Who Burst the A Cappella Bubble?
I still love a cappella music. Just not for the reasons I heard growing up.
Not because scripture demands it. Not because God prefers it. Not because of gopher wood.
But I still love it, and I believe the tradition of a cappella singing is a wonderful gift Churches of Christ (and other denominations) make to the fellowship of believers.
However . . .
A friend of mine just told me about the first time someone put a Christian music cassette in his hands. It blew apart his only-a-cappella-for-these-compelling-reasons world. For him, it was John Michael Talbot’s “The Painter.”
I got to remembering. I think for me it was Amy Grant, Sandi Patty (or is it Sandy Patti — I can’t ever remember), and Steve Green.
Now my “Christian music playlist” is filled with Chris Tomlin, Bebo Norman, and Shawn McDonald.
How about you? Who was the first Christian recording artist you remember? Who are you listening to now?
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We’ve been planning our next Zoe conferences (Nashville in October; Fresno in January; and Lubbock in March). The theme is “Fearless.” Randy Gill and Brandon Scott Thomas were telling me about the songs that are being recorded. Can’t wait.
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I’m sitting here having lunch at Panera while pecking away on my Mac. In the last ten minutes, two guys have attempted to walk through a full-length window.
Now THOSE are some clean windows, my friends.
The first? DC Talk and Jars of Clay.
Now I find myself in worship with Shane and Shane, Bebo Norman, and the worship leaders from IHOP-KC.
For me, the Doobie Brothers’ “Jesus Is Just Alright.”
late 70′s….Larry Norman and 2nd Chapter of Acts
For me, it has to be Keith Green. When I was but a wee lad, I would ask my dad who was singing and when he replied “Keith Green,” I would giggle and say, “Green Bean!”
I was a strange kid.
I believe this may be the first time I’ve commented on your blog, but I’ve been lurking for awhile and I appreciate what you write. Thanks!
Mike, thanks for changing the subject.
Acappella fueled my fire and now Phillips, Craig and Bean got me through a tuff time.
It was a Steven Curtis Chapman CD. I started listening in order to critique it (“how could this be worship?”), the problem was that one day I accidently started singing along and “caught” myself worshipping!
I admit, I might be strange. I love full congregational harmony. One person singing just doesn’t do anything for me.
I forgot to add–praise teams get on my nerves also, just give me a good leader like Ray Walker.
Wasn’t Ray Walker on “Good Times”?
Hate to burst ya’lls bubble – but Abilene rules again. Chris Christian (aka Chris Smith from Abilene) and ACU ex Brown Bannister are about as early as one can get for Contemporary Christian Music – going back to about 1973 or so.
Of course, sadly, Abilene was less than enthused about Chris’ endeavors with man-made instruments. Most have heard the story of how Brown and Amy Grant met in Nashville at the “hippie church of christ” and how Brown held up a phone to a cassette recorder of Amy’s music while talking to Chris on the phone one day. Chris said “I’m booking a plane to Nashville to tomorrow – tell Amy to get ready to sign a contract”.
The rest is history.
For me it was Michael Card. I first heard Love Crucified Arose and the beauty of the music and the richness of the lyrics always led me to join in worship. In fact I often could be seen and heard driving down the road to my next patient’s home singing along with many of the Christian music CD’s Although my preference is still ACappella when it is done well I am grateful for all of the awesome music I have heard that expresses in ways that talking cannot my bubbling up and over joy and sorrow that they express.
My first real exposure to CCM was probably Steven Curtis Chapman and the song More Than Words. It’s still one of my favorites.
Ironically for me it was also Amy Grant and that crew (MWS, Sandy(i) Patty(i).
Nowadays I just love Amy Stroup. She’s another Nashville Amy with some roots in Abilene, I think. Her music is refreshing.
Be careful of those windows!
From Merkel, TX: Michael and Amy McCoy (now Walker) – hands down. Back in the day, 1988, Michael and Amy joined us on AFCO, and Michael brought his guitar, much to our delight.
*gasp*
In case there are watchdogs lurking about to purify and purge the infidels from the One True Church-that-is-not-a-denomination, don’t worry. qb hereby certifies that Michael never used that guitar during an Official Worship Service [TM] anywhere in southeast Asia or Hawaii.
Fabulous.
qb
Had to be Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. Now I listen to FFH, Mark Schulz, Mercy Me, and Point of Grace.
It was a Micheal W. Smith/Point of Grace concert that first tuned me in, but it was Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman that convinced me that churches of christ as a group will be forced to make changes in the future whether they want to or not.
When I saw the Indescribible tour, it was quite simply one of the most amazing nights of worship that I have ever experienced. I liked their music and expected to be entertained before I went — but 3 hours of praise worship later, I left changed.
I guess I’m showing my age, but the first was one of the original Christian rock bands – Love Song.
My family and I read this post while having lunch at Panera, on my iPhone. Nobody’s walked into any windows; either folks are smarter here in California, or the windows aren’t as clean.
As for the music thing, there was a little bit of Amy Grant, but I got hooked in by Randy Stonehill and Sweet Comfort.
