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Why Righteous Rock?
- RR
- RR started in Jan 07 as an enrichment class for high schoolers who wanted to learn about the rich history of Christian rock music. RR meets each Friday to listen to great music, (and let's be honest, some not so great music) to talk about music and to have rocking good time. Our focus is on pre-2000 music with a heavier focus on music from the 70s and 80s. Please join our discussions! We are all learning here. Righteous Rock Forever!
The best Christian music comes from which decade?
Top 10 Albums You Should Try!
- 77s - Drowning with Land in Sight
- Allies - Long Way from Paradise
- Big Tent Revival - Amplifier
- Jars of Clay - Who We Are Instead
- Kerry Livgren - Seeds of Change
- Patsy Moore - A Flower Child's Guide to Love & Fashion
- Petra - Beyond Belief
- PFR - Great Lengths
- Phil Keaggy - Crimson & Blue
- Rich Mullins - A Liturgy, a Legacy & a Ragamuffin Band
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My Journey into Righteous Rock
I grew up in a Christian family where the only Christian music I sang was found in a blue colored hymnal in the back of the church pews. Even praise choruses seemed a little too radical for us, so I was raised on a steady diet of Fanny J. Crosby and company. But at home, in the isolation of my room, my ear was glued to FM radio and I was hooked to a wide array of rock and pop acts: Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Journey, Styx, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, ELO. This was the music I loved. It just unfortunately didn’t come in any Christian flavor – or so I thought!
One day in mid-summer 1985, I was instantly drawn to a D.J.’s song introduction on WYDD 104.7 FM in Pittsburgh, “….here’s a song by Amy Grant, who usually sings Christian music….” and the airwaves let out the sweet sound of Amy’s “Love will Find a Way.” I was blown away! A Christian singing a fun , pop song like this! I must have it! The next time I went to a store, I searched and searched for Amy Grant and finally found her latest album – UNGUARDED. It was mine – my first album by a Christian artist. Now my collection numbers in the hundreds.
A month after that revelation, when I packed for my first semester of college, I brought along a wide array of secular music (from Michael Jackson to Men at Work) and my one Christian cassette. Little did I know that my small Christian music world would soon be blown wide open. The Christian college I was soon to attend brimmed with students who were slightly more advanced on the Christian music learning curve and I was soon introduced to Petra, A.D., Degarmo & Key, Bryan Duncan & Phil Keaggy (who at first I didn’t care for!). Petra’s “Back to the Street” and A.D.’s “Reconstructions” had me saying things like “Hey, this sounds like Journey.” I soon realized that my Michael Jackson had been relegated to obscurity on a nice dusty corner shelf while I devoured Christian artists like Servant, Glad, Greg X Volz, Michael W. Smith, White Heart and a host of others who created music that interested me musically while at the same time fulfilling a need my soul was longing for. It wasn’t long that my secular music was in the trash and I fully embraced the Christian music scene.
I dabbled as a D.J. for a time and I even helped promote a couple concerts in my college years, but I was and am foremost a “fan”. I know Christian music has many detractors. The Christian music industry is a big, profitable target which is easy to criticize and easy to dismiss on grounds of creativity, motive and passion, and all of these criticism are not necessarily undeserving. But I won’t have any of it. To me, it was never about finding an “alternative” to secular music. It was the fact that from the first time I heard Christian rock music, I knew this is what my heart was longing for all this time – great sounding music with a great message to match. It was where I belonged. It spoke to me on a much deeper level than Thriller ever could. It has enriched my life in many ways. Who would I be today if I never went on a crazy 9 hour road trip to see the unbelievable Crimson & Blue tour? How many times have I asked myself how did Mullins write such a simple, sweet melody? So thank you Amy Grant and you anonymous D.J. man. That simple moment in time has made my life richer.
It is with this background that I am very proud and excited to introduce to you these many songs and artists who have impacted me.
I hope your journey into Christian music will be as sweet!
(Jan 2009)
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