The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 24, Ed. 1, Friday, November 7, 1997 Page: 2 of 6
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Eor the most part all rock con-
certs have several characteristics
in common: Tans wildly undu-
lating' and waving their arms to
B a heavy bass beat a lead singer
H moving rapidly from one side of
the stage to the other singing barely audi-
ble lyrics a guitar line or drum solo that
moves the audience to cheers.
But rarely is there an interruption in
the driving rhythms for a prayer and invi-
tation. And most crowds don't sponta-
neously break out into a chorus of "I Love
You Lord" while the band members raise
their arms to the sky and close their eyes.
This occurrence may be a rarity now
but not for long. With the unexpected suc-
cess of Christian rock groups such as
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Third Day and Jars of Clay Christian
music is coming into its own. And more
and more mainstream record labels and
radio stations are coming with them
The furor over these crossover artists
began more than two years ago when Jars
of Clay released their No. 2 hit single Flood
simultaneously in Christian and main-
stream markets.
In a matter of 28 months the bands
debut album sold more than 1.5 million
copies Flood received heavy airplay on
MTV and VH-1 and the band garnered
back-to-back Dove Awards the Christian
music equivalent of a Grammy for New
Artist of the Year in 1996 and '97 some-
where finding time to open a few concerts
for Sting.
But despite its success the group came
under fire from secular
and Christian fans alike;
one group said their
music was too spiritual
the other said it was not
.spiritual enough. But
however they are
viewed by the outside
world the band mem-
bers believe their min-
istry is a unique one.
"We decided that a lot
of what we do is bridge-
building and ground-
softening" said guitarist
George Mason In an
October interview with
CCM Magazine.
"For people who have
nb experience with the
church or a negative
one maybe it creates the
first positive experience
where they weren't get-
ting yelled at or con-
demned or judged pre-
maturely. Maybe the
Lord will use that to
open them up to ministry from others."
Whatever criticism they received did
little to affect the release of their second
albumj Af ch Afraid. The .band debuted in
the top 10 on Billboard's mainstream
charts.
Jars of Clays success opened the door
for other Christian artists to step through
to mainstream audiences. Rock group
Third Day took that step.
The groups self-titled debut album was
actually released two separate times the
first time being three years ago by inde-
pendent label Gray Dot records before
being acquired re-mixed and rc-rcleascd
by Reunion Records in early 1996 Since
then the group has expanded into the
mainstream with the single Nothing at All
from Thlni Day which received heavy
radio airplay. And with its latest release
Conspiracy No 5 the group has the added
guns of mainstream label Silvcrtonc
which is jointly funding the groups album
promotion and video production along
with Reunion.
"We hope to tear down some of those
walls between 'Christian music' and 'secu-
lar music'" said drummer David Carr.
"God has gifted us to play and to write
songs. Lets Just enjoy that. Lets not try to
define everything."
Bass player Tai Anderson said "Our
music is not going to save anyone. We just
want to point people to Christ. We really
feel like God's challenging us to go further
to reach people who haven't been reached
with the Gospel yet."
While the band says they are going to
keep their Christian focus they plan to
continue seeking fresh ways to share the
Gospel with those outside the fence.
"In the past there have been a lot of
Christian bands who have been spokes-
men for youth groups and pastors and
they'll sum up these things into one song
like an anthem" said guitarist Mark Lee.
"We want to say something different.
left: Ian Eskelin lead singer of
Christian alternative band All Star
United croons for the crowd dur-
ing Sunday's concert at the Civic
Center. The band opened for rock
group Third Day.
middle left: Fans pose for a pho-
tograph with Patrick McCallum
keyboard player for All Star
United.
bottom left: As Mac Powell lead
singer of Third Day performs
fans lift their clasped hands and
sing along.
Maybe at first people aren't going to get It.
But by following us through the whole
process hopefully people will ask ques-:
lions about their faith and move to 'f deep- j
cr relationship with God."'
The rock genre isn't the only type of
music that is seeing an influx of Christian
artists. MxPx is a staple of the punk rock
scene In both Christian and mainstream
markets. The group like Jars of Clay has
received criticism for not being "Christian
enough."
"Its kind of weird" said lead slrjiger
Mike Herrcra "because we're Christians
and everybody knows we're Christians.
But a lot of times because of where
Christian music has been saying that;
we're a 'Christian band' kind of makes peo-'
ple'prejudge what they think of us."
Another band making inroads into the
music industry is Christian ska band the
Supertoncs. By signing on with newly-created
Christian label BEC Records the
group has been catapulted into the main-
stream spotlight with BEC partner EMI
one of the largest music distribution com-
panies in the country
And Houston-based music group Gods
Property produced Stomp the only gospel
track ever to receive MTV airplay. The
groups album Is currently ranked 19th on
the Billboard R&B charts.
Despite all these performers' success in
mainstream markets they are quick to
emphasize their music still has a message
for Christians.
' "Whats striking to me is that as
Christians we get so used to these expres-
sions like 'Jesus loves you' and 'saved' that
they really start to lose their meaning"
said Third Day's Anderson. "We can say
'Jesus' and cveryones just going to cheer.
But what we really want is for people to
think about things. We should never get to
the place where the phrase esus loves
you' becomes callous. Its an incredible
thing every day to realize that love"
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 24, Ed. 1, Friday, November 7, 1997, newspaper, November 7, 1997; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth99764/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.