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Smalltown Poets released their self-titled debut in 1997, an album that made quite a mark in the world of Christian modern rock. With that debut, the band showed that they could make quality music and combine it with intelligent spiritually inspired lyrics. As the years have gone by, Smalltown Poets has released two more albums, Listen Closely and their latest Third Verse. As my musical tastes have moved on in recent years, I haven't been quite the huge Poets fan that I used to be. However, I still respect and appreciate their music and when I heard that they would be playing a show only ten minutes away from my house, I knew I had to go.

The concert took place outdoors in the front lawn of Covenant United Methodist church. Smalltown Poets took the stage around 8:30 just as the sun went down and the sky became dark. I had the perfect spot in the crowd at the very front and was set for a great concert.

After Smalltown Poets was introduced, they broke into "Every Reason" and played it tightly and with passion.  A quick look at who was on the stage showed that the Poets had their old keyboard player Danny Stephens back. The other remaining original members of the band were lead singer/rhythm guitarist Michael Johnston and bassist Miguel Dejesus. There were new members on guitar and drums, but unfortunately they weren't introduced. The band continued on in their set of music with one of their first hits, "Prophet, Priest, And King." The crowd of several hundred was quite obviously pleased. The sincerity of the song "Anything Genuine" was very compelling and captured the desire of this generation for something real. Johnston announced that they would be majoring in songs from their new album Third Verse and then proceeded into their current radio single "Any Other Love". As the set wore on they also played what Johnston called a "summer time song," "Waterfall," one of the best tunes of the evening. The band then broke into several old favorites including "There Is Only You," "I'll Give," and "If You'll Let Me Love You." The big surprise and highlight for me came when the band played "Monkey's Paw" as their closing song. People undoubtedly thought I was nuts when I was the only one jumping around during the song. Oh well, at least I enjoyed it! The band left the stage after finishing off "Monkey's Paw," but were kind enough to come back and give us an another old favorite, "Everything I Hate."

Everyone was pleased with the band's performance and the quality of music, lyrics, and personality that comes with it. It feels kind of strange being nostalgic at the age of eighteen, but this was a great show that brought me back to my younger days. I can recommend Smalltown Poets without reservation to anyone who appreciates quality Christian music.

Set List:
Every Reason
Prophet, Priest, And King
Anything Genuine
Any Other Love
Clean
Waterfall
There Is Only You
Firefly
I'll Give
If You'll Let Me Love You
Monkey's Paw
Everything I Hate