Alanna Story Returns to their Roots with "We Hymn"

Alanna Story has just released their brand new hymns alum appropriately titled "We Hymn." According to the group, the word "hymn" was originally used as a verb and not a noun. Thus, the word "hymn" simply means "to praise;" this means their new album titular actually means "We praise." Alanna Story is a Christian group comprising of Anna and Ben Hodge (drums), Ally and Stephen West (guitar), and Joel Burkhead (bass). 

As both worship leaders and original artists, Alanna Story has released four recording projects. Keep Breathing (2009), Flickering Spark (2011), Just Offshore (2013), and Ancient Gates (2014).

"We are both corporate worship leaders and original artists, and those two have never been separate for us. They go together in such a beautiful way," Ally shares. "We write songs to open hearts and to break down barriers. To point out things that maybe we can't see on our own." As an English major with a love for words, Anna shares the same heart for writing. "I want to make music that helps bridge the gap between the heart of God and the distracted reality we often find ourselves in. I want our songs to put words to unseen things and ultimately help lead people to a place of authentic worship."

So, why did they record a hymns project? "We grew up singing hymns in church and with our family, and we have always loved the depth of the lyrics and the way the melodies get into your head and heart. But we have also seen how the heritage of our 'hymns' has often divided the Church's worship culture in some ways. We have seen the young generation grab ahold of new choruses and melodies (which are so great and help many connect to the heart of God), but many times this is at the expense of losing touch with the songs of old.

We have also seen a generation who grew up singing hymns cling to those songs and the way they have always been done at the expense of embracing some of the new and powerful ways worship has grown and allowed the Church to engage with the presence of God in an authentic way. We need both in our worship! As a ministry, Alanna Story has often been called to lead both sides of this polarity, and we have struggled to discern how to help unify the Church's expression of worship so it doesn't become a generational 'us and them' mentality.

So over the past few years, we tried to get creative with how to approach this ever-growing gap. We started experimenting with taking the hymns that the generation before us loves (and we do too!) and put them in a modern context with fresh sounds and new, sing-able choruses in an attempt to connect both generations to the heart of God. As we did this, we found that whether we were leading at a youth convention or a pastor's conference, these songs bridged the generational gap and helped usher the Church into engaging worship. And because we know that many churches and leaders are struggling to find the same balance in their worship culture, we are making available all of the tools needed to lead these songs in the local church context in hopes of helping to unifying the generational worship gap. The worship leader's tool package will include all of the charts and scores (band, choir, strings) and live tracks (stems and accompaniment)."

Tracklist:

01. We Hymn
02. Solid Rock
03. Breathe on Me Breath of God
04. When We All Get to Heaven
05. Holy, Holy, Holy
06. Crown Him (With Many Crowns)
07. My Jesus I Love Thee
08. I Am the Lord's I Know
09. When All Is Said and Done
10. Be Still My Soul 

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