DC Talk, Jars of Clay, and Audio Adrenaline… all I knew until then was good ‘ole Acappella/AVB…
I had never heard of CCM until I got to Harding. Even then, it took a couple of years until I started listening to Amy Grant, MWS, and SCC. DC Talk was the turning point, though…here was a group that was awesome. Maybe someday they will reunite.
Of course, I had friends (in the church, so it was covert) who listened to Stryper back in high school.
Amy Grant… Of course the crush I had on her helped as well…
Now it’s Switchfoot (as we speak), TobyMac, Third Day, Relient K, Hawk Nelson… oh, and no more crushes (my wife loves Third Day).
For me it was “Godspell” all the way back in ’71 or ’72. “Prepare Ye”, “Day by Day”, & “Light of the World” so resonated with me. I was 15 or 16, & just was thrilled that those songs were being played regularly on the pop radio stations. I also loved “I Dont Know How to Love Him” from “Jesus Christ, Superstar. My older sister bought the sheet music to “Day by Day”, & we rocked out to it while she played it on the piano. Sweet Mom & Dad approved. I love them for that. Happy 61st Anniversary, Virgil & Lou!
I’ll always be partial to Amy Grant. She broke wide the cofC doors with her contemporary recordings of standards & wonderful,fresh new songs—imho, of course.
Mike, you asked who we’re currently listening to . . .
For me, there’s no more cutting and honest work from a Christian artist than the solo work of Derek Webb. His album “Mockingbird” should have done for “Christian” music what “Blue Like Jazz” did for “Christian” books.
Another great artist, though most may see him outside of the sacred sphere, is Sufjan Stevens. In one of my favorite songs he compares the way we cover our sins to that of murderer John Wayne Gacy Jr.
“And in my best behavior
I am really just like him.
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid.”
Others: Robbie Seay Band, Aaron Roche, Matisyahu (Orthodox Jew meets Bob Marley), Kendall Payne, and a little Irish band called U2.
I grew up in Searcy but I remember being taught Amy Grant songs in seventh grade by some university students who were our Sunday morning teachers at College church. Next came Smitty, followed by SCC.
I was always more of a rock and roll person so when I found DC Talk I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. These days my office is usually filled with Third Day (Hello? Jesus and southern rock! How can you go wrong?), Mercy Me or Jars of Clay.
I’ve raised my kids on CCM and our car usually has Skillet, Barlow Girl, Superchick, Switchfoot, and Relient K. This fall we hope to go to the Music Builds tour and experience Third Day, Switchfoot, Jars of Clay and Robert Randolph and the Family Band in person.
Music is such a gift from God. Speaking as a musician at heart, I know full well that instrumental music is a gift completely separate from vocal gift. It’s wonderful that both can be used to glorify God.
What started it for me was Michael Card’s stuff from the ’80s. It still knocks me out.
Nowadays, my favorite is probably Buddy Miller’s “Universal United House of Prayer”
Matt: No, that was Jimmy Walker. Ray Walker was on “My Favorite Martian.” smhsr
Amy Grant was my first. I went to church with a cousin of hers, which was cool. Then it was the original A Cappella.
Today, my house has a mix of Relient K, Switchfoot and Hawk Nelson (my boys’ favorites) and a CD of songs sung by the counselors of Camp Deer Run in East Texas.
Thanks, Steve. I always get those guys confused.
Odgie, you just made my all-time super cool commenter list for simply typing the name “Buddy Miller.” Truly you are a chosen one of God for having such extraordinary tastes.
Did nobody else grow up watching the Grand Ole Opry? Good old county gospel music was my first taste. I can still hear Dolly and her “Coat of Many Colors.”
I have a very distinct recollection of listening to Handel’s Messiah in my car a few days before Christmas when I experienced this particular epiphany. The instruments and orchestration were CLEARLY a part of what made this work so marvelous. I had already encountered some ideological questions about the use of instruments in worship – but this was in the most literal sense a “realization” of those thoughts – it brought it out of the realm of theory and academic debate and into the “reality” of my world.
Handel’s Messiah, the Requiems of Mozart, Bach, Berlioz, Verdi – how can one not worship hearing, experiencing such towering music – stretching heart and soul to Heaven? How could God not be honored with such music????? And I’m so thankful for it.
My buddies dragged me over to Calvary Chapel in the late 70′s with Sweet Comfort, Daniel Amos & Keith Green. Then off to Columbia Christian and someone to me to a 2nd Chapter of Acts concert. My first 6 years of youth ministry it was U2 then a buddy hooked me up with Rich Mullins (who is still my favorite)I also enjoyed the Lost Dogs and the 77′s. I probably listen to Switchfoot, Derek Webb & Over The Rhine. Our usual Sunday Worship leaders are Pierce Pettis, Grace Pettis, Wendy Colona, Tom Kimmell and our own Dave Madden. I guess I can’t say more without mentioning Sam Phillips (aka Leslie Phillips, aka T-Bone’s ex wife, aka femme fatale in Die Hard something).
