I’ll never forget seeing Wovenhand perform at Cornerstone 2002. I’d been a fan of both Wovenhand and David Eugene Edwards’ earlier project, 16 Horsepower, for quite some time, so I knew what to expect. Or so I thought. Rocking back and forth on his chair, staring down the crowd, and singing like a man possessed by the Holy Ghost, Edwards was absolutely riveting that night. It was easily the best concert at that year’s festival, and one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.

With its otherworldly drones, “To Make a Ring” taps into that same uncanny air, but would you believe that it’s actually a praise and worship song? CCM this most certainly is not, not when Edwards cries out “Judgement will not be avoided by your unbelief/By your lack of fear/Nor by your prayers to any little idol here.” But it’s never anything but reverent as Edwards chants, intones, and howls “Power, glory, honor/Be unto my king… We will weave our hands together to make a ring/Forever round the throne.” This is old time religion, filled with conviction, fear, awe, and a real sense of mystery.