Arden, North Carolina — With a renewed passion and dedication to their ministry, The Old Paths are returning with It’s Real, a collection of songs that carries an authentic message rooted in personal experience. The album will be available everywhere March 22 from Sonlite Records. After taking a break from the road, the quartet wanted to release music that serves as a testimony to the power of faith and the work God has done in their own lives.
“For us, what we missed the most being at home, were the people,†says Doug Roark, baritone singer and founding member of The Old Paths. “The thrust of our ministry has always been encourage, encourage, encourage. Of course you always want people to be enlightened in Christ, but our ministry has been, ‘If God did it for me, He can do it for you.’â€
The 7-song EP’s title track, written by Kenna West and Janice Crowe, has Beatles-style harmonies with Roark taking the lead. The lyrics spoke to Roark, who says the message relates to what Christ did for him. “It’s real, just ask, I’m a living testimony to the fact, that it’s real, that’s that,† Roark sings.
“Lord Knows,†the first radio single, features bass singer Daniel Ashmore. The song builds to an upbeat and uplifting chorus about how God always knows what someone needs even if they’re at wit’s end.
It’s followed by “The God I Know,†a Lee Black and Jerry Salley song. When Roark first heard the lyrics, they spoke to him deeply. In a time when people say “If God was real, tragedy wouldn’t happen,†Roark says he knows otherwise.
“If He can do it for me He can do it for them. I told Tim you gotta sing that song,†Roark says. Lead singer Tim Rackley sings the power ballad, testifying all of life’s trials can be solved through God. “In a broken world where there’s so many lost and desperate souls burning with no hope. The only answer that I know is the God I know.â€
The EP closes with “Come Sunday Morning,†featuring tenor singer Steve Ladd. The ballad about the Resurrection story has a strong hook and chorus and uses a common, unspectacular phrase to describe a miraculous story.
Tim Rackley says, “I am so excited about this new recording It’s Real. We were so fortunate to find such great songs with a theme throughout the whole project. Each song really gives a great definition of how the Lord has been ministering in our everyday lives. I really feel this new project will let our friends hear the new sound and know ‘it’s real’ we are back on the road ministering.â€
Pre-order It’s Real HERE.