Most artists choose to settle down and slow the creative process when they start a family, often going years between projects to prioritize the time they have and take stock of what’s important. It’s pretty rare for a new artist to arrive on the scene with a family already established, and in David Raybuck’s case, that’s a family with seven kids. At the same time, music and inspiration strike when they do, so there’s no real navigation or blueprint to the career of a musician; it’s a lightning strike in an empty field, and the rest that follows has no choice but to do so.
While David Raybuck is not a man with an overabundance of free time, it’s clear from his debut record The Prodigal that he is a man with an overabundance of passion, musical talent, and work ethic. A work-life balance is crucial to the musician lifestyle, and after giving The Prodigal a spin it’s clear that Raybuck has grown into an extremely healthy lifestyle. Coming in at fourteen tracks total, The Prodigal is a record about love, life, and Faith. It’s a faith-based record in the barest sense of things, yes, but beyond that, it harkens to the biggest rock bands in history as an influence, and it is unlike any religious album you’ll have ever heard as a result. It’s not every day you can go to worship and hear songs that capture the same blown-out guitar aesthetic as Nirvana or The Smashing Pumpkins, but with The Prodigal, it can be!
Opening with lead singles “Hosanna” and “Be Healed,” The Prodigal calls its shot early. It’s impressive work from the start and listeners can tell that Raybuck has been working on this record for a long time. Allowing the first two tracks to work as the face of the album, in a sense, was a smart idea as it brings listeners in with a sense of familiarity before embarking deeper with twelve new tracks. The Prodigal can be a pretty impenetrable record at times for some, but Raybuck’s artistry gladly escorts listeners through the heavier aspects of unfamiliarity. David Raybuck works as a pastor on top of his musical career and fatherhood, as every track humbly allows itself to be learned by the listener before it gets into any heady territory.
The Prodigal will undoubtedly perform better for fans with a faith-based background, but in the same way that artists such as Bob Dylan and Sufjan Stevens have been able to interweave religious lyrics and text into their art without alienating non-religious fans, Raybuck does great work balancing the artistry of Christianity and rock music. Songs like “My Sufferings” and “Why I Sing” evoke ‘90s rock perfectly as far as the instrumental aspects are concerned, and the lyrics convey religious subjects with enough ambiguity to appeal to any fans. “Who’s My Neighbor” works as the final track on the record by sending audiences off on a hopeful, crisp guitar part that further ties the religious and rock-forward album together — it’s a solid project that might feel more daunting to non-religious fans than it is, and David Raybuck is more than happy to help show hesitant listeners the way through it!
Chadwick Easton