Originally Published on July 13th, 2026

Two years ago, I got an email from Steve Smith, aka Reverend Rooster. After a fulfilling and rewarding career as a disc jockey, a victorious battle with cancer, and adjusting to a world both during and post-pandemic, he decided he wanted to record and release an album. So, he started writing. The thing is, he never stopped.

That session alone ended up producing a two volume release, which would become Songs From the Oxen Road (Sides One and Two Respectfully). He released both albums in September 2024.

25. Album Review of Songs from the Oxen Road Side One by Reverend Rooster

All encompassing, those two albums were comprised of nineteen songs, seventy minutes, and hours upon hours of studio time, rehearsals, and songwriting. Smith performed the record with a collection of talented musicians, including his son, Sam, Steve Jones, Bob Colwell, and Scotty River. Two incredibly impressive albums.

After all of that work, one can imagine my surprise when, just 8 months later, I see Reverend Rooster releasing more music. Come to find out, there is another album in the works. Sure enough, The Great Design released in May of 2025. Eleven songs, thirty-seven minutes, and most importantly, the music wasn’t feeling forced. This material was just as raw. Just as connected. Just as passionate. I think this was the moment I actually realized that Smith was tapped into something real. With Oxen Road I felt Smith’s connection to his home. The property he and his wife and (then) one dog (Sky Dog) lived on, hiked, and loved. I even considered that he was describing Utopia and might be having his “Kevin Costner” moment (I make a far less striking Shoeless Joe Jackson than Ray Liotta did). There’s no doubt that he inhabits a special place near the Oxen Road. I love his stories about his hikes, like his encounters with a Coyote and coming to terms with meeting his spirit animal. As someone who longs to connect to the land, I felt all of that. What I didn’t realize was I was overlooking just how special the songwriter was, until The Great Design.

148. Fifteen Minutes of Fame Recap: Album Review of The Great Design by Reverend Rooster

He still wasn’t finished.

In a second span of 8 months, after releasing a series of singles, the Rev hit us up with another new album, Chasing the Melody. Eleven more songs, forty-one more minutes. Still just as compelling, if not more. In fact, one might say that Smith was starting to find a real stride in his songwriting and the band was beginning to get a little experimental, having found a real cohesiveness.

Four albums, forty-seven songs, two and a half hours of music released in a span of a year and 4 months. All newly written material. It’s incredibly impressive to think about. To top it off, when Smith sent his EPK for Chasing the Melody, it came with the advance notice that there would be a fifth and potentially final album released in the summer called Folk Fusion. As he playfully put it, “(after Folk Fusion) then I’ll put my creative energy towards saving the world or something!” I’m starting to wonder if he might actually pull that of too. There’s just one thing to see about before we find out.

231. Fifteen Minutes of Fame Recaps: Album Review of Chasing the Melody by Reverend Rooster

Folk Fusion

For his second LP release in 2026, Reverend Rooster released Folk Fusion on July 4th, 2026. It has twelve songs and runs at fifty-three minutes. It features Steve, Sam, and Steve’s wife, Alisa Smith, as well as Bob Colwell, Scotty River, and Steve Jones. It was recorded at Root Cellar Studio where it was engineered by Bob Colwell.

I’ve listened to this record a few times in the last week. I can say that it really feels like Reverend Rooster had a bigger vision for his music than we (maybe he) even realized. Folk Fusion does feel like it is an end to something. A righteous end. Listening to the Rev sing We Shall Overcome, his voice breeches the studio walls, the speakers, the monitors, and vibrantly echoes out into the world. He still tells stories but there is an assertion to this album. In past albums, the stories presented as if he were doing a book reading with listeners at the edge of their seats, desperate to hear every word. Folk Fusioin is almost a reminder to encourage his audience to go out and make their own stories. To live their lives. To find their love. To take their dogs on hikes.

In All of Us, he alludes to how the world feels like it is becoming untethered. Then he segues into the chorus where he proclaims “I believe in me, I believe in you, I believe in all of us.” The song is amplified over a nice, progression highlighted by a soft rock organ, and sweet little guitar solo over the bridge. All of it is carried by the Rev’s vocals that just absolutely feed the listeners.

Folk Fusion closes with #foreverandeverandever. It’s a six and a half minute song that is as much of a love song as a song can be. Knowing Alisa also contributed vocals on the album, I imagine them singing to each other as they performed one song after another. It doesn’t feel like it’s simply the end of Folk Fusion. It truly feels like he tied these albums together as a musical epilogue and concludes it with the message, “forever and ever and ever.” A song that has lyrics like “my favorite thing to sing about is you,” and “didn’t know how to be in love until you taught me to.” His message is clear and abundant. It is to love and be loved.

Final Thoughts

In spite of the nickname, stage name, etc, Reverend Rooster has never been one to be “preachy,” and he avoids doing that once again here. Instead, he has been this remarkable storyteller. Every album has painted this clear and beautiful pictures. What I love about Folk Fusion is that he is telling a more direct story of himself; of what he finds important. As a listener, I am hearing it, it is influential, but it is because I tend to agree with him. What is even more telling, is what he said in that last EPK: “Then I’ll put my creative energy towards saving the world or something.” I find this album remarkable because, in a way, it’s like he tried to start saving the world as he wrapped the album. I read so much in Smith’s songwriting and I often tend to dive deeply into the lyrics. It often leads him to ponder my thoughts of his work. I remember when the Oxen Road albums came out, I referred to them being about Utopia and he said, “I didn’t realize I was writing about Utopia, but when I read what you thought and listened again, maybe it was about Utopia after all.”

Folk Fusion or any album, music, etc. isn’t going to save the world. I wish it could, and I wish it would. Realistically, it won’t though. People have to suck it up and do that themselves. But we’re not going to do that unless we change. We aren’t going to change unless we are moved to change. We won’t be moved to change unless we are provided with the tools to move. In a little more than fifty minutes, Steve Smith, Reverend Rooster, lets his audience into his brilliant world. When they leave, it’s not empty handed. It’s with the tools we need to save the world.

Go press play on this wonderful album.