Call it a case of “put your money where your mouth is.”
Last week I blogged about The Civil Wars and their debut album, Barton Hollow(or as they pronounce it, “Barton Hawller”). This beautiful set of songs has really captured my attention. It has also forced me to stand on some of the principles I’ve stated at this blog.
Many times I have proclaimed that Christian artists should have the freedom to produce the art they feel called to make, whether it is specifically “Christian” (which is a tricky definition) or not. So many times, we pigeon-hole Christian artists to make a certain type of music, or write only uplifting, God-honoring lyrics.
As far as I know, The Civil Wars are not a “Christian” band. However, Joy Williams had a career in CCM (contemporary Christian music) prior to joining John Paul White to form The Civil Wars. As far as I know, Mr. White has not had such a career.
In the midst of their moving vocals, there are lines such as: “Ain’t going back to Barton Hollow Devil gonna follow me e’er I go Won’t do me no good washing in the river Can’t no preacher man save my soul”
or “If I die before I wake
I know the Lord my soul won’t take”
Doesn’t sound like typical CCM fare to me. In fact, initially I stumbled on this a little. It bothered me hearing them sing this at first, because I took it as denying that the Lord can save.
Is this really what they’re saying?
Of course not! I didn’t consider the point of view of the song – from the perspective of a man who has at least robbed a large sum of money, who didn’t think he deserved redemption. It’s a typical theme in Southern music, but I fell into the trap of taking the song very superficially.
How about their first well-known song, Poison and Wine? “Your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine”
or “I don’t love you, but I always will”
Honestly, I was disappointed in myself for tripping up over something that wasn’t there. Listening deeper, their lyrics like from Poison and Wine talk about the dichotomy in a relationship that is so strong that sometimes you can’t stand the person, but you can’t be without them. It is honest and provocative in the presentation, but it speaks to a dynamic those of us who have been in a deep relationship can identify with, even if we can’t speak the sentiment.
I’m glad that I can realize and own up to my hypocrisy. Quality art, when it has depth, will challenge us in our preconceived ideas if we let it. If we get tangled up with a superficial glance, then we will miss out on the riches beneath.
The Civil Wars are a band that has found a niche the two artists would never have found alone. I applaud them for their music, and I applaud Joy for running in a new direction. By the way, they are produced by Charlie Peacock, head of the Art House, and a strong Christian who is a creative genius. Also, they sing a song in their live set, “Pray”, that is a strong tune for crying out to Him, without succumbing to Christianese. The surface can be deceiving – the truth lies deeper than that.
Here’s to mining the riches that Jesus our Creator, our Master Artist, has for His people! —
I love it when artists can challenge us. Hopefully you have heard about The Civil Wars by now. The duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White have made a big splash in the last few weeks with their debut album, Barton Hollow, releasing on Feb. 1. I’d say appearing on The Tonight Show and having their album be #1 on iTunes for its first week as a pretty good start.
Their music is haunting and beautiful, stripped down to the basics: White’s guitar, some occasional piano by Williams, the scattered accordian or percussion, and the intertwining harmonies of the two singers. In this day of auto-tuned, electronic noise being blared on iThingies and the random Super Bowl halftime show (brought to you by Lite-Brites), the organic, simple nature of these songs works into your soul. As opposed to bashing us over the head.
Their style would be best described as folk or Americana, although it resists easy labeling. They hail from Nashville and are getting airplay on CMT, but I wouldn’t call them country (especially to those who know me – I’m not a country music fan). The point is that they make lovely music together. A majority of the songs are slow paced with a melancholy feel, longing for love. The title track is a foot-stomper with soaring vocal gymnastics, while “Poison and Wine,” featured on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy speaks in a raw, honest way about the dichotomies of love.
The two singers are refreshingly real in a day of pre-packaged artists fed to top 40 radio. I was intrigued when I found they were produced by Charlie Peacock, one of my favorite artists himself. They aren’t the typical music I would listen to, but I’m all for quality, and their musicianship and chemistry makes Barton Hollowmy first album purchase of 2011, and one of my favorites in a long time.
In my next point, I want to discuss how they are not only easy on the ears, but challenging to some of my convictions as well. Keep your eyes peeled for that, if you will. —
I love it when artists can challenge us. Hopefully you have heard about The Civil Wars by now. The duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White have made a big splash in the last few weeks with their debut album, Barton Hollow, releasing on Feb. 1. I’d say appearing on The Tonight Show and having their album be #1 on iTunes for its first week as a pretty good start.
Their music is haunting and beautiful, stripped down to the basics: White’s guitar, some occasional piano by Williams, the scattered accordian or percussion, and the intertwining harmonies of the two singers. In this day of auto-tuned, electronic noise being blared on iThingies and the random Super Bowl halftime show (brought to you by Lite-Brites), the organic, simple nature of these songs works into your soul. As opposed to bashing us over the head.
