On this, his twelfth album, LaMotte is exploring new musical territory through collaboration with musicians from six continents, representing genres from blues to bluegrass, and from jazz to gospel to Southern rock. Some of the songs are inflected with Latin, African, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Appalachian influences and instruments. Fifteen musicians, representing most of that cultural spread, play on one track alone, Drink Deeply. “It’s an ambitious project,” LaMotte says. “It’s like we’re preparing the most delicious meal we can create, with the ingredients and spice racks of the whole world in our kitchen.” In the ten years since LaMotte’s most recent album, he has earned a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution in Australia and published his third book, Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness. Informed by that side of LaMotte’s work, his song You May Do That, a haunting, piano-based ballad, is built around a quotation from Rosa Parks. Give God the Blues stakes out the rock’n’roll corner of the record’s wide boundaries, featuring Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd on lead guitar. Musicians from India, Senegal, Brazil, Germany, Uganda, Canada, Guatemala, and Australia contribute to the global sound of the record, as well. Along with geographic exploration, LaMotte has explored other new ground in the last decade, becoming a father to his now seven-year-old son, growing into his marriage, and deepening his commitment and involvement with social change efforts. Through these songs, he both celebrates and wrestles with those roles, sharing stories that seem to be equal parts comfort and challenge.