With three albums under his belt, California native Jadon Lavik has built himself quite a repertoire. Quickly, this newcomer to the CCM scene garnered elite radio attention, as well as the hearts and minds of his listeners. On his new project, entitled The Road: Acoustic, Lavik has collected eight original favorites, two new compositions, and an old classic to be stripped down and re-recorded as intimate acoustic pieces. Truly, it will not take fans of any musical genre long to discover that this is the way Lavik's music was meant to be heard.

Even as the first seconds of the opener "Hear Our Song" play out, it's obvious that Jadon Lavik knows exactly what he is doing. He makes the acoustic guitar sing, very rarely allowing distractions of other instruments. The new version of "Moving On Faith" includes some tasty guitar picking that would make even Jack Johnson jealous, and "Come Thou Font" is re-envisioned as a peppy pop ballad. "Come To Me" is a bit mellower with some well-placed slide guitar twang, and features a properly lo-fi instrumental epilogue in the next track. Lavik's premier single "What If" from his debut album is nearly unchanged, but the focus fortunately lands on his vocal talents. The dual set of new tracks wrap up the disc, "Mighty God" and "Surrender," both of which are sincerely heartfelt and inspirational.

In theory (and literally), The Road is nothing new. The eleven songs on the album are your typical acoustic pop, blended with a small helping of folk. And while the resulting creation can't quite hold a candle to Jon Foreman's solo work, or even Josh Wilson or Bebo Norman, it's a welcome upgrade.

Jadon Lavik is known for his popular worship sensibilities, but The Road takes his style in a new direction. Almost surprisingly, the acoustic recreation of some of his most popular tracks is exactly the element that may have been missing all along. Not to say that The Road is perfect-- a few of the selections land squarely in the "didn't-Jeremy-Camp-get-here-first?" category-- but it's sure to convert a few non-listeners to Lavik's music. While it may not necessarily be a good idea to run out and pick up his discography, the money spent on The Road will not go to waste.

- Review date: 1/28/10, written by Garrett DeRossett of Jesusfreakhideout.com