Today I was talking to a friend about Christian music. When I was very young, I mainly listened to Christian music, but as I got older, I listened to anything but Christian music. It just wasn't cool. Christian music always seemed to be several steps behind whatever was going on in music, and, as the rest of the world (including me) was sporting flannel shirts and chunky shoes, contemporary Christian music seemed perpetually clothed in a Jazzercise costume from the 80's.
I'm not judging. I'm just saying that you can't have that much synthesizer on a track unless you're expecting your listeners to start sweatin' to the oldies.
Now, my opinion of contemporary Christian music might have been swayed by the fact that I listened to very little of it, but whenever I bring up Christian music, I see that I'm not the only one to hold a negative opinion of it. The idea that Christian music equals bad music is pretty prevalent.
However, over the last year or so, I started listening to Christian music. Really, it started because I wanted something to lift my spirits, and my friend Brooke (my only friend who actually likes Christian music) had once told me that it's impossible to be in a bad mood while listening to Christian music. Apparently, it cured her road rage. So I gave it a try.
And, you know what? It turned out that there is really some good stuff out there. I even found out that I like some of the stuff that I would have considered too cheesy. Even that stuff made me feel really happy. So, here are some recommendations of good Christian music.
Phil Wickham: He's very young, but his lyrics are really insightful and filled with praise and poetry. "Divine Romance" is one of my absolute favorite songs. It's one of the songs that gave me hope for Christian music.
Leeland: I don't know much about them, but they're great. "Brighter Days" and "Beautiful Lord" are two of my favorites.
Jon Foreman: Just please, please check him out. His work is just beautiful. I love it.
Future of Forestry: I just learned about them. Very good!
I'd also recommend Sara Groves, Jars of Clay, Downhere, Red Mountain Church, Matt Redman, Chris Rice, FFH, and Third Day.
Seriously, I never, ever thought I'd like any Christian music, but this stuff is just good music. So, give it try!
Coming soon: Recommendations of awesome books that you should get and immediately read. And then discuss with friends over a giant plate of cookies. Or salad. But, if you're reading the Bible, remember that you have to eat chocolate. As we learned in Blue Like Jazz, the Bible is a chocolate thing. And if you didn't know that, then you have to start with Blue Like Jazz because that's way up there on the list of books I will recommend!
4 comments:
Oh my gosh, girl! We could be friends or kindred spirits or something! We're a family of music freaks--I just started listening to Jon Foreman a few weeks ago. I love a lot of those you've mentioned. Never heard of Future of Forestry. Third Day is still my favorite. Also love Blue Like Jazz. I'm wondering about another book--Enjoying the Presence of God? Is it really really great? I'm reading Practicing His Presence right now. Have you thought about making a bookshelf on Shelfari? I hope you don't mind me commenting all the time. http://www.shelfari.com/kristilibrary/shelf
I would never, ever mind you commenting. I'm an only child, so I appreciate comments! (Maybe a little too much!)
I read the Practice of the Presence of God. It was amazing. I have started but not finished Enjoying the Presence of God. It was recommended by a friend, and it is really good. I just haven't been dedicated about reading it all the way through. But I really love her ideas about focusing even the mundane acts in life on God. It gives really good perspective on how to always be thinking of God.
About music, don't you just love Jon Foreman???
Jon Foreman is fantasic. Did you know he has a Spring and Summer album coming out in June? Some other good ones: Tree 63, Shawn McDonald, Paul Wright, The Afters, Derek Webb, Jimmy Needham, Ten Shekel Shirt, and the David Crowder Band--just to name a FEW!
It's only been about 4 or 5 years now that I began to realize that I had started to like Christian music. Before then I would quickly change the station whenever any comes on. Robin Mark and Sara Groves were the first two musicians that I found that I enjoyed. I wanted to promote Sara's music and projects so I started the Sara Groves Yahoo Group. She's my #1 musician now of all genre's. A new one I'm listening to a lot now is Karen Fisher. She's a songwriter and pianist in a similar vein as Sara Groves. You can checkout her music at indieheaven.com, click on Fan Faves and she's around #13 now. Vote her 5 stars then click on her name and listen to her other songs too. You might also like Jennifer Knapp, but she's not performing anymore. Bethany Dillon has an amazing voice and it's even more amazing when you listen to her first record that she was only about 14 years old and now she's a whole 18. Then there's Christopher Williams and recently I'm listening to Charlie Peacock. He was instrumental in giving Sara Groves a start in the business. He's got some jazz records out with one of the musicians from Bella Fleck and the Flecktones, who are great too. Oh and Johnny Lang. I didn't realize he was a Christian until just a couple of years ago. I hear that Sixpence None The Richer are getting back together. They do/did some good Christian music too that was also appealing in the new rock genre. I'll have to check out your list because I have not heard of some of them. Thanks for posting it.
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