[Dixielandjazz] An emerging music trend?

[Steve barbone]

Not OKOM . . . BUT . . . it is an interesting read in a day when many folks
say music is going to hell with rap and hip hop. Also gives us OKOMers pause
for thought . . . Hey, maybe we should include more Gospel to attract the
young, large, Christian fan base? Closer Walk, Flee As a Bird, Precious
Lord, By and By, Just A Little While To Stay Here etc., etc.,?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Christian Rock and Mainstream Music Move Closer Together

NY TIMES - By KELEFA SANNEH - April 27, 2006

One of this season's most eagerly anticipated rock albums comes from a band
that almost never shows up on MTV, in Rolling Stone or on the Billboard rock
charts. It's called, "Coming up to Breathe" (INO), a title that fits the
music: the album epitomizes the raspy, melancholy (and sometimes bland)
genre that rock radio programmers call "modern rock." But this is a "modern
rock" CD that rock radio programmers may well take pains to avoid.

"Coming Up to Breathe" is the latest from MercyMe, and if that name doesn't
ring bells ‹ or show up on airplay charts ‹ that might be because MercyMe is
one of the country's most popular evangelical bands. Every song on every
album is about salvation through Christ, and MercyMe's touring itinerary
includes plenty of churches. On Monday, the band played a short acoustic set
for New York-area fans, but it wasn't at a club: it was at Jesus Book & Gift
Store in Green Brook, N.J., and it was sponsored by Star 99.1 FM, the local
contemporary Christian music station.

To your average rock 'n' roll fan, this operation probably sounds laughably
rinky-dink. And yet MercyMe ‹ like Casting Crowns and a number of the other
top Christian rock bands ‹ routinely outsells many of its secular
counterparts. The band's 2001 album, "Almost There," sold more than two
million copies, thanks to the crossover hit "I Can Only Imagine." Two
follow-ups didn't do as well, though that's relative; "Undone," from 2004,
still moved more than 600,000 copies, about the same as Bruce Springsteen's
last album. And last year the band released "The Christmas Sessions," a
memorable collection of rock 'n' roll carols old and new.

Back in the decadent age of Mötley Crüe, churchgoing rockers sometimes
seemed out of place. And listeners who remember Stryper ‹ the infamous
evangelical hair-metal band of the 1980's, known for apian, yellow-and-black
spandex outfits ‹ may be tempted to dismiss today's Christian rock out of
hand.

But instead of growing apart, mainstream rock and Christian rock seem to
have grown closer since the 1980's. Consider the modern-rock and emo bands
who dominate contemporary rock radio; they're full of earnest and rather
clean-cut young men who often seem more interested in the power of love than
the power of lust. So what difference would it make if those plaintive
lyrics were about a Him instead of a her?

Of course, some of those seemingly mainstream rock bands really are
Christian, although many of them prefer not to be labeled as such. Lifehouse
is led by a Christian, and the band specializes in inspirational (though
vague) ballads. P.O.D. has grown more explicit about faith; the band's
latest album is called, "Testify." And nearly every ambitious Christian band
seems to list U2 as a musical mentor, partly because of the way Bono sings
about faith (sometimes indirectly and sometimes, as on the 1983 album
"October," directly).

The genre of Christian rock has been making strides, too. Casting Crowns
reached No. 9 on the Billboard album chart last fall. And Tooth & Nail, the
long-running Christian alternative label, is nurturing a fistful of
sermon-averse punk and emo bands, including the screamers in the emerging
band Underoath. The group's most recent album, "They're Only Chasing
Safety," includes a rousing song called, "I've Got 10 Friends and a Crowbar
that Says You Ain't Gonna Do Jack."

There's nothing quite that irreverent on "Coming Up to Breathe," which is
MercyMe most raucous album so far. (That's not saying much, but it is saying
something.) In case you miss the imagery in the title track ("I've held my
breath for all my life/ But I am breaking free tonight"), the band's singer,
Bart Millard, explains who he's singing about: "Lord here I am again/
reaching for your hand."

More often, MercyMe relies upon a familiar (though often effective)
head-fake: the song seems to be about a romantic relationship, but it turns
out to be a relationship with God. In the winsome single "So Long Self,"
there's a rousing guitar riff that could almost be pop-punk, topped with
cheerful lyrics about breaking up: "So long self/ Well it's been fun, but I
have found somebody else." Guess who that somebody is? And in "One Trick
Pony," there's a bluesy groove (sounds like someone got hold of a G. Love &
Special Sauce CD) and an eager admission: "I got a one-track mind." Guess
where those tracks lead?

There are plenty of lowlights, too, and plenty of hackneyed lyrics. ("I just
need to break these chains" doesn't sound very ‹ what's the word? ‹
inspired.) But the band also finds unusual ways to approach its one and only
subject. "3:42am (Writer's Block)" is an infectious song about a struggling
writer, with a twist. This writer isn't looking for an original idea: "If
the idea's mine/ It's a waste of time," he sings. He asks his muse to "Say
what you wanna say," instead.

One of the strangest things about this album is how rarely it mentions Jesus
by name; only one song does. (Perhaps that circumspection increases the
band's chances on secular radio.) That one song is "Bring the Rain," where
the refrain ends, "Jesus, bring the rain." Either purposely or not, the song
echoes the most popular Jesus song of the moment, and maybe the decade: the
country-pop smash "Jesus Take the Wheel," by the "American Idol" winner
Carrie Underwood. Oddly, that song might have faced more resistance had it
been sung by a church-nurtured group, not a worshipful "Idol." Even now, the
rules are different for avowedly Christian bands.

In an overwhelmingly Christian country, it may seem strange that Christian
rock even exists as a niche genre; if rock better reflected American
demographics, then secular rock would be the niche. But at a time when rock
radio commands a dwindling core of listeners, and when major labels are
struggling to create the multi-million-selling stars they depend upon, niche
status might not seem so bad. MercyMe already has a devoted fan base, a
ready-made touring circuit and lots of loyal album buyers. The Devil may
still have the best tunes (for now), but can he match that business model?