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Dr. Quigg Lawrence records a bluegrass album with local and Grammy Award-nominated musicians.
Dr. Quigg Lawrence’s day job is a lot of work. As bishop and senior pastor at Church of the Holy Spirit on Merriman Road in Roanoke, he’s constantly meeting with parishioners, preparing new sermons and guiding the general direction of the church.
Somehow, he managed to find time over the past year to record a bluegrass album with members of the musical collaborative he established that is called Bent Mountain.
Come Home is the name of the album, which was released earlier this year. It was inspired by his mother who was a bluegrass harmony singer. She was dying of cancer when he had the idea of doing an album as a tribute to her. The title refers to the fact that she would go home to Heaven at the time of her death.
The idea gained steam when it dawned on him that he had two talented musicians—a 14-year-old banjo player and a nine-year-old mandolin player—who are part of his congregation at his disposal. The two brothers, Ayden and Blane Young, make up The Brothers Young band.
From there, he reached out to his friend Junior Sisk, a well-known bluegrass guitarist and vocalist, to see if he would be willing to record two singles with the boys. Luckily, he agreed and they booked recording time at Mountain Fever Records in Willis.
With the first two songs down, he turned to his friend Scott Mulvahill, a bassist who previously worked with Ricky Skaggs, to produce a full album. After that, it didn’t take long for others to join the effort, including Lawrence’s family members, members of his church, Nashville artists and even six Grammy Award-nominated musicians.
The 10 tracks on the album include Shouting on the Hills, The Darkest Hour, Mother’s Only Sleeping, Little Birdie, Forever Ain’t No Trouble, Down the Road, You’ll Never Leave Harlan, a eulogy for the deceased bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, Come to Jesus and Softly and Tenderly.
Lawrence and his mother aren’t the only members of the Lawrence clan who are musically inclined.
His father owned a music store in Richmond and even played in his own bluegrass band. Lawrence’s daughter, Annie Lawrence, is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter. She is featured on two of the album’s tracks.
Although deceased, Lawrence’s father’s guitar is featured on the album. Before he passed away, he sold his 1954 Martin D-28 guitar. “It somehow ended up in Chris Eldridge’s hands. Having him play on the album with my father’s guitar is enough to make me, a grown man, cry,” he says. Eldridge is a guitarist and singer who is part of Punch Brothers.
While the album offered Lawrence a way to combine both his family and passion for music into one project, it is also a testament to his faith. In addition to bluegrass songs, the album features gospel hymns as well.
The cover even includes a reference to the Bible verse Matthew 11:28. “The reference is basically: If you are weary and heavy laden, come to me. It’s saying to come home, come to Jesus,” he says.
Lawrence reports that the album has been well-received by the public and music industry types.
“We didn’t record the album to make money. We want to bless people. We want them to have fun listening to it,” he says.
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