Mark Lowery

Unplugged & Unplanned
Daywind

Mark Lowry’s “Unplugged & Unplanned” isn’t packaged as part of Daywind’s  Live At Oak Tree series, but the format is the same. Joining Lowry are Sisters (Valerie Ruppe, Heather Day and Kim Lord), Michael Lord, Amber Balltzglier and Stan Whitmire.

The DVD features eight songs and runs for nearly an hour. The spaces between the songs are every bit as interesting as the songs themselves. Lowry has a unique knack for making you laugh one minute and think seriously the next. Topics of discussion range from funny tour experiences to candid thoughts about mortality.

He talks with the members of Sisters about the loss of their father and recollects a three-point turn they once made in a tour bus at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. He also opens up about some very personal issues his father and mother have experienced in recent years.

“House Of Gold” is a song Lowry recorded in 1998 and has performed frequently ever since, but this is the first time he’s sung the song with only a piano for accompaniment. “Going Home” is another song Lowry has sung for years both with the Gaither Vocal Band and as a headliner at his own shows. “Promises” is a Dottie Rambo song featuring Beverly Lowry (Mark’s mother) that Lowry used to sing with her in his first trio. “I’m Gonna Make It” showcases Valerie Ruppe.

Seven of the eight songs are slow; but with just a piano in the mix, the music never becomes too ponderous or tedious to take to heart. The immediate and somewhat raw quality of “Unplugged & Unplanned” is this product’s most endearing characteristic.