Mark Lowry Goes To Hollywood

(Christian comedian, singer and television host Mark Lowry taped this hour-long variety show before a studio audience in Hollywood, California.)

With a nod to diversity, Tinseltown Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Lutherans and Catholics alike gathered to listen to the musings of the onetime Gaither Vocal Band member while he performed new standup material, sang, and introduced a range of guest musical acts -- including the high-flying "Jewgrass" ensemble The Isaacs, a family five-piece from Lafollette, Tennessee who will remind listeners of The Dixie Chicks.

In his routines, Lowry talks about aging and plastic surgery, pokes fun at uninspired choir singers and tells a story about a tornado hitting his houseboat. The musical offerings are varied and range from traditional to contemporary gospel to the comedic. Some sung by Lowry, others by guests including Bill Gaither, Reggie Smith and Michael English, who team up for a vocal version of the Southern gospel standard, "I'll Trade the Old Cross for a Crown."

The highlight, though, is a "baritone solo" rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Lowry sang the baritone part in performances of it by the Gaither Vocal Band, and with help from some other gorgeous vocalists, re-creates it as a lead. Another highlight is the Lowry-sung acoustic number "Home Where I Belong," a song about the great reward, orchestrated on six-string, piano and sonorous fretless bass. A lush, large-scale production of the traditional gospel song (most famously recorded by the Gaither Vocal Band) "I Bowed on My Knees" featuring Lowry's Remarkable Choir, is another highlight.

In the evening's most poignant moment, toward the end of the show, Lowry soberly discusses the crisis of doubt and sings an intimate piano-based song about overcoming it, "Make It Real." Mark Lowry Goes to Hollywood closes with another pretty song, "Wandering Heart," performed by Lordsong, which touches tenderly on straying from, and returning to, the spiritual family.

The disc is funny, musical, and at its finish, motivational. And Lowry, who got discovered after others witnessed his natural stage presence, is as comfortable in the live setting as he is in his living room. In other words, the native Texan makes Hollywood feel like home, or even closer to the truth, brings a little home to Hollywood.

By Todd Spencer