at heart. They are both talented composers and understand the need for art to be meaningful, well-crafted, and enjoyable. Below is the link to listen on Spotify. Maybe you’ll listen and enjoy their music and then lift them up to our Heavenly Father in prayer in this season of sickness.
