The phrase “deeply personal” gets thrown around so often that it has almost lost its meaning. Christian Name, though, earns it. Charles Wesley Godwin confronts unimaginable loss while keeping faith at the forefront, moving through mourning, redemption and spiritual renewal. This is more than a collection of songs about grief: it is the sound of Godwin learning how to live again.
When I saw him at the Royal Albert Hall in May last year, appearing before Eric Church at the Highways Festival, what struck me was the sheer force of his performance. His Appalachian storytelling could fill that enormous room without losing its intimacy. That same balance exists throughout Christian Name.
“Sermon” begins with fire and brimstone before “Try Again” brings hard-rock weight to proceedings. Godwin has never been restricted by traditional country boundaries, and the guitars here underline that. “Better That Way” brings in Luke Combs for a warm celebration of life’s simple pleasures, while “Hallelujah High” is filled with contentment and fun, its saxophone solo adding another layer of warmth.
The darkness inevitably returns. “Hey There Son,” featuring Wyatt Flores, looks back at Godwin’s relationship with his father before arriving at a heartbreaking goodbye. “I Caught The Sunrise” is similarly harrowing, its words almost unbearably raw. These moments are difficult to hear, but their honesty is what gives the album its power.
“Place I Know” provides some release with a proper country hoedown, before the acoustic “Street Advice” searches quietly for love and meaning. “Every Once In A While” finds solace in the act of visiting his father’s grave, while the title track wrestles with identity, inheritance and belief. “God’s Been Good To Me” introduces a Celtic folk tinge, capped by some magnificent fingerpicked guitar.
That leads into “Gospel Of The South,” where Godwin sings, “It runs through me, like the Mississippi.” That is the truth binding the entire record together: family, place and faith are not separate things here, but parts of the same inheritance.
“Brand New” closes the album with baptismal imagery and the recollection that “they dipped my head in water.” Yet renewal is not presented as something completed long ago. It is ongoing, difficult and necessary.
Christian Name is often a harrowing listen, but it never gives itself entirely to despair. Faith may not remove the pain, but for Godwin it provides a way through it. There is hope here, even when it has been painfully earned.
Rating: 8/10
