The Way of the Cross Leads Home Hymn CD, and Unto Us a Child is Born Christmas CD are the two debut CDs from Katelyn Baas. Katelyn is a Christian musician who believes that the purpose of music is to bring glory to God and to uplift and comfort his children. Baas uses the hammered dulcimer and the guitar for her CDs.

The Way of the Cross Leads Home CD

The Way of the Cross Leads Home was Baas’s debut CD and features a variety of hymns played on the hammered dulcimer and accompanied by an acoustic guitar. The music is beautiful and calming. It includes fifteen popular hymns, including Blessed Assurance, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus, and more.
This CD has a runtime of about forty minutes. The physical copy of this CD is $17.99, including shipping, and the digital download version is available for $9.99.

Unto Us a Child is Born Christmas CD

The Unto Us a Child is Born Christmas CD has twelve beautiful Christmas songs played on the hammered dulcimer and accompanied by the guitar. Many of these songs are popular Christmas hymns such as Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
This CD also included several new-to-me songs, including, Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming and Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne. The physical copy of this CD is $17.99, including shipping. There are also some bundle deals available.

My daughter is a musician and loves to listen to various music. She plays violin, viola, and piano but has a hammered dulcimer that she would like to learn to play. We chose these CDs primarily for her to hear, but I believe they would be suitable for anyone who enjoys instrumental music.

She listened to them as she cleaned her room, worked on other projects, or studied. When I asked her for her opinion, she stated, “I would recommend these CDs to someone looking for a collection of instrumental hymns. They would work for someone who needs music in the background of an event or wants music playing while they read, work, or do school.”

My daughter also appreciated that the songwriter’s name and the date of the writing were listed on the back of the CD cover. We are considering purchasing the book of hammered dulcimer sheet music (and accompanying guitar chords) that Baas has available to accompany the CDs for my daughter to use as she learns to play.

Overall, these were beautiful and well-done instrumental CDs that featured an instrument, the hammered dulcimer, which is not often featured in instrumental music. They would be beneficial for providing background music during the homeschool day or while working on chores or other household tasks.

~Product review by Dawn Peluso, The Old Schoolhouse®, August 2023