What do you think of when you go into Swang 108? You might think freshman Bible classes, others might connect it with chapel, or others might even tell themselves "sleep time." I can guarantee that a few of you would walk inside and think "recording studio."

The majority of the tracks on In Front of People, the new CD by Lipscomb student Chuck Jones, were recorded live in Swang 108.

When I first heard about this little endeavor, I was honestly expecting the sound quality of AM radio, but upon hearing the final results, I am pleasantly surprised.

This is a very good recording and it does not suffer from many of the pitfalls other live recordings do. It has a good spontaneous feel to it without an overabundance of crowd noise.

In Front of People contains a refreshing blend of rock, folk, and a little country twang. With the strong folk influence, I can't help but conjure up mental images of an early, light-hearted Bob Dylan. A lot of the songs are commentaries on contemporary culture. This is most noticeable in the song "I'm an Adult Now," reflecting upon our age-based legal system which says it is all right to do something once you reach a certain age. Another song with this quality is "Pushing the Envelope," which is a funny take on a postal worker's angst against e-mail and technology in general.

Some additional stand-out tracks are the heartfelt "Missing Something" and the rocking "Domestic Adventures," which is one of the bonus tracks recorded with The Spectacles.

The bonus tracks have a little hiss in the background, but this is easily tuned out with an equalizer. It is a very good CD with a bargain price.

I do recommend it highly if you enjoy this type of music. For more information, just contact Chuck Jones himself, or you can find his web page at https://members.tripod.com/~riseabove/.

(This article appeared in David Lipscomb University's periodical The Babbler.)

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