This collection of live performances and demos provides the perfect opportunity to meet 16 Horsepower, a rare band driven by a clear musical vision and passionate artistic conviction, not flavor-of-the-week market forces.

With plaintive Appalachian wail and twangy stringed instruments, such as banjo and bandoneon, creative force David Eugene Edwards transports his audience to the remote Southern mountains at the turn of the 19th century. This isn’t feel-good "O Brother" bluegrass we’re talking about, but rather a rich Southern Gothic sound, filled with dread and substance.

16 Horsepower spins yarns about common folk destitute in funds, friends, and spirit, crying out for a scrap of bread, a hand to hold, or their redemptive Savior. The band strikes straight at the heart of people's universal needs and walks beside them through the valley.

What makes 16 Horsepower so important, especially to Christians? This is the only band (outside Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) that crafts compelling music with an eye and ear to the Old Testament prophets. Songs like "Shametown," "Prison Shoe Romp," and "Coal Black Horses" warn of impending judgment and cry for repentance at the feet of a loving God. (Haggai could use this music as his soundtrack.)

Edward’s lyrics read as if lifted from the lips of Isaiah or Malachi. (For example, "wicked, wicked/from the mouth I spout - oh Lord/don' let these thoughts come out/my knees they knock and my feet they fail," or " I dug a hole an' hollowed it out/yes an' I fell in/oh Lord I'm caught in the cord/the cord of my own sin," or finally "carryin' sin in my sack/same in the front as it is in the rear/He's taken our stripes on his back/on down to here/I cannot walk if you did not walk.")

16 Horsepower music may not be for the masses, but Olden offers a musical and spiritual journey everyone would benefit from experiencing.

Song: "My Narrow Mind"
Topic: Thoughts
Theme: The singer laments his impure thoughts.

Discussion Questions:

Songs & Themes:

1. American Wheeze: The singer challenges a guy who has a quarrel with him to a fight.
2. Coal Black Horses: Jesus will surely return.
3. Scrawled In Sap: The singer details the moral burn of adultery.
4. Prison Shoe Romp: Only God can free us from a sinful destiny and demise.
5. I Seen What I Saw: The singer is a peeping Tom.
6. Neck on the New Blade: The singer longs for a girl.
7. Interview: Edwards explains the intensity of his music and its roots in the church.
8. South Pennsylvania Waltz: The singer kicks a bad habit out of his life.
9. My Narrow Mind: The singer laments his impure thoughts.
10. American Wheeze: The singer challenges a guy who has a quarrel with him to a fight.
11. Shametown: All can receive salvation through Jesus’ blood.
12. Train Serenade: The singer believes he’s doing fine, moving forward on the same "track" every day.
13. Strong Man: The devil will be defeated and cast down.
14. Interview: Music executives talk about how unique and riveting the band is.
15. Slow Guilt Trot: Guilt burns inside the singer.
16. Low Estate: Digging up the past can bring frightening consequences.
17. Pure Clob Road: The singer finds it's difficult to walk under his own power, dragging his sin.
18. Heel on the Shovel: An evil man will soon die and receive his due.
19. Sac of Religion: Truth cannot be ignored once it’s accepted.
20. Dead Run: The singer runs to God for redemption.