Award Winning Christian Music Addresses Sin, Repentance, and Salvation
(Gulfport, Mississippi )
With the release of Bible Belt Blues' 2nd album, "My God, My God" on June 1st 2019, Harold and Paula Vega Vondenstein attempt to do the near impossible: to craft an album that could literally change the direction of Christian music as we know it today. Seeking to become a game changer in the field of Christian music, "My God, My God" is brimming with full-fledged repentance songs including special effects that can cross over genres, invitation songs with belting vocals, its signature wailing harmonica, and deep theological truths captured into songs where the listener actually gets it, memorizes it, owns it, and lives it.
Paula Vega Vondenstein, lyricist for all of Bible Belt Blues' songs, approaches her lyric writing from an evangelical and theological standpoint. After much scripture study, Paula crafts the lyrics first before her husband, Harold, creates the music after praying to the Holy Spirit. Paula strives to recapture doctrinal truths that have somehow been lost in the shuffle when churches transitioned from traditional services with hymns to contemporary services with songs that have been crafted first and foremost for commercial success.
"It's the lyrics that make a song Christian; the bolder the better; soft and fluffy lyrics do not win souls for Christ," says Paula.
Everything about Bible Belt Blues is counter-culture: from the crafting of their bold, biblically sound lyrics that address sin, repentance, and salvation, to the recapturing of a musical genre that many say is a dying art form- early Mississippi blues. After intensive study of the history of Mississippi's blues, the Vondensteins discovered the hauntingly beautiful D & E minor chords of Bentonia blues that lend themselves so perfectly to full-fledged repentance songs that are so lacking in churches these days. Free flowing lyrics with a slower blues style allow for a fuller expression of the vocals with the lyrics in the forefront without being overpowered by the music. It was a match made in heaven and Bible Belt Blues was officially launched in September of 2018.
This has been an amazing year for the Vondensteins with the release of two Christian albums since January of 2019, "I'm Not Ashamed to Be a Christian" and "My God, My God," to winning the coveted Josie Music Award for Gospel/ Christian Duo. Eleven of their songs have already received radio airplay thanks to Bill and Kat Radio's Cross 104 Gospel Blues Hour Syndicated Program resulting in numerous placements on the Roots Music Report. Who would write a song about stealing God's glory and what kind of radio station would play a song like that? But God got the final word when "The Glory Belongs to You, Lord" from Bible Belt Blues' first album, "I'm Not Ashamed to Be a Christian" received the most airplay of all of Bible Belt Blues' songs to date. Bible Belt Blues' much anticipated second album release, "My God, My God," seeks to break even more barriers and cross over genres to soften hardened hearts to the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.
About Bible Belt Blues
Harold and Paula Vega Vondenstein are Bible Belt Blues, a husband and wife music ministry team from Gulfport, Mississippi. Their music is both fresh and unique: bold, biblically sound lyrics wrapped in early Mississippi Bentonia blues influenced music with a bit of 70’s retro mixed in for good measure. The gritty guitar picking, hauntingly beautiful D & E minor chords, and weeping harmonica are the perfect backdrop for their full-fledged repentance and church revival songs for which they are known.
Bible Belt Blues started creating music together as a couple in early September of 2018 when Paula convinced her husband, Harold, to let her start writing the lyrics first, which sets the tonality and structure for the music. Bible Belt Blues’ goal is for each song to be a distinctive work of art, yet true to its own genre, which falls under the larger genre of Gospel Blues. Since January of 2019, the Vondensteins have released two Christian albums, “I’m Not Ashamed to Be a Christian” and “My God, My God,” that they created, recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced in their own home recording studio. T To date, eleven of their Bible Belt Blues songs have already received radio airplay, thanks to Bill and Kat Radio’s Cross 104 Gospel Blues Hour Syndicated Radio Program resulting in numerous placements on the Roots Music Report. Against all odds, Bible Belt Blues won the coveted 2019 Josie Music Award for Gospel/ Christian Duo after more than 23,000 nominations were submitted across all genres from around the globe. The Vondensteins are both humbled and honored by the doors that God has already opened for them with their music ministry.
Bible Belt Blues is available for revival concerts and special events at churches, colleges, schools, conferences, and retreats.
Bookings / Music: www.BibleBeltBlues.org
Contact : Paula@BibleBeltBlues.org
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