"The Promise" by the Cockman Family

I was born and bred in Texas but I never cared for country music. However, once I moved to North Carolina and got a taste of Appalachian music, I decided that I really liked bluegrass. There are some really talented groups out there that sing Gospel Bluegrass, and naturally this kind of bluegrass is my favorite :). One group that I recently discovered on itunes a few months ago is The Cockman Family who are from the Lake Norman area outside of Mooresville (about an hour and a half east of Asheville). I purchased their album, "The Promise" on itunes and I have become quite addicted to it.

For some reason I've always been drawn to songs that are alligorial; where the song tells a human story but it obviously has a deeper double-meaning in order to proclaim a spiritual truth about the Lord. An example of this would be one of my favorite songs, "Jacob's Dream" by Allison Krauss.

I absolutely LOVE the title track on "The Promise". It's such a simple story told in song, but it's such a sweet proclamation about how Christ loves and pursues after His sheep...His bride (the church)! We may not know when, but He is coming back for us, He is preparing a place for us more beautiful and glorious than we could ever imagine. The question is...are we ready for Him?

The Promise
John Cockman, Jr. (BMI 2006)
ALBUM: The Promise

The wealthiest rancher in Texas
Was throwing a grand jubilee
To honor his son, who’d just turned twenty-one
And was visiting down from the east
It was rumored he wanted to marry
So every girl in the county was there
But soon he grew tired of their fashion and their pride
And he stepped outside for some air
It was there on the back step that he saw her
And the moonlight shone down on her face
She was washing the floor and stealing
His poor heart away

He knew he would love her forever
As they walked beneath the dark Texas sky
He knelt as he asked her to marry
Then he watched as the tears sprang from her eyes
And he feared she was going to refuse him
So he bid her, “Please don’t make a sound
I am leaving tonight for Chicago
I must ride before the show lies on the ground
But I’m going there to build for you a mansion
And returning, I’ll make you my wife
Meet me here by the stables
One year from tonight”

She worked long days in the kitchen
Then she worked with her needle each night
‘Till the day she walked down to the stables
In a beautiful gown of pure white
Then the girls all laughed and they mocked her
As the evening shadows fell
But their laughter was turned into silence
At the sound of the carriage on the trail
The bride has made herself ready
Look now, for the bridegroom is night
On to the marriage, step up in
The carriage and ride

I couldn't find a video on youtube or anywhere like that, but you can listen to a recording and some of their other songs on their website.