Tag: gospel music

For the remaining weeks of February, I’ll be focusing on African-American contributions to independent Christian music, in celebration of Black History Month. Both rock and roll in general, and Christian rock/indie/whatever music owe a huge debt to the African-American experience. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to overstate this. Andrae Crouch is one of the most influential Gospel artists of all time. In fact, he has often been known as the “father of modern gospel music.” And while the connection between traditional Gospel music and Christian indie/punk rock might not be obvious, it’s not as distinct as one might think.… Continued →

I had fully intended to cover something punk today, when I began listening to some old traditional Gospel for a project at work (I’m an associate pastor at a diverse, inner-city church). I was reminded of a Gospel song I first heard in the early 1990s when I was a member of a Gospel choir at my college. Yes, little ol’ white boy me, metalhead/punk rocker. In fact at one point in time I had a 4-inch mohawk while I was in this Gospel choir, but I digress.… Continued →

Some of you are going to hate me for including this (what?!? country music on IVM?!?) Others of you–maybe only a few–will recognize the importance this type of music played on the development of both rock and roll (which somewhat ironically owes a huge debt to country music), as well as to contemporary forms of Christian music, because of the strong relationship between country music and Gospel music in the middle part of the last century. Brothers Ira and Charlie Louvin began playing and singing together in the 1940s in their home in Alabama, and later branching out to nearby Tennessee.… Continued →