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Group Name: Simeon’s Promise
Website: www.simeons-promise.com
Album Title: “Ain’t Nobody Like Him”
Song Titles:
1. Ain’t Nobody Like Him
2. The Great I Am
3. On My Way Home
4. I Am Healed
5. Go Tell
6. Out Of This World
7. The Altar Is Open
8. Oh I Want To See Him
9. He Will
10. He Didn’t Throw The Clay Away
11. Just Ask
12. Walking Back Down

Simeon’s Promise is a regional group based out of the great state of North Carolina. (Yes, I’m a Tarheel born and bred!)  The group was founded in 2003, and consists of Teri Moss on alto, Mike Easton on baritone, and Toni Stainback on soprano.

“Ain’t Nobody Like Him” is the third album put out by the group.  It consists of mostly original material with some familiar songs added in for good measure.  Four of the songs were written by Teri Moss, one song was written by Mike Easton, and another song was written by former founding group member Steve Johnson.  It’s always nice to see regional groups looking for and even writing their own material instead of doing mostly covers of already-established songs.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.

The title track, “Ain’t Nobody Like Him”, opens the album.  Teri Moss wrote this up-tempo song that features her on the lead and solo vocals.  She has a lot of power in her voice that comes through in her solo work.  Teri is also featured on the second song, a slower ballad-style song called “The Great I Am”.  The group’s blend on this song is very smooth and pleasant to listen to.  This leads into third song, an up-tempo song called “I’m On My Way Home”.  This song features Mike Easton on lead and solo vocals, and he also wrote this song for the group.  Mike has a country sound to his voice with good pitches and clear tones.  Judging by this song, he is also a pretty good songwriter.

Soprano Toni Stainback is featured on Song #4, another slower song entitled “I Am Healed”.  She has a rich tone to her voice that makes it very well-suited to lead vocals.  Again, the blend on this song is very good.  Toni is also featured on the fifth song.  Written by Teri Moss, “Go Tell” is a medium-tempo song that has a nice sound to it with the minor chord progressions in the accompaniment and in the vocals.  Next in line is an up-tempo song called “Out Of This World”.  Teri Moss is featured here, and this song will have anyone’s foot tapping by the first chorus. 

Song #7 was written by former founding group member Steve Johnson, and he joins the group here as they sing it.  “The Altar Is Open” is a slow-to-medium-tempo song that features Toni Stainback on lead vocals.  This is a song that has a powerful message that the world definitely needs to hear.  The eighth song is the old favorite, “Oh I Want To See Him”.  Mike Easton takes the lead on this up-tempo song.  I like how they do three key changes at the end with the chorus, each time changing the vocal arrangement to let each vocalist have the lead.  Very nice touch, in my opinion.  The next song is another old favorite.  Toni Stainback takes the lead on the medium-tempo, “He Will”. 

Fans of Southern Gospel will recognize the tenth song instantly.  Teri Moss is featured on the medium-tempo song called “He Didn’t Throw The Clay Away”.  Song #11 gives us a special treat, as Toni Stainback’s young son Grant takes the lead vocals on the up-tempo “Just Ask”.  He definitely shows signs of being a good singer as he grows and matures.  Finally, the album closes with Toni Stainback taking the lead on the medium-tempo standard, “Walking Back Down”.

Song selection and songwriting are a definite strength of this album.  I also like the familiar standards that they included.  The blend of this group is good, being at its best when one of the ladies has the lead part.  This seems to be the case in many mixed trios where two of the members are female.  The group seems to be strongest on harder-driving songs that call for powerful vocals since all the members have powerful voices.  However, I think they need to work a little bit on controlling that power more.  There are times when a softer, smoother vocal is needed to really interpret a song correctly and give it the right “feel”.  Also, I think this was what caused some minor pitch issues in a few places throughout the album.  It’s nothing serious, but it will help improve an already solid vocal blend.  In closing, I would give this album a rating of 7 out of a possible 10 microphones!

Favorites: “The Great I Am”, “On My Way Home”, “Out Of This World”, and “Walking Back Down”