Greeting in the name of Christ!
This is an electronic (text only) copy of the Lighthouse Christian music
magazine.  I have tried to present the information in an orderly manner,
but it isn't as easy as in print.  So, I ask you to bear with me as I try to
improve this method.  Your comments are welcome and appreciated.

Legal Stuff:
Feel free to forward copies of this to friends, BBS's and Listservs as long
as this information is included (but, please let me know where you are
forwarding this so I can keep track of the circulation for advertiting
purposes):
----------
The Lighthouse is not for profit and is published monthly.  This is an
electronic version of the publication.

I consider this service:
PRAYER-WARE  (as opposed to share-ware)
If you read this, please pray for the work done in ministering to people
through Christian music that God receive all the glory for what is
accomplished.  And, please pray for me to be able to continue this
publication.

If you read this regularly, I ask you to please consider sending a small
donation (a couple dollars) for a year's subscription to help cover the
expenses here.  I run up quite a big phone bill each month to track down
the artists for interviews.

If you do not, or cannot send money, I ask you to send E-mail to let me
know you're reading--THIS IS IMPORTANT!

I need to know the size of the readership for advertising purposes and to
make sure there are enough people interested in this, otherwise I won't
take the extra time to do the electronic version.  So:
Let me know you're out there and I'll keep sending you a copy directly.

Thank you and God Bless.

Please send donations to:
The Lighthouse
c/o J. Warner Soditus
215 McKee Hall
University Park, PA 16802
Phone/Fax (814) 862-6146

Please send comments to:
[email protected]

Also:

Back issues are available

Postscript versions of the printed magazine (usually 12 pages) can be sent
electronically so that you can print out a copy and see the photos that
accompany the magazine.
----------

So, Here it is:
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Lighthouse     (imagine a neat picture of a Lighthouse)
                              (right about here...)
Shining Light on Christian Music

Volume 2 #6     June, 1993

Cover Story: Artist Update on Out of the Grey

Inside:
A Look at Quest for Freedom
Artist Spotlights:
       Keith Brown
       Michael Anderson
       Glad
       Terri Lynn
Reviews:
       Sandi Patti, Margaret Becker, David Meece, The Prayer Chain
       Peter Shambrook, Michael Anderson, Keith Brown
       Mesa, XL & DBD, CLC Youth Choir, Ned Eliason
       Nicholas, Generation, Mortification
       The Contemporary Christian Music Debate (book)



Artist Update: Out of the Grey

When Out of the Grey signed with Sparrow Records, they hit the ground
running. They quickly released two critically acclaimed albums and are
presently writing for a third. A lot has changed in the last few years for
Scott and Christine Dente, the husband and wife duo known as Out of the
Grey. They went from waiting tables in Nashville to nationwide touring
and had their first child--Julian.
It's not like they didn't ask for changes. Out of the Grey had long been
seeking a wide audience for their brilliant brand of Christian Pop. Their
passion for music even predates their days as students at Boston's Berklee
College of Music, where they first met. A native of River Vale, New
Jersey, Scott first picked up a guitar at 13, honing his chops in local bands.
He went to college for a time and decided it was not for him. "But after a
year of loading trucks in New York," he says, "I decided college was for
me." So he loaded his car and headed to Boston.
Hailing from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Christine grew up with a love
of music, and while in high school she settled on a singing career. She
studied classical voice at Carnegie-Mellon University, then transferred to
Berklee to focus on contemporary Pop styles. She had one other passion in
life--a love for Jesus Christ. When she and Scott met, each found in the
other a musical soulmate and partner for sharing a commitment to God. It
was Christine that encouraged Scott to study the Word, and when they
married in 1987, they began forging a life built on love, music and faith.
The next year, they moved to Nashville.
After a few years of waiting tables, backing other artists, recording
demos, and improving their song-writing, the Dentes came to the attention
of Sparrow. "More exciting than signing the contract was throwing away
our waiter and waitress uniforms," laughs Scott. "It was liberation day!"
They immediately began recording their debut album, produced by Charlie
Peacock. "We want to attract people that might not normally appreciate
Christian music," says Scott. Adds Christine, "By being honest and
realistic with our lyrics, we try to engage our audience, rather than alienate
them with predictable cliches."
Out of the Grey has found an interesting niche in Christian music with
not only a unique sound and style, but feel. Their music is artistic,
intricate, and engaging. While much of Christian music tends to directly
answer the questions after asking them, Out of the Grey's lyrics gently
send a message of truth on a very personal level. Their music is not only
about God or people, but of the relationship between people and God as
demonstrated in the lives of these two young performers.
Having completed a national tour with STEVEN CURTIS
CHAPMAN, the Dentes will be playing a few summer festivals and
weekend concerts while working diligently on their next album, and
hopefully taking some time for a little relaxation. Christine joyfully
relates, "We're actually going to be able [to relax] on a cruise that we're
playing on in August. So we kind of get a vacation--a working vacation."
Work. It seems to keep returning to that. So, what should we expect
for the next Out of the Grey effort? "No drastic changes," tells Christine.
"Scott and I were talking last night about this very thing. I think we want
the third record to be somewhere between the first and the second one--
not past it, in commercial sense and artistic sense. I want to draw from the
commerciality that the second record took on a little more and from the
'artsiness' that the first record had. I want to mix it up a little bit more for
the third record." She explains further, "I want it to be maybe more
lyrically metaphorical as the first record was and also strong melodically
as the second record."
Naturally, with their second project, THE SHAPE OF GRACE, Scott
and Chris had a larger budget, permitting additional studio time and
outside talent to be used. They have also been able to tour with a small
band (Mark Hill on bass guitar and Chuck Conner on drums) rather than
the acoustic duo performance before. Christine describes, "It's a big
change from playing with guitar and two vocals, which was a lot of fun.
This adds a new dimension for us."
As they are permitted larger studio budgets, their main focus will be to
improve the small details. If given an unlimited studio time, Christine
would concentrate on, "Going back and listening to the record, pre-mix,
and then being able to go back and say, 'I want to recut this vocal,' 'I want
to put a guitar solo here instead of a saxophone.' I would like that
flexibility, for one thing. I think as far as other technical things, we would
just like to have more time for everything involved. With the way budgets
are now, there's such a strict schedule."
Certainly another new dimension added on this tour was their son,
Julian, who seems to like life on the road. "He gets tired of being in hotel
rooms," shares Christine. "His favorite thing is to walk into the new hall,
the new venue, in the morning and race around the seats. He loves the
road, he really does." She also explains that they would like to have
another child soon, but their schedule would simply not permit it. "We
can't imagine having two [children] now at this point in the way that we
live. Things will have to change in some way before we can [have
another.]"
To combat the challenges of road life, they draw much of their support
from the people they interact with. "Good conversations are a good shot in
the arm, to me. Other people who tour, just talking about the neat things of
life. Reevaluating what I feel about God. Reevaluating my relationship
with the Lord is what drives me to continue to do this. It's not very easy
for me, having a little guy, living on a bus, not having a consistent time
where I can pray with real depth and concentration. That's what I strive
for--something as simple and constant as that, that flies out the window in
this kind of a life for me."
When approached with the idea of taking their music to secular clubs,
Christine ponders before responding, "Well, I think we'd be interested in
it. Scott and I aren't the kind of performers that feel we speak or preach
very well. We like to let our music [speak for itself.] We'd rather play
more than talk. I think in that kind of situation it might work. Having that
type of audience, I don't know how effective it [preaching] is as
evangelism--planting seeds and making people think somewhat. I'm not
sure. That's a great question, because Scott and I do feel like we're more
entertainers than ministers of music. I know a lot of artists hate those
words, but some people are strongly opinionated about whether there is a
difference in Christian music between an entertainer and a minister. Scott
and I feel that we love music and we want our music to be creative and
listenable in a live setting as well and we'd rather have audiences that
were there to listen and maybe to dance and sing along. I don't know, it's
hard to say."
With such an artistic musical style, I couldn't help but ask Christine a
bizarre question. "If you could do a record just for you and Scott, what
would it be like?" Once the laughter died, she responded, "I think it would
be a strange record, actually. I think I would take more risks vocally,
melodically, lyrically. You know how some Pop records out there in the
mainstream, you can't figure out what the songs means or you sort-of can,
but you're never quite sure you know what it's about--I'd like to try to
write some songs like that. In Christian music, you can't because you want
to communicate and people want to understand at least most of what
you're writing about. There are some lyrics to some songs that I've written
that I know we would never put on a record because it's just not
commercial enough for people to get into."
Their extensive touring has given the Dentes some important and
memorable personal interactions.  "When we go out to the tables during
intermission and meet people and sign autographs, we get a lot of great
comments. People that have just heard us for the first time, they've said,
'Wow. I had to buy your tape,' or 'I loved this song and this song.' It's
neat to know that our music, live, can attract a lot of people too. We're
thrilled to be able to do this. Everyday, even though it's not easy to be
living on the road and having our little one-year-old boy with us, we're so
thankful that we can work as a family and play music together."
--J. WARNER SODITUS
AN ARTIST SPOTLIGHT ON OUT OF THE GREY ORIGINALLY
APPEARED IN MAY, 1993. A RE-PRINT OF THAT ARTICLE CAN
BE OBTAINED BY SENDING A SASE TO THE LIGHTHOUSE.



