“Far Side Banks of Jordan” is a gospel song many may know from funeral or memorial services. Mike and Marty have now released their own version of it. And I can say this is one of my new favorites by the brother and sister duo. Why is that? Well, the singing on this one is amazing. It’s always good from these two, but I really…
There are currently two quite well-known Lovinas of an Amish background. Lovina Zook grew up Swartzentruber Amish before leaving the community several years ago. She has since become a social media star for her videos sharing Amish-style cooking recipes (and I’d say for her on-screen persona maybe just as much). We had a look at her online influencer career here several weeks ago. But well…
Ben & Rose are out with a new song, called “Simple Love”. It’s their first studio release since “How Great Thou Art” at the end of July. It’s one of the more contemporary covers they’ve done – a song written by Sarah Siskind and made popular by Alison Krauss. They have done at least one other song popularized by Krauss (“When You Say Nothing At…
Ben & Rose have put out a live version of the first song they released this year – “On Heaven’s Bright Shore”. It’s a simple song where Rose’s vocals really have space to shine. Ben and producer Conrad Fisher add nice backing vocals and understated guitar. This was recorded in front of an audience at Ragamuffin Hall. As far as I can tell, this is…
Here’s another song from the same 2023 New Order Amish youth singing that gave us “When All of God’s Singers Get Home”. This time it’s “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”. The video is by P. Thomas, who has an extensive collection of live recorded music on his channel, both from Amish and other Christian groups. Like in the previous video, the vantage point is from one…
Last week we got to know more about Lovina Zook, a young Amish-raised woman who makes popular recipe videos. Since then, a reader brought to my attention a short video clip (at bottom) by CBS News, with Lovina describing dating practices in her community. The reader was understandably concerned about people getting the wrong idea on what “Amish dating” actually is, based on this clip….
So this one has been out a week and I missed it, for the same reason I missed “Would You Like To Buy Some Flowers” last year – it went up on somebody else’s channel. “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder” is a collaboration between Ben & Rose and a group called The Alaskan Sunnyside Sisters. I’d never heard of that group before this….
The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a long piece over the weekend on competitive Amish volleyball, reported from a tournament at Intercourse Community Park in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania back in June. I spoke to reporter Jason Nark on the Amish sports topic; his full report is here. A few things stood out to me – here are four. 1. Volleyball Holds A Special Function In Amish Culture…
Ben & Rose don’t put on too many shows – but they recently played a couple of big ones in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (more on that below). We’ve been following Ben and Rose’s music since late 2024, from their first eye-and-ear-catching viral appearance as an Amish couple playing a classic country music tune to dozens of song releases since. A profile from LancasterOnline published ahead of…
“Vision of Mother” is one of the sadder songs we’ve seen Mike and Marty do – a tune paying tribute to a beloved mother who has passed away. This one follows their version of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” from back in June, which was also a song about a mother’s passing. So it’s a theme they’ve gone to twice in a short period now….