I had never heard of John Francis O'Mara before I received a digital version of his album "Forbidden Hymns".
It is scheduled to be released on 10 October 2025.
It is produced by Ken Coomer
It features Kenny Vaughan, Dave Roe, Ken Coomer, Chris Scruggs and John Lancaster; back vocals by Vinchelle Woods
It is scheduled to be released on 10 October 2025.
It is produced by Ken Coomer
It features Kenny Vaughan, Dave Roe, Ken Coomer, Chris Scruggs and John Lancaster; back vocals by Vinchelle Woods
Published by Speakeasy
Forbidden Hymns is a 13-song collection that blends Alt-Country, Americana, Folk, and Rock. Here are some notes on some of the songs.
John Francis O'Mara is in the stream of Bob Dylan and John Prine - real, honest, speaking truth on the big and ordinary things of life
- The album opens with the urgent “Walking in Babylon,” a protest song rooted in Marley’s Rastaman Chant with echoes from the Book of Revelation. It calls out brutality, poverty, and racial violence.
- “Lately Mary” is a sharp, folk-rock anthem exposing empty “thoughts and prayers.”
- “Jesus Walked on Water,” features O’Mara’s intricate finger-picking, and pedal steel, driving this acoustic classic.
- “Ashes, Ashes” is a rallying cry rising from wreckage and loss.
- “No One Gets Out of Here Alive” (with John Carter Cash) is a haunting reminder to “love pure and strong while there’s time.”
- “Maria, I Would Dance With You But My Hands Are On Fire” is a poetic ballad intertwining the sacred and the sensual. The title is a quote from Bob Dylan after the notorious Newport Folk Festival where Dylan dared to go electric.
- "No One Gets Out Of Here Alive" written with John Carter Cash (son of Johnny and June) is a call to have the courage to love boldly.
- "Mighty Power" opens with a great churchy sounding Hammond organ. O’Mara grabs us and invites us to encounter what some would call a “higher power”, and then testify that it is "stronger than the Pharaoh and his armies / stronger than the twisted chains of slavery / stronger than the sorrow a-hangin’ on your city..”
- “Let It Be So” The closing anthem of justice, peace, and dignity for all.
The album has been on repeat for the last number of days... I am really enjoying it. Thank you John Francis O'Mara.
Why ‘Forbidden’? Look around! The social-political landscape has taken a very dark and ugly turn.
- The innocent and most vulnerable are being kidnapped and denied basic Civil and Human Rights.
- Genocide and children’s screams are live-streamed in real time.
- Elites and the billionaire class rule from their ill-gotten thrones.
- Truth, beauty, and conscience are being legislated into silence, banned, and literally ‘forbidden’.
- The soul of our humanity is at stake.
- Many among us are being made to fear raising their voices
“Many among us are not afraid. We who believe in empathy, justice, and love will not be silenced. This record will not be silenced. Time to turn up the volume. Time to sing Forbidden Hymns.”
#ForbiddenHymns
DISCLOSURE:
I received this book free through the Speakeasy blogging book review network.
I was not required to write a positive review.
The opinion I have expressed is my own.
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