The Welcome Wagon: Welcome to the Welcome Wagon

    I looked into a lot of Asthmatic Kitty produced bands this past week, and I was not disappointed, surprised to find DM Stith, David Stith is an individual I know personally and have played board games with actually, putting out LPs under Sufjan's brain child label. But, I was very interested in The Welcome Wagon, namely because Sufjan sings, plays banjo for, produced and arranged the hymn tunes that Presbyterian pastor Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique chose for their premier LP in 2008. Vito was a self proclaimed agnostic before converting to Christianity at the age of 20, went to theological seminary and now preaches at Resurrection Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, NY.
    Their music is simple and straight forward, but definitely not void of Sufjan influence, with trombones, melodic lines that are pleasant and catchy. There is also points of flourish and compositional genius, like at the beginning and end of songs in typical Sufjan style. The Welcome Wagon at the core is a gospel folk indie group; but, the underlying element that sets The Welcome Wagon apart from any contemporary gospel artists (not solely referring to the CCM genre) is that its members are made up of a community of friends that often enjoys meals together and then sits in the living room and plays their music together. They do so for the fun of fellowship, but also with, to quote Asthmatic Kitty's bio of The Welcome Wagon: "the simple desire to know their Maker--and to know each other--more intimately".
    The hymn tunes chosen are probably not well known, perhaps in some liturgical traditions they are more than others. But, The Welcome Wagon hails from the Midwest, which also differs liturgically in the sense of being slower and more laid back from the Northeast where they have now settled. I think this is beautifully reflected in their music. Not knowing the tunes themselves, they may not even be the original melodies, as Vito was not a musician when his desire to play hymns erupted with creativity as he has often made up his own melodies. The Welcome Wagon's follow up to Welcome to the Welcome Wagon is the EP Purity of the Heart is to Will One Thing (2009), five songs that were basically outtakes from their debut; and the proceeds of which on iTunes go to Freeset, a fair-trade organization working with women in Kolkata, India. I've uploaded track 5 of 12, because it best displays the Aiuto's folk simplicity, Sufjan's additional doctoring and the sometimes sing-a-long style choruses.