By Jeremy Henderson
TAB Music Reviewer
Aaron Shust
“Love Made A Way” (2017) — released today, March 10, 2017
Worship music is about creating a sense of intimacy. So are live recordings. Aaron Shust can apparently do both.
The winner of the 2007 Dove Awards for both New Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year has spent the past decade becoming one of modern worship’s most dependable voices (especially come Christmas time — Shust’s version of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” has been the most played song on Billboard’s NCA Chart 10 Decembers in a row).
And his first hit — 2005’s “My Savior My God” which was written for his home church in Pennsylvania — has logged more than 4.7 million listens on Spotify.
His most critically acclaimed song, “My Hope Is In You” (14 weeks at No. 1 in 2011) has tied that in six years.
“Ever Be” is currently at 5.5 million and it’s only been out for a year.
All are among the 11 outstanding tracks — more than half of which are new — on “Love Made A Way,” Shust’s first live album.
There’s an authenticity to the record stemming not only from Shust’s time as an actual church worship leader, but also in the voices of those not only enjoying the experience but helping to create it.
“I’ve always said that in a concert setting I want people to worship, so to have people singing along on the album is pretty magnificent,” Shust wrote leading up to the album’s release March 10. “When I invited people to be a part of this live album recording, I wanted to make sure they wanted to worship. I didn’t just want them to be spectators. I wanted them to be desirous of entering into the presence of God, raising their hands and closing their eyes if they wanted to, and that’s how the night was. It was a genuine experience of worship.”
That’s genuinely how it sounds.
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