The Walking Roots Band, formed when many of the members were students at 91����Ƶ, will soon issue its second album of church music, titled “Light: A Hymn Reclamation Project,” in which they take old – sometimes ancient – hymn texts and set them to folk melodies and other new arrangements.

“The writing of this album has been such a beautiful process of articulating Good News musically and lyrically in our current context,” says Seth. “This is an enduring Good News, and these songs connect us to so many who have lived before us as Jesus’ disciples through the ages.”

For music teacher and band member Greg Yoder, the album is an opportunity to “emphasize discipleship and what it means to truly follow Jesus.”

And the band’s sound resonates with a wide audience, with guitars, harmonica, accordion, violin, upright bass, mandolin, banjo and minimal percussion, along with rich vocal harmonies. The sound is best described as folksy, Americana, roots music.

“At our shows there are often people who are our age, in their 20s and 30s, but also grandparents and grandchildren,” said Crissman.

Yet they don’t limit themselves to church music.

“We are equally comfortable giving a concert at a coffee house or bar on Saturday night or at a worship service on Sunday morning,” said Yoder. “We want to be in both places because we believe that God is in both places.”

In addition to “Light” the band hopes to record a six-to-eight song EP called “Prayers for the Church.” They plan to give this music away for free, as a gift of encouragement and admonition for the church.

“The church is Christ’s body here and now, and we want to encourage everyone to pray that the church may continue to be Christ to the world,” says Yoder.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary and University have pledged support for “Prayers for the Church”  through the band’s online Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is a crowd-sourcing platform that encourages artists to collaborate with their supporters to undertake projects that might not otherwise be possible.

“We love the example 91����Ƶ/EMS set,” said Yoder, “and we think it’s a great way for churches, conferences, businesses and other organizations that are committed to the church to get involved in our project. We would love to have many more partners in helping us make Prayers for the Church available as a gift, mostly because of what it would look like to have that many people saying, ‘Yes, we believe in the church and want to see it continue and strengthen.’”

Crissman’s seminary studies serve as catalyst for many of the songs in the new hymn collections. The prayer practice of using music to connect to and spend time with God is one his professors have encouraged.

“I have been able to learn from and study with incredible professors and students who have walked with me as I have encountered God in new, and also ancient, ways,” says Crissman. “I really appreciate EMS’s commitment to equipping students to become ‘wise interpreters, mature practitioners, discerning communicators and transformational leaders.’ It’s been a beautiful place for me to grow into my call.”

To contribute to the Kickstarter campaign of The Walking Roots Band, visit . Or visit and search for “.” Watch their for updates, or email: thewalkingrootsband@gmail.com with comments and questions.

The band formed when four friends started playing music under the name The Federation during their time at 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ). It’s been together in some form or fashion for more than five years, but the last few months have been big for the local band.

The group now includes Seth Crissman, Greg Yoder, his wife Kristina Yoder, Jackson Maust, Mitchell Yoder and his wife Lauren Yoder, Adam Schmid and Mike Yoder. Most of the band mates are 91����Ƶ graduates.

“We’re friends and we play music together,” Crissman said. “It’s sort of in that order.

“[It] just sort of naturally progressed and emerged from friendships,” he continued, adding “On a given night, we’ll get together and play bocce [ball] in someone’s backyard, we’ll get together and cook or we’ll get together and play a show.”

Sacred Space

The Walking Roots Band released its first album this month – a compilation of 11 “reclaimed hymns,” or spiritual songs that “had fallen out of the general circulation of being sung in churches,” Crissman explained.

The new album, “Shelter: A Hymn Reclamation Project,” is a patchwork of centuries-old, lesser-known sacred texts, more identifiable hymns and the band’s own unique touch.

For example, the song, “Come Down, O Love Divine” is based off text written in 1367 and arranged into a song in 1906, while the new album also includes a rendition of “It is Well With My Soul” with lyrics tweaked to reflect the Shenandoah Valley.

Crissman, 27, of Harrisonburg, wrote eight of the album’s songs, which is just the first of three albums the band hopes to produce in the upcoming months.

The next project will consist of folk songs, while other albums will be a collection of “farming songs.”

“A lot of the people in the group have connections to agriculture,” said Greg Yoder, a band member who has worked for a local farmer the past two summers.

“We think that connection to the land is really important; it’s sacred in some ways.”

Finding A Niche

Greg Yoder, 26, of Penn Laird, describes the band’s musical offerings as acoustic Americana that’s not exactly bluegrass, but rather “blue-ish grass.” It’s “folky” music with some rap intertwined, he explains.

“We’re hoping for a new category at the Grammy’s,” he said.

Bands such at The Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons and The Steel Wheels influence the local group.

Group Effort

While the band’s style is hard to pinpoint, it’s also difficult to identify the lead singer or who plays which instrument.

The Walking Roots Band shows likely include six to eight instrument swaps, with all the members adept at some combination of the guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, accordion, Cajon – and the list goes on.

For more information on the band, the new album and upcoming tour dates, visit thewalkingrootsband.com.

Article courtesy Daily News Record, July 20, 2013

Their first album “” was released in June 2013.

“There are many really meaningful texts in old hymns,” said Seth Crissman, a 2009 91����Ƶ graduate, who is also a current student at . They have deep profound spiritual truths that are sometimes inaccessible because of the music.”

Greg Yoder, a 2009 graduate of Goshen College added, “Seth found these great hymn texts that he wanted to use at , where many people who come to worship didn’t grow up singing hymns.”

Eastside Church is a recent church plant in Harrisonburg where Crissman serves as a music pastor.

“Music is incredibly formative,” Crissman said. “We are being shaped in our theology and our understanding of who we are by music.

“In churches where ‘praise music’ is the main music, we generally only sing things written in the last 10 to 15 years, when thoughtful writers have been writing music for churches for 1,500 years. There is rich theology that can be accessed by arranging these hymn texts so that they are appealing to a more modern ear.”

One example is a hymn called “Come Down, O Love Divine.” The text was written in 1367 by Bianco da Siena. Crissman encountered this song in the “Hymnal: A worship book.” The arrangement was written in 1906, but most members of the band had not sung it often despite many of them singing hymns in their congregations.

“It’s a good introduction to the richness of the text,” said Mitchell Yoder, a 2009 91����Ƶ alum.  “For people who have grown up singing traditional church hymns we chose a lot of texts that people tend to not sing.”

Several of the band members started playing worship services at 91����Ƶ in 2007. In 2010, they added band members Greg Yoder and Michael Yoder. In 2012, they became The Walking Roots Band, which they describe as “acoustic Americana, faux-folk, blue-ish-grass, roots music.”

“Even though we are mostly a folk band, faith and church music is definitely where our roots are musically and personally, so it made sense to do this album first,” said Jackson Maust, a 2009 91����Ƶ alum.

They will be touring Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana in early July. The group intends to release a folk album in the fall of 2013.

“We aren’t just a band that plays reclaimed hymns,” said Greg Yoder. “If you come to a concert you’ll hear some of our folk music, some silly songs and some reclaimed hymns. We are Christians in the world, and we’re also complex people and we want our music to reflect that.”

To see The Walking Roots Band tour schedule, order a CD, or hear a sample of “Shelter: A Hymn Reclamation Project” visit their website at . The band will be playing in Harrisonburg on . Tickets are available at the door.