Hey Elliott, drag your tush to Austin to see Buddy open up for Emmylou you can crash in the spare room and we get you some good texas BBQ none of the cheap pulled pork stuff in Hotlanta.
And the state of CCM music. Well they held the wake for the print edition of CCM magazine a couple of months ago.
During my years at Oklahoma Christian the first non-acapella worship for me was Amy Grant—still brings back great memories when I hear her. (Of course a couple of my roommates were convinced I was “going off the deep end” … but I had no idea what they even meant!)
For me it was Amy Grant in late High School. Now it is Shane and Shane, Bebo Norman, Chris Tomlin, Third Day and I could go on and on. I love that my son can lead worship with his guitar on youth trips and decotionals. That would never have flown in my youth group. My family will be going to the Metroplex in a couple of weeks to worship with SCC at First Baptist Euless. I know it will be a special night for our family. BTW qt…Michael and Amy both sang in my wedding…they are gifted.
Rich Mullins. I think it was “Hold Me Jesus”… the line where he says,
“And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It’s so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters in my heart.”
I believe those lines changed me in a way that most music, not just a capella but all music, has never even come close to.
PETRA! (Beyond Belief) and dc Talk (Nu Thang), both 1990, first two albums (cassettes) I ever owned. actually Petra was my little brother’s but i loved it.
my parents decided to just skip the whole music controversy and hope we’d grow up filling our heads with anything that had a decent (or at least a not-detrimental) message. plus, at the same time my dad started teaching me guitar using worship songs (and he still has his CoC preaching job! at my end of Canada, we fight over different stuff.) I pretty much voluntarily listened to 80% ‘Christian music’ as a teenager. I still love 20-year-old Christian rock! Those were the golden years of CCM, imo – before worship music.
You’re kidding me! No one said Petra or White Heart!?!?!??! Man, “Beat The System” is STILL one of my favorite albums of all time – Greg X Volz was an awesome vocalist. And “The Coloring Song,” which A Capella did a great rendition of, is as happy of a hippie Christian song as you can find.
And yeah, I did like Stryper, too…but only because I liked being able to say the name of the album “To Hell With The Devil.”
Trust me, Happy — no one hates Atlanta BBQ more than this Atlanta resident!
And kudos for mentioning Leslie Phillips. I love “River of Love.”
And my apologies to all for having used the word “kudos.” I’m humiliated.
Michael Card…first and finest for me.
the first christian artist i remember listeing to is dallas holm. shortly after that came amy grant and michael w smith and others. i still like all of them, but also really like casting crowns, phillips, craig and dean, chris tomlin and mercy me. so much good stuff to choose from these days.
Early, Don Francisco. Later, Randy Stonehill. There are other good artists, old and new, but these guys endure in terms of message AND music. Bryan Duncan and Phil Keaggy do it for me, too.
I agree that it is all good. But I still cling to A Cappella music. I still believe that this is what is good and acceptable in the eyes of God. I used all the others as source of encouragement, but what I actually offer up as worship to my creator is A Cappella.
For me it was Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith while a counselor at Camp Tahkodah (owned by HU) under the leadership of Cliff Sharp. Mike – do you remember Cliff and Jane Sharp from Searcy days? It was a great summer!
I think my first was either Jars of Clay or DC Talk. Now I listen to whomever they play…but some of my favorites are Third Day and Mac Powell, some of Casting Crowns & Mercy Me, and Chris Tomlin.
I listened to some of the suggestions on U-Tube. For example, Larry Norman. I don’t see how anyone could be inspired by him. I listened to others and they did nothing for me. What is the deal anyway? Amy Grant I have heard about. She has a pretty good voice but even she isn’t inspirational in my opinion.
I know I’m in the minority, but I just haven’t heard any Christian music that I like yet. My wife listens to Christian radio and most of it sounds popish and I don’t care for pop music. There’s probably something out there that I would like but, I listen to AM radio quite a bit so I haven’t explored this that much.
I have noticed that sometimes secular music I’ve listened to for years actually has great spiritual meaning. Collective Soul’s “Shine” and Garth Brook’s “You Move Me” come to mind. These guys may have had every intention of these song’s having spiritual meaning but they didn’t sell them that way.
I am wary of anyone who gets wealthy by selling their gift. Or maybe I should just say I haven’t been able to reconcile how one can take a gift that can help people connect with God (and this would apply to preachers as well I guess) and sell it for more than a modest profit. So I guess when I hear Garth Brooks sing “You Move Me”, even though I know he sold it for large profit, he didn’t sell it as Christian music and I almost think this is closer to God talking to me, than Garth marketing to me. Does that make any sense?
I’m pretty open to having my mind changed here…
I usually find myself the odd man out in discussions like this…
…but 98% of contemporary Christian music leaves me flat. There are a handful of modern songs that I like, two or three that really touch and move me, but the rest, meh.
Like so many others it started with AG, SCC, & MWS.
Matt Redman is an amazing modern psalmist. Other favorites: Toby Mac, Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me, Nichole Noredeman.