EXECUTIVE EDITOR/PUBLISHER:
J. Warner Soditus
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER:
Patty Masten
CONTRIBUTORS:
Roger Appelinski, Beth Blinn, Bryan W. Brendley, Brad Mattern,  Jean
Patty, Kerry Stephenson, Keith A. Valentine
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:
$1.00 per issue   $10.00 per year
Send your donations to:
MAILING ADDRESS:
The Lighthouse
c/o J. Warner Soditus
215 McKee Hall
University Park, PA 16802
The Lighthouse is not for profit and is published monthly.
Copyright: the Lighthouse (c)1993 by Polarized Publications, all rights
reserved.
Writer's guidelines and advertising rates are available upon request.
The Lighthouse will not be responsible for any products or services
offered in advertisements.
Member:



From the Editor:
Contentment. That's what I've been experiencing. I've never thought
much about being content. I'm always having to work to make things
better, work faster, and so on. But I had a chance last week to visit my
college stomping-grounds. The campus was empty and I just wandered
around feeling such a sense of relaxation. It was nice to be completely
relaxed and able to take time to chat with God. I hope that y'all can take
some time this summer to get away from the distractions and experience
the same thing.
Thanks for reading! I hope that you will find this issue interesting and
informative. We've crammed in quite a bit this issue. There just gets to be
more and more stuff to put in each month. This is great, but the costs
involved in the printing are getting steep. Next month, we're going to try
some different printing techniques to try to improve the photo quality. I
expect to vastly increase the resolution, but also to double the expense.
I'm faced with some tough decisions. Should I use a better printing
technique, should I change the size, and will I have to increase the cost of
subscriptions? I'd really appreciate your comments on that, and anything
else for that matter (especially if you want us to start reviewing albums by
unsigned artists). My mailbox was quite empty this past month. I hope
that's not the case this month. I'd also ask you to share THE
LIGHTHOUSE with a friend.
Congratulations to Rose Cokeley. She's the first winner in THE
LIGHTHOUSE cassette giveaway.
I don't usually share "industry news" but this tidbit is just too exciting
for me to contain.  Warner Alliance has signed Steve Taylor and he
expects to have an album released before the end of the year!
Until next month, God Bless!
--J. WARNER SODITUS, EDITOR



Letters:
Dear Lighthouse,
Thank You so much for sending your magazine so quickly! I saw your
ad in CCM Magazine and I couldn't wait to get it!
I just recently became born again. I don't know much about Christian
music, there is a whole other medium out there to be discovered. I praise
God for allowing you to produce this magazine and bless me.
Please send me some information on the writer's guidelines.
Also (if you can do this) anyone out there who loves to write letters and
get letters, I would love to "meet" some Christians. Most of the people I
know are unsaved and it's hard to meet "good" people.
Thank You again for sending me a copy. I will be looking forward to
seeing it again!
In Christ,
       Melissa Garver
       304 Lambert Ave.
       New Windsor, MD 21776
ED.: THANKS FOR THE LETTER!  I PRINTED YOUR FULL
ADDRESS SO THAT YOU CAN HOPEFULLY GAIN A FEW PEN
PALS FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE READERS.



