Southern-rockers-turned-country-stars Van Zant have announced their first album in more than a decade, and it'll be their first foray into Christian music. The duo – made up of Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant and bother Donnie, former leader of 38 Special – will release Always Look Up via the Frontiers label on November 22.
The new lineup is completed by guitarists Mark Matejka and Carl Lindquist, bassist Jimmy Carter and drummer Shawn Fichter, plus three keyboard players: Jeffrey Roach, Chris Hurst and Dennis Wage. A first single from the album, Jesus Christ, was released last month, and a second, There You Are, has just arrived.
"This has been on our bucket list for quite some time to do a gospel record," says Donnie. “We’re both big believers in Jesus Christ, so that’s really how it started."
"I’ll be honest with you, the devil was my best friend at one time,” says Johnny. “I’m not gonna lie about that and there ain’t too much that I didn’t try over the years, but I always kept hearing our dad speaking the Bible [in my mind]. Our dad should’ve been a preacher, because boy when he started talking the gospel, you didn’t get up and move.
"Of course as kids, I think we listened to half of it and tried to consume what we could, so that was always in the back of my head. I always believed in Jesus Christ, but I wasn’t saved and I felt like I had my personal connection, just like the song ‘It’s Up To You’ that’s on this new album. Over the years, that voice of my dad was reminding me to try to be a better person.
"I made lots of mistakes, lots of things that hopefully I don’t get to the pearly gates and they’re closed for me. I’m trying to get through them now!"
“We’ve tried our very best to just write about truth, about people, about problems and situations and just try to be true to ourselves," adds Donnie. "We don’t write nothing that’s B.S. We try to touch people emotionally and spiritually. If we can do that, I think we’ve done our jobs."
The pair's last album, My Kind of Country, was released in 2007.
Van Zant: Always Look Up Tracklist
1. Awesome God
2. Stand Up
3. Warrior
4. There You Are
5. Speak His Name
6. Why God Brought Me Here
7. Praying
8. It's Up to You
9. Holy Moment
10. Leaning on the Cross
11. Jesus Christ
