Festival of Faith & Music Preview Reviews: Ralston

I will be attending Calvin College’s Festival of Faith & Music, March 31-April 2. Leading up to the festival, there will be a series of reviews of artists scheduled to appear as a preview of what to expect.

This is an excerpt from the original full review of Ralston’s Carwreck Conversations.


Ralston Bowles (a.k.a. Ralston) by Carwreck Conversations includes the track, “Everybody But You,” a blues-upped, countrified folk song. It rocks along while discovering someone who acts truly graciously (“Everybody wants something from me but you”. . .”Tell me please what did you find/That made you want to treat me so kind”). These lyrics are laid over a great guitar jam—acoustic and electric.

“You Already Knew That,” is one of the carwreck conversations of the title. A song of an accident, a song of a relationship, it saunters but is fully accented by the electric guitar, adding dimension to the scene like flashing lights, firefighters using the jaws-of-life, and police officers setting out flares to mark the scene.

Ralston’s ability to write short stories in his songs places him next to James McMurtry. Both McMurtry and Ralston share that Country-influenced sound while it could easily be stripped away to leave you with a folk singer. These songs of Ralston are like short stories, not just because “they tell a little story.” A great short story leaves you wanting more, leaves you wondering from where the characters came and where they’re headed. You want another 5 stanzas, keep the groove going, tell me more about Mary Jean.

Listen to these songs as they explore grace—a theme evidenced in many places (obvious place: the song called “Grace,” less obvious place: the song “What About Me” which talks about first romances and true love).

Ralston gives us a lot to digest, and it tastes extremely good. Oh, I mean, some of it is bittersweet—themes of loneliness, lost love, lost respect—but who doesn’t like to grab a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips? Yet, bittersweet is an excellent way to explain God’s grace. We rejected God (bitter); He gives us the gift of His love (sweet). That offering of the gift of love comes through in many of Ralston’s short stories.

Full review - click here.