Quest for Freedom

This is a story of a unique mission work. It culminates in a musical tool to
witness to non-Christians--the QUEST FOR FREEDOM album by Craig
Smith.
Smith begins by sharing the beginning for the project, "QUEST FOR
FREEDOM has been on my heart for a long time, maybe not the title, but
the concept of creating a musical tool that would share the plan of
salvation with the non-Christian world. Music has shaped our culture and
has had a major role in influencing our youth cultures the last four-and-a-
half to five decades. I talked to probably 100+ youth and college pastors
and my question was this, 'In your opinion, what is the best tool to reach
our youth culture?' 100% of the time, they said, 'One on one evangelism,
that is developing a relationship with another person and sharing Christ
with them is our first choice, but our choice right behind that is music
because it affects our culture so much and it's so influential and
powerful.'"
"I was on a plane," he continues, "reading a USA Today newspaper and
there was the results of a poll there. The question asked was this directed
to teens, 'Who do you go to or what is your source to find solutions to
your problems?' I was shocked by some of the results. Number 31 on the
list was mothers. Fathers were further up on the list I think it was 41 or 45.
Number 54 on the list were clergymen and school counselors--they tied
for last. This is a pretty frightening statistic, but the first thing that teens
use to find solutions in seeking solutions to their problems is rock music.
That's a pretty devastating statistic. Rock music has played such an
influential part in the youth cultures of America and even the youth
cultures of the world. Wherever there's technology to have cassette and
CD players, rock music from the western world is the most sought-after
thing among the youth cultures of the world. The plan was, since that is
their source of information and since it's a vehicle that has pretty much an
unlimited source of communication, what we decided to do was, if that's
what they're going to find solutions to their problems even though that's
scary, what my heart was saying, what the guys I was talking to and
counseling with, let's give them the real solution in the music--which is
of course Jesus Christ."
After much prayer and research by Smith and his church ministry team,
they felt the time was right to move ahead with the idea--that was about
two years ago. Smith utilized the help of youth and college pastors in
choosing the issues to address on the project. Smith also took some of
their other advice to heart.
He explains, "When we talked with youth and college pastors, guys in
youth ministry, about this project, they said, 'Even if something did exist
that would systematically unfold the plan of salvation over 8 or 10 songs,
we could not afford to get enough at the normal $9 or $10 retail of a
cassette.'"
"So we knew we had two goals at that point. One, provide the tool that's
relevant, [with a] no-kidding, straight-up message about who Jesus is,
what He's done, and how to get Him in your life, but, then, we were going
to have to do it as a missions oriented project where nobody made any
money."
Thankfully, Smith was able to succeed in attaining both goals. "Through
some unprecedented allowances by Star Song Records, all royalties, all
profits by all of those involved with QUEST FOR FREEDOM have been
waived on the cassette so the cassette can be obtained at $1 each and even
less depending on the quantity purchased. What this does is it opens up a
situation where youth and college ministries and individuals can buy them
in bulk and distribute them to the non-Christians in their high schools, in
their colleges, guys they work with, guys that they see in the mall and
begin dispersing these things in bulk quantities."
"Basically, the unprecedented things are this: There's never really been a
musical tool [like this.] We're not approaching this as a new Craig Smith
release or a contemporary Christian music release. We're trying to
communicate to the Body of Christ that this is an evangelism tool... We
are also making the copies of the DAT master available to fly into other
nations of the world."
Turning to the content of this tool, Smith describes the result of his work
with youth and college pastors, "The project unfolds not revealing the plan
of salvation in the very beginning. We designed it that way because we
were hoping to attract the ear of the listener. Those people that had the
cassette, we wanted them to stay with us. The first song is 'Quest for
Freedom.' It talks about that desire, whether it's a nation or an individual,
desires that independence, liberty, and freedom. That's the heart cry of the
world right now. We decided to take that particular issue to begin it with,
put it in a music bed that would attract that listener who's in his mid teens
to late twenties and then each song builds on the song before until it
begins to reveal the solution to these issues that we raised in the first four
or five songs."
"Then, once the cassette is flipped over to side two, the second five
songs are really a modified version of a program a lot like Evangelism
Explosion. It hits the main points of any evangelism program when you're
trying to present who God is and what He intended for man, His
redemption plan through His son Jesus Christ, how you get Him in your
life, and where you take that. Youth and college pastors that we were
talking with for counsel on this project said to keep it simple, keep it
honest and sincere, and give a tool that's relevant to our culture."
"'Healer of Hearts,' really, is an invitation. It's saying, 'This is who
Jesus is, this is what He's done, and this is what He'll do for your heart.'
At the end of the song there's a repeated line, 'Why don't you give Him
your life.' On the insert of the cassette, though it's not part of the song, at
the end of the song, as you're reading through the [insert], there's actually
a prayer there for those guys that are in a hotel room, a dorm room, or
their room at home--there's actually a prayer that they can pray to ask the
Lord into their life if there's no one around to be sharing with them."
"We're very excited. I'm not saying it's the best tape ever. Our attempt
was to have a quality equal to the secular music that the non-Christian
young people that get this thing are listening to. We've been real excited
because the non-Christians that we're getting letters from are talking about
the great quality. Either God is doing something between the tape and their
ears, something miraculous is happening, or He pulled it off in the studio.
We feel like the music is pulling them into the album, which is why we
took the first five songs and don't even talk about the Lord--we just talk
about issues. We wanted to have a time frame where we didn't just jump
out and tell them about Christ on the first song, but whet their appetite.
That's the thing that makes it different."
Naturally this is not a project completed by Smith alone. The person he
expresses appreciation most for is Paul Mills, the album's producer.
"We've been friends for years," shares Smith, "and have worked on a lot
of projects together. He and I, for years hoped that we could be in a
situation with a studio where we could do projects that we felt like needed
to be done even though they might not make sense in the natural. But God
is supernatural and He doesn't always do things and tell us to do things
that make sense to us in the natural. So we completed the project and the
results and hard labor that went into the project is just as much Paul's
vision and labor and work as anybody else involved. We feel like it's been
a team effort. Producers don't always get as much credit as the artist who
is out in front of everybody."
The back of the jacket also possesses a subtle message in the art work
[left]. Smith explains, "The barbed wire with the heart, the atom emblem,
it's just saying the heart is completely trapped in bondage--that's the kind
of picture that we're trying to give. It can only be free in Jesus Christ."
Due to the unusual nature of the project, the distribution is proceeding in
some interesting directions. Some of the ways have been people taking a
stereo to local shopping malls and playing the project while giving copies
to anyone interested in completing a short survey. The purpose of the
survey is so that they can, "call them in a few days to see if they liked the
tape and see if they can generate some kind of relationship there to further
share the Lord."
Others have asked secular record stores to give the cassettes to each
person making a purchase. At the University of Arkansas, several
Christian groups gave away 5,000 copies in two hours to people
completing music surveys. A radio station in Springfield, MO is in the
process of raising money to obtain approximately 15,000 cassettes so they
can give one to each high school student in the city.
"Youth for Christ has caught on. They have developed a ten-session
manual to along with the tape where you can have an outreach over ten
sessions. That's what we're hoping unfolds more--that we can
accommodate, really serve various ministries by doing this tool."
But Smith is certainly open to other possibilities of distribution. To him,
"As long as it's straight ahead evangelism, no matter how crazy, go for it."
He continues, "In my opinion, the way that's going to be the most
fruitful for a harvest is to youth and college guys who are keeping their
youth and college groups supplied with the tapes that the member having
10 or 20 copies that he can take with him to give to guys that he's in class
with or that he works with. That way, if I'm a college or high school
student and I'm giving a tape to somebody, I can come back in a week and
say, 'Hey, what did you think of that tape? What about what it was talking
about?' It gives a one-on-one follow-up mechanism to lead them to the
Lord."
"A mother who contacted us said her daughter who was a teen in high
school got a copy of the tape, listened to it, understood it was a musical
tract, an evangelistic tool, and she emptied her savings account and got a
copy of the cassette for all of her classmates. If people around our country
catch that vision that that young girl did, that's why I'm saying that we can
see hundreds and hundreds of thousands given to people who need to hear
that simple truth, that message that liberates--which is Jesus Christ is
Savior and Lord."
And they are moving well towards that kind of goal. "Ironically," Smith
chuckles, "a record company person, even when they completely heard the
vision, said, 'Well, you guys will probably distribute 4-8 thousand tapes.'
As of this past Friday, we were over 100,000. The thing that's exciting is
that probably 60-70% of those are in the hands of non-Christians."
"[With] a normal release, you read about it, you hear about it, you hear a
single on the radio and in 6 or 8 months it's gone. This thing, we've spent
6 or 8 months getting it going and in the last 4 or 5 weeks, it's really
started unfolding. Because it's a tool, we think it will have longevity."
In sharing some of the personal aspects of the ministry, Smith relates
this story. "There was a letter I got from a young girl who had been
physically, sexually abused from the time she was 6 until she was 17 and
ran away from home. [It was] almost a daily situation. [She was] very
hurt, very rejected, very scared, and very guilt-ridden. She started the letter
by saying, 'I know I am not a Christian, but I feel like after listening to
your songs, I feel like you have a relationship with your God.' I began to
read this thing and see how mistreated this person [was.] One of the
sentences she asked me was, 'If there's a god, can he help me? Do you
think he'll forgive me for what I am?' If I were to read the whole letter, it
would probably have a similar effect on you, unless you've got a real
heard heart, that it did on me. I don't cry much, but I sat up in my office
that day and I started crying. The enemy is just having a heyday in the life
of this person. We get a lot of mail like that. That's why we're doing what
we're doing."
On the more humorous side, many people are leery when they see this
tape being sold for so little. "One of the things that's funny, since it's
available for $1 or less," shares Smith, "you would not believe the phone
calls and letters that we've gotten in our offices from people going,
'What's the catch? Is there only one song? Does it have a white cardboard
cover? What's the deal?' This is a missions venture. What's the mission?
The mission is to get the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that simple plan of
salvation, into the minds and hearts of hopefully hundreds and hundreds of
thousands of non-Christian people in our youth culture."
Smith concludes, "This is the most insane thing I've ever done and yet I
may stand before the Lord and find out that this is the only thing that
actually made any sense to Him... If you were to view what I do as a
career, I have made some very wrong career choices. If you view what I
do in the realm of trying to be faithful to what God's called me, I think I'm
right on."
-J. WARNER SODITUS
FOR A SAMPLE CASSETTE, SEND $2.00 WHICH COVERS THE
TAPE AND THE POSTAGE TO QUEST FOR FREEDOM, P.O. BOX
756, VAN BUREN, AR, 72956.