Their style would be best described as folk or Americana, although it resists easy labeling. They hail from Nashville and are getting airplay on CMT, but I wouldn’t call them country (especially to those who know me – I’m not a country music fan). The point is that they make lovely music together. A majority of the songs are slow paced with a melancholy feel, longing for love. The title track is a foot-stomper with soaring vocal gymnastics, while “Poison and Wine,” featured on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy speaks in a raw, honest way about the dichotomies of love.
The two singers are refreshingly real in a day of pre-packaged artists fed to top 40 radio. I was intrigued when I found they were produced by Charlie Peacock, one of my favorite artists himself. They aren’t the typical music I would listen to, but I’m all for quality, and their musicianship and chemistry makes Barton Hollowmy first album purchase of 2011, and one of my favorites in a long time.
In my next point, I want to discuss how they are not only easy on the ears, but challenging to some of my convictions as well. Keep your eyes peeled for that, if you will. —
Aside from abbreviation proliferation, I’ve been thinking about the continuing (continuous?) debate in CBA fiction circles about how to expand the “boundaries” of Christian fiction. On one side there are people defending the industry, pointing to its growth in the publishing world over the last several years, and the greater variety of genres/books being published. Another camp feels stifled by the unspoken limits of what is acceptable, and wonders how CBA/Christian fiction can reach unbelievers in its current status.
(Realize that the “industry” is a disparate group of authors, editors, agents, publishers, marketers, and booksellers, each with their own agenda. People speak of the CBA as some monolithic organization, which it certainly is not.)
Doncha dig the font and hairdos?
I’ve considered another industry that has had similar growing pains. CCM stands for Contemporary Christian Music, and it is another nebulous designation to speak of a variety of interests in music.
CCM started in the late 60’s/early 70’s with the revolution of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. As the hippie movement took full swing, there was a counter-revolution of young people getting saved, but retaining the new tastes in music and culture of their peers (without the sex and drugs part). As they naturally wrote music in the rock and folk genres, the initial music was often picked up by general market labels. Artists like Keith Green and Randy Stonehill were pioneers in these areas. Soon there was enough interest that labels were started to give further outlet to these musicians.
Since the people involved wanted to glorify the Lord as well as sell music, they became Christian publishers. This had the effect of sucking most of the blatantly Christian artists into a niche area, creating a music “ghetto” for lack of a better term. There were those like Bob Dylan with his Christian phase albums in the general market, but most artists producing specific Christian music (religious lyrics/subjects) were isolated from the general market airwaves. Christian music was on the outside looking in with the advent of MTV.
Slowly Christian artists tested the waters of “crossing over” to the general market, even as the Christian music ghetto flourished. Stryper was a famous Christian glam-metal band that got MTV airplay but was sold in (many, not all) Christian bookstores. Amy Grant was the first big crossover with her song “Baby Baby,” a syrupy-yet-catchy pop song that wasn’t specifically religious.
A debate raged at the time (early 90’s) whether these artists were “selling out” by writing lyrics that were ambiguous enough to be sung as a love song to the Lord or to a girlfriend. Michael W. Smith had a couple of hits on top 40 radio with such songs. In the mid-90’s Jars of Clay burst onto the scene when an early single, “Flood”, made waves in both markets. U2 remained a conundrum as they had spiritually insightful lyrics, but refused to be labeled a “Christian” band. Those darn Irish rockers wouldn’t let themselves be squeezed into the little CCM box!
Slowly, things have changed in the last 10 years in Christian music. Movies and TV shows started pulling songs from various Christian artists to play during the program. Switchfoot became a band that garnered a lot of respect in the general market, but were still considered “one of ours.” Relient k participated in the Vans Warped Tour with other general artists. P.O.D. broke through to both markets. Songs by The Afters, The Fray, and others got noticed. Skillet’s “Hero” was the major song for Sunday Night Football last year. The band Paramore is not considered a Christian band per se, but they have songs such as “Hallelujah” on their records.
Most of this has happened organically, without a lot of organization that I can tell. Perhaps there was behind the scenes maneuvering, but suddenly it was okay for bands to talk about spirituality without being black-listed to the CCM ghetto, and the CCM folks didn’t fuss about “selling out” nearly as much. This isn’t perfect: the band MuteMath sued their Christian distributor for being called a “Christian band”, as they felt it hurt their image since “Christian music” wasn’t considered the same quality as general market music. You don’t find songs blatantly speaking of Jesus on mainstream airwaves.
