[Music] Tears On the Altar – Eighteen Mile

Master October 3, 2026 2 min read 0

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On the heels of the release of their acclaimed debut album for Mountain Home Music Company, Peace Be Still, and their first-ever Dove Award nomination – Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year for “Above the Clouds” – youthful bluegrass group Eighteen Mile are dropping a brand new single, “Tears On the Altar.” Inspired by a real-life old-fashioned altar call, the gentle, loping bluegrass track with a timeless fast-waltz feel was written by Eighteen Mile’s Carson Aaron.

Tears On the Altar – Eighteen Mile

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“We were playing at a church in Florida for a special service, and the preacher that night encouraged everyone there to pray for their loved ones that didn’t know Jesus yet,”Aaron explains, telling the story of writing the song. “They had an old-fashioned altar call, where people came down to the front to pray. When we went up to play a couple more songs, I noticed that the stairs were actually wet in places from people crying as they prayed for their loved ones. I went back to where we were staying that night and wrote this song!”

The song, remarkably simple in its content and production, shines by genuinely inhabiting its message of surrender to the almighty power and mercy of God. Produced by Andy Leftwich, who joins the group on fiddle and mandolin as well and also produced Peace Be Still, “Tears On the Altar” sounds as if it could have been plucked from almost any era of bluegrass. The tight three-part harmonies of Carson Aaron, Hallie Ritter and Jack Ritter display just one reason why this young band continues to find their songs climbing the bluegrass gospel charts; that “Tears On the Altar” was also written by a member of the band – like the Dove Award- nominated “Above the Clouds” by Hallie Ritter – is yet another.

With heartstring-tugging twin fiddles, Eighteen Mile leaves us with the song’s poignant, simple chorus:

Our tears on the altar we lay
For the souls of our loved ones we fervently pray
Aside from your power they’ll never be saved
So our tears on the altar we lay

“This song almost feels like an old bluegrass classic,”Aaron continues, “in its arrangement, sound, and message. We are excited to contribute a song like ‘Tears On the Altar’ to that long and nostalgic tradition!”