Artist Spotlight: Keith Brown

THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN may be the first album released by Keith
Brown, but he is anything but a newcomer to music. Brown is a songwriter
for BMG Music/New York with a catalogue of over 250 songs. He has
written with various mainstream Pop writers, and has also penned several
hit Christian music songs.
Brown's musical roots lie in the church. He began playing piano at the
age of 10, wrote his first song at 13, and was assembling musical
ensembles for his church at 14. Hearts of Fire was the band that he formed
at the age of 14 that opened for Christian groups when they came into
town for concerts which then lead to some regional touring.
After completing his college degree at Northern Kentucky University,
while also working as the manager of a Christian bookstore, he was signed
to Meadowgreen Music as a songwriter. Despite seven busy years with his
band, he decided that he wanted to be a songwriter. Brown then moved to
Reunion Records and began writing pop music. Brown explains, "The last
two years I was there I was writing pop music and they started sending me
to the west coast and the east coast and they were marketing me as their
secular writer. I started writing with a lot of CBS writers. I was writing
pop music before I signed with BMG." He moved to New York in 1991
and has been successful in writing and producing in the Pop arena--not
bad for a 26 year old guy!
In a way, Keith has come full circle. From his beginnings in Christian
music, he moved to secular music and has recently returned with a
different perspective. "There seems to be a lot of talk about Christian
artists wanting to 'cross over,' but until you come from the other direction,
I don't think it's as easy to see what Christian music can really be used
for... I feel like I've come full circle."
"The interesting part about it was being involved in the pop writing
and the pop industry, people started looking at my life rather than me
coming at them from the Christian angle, I was just a person with morals
and integrity and they started seeing that and they started being drawn to
me and asking questions about the life-style that I was living. I realized,
then, the need for Christian music and the need for it to be out there and
for us as Christian artists or Christian people, or wherever we're at, to live
our lives and the average person will be drawn to Christ in us through the
way we live."
"I think we're afraid of the world. I really don't believe you have to
[compromise] and I was never put in any compromising situations--never.
I mean I've been in some of the most secular situations you can believe.
But that doesn't mean that you have to take it in--you're allowed to speak
for yourself. I think it's a misrepresentation to think that just because you
work in the world or we work with secular people that we have to
compromise. I absolutely believe that we don't. So I never was put in a
compromising situation, and if I was, I wouldn't have compromised, and
that would have, I think, spoken louder than anything. The world respects
that. They love when you take a stand. And you don't have to take a stand
in a corny way, but just take a stand in the way that you are. And I think
that's what happened in my life and I never told a lot of people I was a
Christian, it spoke for itself and people realized it. That was the beauty of
it--it worked."
He continues with two particular incidents. "I was writing with two
writers and they asked to come to my apartment and I happened to leave
my Bible on the chair. And they came in and she must have seen it and as
we were going out to eat we were walking to the restaurant and she said,
'Yeah, I saw your Bible on the chair. Are you one of those born-agains?'
And I said, 'I don't like the word born-again. I'm a Christian, I'm a
witness for Jesus Christ.' It just opened up a deep conversation. I had
another situation where I was writing with another lady and she was a
Mormon, but she loved Amy Grant and she knew that I had ties in that
circle. She said, 'I just want to tell you I believe in a higher power and
everything, but I just love Amy Grant and I just wondered why Christians
gave her so much flack? I've heard about that and I just don't understand,
I mean because her music is so powerful.' I had to sit and explain to her to
make up for Christians doing that. Those two situations really showed me
that we need to be really careful how we display ourselves."
"I grew up in Christian music. I'm a product of Christian music. I
didn't listen to pop radio, pop music, until I was 21. I grew up [listening
to] people like ANDRAE CROUCH. To be honest, I grew up with
MICHAEL W. SMITH, RICH MULLINS and people like that. Then,
when I turned 21, that's when I really started listening to a lot of Pop
music."
"I was very socially unaccepted in high school. The Baptist school
wouldn't let me [attend] because I went to a full-gospel church and they
didn't want me to go there. I was forced to have to go to public school. I
had a lot of problems. I wasn't athletic and I was a Christian. I remember
going to a RUSS TAFF concert and encouraging kids to do devotions in
school so I started devotions not knowing that I'd be persecuted. In the
church circles I was like a hero. So that was my refuge. My family was
[also] my refuge. I started a band when I was 14. Contemporary music
wasn't really well-liked in the church that I grew up in, so I eventually had
to change churches."
"I grew up in a real legalistic background. I didn't go to movies until I
was 16. But I caught up. I grew up in Christian music and my influences
are Christian, so that's why I decided to come back. When I was in
Nashville writing Christian music, I kind of got disillusioned. In Nashville
you kind of forget the reason you are doing Christian music. So when I
started writing pop music, it really helped, especially when I moved to
New York and got out in different circles I realized why we have Christian
music and it's needfulness."
"Nashville's a great city, and it's got great people in it, but a lot of
times there's just so many Christians there and everybody you meet is a
Christian. It's really hard to be challenged evangelistically and when I
moved to New York I was challenged. Thank God, my life really spoke
for itself. And it just really made me snap back into reality and realize that
a lot could work out of Christian music."
There's also a bit of freedom that has come from his newest step. With
his co-writing situations, the writing is usually very mechanical and
technical. Writing for his album has permitted more inspiration and
latitude to enter the songs. Several songs are very personal in content.
"Back in 1990, I felt a real struggle with my Christianity. I wrote a song
called 'Prodigal Heart' out of that time. Though the song is about me
talking to another person, I was really speaking to myself and I felt like I
was drifting in a lot of ways from the place I'd been with Christ. I wrote
that song out of it and it was kind of a purging for me and it brought a
revival back to my Christianity."
A verse with special meaning for Brown is, "Galatians 6:9, 'Be not
weary in well doing, for in due season you will reap if you faint not.' I feel
like this album is a statement of that and how God has made that a reality
in my life... I [found encouragement in] that scripture when I was in junior
high school when I was persecuted a lot."
In discussing those tough times, I asked him what person had been the
biggest influence on his life. While admitting that he may sound like a
cliche, Brown answers, "Probably my parents. They're really unusual
because they've been 60% friend and 40% parent. I really had a tough
time in high school and they were always there. I always had someone to
turn to. We grew out of the legalistic era together and kind of grew
together out of this whole thing. I guess they've probably made the most
impact on my life."
Keith is touring with KIM BOYCE and performing in a different
manner than he's ever experienced before, "I'm by myself--it's just me
and tracks. I thought I would hate sound tracks but I put a lot of clips
between the songs and there's a lot of audience participation. So, it's a real
pep rally. I like it because people focus on what I'm doing rather than
being distracted by a band. I want people to get to know me first and who I
am. I love it."
Things are working out rather well for Keith Brown, although the
same week that I spoke with him he endured some problems. He explains,
"I got robbed and mugged and stabbed. I got stabbed in the hand and
cornered in a hotel room--this week has been a rough week. Everything is
going good except that."
He continues, "I think God's really showed me His perfect timing. I've
been in the business for eight years. A lot of people have wanted me to
succeed. But, I never could seem to get things started. People always
rallied around me. God just showed me to finally come back to my roots
doing this album. I've gotten this great response and things are going
good. He's showed me His perfect timing and when it comes to playing,
the most beautiful thing we could ever want is for things to fall into His
timing. I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned in the last six
months."
-J. WARNER SODITUS



Artist Spotlight: Michael Anderson
I have this old cassette that sits by my radio at home--SOUND ALARM
by Michael Anderson. A friend handed it to me one day and told me to
listen and keep the tape--he was so sure that I'd like it. Well, I did. That
cassette has became so worn from overplay that I need to find a CD of it,
and soon!
When I found out that this same Michael Anderson was ready to
release his new album SAINTS AND SINNERS, I immediately wanted to
try to schedule an interview. We set up the interview where Michael and I
had a lengthy conversation. Unfortunately, the tape recorder didn't pick up
any of the discussion--a technical glitch ruined one of the most
fascinating conversations of my life! These are the times when I need to
learn to grin and bear it--"all things work together for good..." Anyway, I
will try to relate some of the topics that we discussed to show a little bit of
this artist.
While growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Michael's parents were
divorced while he was still young. Anderson ended up moving to Los
Angeles on a memorable day--the day that ELVIS PRESLEY died. There
he played various instruments in a wide array of musical bands. His
interests ranged from Rock (guitar) to Blues to Country (bass) to honky-
tonk alternative underground music (mixes of CCR, early ELVIS etc.). All
the while he continued his prolific songwriting ability which flowed
naturally from his childhood interest in poetry. This point was especially
interesting as Michael does not specifically set out to write "Christian
songs," but his songs are Christian because he is a Christian and he
attempts to write the best song that he can. Michael also says that he
ironically "doesn't know how to NOT write songs."
Surprisingly, Michael did not become a Christian through witnessing
or through a church. He became a Christian through studying the Bible.
He explored Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism--he said that nothing
worked. He was partying and enjoying Hollywood until one day it lost its
shine. He eventually read the Bible and compared it to the works of the
other major religions of the world. He found that Jesus Christ was the
pinnacle that all the other religions tried to become. In Michael's words,
"He was either a nut or God." Anderson opted for the latter choice and
never looked back. He knew that the fact that Jesus was God was
compelling him to change his way of living and working.
Michael was very open about his earlier album--the one that I raved
about. He said that the three songs that I mentioned as special favorites of
mine seemed to come up in conversation and interviews quite often. The
SOUND ALARM project consisted of Anderson playing about 75% of the
music in the studio while bringing in special artists to finish the dubs. The
title track of the album has an interesting story behind it: "At the time I
wrote it, I didn't even know what the song was about. It was one of those
things that you're bashing around on a chord progression in a groove and I
just started screaming lyrics over the top of the noise that I was making. I
had always meant to change the chorus--that was the first thing that came
out of me when I started singing it. I thought I'd write the lyrics and go
back and find a catchier title... the curious thing about the song was about
three or four months after I recorded it, probably before the album came
out, I woke up about four or five in the morning, and something in me just
kept saying 'Joel 2.' I didn't even know that there was a book of Joel in
the Bible. I really like the Old Testament a lot, and I never noticed it. So I
read it and Joel 2 starts 'Sound the alarm,' it was the song! That was one
of those moments... knowing when God is really talking to you because I
honestly had never read that before, I did not know it was there, and I had
written a song based on it--almost exact!"
With the new album, SAINTS AND SINNERS, Anderson is going
back to his Country and Bluegrass roots. The heavy guitar screaming is
turned down, and Anderson's soulful voice and acoustic guitar permeate
the project.
Michael feels quite a burden for young people growing up in today's
society without any solid foundations since many of their parents are out
working. This feeling sparked the song "I Know That You Can Stand" as
he screams that faith is all anyone can ever have to pull them through
life's turmoil. "Soweto Soul" was written during some violence in South
Africa back in the eighties. Anderson said as he lived through the 1992 LA
Rodney King riots he felt some of the same things that the South Africans
must feel every day. In LA, he explains, things are black and white--not
only racial, but right and wrong. "I Think It's Time To Go Home" was
written from the life experience of not talking to his father for 18 years
and finally returning to make amends with the people back in Grand
Rapids.
Anderson and I began to discuss the Christian music industry and how
it differs from the secular industry. He spent time talking about how the
language in each industry differs (crossover, secular, mainstream, etc.) and
how this causes confusion between the two. He also was a bit resentful of
the fact that the industry spends time censoring songs. The industry has
some sort of guidelines that determine whether a song is "Christian" or
not, instead of giving a Christian artist the freedom to express what God is
saying to them--in essence, worrying about writing "Christian" words
instead of spending time listening to God firsthand.
Anderson is currently in the planning stages al/AE/Oslash
/infinity/plusbut couldn't reveal any information since the details had
not been finalized. In the meantime, he is working on his publishing
company--writing songs for other artists.
Michael Anderson is not your average Christian musician. I found him
to be very friendly and engaging, as well as very insightful into the world,
the Christian experience, the CCM industry, and people in general. Thanks
for your time and comments Michael!
--BRYAN W. BRENDLEY