Could this be the model that CBA fiction follows? There are parallels – Ted Dekker is successfully publishing in both ABA/general market as well as Christian fiction. The CCM flow right now seems to leave room for the overtly Christian tunes, such as Chris Tomlin’s praise music along with the bands such as Superchick that have had some crossover appeal.
I can see this happening. I don’t know much about marketing and how books get out to the Barnes and Noble of the world, but it would be nice if relationships could be built with publishers and booksellers, getting more CBA books into areas of greater visibility. Hopefully the Ted Dekkers of the world will help pave a way for the Eric Wilsons and Robin Parrishs of the world for greater exposure. —
Aside from abbreviation proliferation, I’ve been thinking about the continuing (continuous?) debate in CBA fiction circles about how to expand the “boundaries” of Christian fiction. On one side there are people defending the industry, pointing to its growth in the publishing world over the last several years, and the greater variety of genres/books being published. Another camp feels stifled by the unspoken limits of what is acceptable, and wonders how CBA/Christian fiction can reach unbelievers in its current status.
(Realize that the “industry” is a disparate group of authors, editors, agents, publishers, marketers, and booksellers, each with their own agenda. People speak of the CBA as some monolithic organization, which it certainly is not.)
Doncha dig the font and hairdos?
I’ve considered another industry that has had similar growing pains. CCM stands for Contemporary Christian Music, and it is another nebulous designation to speak of a variety of interests in music.
CCM started in the late 60’s/early 70’s with the revolution of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. As the hippie movement took full swing, there was a counter-revolution of young people getting saved, but retaining the new tastes in music and culture of their peers (without the sex and drugs part). As they naturally wrote music in the rock and folk genres, the initial music was often picked up by general market labels. Artists like Keith Green and Randy Stonehill were pioneers in these areas. Soon there was enough interest that labels were started to give further outlet to these musicians.
Since the people involved wanted to glorify the Lord as well as sell music, they became Christian publishers. This had the effect of sucking most of the blatantly Christian artists into a niche area, creating a music “ghetto” for lack of a better term. There were those like Bob Dylan with his Christian phase albums in the general market, but most artists producing specific Christian music (religious lyrics/subjects) were isolated from the general market airwaves. Christian music was on the outside looking in with the advent of MTV.
Slowly Christian artists tested the waters of “crossing over” to the general market, even as the Christian music ghetto flourished. Stryper was a famous Christian glam-metal band that got MTV airplay but was sold in (many, not all) Christian bookstores. Amy Grant was the first big crossover with her song “Baby Baby,” a syrupy-yet-catchy pop song that wasn’t specifically religious.
A debate raged at the time (early 90’s) whether these artists were “selling out” by writing lyrics that were ambiguous enough to be sung as a love song to the Lord or to a girlfriend. Michael W. Smith had a couple of hits on top 40 radio with such songs. In the mid-90’s Jars of Clay burst onto the scene when an early single, “Flood”, made waves in both markets. U2 remained a conundrum as they had spiritually insightful lyrics, but refused to be labeled a “Christian” band. Those darn Irish rockers wouldn’t let themselves be squeezed into the little CCM box!
Slowly, things have changed in the last 10 years in Christian music. Movies and TV shows started pulling songs from various Christian artists to play during the program. Switchfoot became a band that garnered a lot of respect in the general market, but were still considered “one of ours.” Relient k participated in the Vans Warped Tour with other general artists. P.O.D. broke through to both markets. Songs by The Afters, The Fray, and others got noticed. Skillet’s “Hero” was the major song for Sunday Night Football last year. The band Paramore is not considered a Christian band per se, but they have songs such as “Hallelujah” on their records.
Most of this has happened organically, without a lot of organization that I can tell. Perhaps there was behind the scenes maneuvering, but suddenly it was okay for bands to talk about spirituality without being black-listed to the CCM ghetto, and the CCM folks didn’t fuss about “selling out” nearly as much. This isn’t perfect: the band MuteMath sued their Christian distributor for being called a “Christian band”, as they felt it hurt their image since “Christian music” wasn’t considered the same quality as general market music. You don’t find songs blatantly speaking of Jesus on mainstream airwaves.
Could this be the model that CBA fiction follows? There are parallels – Ted Dekker is successfully publishing in both ABA/general market as well as Christian fiction. The CCM flow right now seems to leave room for the overtly Christian tunes, such as Chris Tomlin’s praise music along with the bands such as Superchick that have had some crossover appeal.
I can see this happening. I don’t know much about marketing and how books get out to the Barnes and Noble of the world, but it would be nice if relationships could be built with publishers and booksellers, getting more CBA books into areas of greater visibility. Hopefully the Ted Dekkers of the world will help pave a way for the Eric Wilsons and Robin Parrishs of the world for greater exposure. —
