专辑简介

1/25/2016: Nice Jacket Records announces the online release of “The Cataclysm Catechism”, the 2nd collection of Christian music by J. Howard Duff. This release has a very different feel than its predecessor, “My God Is…Awesome (He’s Everything)”. On “The Cataclysm Catechism”, J. Howard returns to his musical roots of electric guitar based rock n’ roll, blues, and blues-based rock. “This ain’t your fathers’ Christian music” he said when asked to characterize the new album. With a much harder edge than the last release, J. Howard’s past 52 years of listening, absorbing, and playing & singing the musical styles he grew up with is at the forefront of the new album. The influence of Chuck Berry, Carlos Santana, Paul Kossof, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Cropper & Jeff Beck are evident throughout the album. “These are the guys I grew up with”, says Duff. “The only difference between me & them is that it took me 50 years to get to be 5% as good as them!”

While the initial hearing strikes the listener as being very good secular rock-based music, an examination of the lyrics shows that each one of the twelve tunes of the album (seven of which were written by Duff) is grounded in biblical Christianity. “Who says Christian music can't rock? God created some of us to write symphonies for Him, and some of us to rock. He knows JUST what He is doing.”

“The Cataclysm Catechism”, like “My God Is…” has J. Howard on all the vocals and instrumentation, with augmentation by his best friend, Dawn Gaye, on backing vocals (“oh yeah…she happens to be my wife as well”, jokes Duff); Chris Glick on additional percussion, and The Tower of Babel Horns on the Otis Redding influenced “Every Day”. Two of the tracks originally appeared on the “My God…” LP, but were remixed and remastered for inclusion in this collection as they fit the theme so well.

When asked if he was happy with the finished project, Duff thought for a moment and said; “If I can cause one person to address the “elephant in the living room” issue, meaning that nasty “God issue” EVERYBODY has to face, then I am happy. I can’t close the deal, only Jesus can do that, but I can try my best to drive them to the dealership!”