Artist Spotlight: Glad
For the past twenty years, the group Glad has been involved in the
contemporary Christian music scene. With their harmony-rich vocals, they
have evolved from a rock band formed to minister to youth in the
Northeast to the celebrated acapella ensemble that they are now. Recently,
Don Nalle, one of the founders of the group, and now their manager, took
some time to talk about where the group has come from and where they're
going.
"I feel like Glad has kind of grown up with the music, in a way," Nalle
states. "In the very early days, going back to 1978, when we first started
recording, we were, more or less, a progressive Rock band--by the
definition of that day. Obviously, pop music has evolved a lot, and the
band's sound has become more defined and has evolved a lot. Obviously,
we place more emphasis on the vocal element now than we did in the early
days. Although we had always dabbled with acapella, back as early as our
second album, which came out in 1980, we didn't do a whole record of
acapella until 1988."
That album, THE ACAPELLA PROJECT, propelled Glad to the
forefront of the Christian music industry, and garnered them accolades
from both critics and fans. It led to two more vocal-only projects, THE
ACAPELLA PROJECT II and AN ACAPELLA CHRISTMAS, which
were equally well received. As interest in acapella music has grown over
the past several years, as evidenced by the popularity of such groups as
ACAPELLA and AVB, Glad has been in the middle of the musical trend.
"With the acapella material, our audience really changed," Nalle
explains. "It became much broader, and the age group to which we were
playing became much broader, anywhere from high school to up through
older adults. So, I think musically, that has been the biggest change.
Ministry-wise, it affects that too. I think the group finds itself speaking to
a very diverse audience. Families--when you go to a Glad concert now
you find parents, kids and kind of the whole spectrum, and so you learn to
speak to that diverse group. Whereas, in the early days, we were doing a
lot of things that were specifically youth-oriented, playing to high school
kids a lot, and not that we don't still do some of those kind of events, but
the average Glad concert is more to a broad, very broad audience."
While the demographics of their audience has expanded over the years,
the message that the group is trying to convey has not. "[Our message] is
very much what it has been since the beginning, and that is to clearly
explain the claims of Christ, to clearly present what it means to follow
Christ--the Gospel. Our feeling is that a lot of people might accuse us of
'preaching to the choir,' but our feeling has always been that their are
many people who are churched, who might attend a Christian concert or
Christian event of some kind, and there are so many people who just don't
understand the basic elements of what it means to follow the Lord. So we
just continue to try to clearly and succinctly state the Gospel, in terms that
people can grasp," shares Nalle.
The members of the group have changed over the years, with the
constant being Ed Nalle, Don's brother, on lead vocals. The rest of the
current line-up includes John Gates on drums, Jeff Hamlin on keyboards,
Chris Davis on guitar, and Jim Bullard on bass. The most recent Glad
project, FLOODGATES, was released in 1992 and while it includes
instrumentation, the vocals are still very much at the forefront. The group
recorded the basic rhythm tracks first, and then added the vocals. They
used voices as much as possible before finishing off with percussion and
synthesizers. Nalle characterized it as gratifying for the group as a whole
because it was back to being Glad, the band, for the first time in a while.
Nalle explains, "[It was] everybody sitting in the studio, laying down
rhythm tracks together. It was much more of a whole group effort in doing
the instrumental side and the vocal side, and trying to do them both well. I
think that was a really gratifying experience for everyone concerned."
As far as the Glad concert experience, Nalle feels that the group isn't a
show band. "It's a concert format, but it's a concert ministry, instead of
just a concert. As the Christian music industry has evolved, there are many
concerts that you can come out of the concert not exactly knowing what it
was about."
With twenty years of music behind them, a Glad concert is an exercise
in trying to please everyone. "It's hard to cover twenty years," admits
Nalle. "The group is doing a number of things from the FLOODGATES
record now. Obviously, they do a lot of the acapella material. They'll do
some things from both acapella projects. There is an upcoming release this
fall. In mid-October we have an acapella hymns record coming out, which
is really going to be a neat record. It's got a lot of titles on it, probably a
lot that have not been done on a record before... So they may do some
things from that. It'll be very diverse, they'll pick and choose from a
number of records, with special emphasis on what's most current."
--BETH BLINN



Scheduled for next month:
First Call, Lost Dogs, 65 dBA, and more!

Artist Spotlight: Terri Lynn
It's not often that one gets to do an interview with an artist that is outside
her house, sixty miles east of Nashville, in overalls, laying bricks for a
new sidewalk. But that's what Terri Lynn was doing when we spoke.
When I first got Terri's new album, I was sort of skeptical of how
good it would sound. After listening to the first song, I immediately
wanted to set up an interview with this very incredible Christian country
artist.
She begins, "How I got started in music, I played in my teenage years
was always involved with music, singing, of course, in church. The church
is a great place to start. I started singing when I was in first or second
grade. [I] just enjoyed singing and playing. I play guitar. I've had a few
lessons, but the guy taught too much theory--I just wanted to play. I play
guitar to write my songs and to lead worship when I do concerts and to
play in bands. I've played in Country bands."
Lynn was born in Ohio, but left when she was seventeen. Her husband
was a former Cleveland Indian whose professional baseball career was cut
short before age 27 by injury. When they met at a bar in Dallas, Terri
asked Mike out and they were married shortly thereafter--and ran away
from God together. After the birth of their son Justin, they began to realize
the awesome responsibility that God had laid upon them and decided that
he needed to be raised in a church. Justin was the bridge that brought Lynn
and her husband back to God, where they have been ever since.
"How I got started in Christian music," Lynn explains, "was I got
saved in 1982. That totally changed my view on a lot of things. My main
vision was just to hook up with God and find out who this God was that
loved me. [I] began writing my own songs and I've been continuing to
strengthen my songwriting--I'm really working on that right now."
This couple leads a very active life. While playing between 150-200
dates a year, Terri home-schools Justin, tries to curl up on the sofa and
read novels, plays with her beagle, takes walks, works on refinishing her
old house, and composes new songs. Her concerts are usually at morning
worship at local churches where it's just her and the guitar--solid words
from the Word. When they arrive in a new town, Terri's husband goes to
the local churches as well to perform his unique ministry through baseball
and softball. He can relate tales of the major leagues to the youth as well
as provide Christ-centered messages in order to help young people stay on
the path God has laid for their lives.
Her vision for Christian country music is as dynamic as she is--
thoughts of videos and more far-reaching albums. Lynn would not be
opposed to doing the "crossover thing" to reach a larger audience as it's
"part of our mission to go and make disciples." She does realize that
Nashville can lead to certain problems with worrying about other artists
and is thankful that she's out in the countryside, sufficiently removed from
the city. "God's called me to do this, to go and bring good news to the
afflicted.. Knowing who you are in Christ is really that strength. Once you
can focus on Him, the distractions aren't quite as loud."
Lynn is currently signed with Intersound, who got hold of one of her
independently-produced albums and realized that they shared Lynn's
vision for Christian country. INSIDE A TEAR is her fifth album, but the
first release for Intersound.
"It's just wonderful when God gives you a vision to hang onto it.
Don't ever stop, no matter what. Keep on because it's that scripture in
Habakkuk 2:1-4, the vision will come. It may tarry, it may take awhile.
I've had a real vision for Christian country ever since I got saved. I'm just
excited now to be living that vision. I want to encourage people to find
God's purpose and go for it. It's really fulfilling."
--BRYAN W. BRENDLEY



REVIEWS:

Sandi Patti: Le Voyage (Word)
Sandi Patti admits her latest release was a "risk-taking project." Not only
are there noticeable changes in musical and vocal styles, but also in
content. While previously most of her songs have been praise and worship
or scriptural message songs, her new album seems much more open and
honest, reflecting perhaps a deeper, more realistic view of life.
LE VOYAGE is just what the title implies--an overview of the journey
of life. The desire is that listeners will hear LE VOYAGE not as simply a
collection of songs, but as a complete work: a story put to music. The
journey or voyage is a spiritual one in which the believer has both unique,
individual experiences, and common ones. Our hope is always in our ever-
faithful Companion, Jesus Christ.
The album features 13 songs, including two wonderful instrumentals.
"Prologue," a string arrangement, opens the work beautifully, and subtly
leads into the keyboard intro for "Little Narrow Gate"--a gentle song for
the journey's beginning. Coming later in the "voyage," the second
instrumental, "Theme from the City of Rest," is much more lively and
very joyous with a lovely Irish-sounding melody.
"Hand on My Shoulder" is one that has already received air play on
some Christian radio stations. It's a very moving song about the constant
companionship that can be ours throughout our journey. "Unexpected
Friends" speaks of help received from astonishing sources at times when
we really need it most. "In the Tenderlands" explores the places in our
travels where we find rest for our weariness, comfort for our hurts, mercy
for our faults, and nurturing for our vulnerable spots. Two other gentle,
slower songs are "No Place To Lay My Head" (about keeping our faith
through struggles and defeat) and "All The Stars" (a prayer for the
traveler).
On the more upbeat side, some pleasant surprises await. "Home Will
Find You" encourages the heart seeking love and acceptance and "Love
Can Open The Door" is about the power of love to help us break through
the artificial boundaries between ourselves and others. An urgency is felt
in "The Dilemma," which undoubtedly comes from Romans 7:15-25 and
speaks of the frustration of having two warring natures within us.
The remaining two songs both have a jazzy sound, but are about two
very different stages in our journey. "Forest of Fears" probes the feelings
of the scary, low times when we find our own efforts useless, leading us to
learn to rely more completely upon God. "Long Look," on the other hand,
is about being on a spiritual mountain-top, able to see our life with cleared
vision and renewed hope.
This is a perfect album to welcome Sandi back after some very difficult,
personal struggles in her life. Her vocal abilities are as wonderfully
appealing as ever, and even enhanced with a fresh new style. There is
more depth to this project than others I've heard by her; it's an album
containing something for everyone, whatever stage of their spiritual
journey they may be in.
--JEAN PATTY



