Artists have always drawn upon the stories of the past to contextualize the heroic and the tragic events of their own time. Lessons learned from days gone by help us to comprehend the present, and acknowledging that shared past allows us to recognize and depend upon a common identity.

Ron Maxwell knows the power of history well. A staunch patriot and scholar of the Civil War, the writer/director/producer of Gods and Generals and Gettysburg saw many common threads between our generation's current period of strife and uncertainty and that of the Civil War, and teamed with several of country's brightest stars to bring us America Will Always Stand.

The album is more than just a musical treatment of the war between the states -- the musical vignettes of America Will Always Stand link the past and the present by evoking the senses of pride, honor, grief, longing, and hope that are shared by Americans across all generations.

Darryl Worley sets the stage with "Shiloh," a song that details the confusing swirl of emotions felt when visiting the site of the war's first major battle. Worley is somber and reflective as he contemplates the scene of battle, his lyrics ably describing the powerful history that haunts the Tennessee battleground.

Ricky Skaggs wrote "Charlie and Johnny Reb" to address one of the most unthinkable horrors of the Civil War -- that all too often brother faced brother from opposing sides of the battlefield. Skaggs' storytelling is deliberately pastoral, emphasizing how simple, everyday life choices of the 19th Century could end in such tragedy.

For as long as there have been soldiers, there have been songs about longing for home. Billy Dean's "Home" and Marty Raybon’s "Back In Your Arms" both articulate the emotions of frontline soldiers longing to return to their loved ones. Dean's is particularly heartfelt, swelling with optimism and eagerness as each verse moves the narrator closer to home.

The women of the war are well-represented also -- Lee Ann Womack's "On A Women's Heart" and The Whites' "Woman Back Home" both offer poignant perspectives of life on the sidelines of a war. However, it is newcomer Olivia Maxwell's lullaby tribute to the fighting fathers of the Civil War that shines as the truest and most touching articulation of the uncertainty of conflict. In "All the Daddies," Maxwell sings as the mother of a fragmented family, promising her children the return of their father as her winsome voice longs for the day when "the children will have no more need for prayin'/ Cause now all the daddies will have come home."

Randy Travis' performance of the title track is a fitting capstone to the album. "America Will Always Stand" reinforces and strengthens the central truth running through all the songs of the album -- that America's spirit has always and will always endure. He sums it up simply in his sonorous Heartland baritone; "Raise the banner called old glory/ Let us join our fellow man/ History will write the story/ America will always stand."

By Isaac Clemens