Once in a while, a new voice sings an old standard in such a way that it’s hard to imagine hearing the old version ever again. That’s just what Stephen McWhirter gave us with his recently released rendition of “The Old Rugged Cross,” an early 20th-century hymn written by American hymnist and preacher George Bernard.
The hymn has been arranged and recorded by dozens of artists – the likes of Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Chet Atkins, and Ella Fitzgerald – but McWhirter makes the song his own from the very first bar. The artist slows the song down just a bit and infuses it with a sweet, soulful vocal supported by blues guitar and keyboard.
The listener is enraptured the moment McWhirter’s weathered voice comes crooning in on the lilting melody of the verse. While his voice sounds like it has quite a few miles on it in his lower register, it belies a tremendous belting upper register. Hitting those high blue notes hard makes the tune brim with emotion, which is further developed through a bluesy guitar solo and some fantastic licks on the keys.
On his MultiTrack artist page, McWhirter opened up about his history of struggling with his Christian faith. He explains that growing up with a minister as a father and seeing him be “one man behind a pulpit and another at home” disillusioned him about the Gospel message.
As an adult, he struggled with an addiction to meth until a friend of his gave him “a book about Jesus.” He described reading it in bed with his drugs on the side table next to him, but as he read he began to form a new relationship with Jesus, which helped him to kick his habit and led him to begin a career in Christian music.
In the video’s description, McWhirter wrote of the song:
“I have always loved the hymn 'Old Rugged Cross.' I grew up hearing this song but it didn't really mean anything to me then. Today, I understand and have this great awe and gratefulness for what Jesus has done for me on the cross. He died to take my place and pay for all my sins. So now when I sing this old hymn it means everything to me.”
Hear more from Stephen McWhirter on Spotify, Apple Music, or your favorite streaming service. Be sure to follow him on YouTube to keep up with all his releases.