Margaret Becker: Soul (Sparrow)
A shiny happy Margaret? Indeed, SOUL has emerged as a project
showing much more of the fun side of Margaret Becker. Left behind are
the strong electric guitars and scratchy vocals of her early rock roots, her
curly hair, and her open public faith analysis, making room for sequencers,
drum machines, and a brand new perspective. It seems that Margaret has
her spiritual "house" in order, letting her focus more on aspects of God
rather than of her personal faith struggles. Commitment, faithfulness, and
praise of God tie the album together creating a tightly knit group of songs
optimistically marveling in God's glory.
The ballads, rather than being a painful self-examination, are, instead,
love songs addressed to God ("This Flame" and the duet with Bob
Carlisle, "Keeping Watch") and songs of commitment to God ("All That I
Am" and "Say the Name"). The lyrical style of the ballads also seems
more artistic, metaphoric, and indirect than those of the past.
Musically, this is expressed through some fully layered grooving
R&B/Pop, four ballads, and even a little rap! Yes, M.C. Margaret takes the
mic on "The World I See in You" to diss ungodly aspects of today's
society. She also takes a step on a couple ballads to use a string section--
not the same rocking Becker we used to know. Rather than the gritty
Rock, we get to see a polished, heavily produced side.
Producer Charlie Peacock makes his presence known with his keyboard
and drum programming as well as in the songwriting with his distinctive
style of background vocals. Big name talent abounds throughout the
project, with the jacket credits almost reading like a "who's who" listing
for top studio musicians.
SOUL is a natural progression from SIMPLE HOUSE musically and
lyrically. Becker has decided to continue to pursue the R&B/pop genre
and has apparently put the house in order. It's an exciting, joyful project
that flies by much too quickly.
--J. WARNER SODITUS



David Meece: Once in a Lifetime (Star Song)
The rich rolling piano, the powerful yet "on the verge of tears" vocals
supplemented with the haunting background vocals are back.
If you have ever seen Meece in concert, you have heard the tales of
childhood woes: of a dysfunctional family, of abuse, of an alcoholic
father. His newest project shows he is coming to grips with his past within
the love of God.
I'll be honest, Meece hasn't always been one of my favorite artists. A
song here and there has captured my attention but my reaction to a new
Meece release has usually been a yawn. All that has changed.
This new album is beyond belief! Every song is a powerful tribute to the
might, power, majesty, and love of God in both music and words. Meece
has never written words like this! "Inside Out" (based on the book of the
same title by Dr. Larry Crabb) discusses how the hidden memories of a
dysfunctional past can be washed clean by the Holy Spirit. Meece
triumphantly tells the world who is in charge of the universe in "Over
You," as in "there's no one over You!" "Every Little Step" is a prayer that
the Lord will guide the daily life and every footstep of a humble pilgrim
who wholeheartedly tries to live for his Lord, but still fails. "Going Home"
is beautiful ballad sharing reflections of a man who knows one day all the
pain, anguish, and bad memories will be erased in glory.
"My Father's Chair" stands out as easily the most memorable and
challenging song. The song proceeds through images of three "Father's"
chairs: Meece's own earthly father's chair that sat in a room and was
always empty when young David need love, a current chair that Meece sits
in and tries his best to be in for his children, and a chair in a heavenly
throne room that is sat upon by One who loves Meece beyond compare
and always is available for a believer to sit in and talk to "Abba."
--BRYAN W. BRENDLEY



The Prayer Chain: Shawl (Reunion)
The Prayer Chain has come away from the WHIRLPOOL EP and has
blanketed themselves with the SHAWL of the Lord. Just as a blanket or
afghan envelops one who snuggles within its fibers, this album envelops
its listeners. The Prayer Chain is definitely on top of the scene, at least for
now, and I wouldn't be surprised if they stayed for a while. SHAWL is
just proof that The Prayer Chain is a band that can keep on growing and
offering their audience music which, while containing the same style,
continues to change enough to prevent the danger of pumping out the
same thing over and over.
There are many differences between the WHIRLPOOL EP and
SHAWL. The first major difference is the length. No more EP's for this
band--SHAWL offers the listeners a total of 12 songs. This doubles what
was previously seen in the talents of these four guys as well. The song
writing talents, musically and lyrically, are tight. I was very impressed and
utterly blown away. Some new influences can be derived from what is
heard on this album. I don't know for sure if this is necessarily true (it may
vary depending on the ear you have for music and the bands you have
been exposed to), but I can pick up tints of U2, PEARL JAM, and THE
SEVENTY SEVENS. Don't worry, the material is definitely original and
the musical style is all The Prayer Chain's .
What can I say? This album is great! If you liked the WHIRLPOOL EP,
I'm sure that you will not be disappointed with SHAWL.
--KEITH A. VALENTINE



Peter Shambrook: Love Unseen (Frontline)
Peter Shambrook's latest effort, LOVE UNSEEN, is a good example of
what is wrong with the music business. But wait--I mean that as a
compliment.  This album is excellent. It has the kind of strong and solid
sound and talented singing that would guarantee it a place on the Top-40
charts. There's just one problem--it's all about God, religion, and
traditional values.
The first song, "I Believe in You," strikes the same man-woman chord
of joy and love that all those hit songs are always about, but puts the credit
for all that love right where it belongs--with God.
"Faith Again," with its pounding, insistent beat, sings the praises not of
self-esteem or some ultimate other person, instead, the song trumpets the
virtues of faith, a faith that "connects my heart to my brain," a genuine
heresy in the world of pop music.
The slow-down "Watching Over You" is a charmer along with "A
Season In The Year," about endings and beginnings and the way they so
often are found in each other. It's an encouraging, yet realistic notion:
"there's a season in the year for change/it's not the end of the story/but a
turn of the page..."
"Landon's Farm" is an intriguing rock tribute to small town values and
big-time faith.  "Dark Side" is a real cry of anguish, an admission of
mortal vulnerability and a witness of God's grace.
"Never Leave You Crying" takes on mental disability and child abuse,
and finds solace in the promises of God. Shambrook reminds us that,
whatever the world may do to us, Jesus says "come to me as a little child,"
and we know that he "will never leave you crying." In this world of
monsters and molesters, it is a message all too many desperately need to
hear.
"Just One Man" is a lovely song about Paul the apostle awaiting
execution. It briefly but brilliantly tells the story of the man who
persecuted Christians and then spent the rest of his life spreading the
Gospel for "the love of just one man."
The title song is also the last, a sweet and personal song about the pain
of leaving the ones you love as they sleep, even for just a little while. As
he says, "that I'll be back soon/it doesn't help the frustration." A keen and
loving observation, almost out of place these days in popular music.
So it looks like Peter Shambrook has written himself out of the Top-40.
But, quite frankly, I wouldn't like it any other way.
--KERRY STEPHENSON



Michael Anderson: Saints and Sinners (ForeFront)
With a team of Michael Anderson and producer Eddie DeGarmo, I knew
this would be a very hot album--and I was right. This heavy rockin' artist
has gone back to his pseudo-Country-delta Bluegrass-kinda-twangy-yet-
still-upbeat style.
Anderson used to keep a lot a hard guitar and pulsing drums coupled
with a driving bass to produce a high-powered piece of wax. Now that
he's back in Nashville, some more soulful songs are the order of the day.
Anderson has not sacrificed any of his musical talent--this project is ripe
with some serious guitar licks and some fancy drum work all blended with
Anderson's very unique voice. It's not a gravely or gritty voice, but it's
certainly not a sweet melodious sound either. The overall effect is a
sincere man singing with more emotion and feeling than plain old
choirboy talent. At the end of some his lines, he almost sings up and off-
key, producing an effect that startles some--thereby driving home the
point that he is making.
Speaking of points, Anderson drives home quite a few with this album.
Quite simply, these are gut-wrenching, soul-searing lyrics. When
Anderson asks "What You Gonna Do About Jesus?" you gotta answer--
with either a bow of the knee or a face of defiance.
The songs are an emotional reflection of Anderson's life. They talk of
how God remolded his earlier life, how Jesus filled all the holes in his life,
and, of course, a new version of his old hit "Sound Alarm."
"I may be a prophet/But I won't die for your sins/I am not the
answer/For the mess this world is in/Don't put me on a pedestal/Don't
hang me on your cross/There is just one Shepherd/For the sheep that are
still lost/As you stand as judge of saints and sinners/In truth which one are
you/Maybe you don't need forgiveness/But I still do."
--BRYAN W. BRENDLEY



