One might wonder why there would be a need for contemporary musical settings of the Psalms in the liturgy. I would like to take this opportunity to share a few reflections from my spiritual journey as to how I understand why the Lord has inspired me to take on this ministry. The title hopefully sets the tenor for the project: "Psalms for the People." These psalm settings are not written for the liturgists or for the "rubricists" or even for the music ministers. They are written for the whole church to encourage complete worship of the entire person, body and soul. In our culture, American Catholics seem to reinforce a false dichotomy between what is perceived as profane and what is perceived as sacred. I would hazard to guess that there are millions of adult Catholics who go to mass weekly, but on the way home listen to either the contemporary music they grew up with or to CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) for spiritual edification. The same person who sits quietly next to you in "pew 13" and who rarely, if ever, sings at mass might be seen singing full voice with the lungs of an opera star at a classic rock concert of one of their favorite bands. This same person might also feel uninhibited enough to praise aloud at a concert of one of their favorite CCM artists. This dichotomy is still so deeply entrenched that music for the Mass is kept in that parallel universe of pious activity that does not impact upon one's life except for when it is dusted off weekly and then obediently put back in the "religion section" of one's life. These Psalm settings are not intended as mere entertainment, but are rather a humble attempt to evangelize the faithful right in the pews by encouraging heartfelt worship far from any "churchy" role playing. When you allow yourself to worship at Eucharist with only a humble heart that does not fear to worship completely, you become an intercessory invitation to the "People of God" to enter into the holy of holies. Please visit innervoicestudios.net to download free lead sheets and simple demos of each psalm for use in your community. You will also find updates about coming projects and about how you can support this ministry. I have proclaimed each of these psalms for the liturgy playing only an acoustic guitar so you don't really need to sound like the CD. This music is freely given to the Church for the Glory of God. If the Lord touches you through any of these psalms, I exhort you proclaim God's love from the rooftops and take your living faith to the streets! I would like to thank all of the musicians who played on this project as each track evolved through the collaboration to become something new. I thank my wife Karen for thirty years of helping me follow the inner voice of my soul. I especially would like to thank my son Benjamin for sharing his immense talents in playing on, engineering, and producing this project with frayed patience in dealing with his analog father in a digital reality. Mostly, I give thanks to you Lord Jesus, my brother, my friend, my God. The CD contains musical settings of Psalms which Roland wrote while he was a youth minister in the El Paso Diocese, Lifeteen Music Director at St. Pius X, Music Director for ACTS weekends, and music instructor at Loretto Elementary. Roland has toured nationally with John Michael Talbot and currently tours internationally with Tony Melendez.