A Spirited New Record from Saved By Grace
An album release from Saved By Grace is riddled with an amazingly woven rock tonality that blends classic with southern-tinged folk rock, along with Americana undertones that shine through here and there, laced throughout the album's playthrough, along with plenty of faith, which is what the album focuses on most.
Palm of His Hand is quite a warm and welcoming record. The tonalities of the guitars, especially, are very well done. Everything is inviting and rich, thick with a sort of tube warmth that gives the songs some soul.
You can hear a slew of influences that the record and bodies throughout the course of the full album and they certainly don't waste much time coming in with the first track, "God's Got Me" which doesn't only shine with faith, but also that wonderful classic rock tone and soundscape, giving you the essence of artists like Tom Petty, for example.
This track is an amazing way to introduce the record, simply because it gives you a great rhythm and groove. This is a song that absolutely Bops, and it's easy to start bobbing your head along with it right from the get-go.
The album itself goes through all different kinds of attributes in terms of having faith, but also life itself. There are struggles, overcoming challenges, and keeping that faith strong and alive to show you the way through.
This first track is just very spirited. It's uplifting, it feels good to listen to, and it has a great impact and opens the door to the album perfectly.
One of the reasons for this is that you were here for some of the best staples of the album right here on this introduction song.
Now, having said that, there are some surprising turns around some of the corners of the record, along with branching off in terms of songwriting, so it's an album that does keep you on your toes, at times.
I definitely suggest listening to the record all the way through, in one shot. Listening to one or two songs might give you an idea of what you could expect, but it won't give you the full spectrum of what the album has to offer.
These are also kind of personal songs. Yes, they're about faith, Jesus, following certain paths, but they come from a personal perspective, so they do tell some stories.
There are lessons to be learned here, and it feels, at times, like the album is a book. Each song serves as a different chapter in that book. I wouldn't skip around chapters of a book, so I would suggest giving songs on this record, either.
Songs like "I'll Take It On" continue in that very personal attribute, and this one, to me, comes across as a bit of a blues rock style track.
The vocals on this song, and a lot of them, are quite robust, but they're not sitting on top of every single thing in the mix.
They aren't buried either. They're perfectly placed, and a lot of the record has a beautiful dynamic balance to the tones and layers of sound that it delivers.
Throughout a lot of the record, you have some great emotional pull. You can tell a lot of these songs came from genuine places.
"Your Masterpiece" is a very elegant acoustic, singer-songwriter track, but it has this great set of lyrics that get you attached; they can be descriptive, and the whole song comes through with this sort of cinematic undertone.
One of my favorite songs on the record is actually the closing track, which is "The Power God Gives".
This one gives you a sort of rustic, southern, blues experience, and the guitars are all clean, acoustic, giving the vocals a lot more room to do soulful melodies and performances throughout.
This track also gives you loads of great harmonizing backing vocals that add a little more depth to the song itself, but also still deliver that character and soul throughout it.
This is an album with plenty of layers, and that counts for both instruments and lyrics.
There's a lot to chew on. There's plenty to soak in. And honestly, it feels good to do exactly that.
To a lot of people, this will be a pretty powerful and incredibly relatable record; to others, it may just be a bit of an eye-opener.
Either way, this is a band that is spreading their word and doing it in such a positive and honest manner that you just can't turn away from it.
Amazing songwriting, and lyrics that aren't too pushy, but again, perfectly balanced to just give you that personalized experience from their eyes. Absolutely, check this record out.
Upon listening to the album in full, I realized I wanted to have a chat with the band to find out where it all came from, how it came together, and what might be coming up next for them.
So, while you listen to this album, have a read through of our interview with Saved by Grace below.
Let's talk about Palm of His Hand! This was a massive record with classic and southern rock laced throughout it! Where did this album come from?
It was a very collective effort, unlike our 1st couple studio efforts where only a couple of us formed the songs. In addition to the input of our six band members, producer Mark Riddell played a key role in each songs final form. The multiple inputs caused each song to be stylistically unique and certainly different from where each started. I wrote the lyrics as an out pouring of my faith in Jesus, but the band brought the songs to life. Being recorded in Houston brought in the Southern Rock vibes to go along with our classic rock sound.
I'm hearing a few different approaches to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
Each band member has slightly different musical taste. That shows up in this album for sure. Overall, we agree that modern Christian sounds like Zac Williams, Van Zant, and We The Kingdom had alot of influence on us. So too did the secular music we all grew up on. Bands like Skynyrd, Boston, and Foreigner definitely have their place of influence as well.
Did you record this at a home setup, or at a big studio?
We recorded the 8 song album, "Palm of His Hand" at EMG Studios in Houston, Tx. We were invited to Texas by Edgewater Music Group after they heard our "Nashville Recordings" EP. They felt like we would be a good fit with them and I believe they were correct.
Do you guys write songs together, or are there a few main songwriters that bring ideas back to the rest?
So far, I have done the majority of writing. However, the band has had freedom to suggest changes and most times we incorporate their ideas.
How did this all start for you as a band?
I was going to start out as a solo artist after my church convinced me to record some of the songs I wrote. I was not always a dedicated Christian and certainly had my wild times before I came to know the Lord. I simply poured my heart out onto paper and people gravitated to that. I believe it is because most people can relate. Especially knowing that my partying ways helped lead my 1st marriage to a divorce. I hit rock bottom before being pulled up by Jesus. I wanted to share this experience with as many people willing to hear it. Then, one-by-one, I started adding band members during the recording sessions at Zion Recording Studio in our hometown of Erie, PA. Now we are a 6 member band that rocks the house wherever we go.
Are you performing live right now?
Absolutely. We played multiple locations in four different states last year that included PA, NY, OH and MI. We are hoping to add a couple more this year. Our highlight was sharing a stage with Ben Fuller at SoulStock 2025 in St Mary's, PA.
Now that this is out, what's next for you as a band?
We are currently back at Zion Recordings starting to remake our debut album, "God's Master Plan". We have evolved so much as a band and love playing these older songs live so much that we feel we owe it to our fans to re-record them. We love where we have taken these songs and want to be able to share them in their new form. We plan to release one song a month over the course of 2026, starting in February.
Who's in all your headphones right now?
Im still listening to Zac Williams and Van Zant alot. I mix in some Mac Powell, Jelly Roll, and lesser known bands like Greaternity. Of course, playlists on Spotify are cool in order to get a good mix of artists, including us, in my ears.
What would you tell people they can expect on this release?
Something different than what they are used to. As far as Christian Rock goes, I believe we are a very unique sound packed with energy. The listener will get a mix of Southern Rock, Blues, and Classic Rock while hearing biblical based lyrics that come from the heart.
Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music?
Im so pleased there are people from around the world, thanks to streaming, that get to hear our music. Based on streams per listener, it seems they are enjoying these songs. We can't be more pleased than to be spreading the Gospel message in this way. We want to thank everyone out there listening to and sharing our tunes.