Keith Brown: This Side of Heaven (Star Song)
Keith Brown's THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN is a straight out energetic Pop
album with soulful ballads. It seems almost ready made for Top-40 radio.
That shouldn't be a surprise considering Keith Brown has been writing
pop music for years. He's saved up some good songs and added some
fresh new tunes that communicate directly to believers and will make non-
believers consider  their need for Christ.
There is a noticeable contrast between the old and new songs. The older
songs are more "technical" rather than artistic. Brown takes a few more
risks with the newer songs, making more artistic statements in "Wind in
the Fire," "Unto Us" (a Christmas song), and "Psalm 100" (a Pop hymn).
The album pumps from the beginning only bothering to slow down a
little for ballads, which are tender but not sappy, relying heavily on a
piano accompaniment--while still remaining strictly Pop.
Dez Dickerson lends Brown a hand for the production duties and the pair
went overboard on this project. Almost all the music is sequenced and
synthesized and quite a few layers deep.
It is an excellent project, but only for devoted Pop fans.
--ROGER APPELINSKI

Mesa: Mesa (Benson)
An interesting combination of Dallas Holm, Dana Key, and Jerry
Williams turned out to be more of a secondary creative outlet by these
men than the "Supergroup" you might expect. They team up on
background vocals but share lead vocals on only one song. There wasn't
even any songwriting collaboration.
Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable album. It's predominantly acoustic
guitar based with heavy amounts of Bass by Gary Lunn and Tommy
Cathey as well as B-3 Organ by Michael Utley and Eddie DeGarmo. The
style ranges from soft to bluesy Rock with a slight bit of Country at times.
The songs are somewhat disjointed but center around the slow rock pace
to the medium paced ballad. It's not a rocking album, rather, a slower,
more expressive setting.
The lyrics explore the Christian faith in a surprisingly personal way,
speaking about faithfulness to God's will, human depravity, trust, patience
to seek God, God's eternal steadfastness, the worthlessness of money and
glamour, and the peace that God passes to us.
The highlight of the album is the final song, a remake of Bob Dylan's
"Gotta Serve Somebody." Holm, Key, and Williams trade verses in this
bluesy version of this very true song.
--ROGER APPELINSKI

XL & DBD: Sodom and America (Word)
If you like the secular group Living Colour, then this is an album to
check out. XL & Death Before Dishonor have created an exciting,
aggressive Rap/Rock/Hip-Hop/Thrash/Punk album that you might find if
you mixed up Mike-E, D.C. Talk, and One Bad Pig. The album's pace is
great, blending heavy bass with harsh electric guitars. It mixes tunes
emphasizing each of these influences into a hard hitting experience that
seems to last much longer than the 41 minute playing time. The lyrics are
hard hitting, aggressive, and even militant, matching the musical style
perfectly.
There's quite a topical diversity as well. There are songs addressing
street life and others addressing the Christian faith. The message is urgent,
easy to understand, militant at times, slightly violent in spots, but positive
on the whole.
Unlike most recordings in this genre, XL & DBD avoid getting stuck in
the darkness. There are a couple dark songs, but for the most part, they
present a path to the light, making this a surprisingly uplifting album in
comparison.
--ROGER APPELINSKI

A Quick Look:


CLC Youth Choir: Live...In the Spirit
CLC's project, LIVE... IN THE SPIRIT is a marvelous mixture of hard
rocking, old-fashioned Black Gospel and Urban Contemporary, with a
dash of intermediate Rap thrown in for good measure. The album sparkles
with life and spirit--the kind gospel music is known for.
Throughout the album, the choir moves back and forth from heart-
pounding Gospel joy to heart-touching moments of sweet peace in the
Lord. With the second song, "Holy, Holy, Holy," they slide into a slow
and reverent soft sound, an invitation to personal worship that lasts
through "More Than Anything." "Call on That Name," however, bounces
out of the applause and brings in a strong beat with a mass choir sound.
"Jesus, You're Everything" and "He Is Working For Our Good" are a bit
slower--the kind that bring tears to the eyes and joy to the heart. Hot on
its heels, the choir bursts into "Have Faith In God," a hand-clapping, foot-
stomping celebration of overcoming victory. A truly "joyful noise" for the
One who is worthy of all praise.
Next they slide into "Use Me," a heartfelt pledge of fidelity to God, that
incorporates traditional Black Gospel vocalizations and the strong, solid
sound of the background choir. A heartbeat later, they move into "Only
What You Do For Christ," which rocks the house again. Quiet praise,
sweet orchestration, testimony, and an invitation slide you on into the end
of the album.
All in all, the Christian Life Center of Stockton, California, has just
cause to be proud of its Youth.
--KERRY STEPHENSON

Ned Eliason: Praise His Name (Christian Inspirational Music)
Fans of inspirational music should certainly like this project by Ned
Eliason. This album practically is Ned Eliason. He wrote, arranged, played
guitar, and co-produced the album over the last four years. It's apparent
that much thought and energy went into this album.
Eliason's deep voice boom over the complex orchestrated tunes.
There are a couple slight tendencies toward Contemporary and Gospel,
but the majority relies on the inspirational sound. There are also some
surprising guitar solos lending some additional life to the atmosphere of
the project.
If you like this style of praise music, this is a well crafted album for you
to try.
--ROGER APPELINSKI

Nicholas: Inspirational sounds Vol. 1 (Command)
Let me try to explain this. As near as I can tell, "Nicholas" is actually a
whole bunch of people. Before I got this album, I had never heard of
Nicholas, and I really wish I knew why, because this is one talented group
of singers and musicians.
There isn't a lot of jumping up and down in this album, but it certainly
delivers on the "inspirational" promise! It has a nice, laid-back, jazzy kind
of sound, with a good vocal range and quiet praise.
The group utilizes a wide range of instrumentation, with some very
interesting synthesizer work and stirring solos on the saxophone and the
trumpet. While you may recognize some of the titles, ("It Is Well With My
Soul" for instance) I doubt you've ever heard them done quite this way
before.
Overall, the album is a unique and interesting mix of traditional Black
Gospel and synthesized Jazz. There are several introductory monologues,
with the lead-in to "The Closer I Get to You," being a real stand-out. I
guarantee you never quite thought of that song as a hallmark of "family
values," but Nicholas will change your mind. And the long monologue
prior to the invitation that closes the album takes on some very serious
social and spiritual issues.
--KERRY STEPHENSON

Generation: Brutal Reality (Wonderland)
This new group, and album is too marvelous for words! This group
spans various classifications sharing styles comparable to BRAINCHILD
and MINISTRY.
The album starts off with "Alive" a heavy industrial song, with a
BRAINCHILD vibe to it. "Retro Vision" is totally mind-blowing, with
some great speed metal mixed in, talking about whether the world was
made from a bang or God--"If a bang started off the world as we know
it/who caused that bang, and started the show?"
Other highlights are "Nothing to Give" about someone who was saved
after he finally read the Bible and "Hunger," a song that sounds a lot like
MINISTRY's "Jesus Built my Hotrod."
--BRAD MATTERN

Mortification: Postmomentary Affliction (Intense)
This is a very intense new project, with many influences from their first
album, although not as deathly, but definitely better.
It starts of with an intro entitled "Illusions From the Valley of
Darkness," which leads into "From the Valley of Shadows," which is very
heavy. It deals with someone coming out of the darkness and getting to
know Christ. "Grind Planetarium" is a another highlight with death metal
vocals, and the guitar work is totally killer. "Overseer," another intense
death metal song, is the best on the album.
--BRAD MATTERN

