John Cox
Also credited as John Cox & The Balance
Nashville, Tennessee6 reviews across 5 releases
John Cox is a Christian singer-songwriter from Texas whose early work carried the marks of a working rock band. Raised in Chico, he studied trumpet and violin before taking up guitar, played Dallas-area clubs after high school, and moved to Nashville after becoming a Christian. The 1989 credit John Cox & The Balance presented a tight, cleanly produced rock sound, with an R&B edge on "Do What God Says" and a ballad side on "Love Your Ways." By the 1996 debut Sunny Day, acoustic guitar supplied the rhythmic base while Cox sang in a broad, forceful register and the electric guitar appeared in occasional flourishes. 80 Years softened the attack further: glossy pop-rock and subdued textures replaced the debut's darker loneliness with direct songs centered on conversion and worshipful contentment.
When Questar/Mission left the Christian music business, Cox spent several years touring while working as a worship leader and speaker before making 80 Years through his own Grace Alone Records. He remained independent for Worth Dying For in 2003; its title track addressed personal worth in Christ, while the closing "Adam" retold the Fall and redemption through a dialogue between God and his children. Sanctuary followed in 2005 on KO Records, with fuller production over the same guitar-centered Christian rock foundation. Cox later issued the three-song John Cox EP in 2011.
5 releases reviewed
Closer Than a Brother
Sunny Day
80 Years
Worth Dying For
Sanctuary