Arden, North Carolina (May 3, 2024) — Even as the title track of their last collection, “There’s A Song For That,” rises in the charts, the Down East Boys are keeping fans happy with a new single — this time, a beloved classic from Dottie Rambo, who wrote its simple, yet profound lyric more than 50 years ago.
Written to the melody of “Londonderry Air,” which also supplied the musical framework for the popular Irish ballad, “Danny Boy,” “He Looked Beyond My Fault” offers, in just eight lines, a profound account of Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s mercy:
Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise
For it was grace that brought my liberty
I’ll never know just why He came to love me so
He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs
I shall forever lift my eyes to Calvary
To view the cross where Jesus died for me
And how marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul
He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs
Though the field is crowded, the Down East Boys’ arrangement of this majestic hymn stands out as an original, thanks to a rare — and powerful — bass lead vocal from Alex Utech on the song’s lone verse before the rest of the group joins him in a series of alternating solo and fully harmonized lines and passages. Indeed, it’s unusual and compelling enough a performance that it may take the listener some time to notice the absence of typical Southern Gospel instrumentation — a bold musical move that underlines the majestic orchestral accompaniment, arranged and conducted by producer Jason Webb.
“An emotional lyric penned by one of the greatest lyricists our genre will ever know,” says the group’s usual lead singer, Ricky Carden. “Words that bring a spirit of praise when you realize He looked past all of our faults and saw our need for a Savior.”
Listen to “He Looked Beyond My Fault” HERE.
About Down East Boys
For more than 30 years, the Down East Boys quartet has traveled from coast to coast, Canada and Mexico. Starting in eastern North Carolina the group chose the name from that region called Down East, but quickly expanded its ministry and has now recorded more than 20 projects and has had more than 40 songs reach the top of the Singing News charts. The Down East Boys features lead singer Ricky Carden, baritone singer Daryl Paschal, bass singer Alex Utech and tenor singer Doug Pittman, who each bring a richness to the group’s music and have been noted by industry leaders and singers as some of the best. The Down East Boys have been afforded many great accolades to their credit. Three songs — “Beat Up Bible,” “Testimony Time” and “I’d Like To Tell It Again” — from their album, One Day In The Past, reached the No 1. position on the Singing News Chart, and “Amazing Amounts of Amazing Grace” from their album, Faithful Still, and “Love Worth Dying For” from their album There’s A Song For That, also made the top spot. From performing with many evangelists through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, singing at Southern Baptist State Conventions and Evangelism conferences all over the country, to all the awards and nominations and the hit songs, nothing changes the goal of this group and that is to share the gospel of Jesus unto all the world.
