It used to be that the only Christian music that was heard was from the hymnals that the Minister sang from the pulpit during the church service and then when the after-service pleasantries were finished, the family piled into the Oldsmobile, turned on the radio and listened to anything from Hank Snow to Frankie Valli to The Beatles on the way home. There just was no such thing as an all-Christian music radio station let alone tremendousness amounts of Christian music records.
Christian Music Infancy
Naturally, Elvis Presley , according to, played an important role in Gospel music as evidenced by the more than 250 million gospel recordings he sold; however, according to Mary Rachuy, interview on May 23, 2010, who grew up in the late 50s and early 60s, "there was a radio station or two that would have a Gospel hour on Sunday mornings, but that was about the only time there would be anything one could call 'Christian music' being played on the radio'. Unsurprisingly, this left Christian youth listening to the music of the world, not feeding their need of hearing the Gospel outside of the walls of the church. Then the Jesus Movement happened.
Christian Music the Tweenage Years
With the emergence of the Jesus Movement came the materialization of Jesus music. While the Hippies had The Grateful Dead to listen to, the Jesus Freaks had bands like Sweet Comfort Band feeding them the Gospel through music. As the times changed for the secular world musically, the same happened for the Christians. As The Grateful Dead began to wane in popularity and bands like Bad Company began taking over the airwaves, the same thing happened for the Christian music market; though, there had yet to be established a radio station exclusively set aside for Christian music.
Christian Music the Elementary Years
Thankfully, for all markets concerned, the 70s came to an end and in came the 80s with its big hair bands and giant guitar solos.. But, something more important happened in the 1980s for Christian music than anything else: a Christian radio station was finally established! It began in 1986 in Yucaipa, California and was called KLRD. Now having the ability to reach the masses like secular stations, albeit by the generous donations of the listeners of the station, KLRD was able to help new artists get their names out there, thus generating new stars within this growing genre of music: Christian music. Then in 1996 KXRD, a radio station based out of Victorville, Ca merged with KLRD and became the radio station the people know today as Air1, a non-for-profit Christian radio station.
Christian Music The Teenage Years
With the inception of KLRD listeners were introduced to a variety of different artists of various musical styles. Everything from pop to rock to rap was heard on the radio, but the new element about it was that the lyrical content was Biblical. Listeners were introduced to bands and artists such as Stryper, Darrell Mansfield, Amy Grant, dc Talk, The Newsboys, and so much more. Looking back the superstars of the late 80s and early 90s paved the way for the plethora of artists that are gracing the airwaves and stages now in the year 2010. Every style of music that is in the secular music market has it's Christian music counterpart and that is something that is so awesome about music: it has no borders!
Christian Music The Adult Years
In today's world emo, metal, screamo, and cutie patootie brother boy bands are what reign supreme in the music industry as seen by the popularity of The Jonas Brothers, Marilyn Manson, UnderOath, and Metallica; the same can be said for Christian music, the only difference is, it's not a group of brothers that are popular, it's a group of sisters called Barlow Girl. "By and large," Mary Rachuy says, "people who are not Christians do not realize that Christians listen to the same style of music as they do, it's just that the lyrical content is different".
Christian Music In Its Prime
There are Christian screamo/emo bands, heavy metal bands like Demon Hunter (DemonHunter.net); Hard Rock like Project 86 and Pillar; Industrial rock (ala Marilyn Manson) called Skillet and pop/rock bands like the aforementioned staples of Christian music, The Newsboys, and the list goes on. Just like secular music where there is a music genre for everyone, the same can be said for Christian music. What's most important of all is that the music is reaching out to souls all around the world and feeding them the Gospel of Christ through whatever genre of music that happens to speak to them the most. It doesn't matter whether that genre happens to be where the lead singer is screaming at the audience at the top of his lungs or if he's standing alone at the microphone singing a simple melody; what is important is the message of hope being conveyed.
Christine Rachuy - My name is Christine Rachuy and I enjoy writing on all different subjects. I tend to write mostly about Christianity, music, photography, ...
