Ascents is the first solo project by Dennis Bayne Culp, formerly of Five Iron Frenzy and Brave Saint Saturn. The album is a collection of psalms that Culp put to music over a period of time in the 1990s. Inspired by Eugene Peterson's book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Dennis was touched so much by these psalms (120-131) that he endeavored to express them with music, and to convey their impact on his life. While some songs, like Psalm 121, are taken verbatim from the original scripture, others (such as "Table for Three") are based upon the application of the Psalm in Culp's own life.