The Contemporary Christian Music Debate by Steve Miller (Tyndale
House)
Okay, I feel strongly about the important usefulness of contemporary
Christian music. When I saw this book, I immediately thought about how
great a tool this could be in arguing my point. Well, in the preface, Miller
states, "If you find that your reasons for reading are more to stock your
arsenal and beef up your position than to humbly seek God's face, please
stop reading, close the book, and pray a simple prayer for objectivity and
guidance." He then shares a prayer that he used throughout his work to
keep him objective and seeking God's will. I was humbled--big time. I
think that this really put this book in perspective for me and that I got far
more out of it with my first mindset.
Miller explains his own dilemma that lead to the research surrounding
the book in that he was a big fan of contemporary Christian music (CCM)
but was told that it was a worldly compromise. Not wanting to
compromise, he began exploring CCM's validity and promised that he
would give it up if it wasn't God's will to use CCM in Christian ministry.
This book summarizes his almost 20 years of research--the information
for both sides with sensible, logical analysis and conclusions.
He presents a list of the questions that must be answered before a
conclusion can be made: (1) Have scientists proven that rock music harms
both mind and body? (2) Does contemporary music use the same kind of
beat used by African tribes to call upon demons? (3) Do contemporary
music styles lead to moral corruption? (4) Do we compromise when we
take something from the world and use it for God? (5) What does the
Bible say about music and styles of worship? (6) What can we learn from
the history of our hymns? (7) How can parents talk to their children about
their music? (8) How can churches use CCM without alienating those who
object? (9) Is there a place for CCM in ministries? (10) How are growing
churches using contemporary forms in worship?
Miller then systematically and carefully examines the evidence to
answer each of these questions. He draws on everything from published
research to the Bible to gather information to logically come to his
conclusions.
Much of Miller's final analysis compares music ministry to foreign
ministry. If we were to go on a foreign mission, it would be wrong to
decide that "the 'natives' should be brought up to our cultural level in
order to become Christians," since "Jesus adopted the dress and language
of the first-century Jewish culture, and if we are to follow in his steps, we
must do the same." He also quotes T. W. Hunt, "'Surely there can be no
question that the only viable music for unreached peoples is their own.'"
While remaining objective, Miller may seem to strike out at
traditionalists. He does address question (8) at length, but he states that
"traditions are good if they continue to have meaning within a culture. But
lest us not forget the seven last words of the church: 'We never did it that
way before.'"
True, CCM is not traditional, and Miller takes quite a step at showing
why it is also important for the church to accept and utilize.
--J. WARNER SODITUS




Please Write to the Lighthouse
c/o J. Warner Soditus
215 McKee Hall
University Park, PA 16802

BACK ISSUES
June '92  HEATHER & KIRSTEN, JAG, LISA BEVILL, JON GIBSON,
RICK ELIAS, Vireo Records, Lion & Lamb
July '92        MIKE-E, NEWSBOYS, STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, D.C.
TALK, WES KING, Pakaderm Records
September '92  RICK CUA, E.T.W., RHYTHM HOUSE, DAVID AND
THE GIANTS, Why a Lighthouse?
November '92  LARRY HOWARD, PETER SHAMBROOK, LUST
CONTROL, SUSAN ASHTON, FIGHTER, "Started as a Whisper"
December '92  BRYAN DUNCAN, MARK FARNER, TOM MCCAIN,
WHITE HEART on TALES OF WONDER, "Dancing in Heaven"
January '93  PHIL KEAGGY, D.O.C., Updates on HOI POLLOI and THE
NEWSBOYS, "The Door of Heaven," TWILA PARIS on A HEART
THAT KNOWS YOU and "Destiny"
February '93  WHITECROSS, HALO, SARDONYX, Urgent Music
Group
March '93  GEOFF MOORE AND THE DISTANCE, PHILLIPS, CRAIG
& DEAN, AVB, MID SOUTH, A Look at the First Year of THE
LIGHTHOUSE
April '93  KAISER/MANSFIELD, STEVE CAMP, ROC-T, KARYN
LIST
May '93  RACHEL RACHEL, CODE OF ETHICS, S.O.H.L.4UR
TRIBE, RON DAVID MOORE
Prices are as Follows:
       1:      $.75    2:      $1.50   3:      $2.00   4:      $2.50   5:      $3.00
       6:      $3.50   7:      $3.75   8:      $4.00   9:      $4.25   10:     $4.50
Please allow 2 weeks for processing.



- LIGHTSHINE MAGAZINE-
P. O. Box 456 Paradise, PA 17562 (717) 397-7217
THE SACRIFICE MAGAZINE: c/o Scott Hileman, Rte. 1 Box 596,
Jonesboro, IL 62952 (bi-monthly $11.00 U.S.).
The "FUNKY NEWS LETTER FROM HEAVEN" is a new Christian
metal/thrash/death metal zine. 'The first zine' has interviews with
Sardonyx and Morbideath. For the 1st issue send 2.00 to F.N.L.F.H., c/o
Brad Mattern, 1752 N. Atherton St, Lot 149, State College, PA 16803.
PETRA IN CONCERT Community Arts Center, 220 W. 4th St.
Williamsport, PA. Saturday, July 10, 1993 8:00. Call (717) 326-2424 for
tickets. For information call the concert sponsor WGRC at (717) 523-
1190.



New Releases:
MARGARET BECKER  SOUL
STEVE CAMP  TAKING HEAVEN BY STORM
DEGARMO & KEY  HEAT IT UP
DINO  RHYTHM OF PEACE
MERCY  MERCY
JULIE MILLER  ORPHANS AND ANGELS
MORTIFICATION  POST MOMENTARY AFFLICTION
SANDI PATTI  LE VOYAGE



June Releases
DENNIS AGAJANIAN  THERE IS A ROAD
BELIEVER  DIMENSIONS
BOB CARLISLE  BOB CARLISLE
CARMAN  LORD OF ALL
TERRY CLACK  UNTITLED
RICK ELIAS  FAITH AND FORGIVENESS
CODE OF ETHICS  CODE OF ETHICS
DIG HAY ZOOSE  MAGENTAMANTALOVETREE
FEAR NOT  FEAR NOT
FIRST CALL  SACRED JOURNEY
STEVE FLANIGAN  STEVE FLANIGAN
JON GIBSON  JG
BRENT HENDERSON  BROTHER TO BROTHER
HOI POLLOI  SPIN ME
LIZZ LEE  LIZZ LEE
MARK LOWRY  THE LAST WORD
MAGDALLAN  REVOLUTION MIND
MORTAL  LIVE EP
CHUCKIE PEREZ  UNIVERSAL
PRAYER CHAIN  SHAWL
SERAIAH  THIS TIME
RANDY STONEHILL  STORIES
DICK & MEL TUNNEY  LEFT TO WRITE
VERSUS  UNTITLED



July Releases:
BETRAYAL  THE PASSING
ASHLEY CLEVELAND  BUS NAMED DESIRE
JIM COLE  MERCIFUL GOD
THE DAYS  NEW STEP
FEAR NOT  FEAR NOT
ANNIE HERRING  ALL THAT I AM
CINDY MORGAN  REASON TO LIVE
SCOTT SPRINGER  HELLO FOREVER
JOHN MICHAEL TALBOT  MEDITATIONS IN THE SPIRIT



Top Albums (April 1993)
       1.      FREE AT LAST, D.C. Talk, ForeFront
       2.      THE ABSOLUTE BEST, Carman, Sparrow
       3.      CHANGE YOUR WORLD, Michael W. Smith, Reunion
       4.      THE GREAT ADVENTURE, Steven Curtis Chapman, Sparrow
       5.      THE BASICS OF LIFE, 4Him, Benson
       6.      MIRACLE MILE, Guardian, Pakaderm
       7.      A HEART THAT KNOWS YOU, Twila Paris, Star Song
       8.      SET ME FREE, Acappella, Word
       9.      MICHAEL ENGLISH, Michael English, Warner Alliance
       10.     PHILLIPS, CRAIG & DEAN, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Star Song
       11.     THE BENSON SAMPLER, various, Benson
       12.     THE SHAPE OF GRACE, Out of the Grey, Sparrow
       13.     CRIMSON AND BLUE, Phil Keaggy, Myrrh
       14.     MERCY, Bryan Duncan, Myrrh
       15.     HOPE, Michael English, Warner Alliance
       16.     HOW TIME FLIES, Wayne Watson, DaySpring
       17.     MOMENTS FOR THE HEART, Ray Boltz, Diadem
       18.     HYMNS: A PORTRAIT OF CHRIST, Steve Green, Sparrow
       19.     THE SECRET PLACE, Kent Henry, Hosanna! Music
       20.     LIFT HIM UP, Hosanna! Music



THE LIGHTHOUSE cassette giveaway!
THE LIGHTHOUSE will be giving away a free* cassette each month. The
winner will receive a list of those available and may choose any one
cassette. Paid subscribers are automatically entered in each month's
drawing. To enter, send a 3 x 5 card or slip of paper with your name and
address by the 23rd of the month.
* winner must pay $.50 postage


-----------------------------------
End of the Lighthouse Christian Music Magazine (Electronic Version)

Please send replies to :
[email protected]

God Bless!

You are viewing proxied material from infinitelyremote.com. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.