Reviews, Interviews, News, Commentaries, Glimpses of God, Best-Of ListsWhat Happened to My CCM?
What Happened to My CCM?
The 1990s saw an unprecedented explosion of Christian rock. Jars of Clay, Sixpence None the Richer, P.O.D., and Switchfoot were hot on Christian radio and on MTV. Christian rock festivals multiplied and expanded. CCM labels sold millions of records. It was a pretty great time to be a Christian rock fan.
A generation has passed since most of our favorite '90s Christian bands formed. Kids who were born the year Jars of Clay and Jesus Freak came out (1995, if you're keeping score) will be graduating from high school next year.
This means two things. First: We're getting old.
And second: We're old enough that our favorite bands are now reuniting. It's hard to think of a '90s Christian band that hasn't rejuvenated itself in some way this year: PFR is touring; Sixpence has a new original full-length for the first time in ten years (coming next week); all three of the major Christian ska bands—the Supertones, the Insyderz, and Five Iron Frenzy—have reformed; rumors about Audio Adrenaline, Poor Old Lu, and the Prayer Chain have circulated online. Need I go on? (And dc Talk, are you listening?)
On one level, this is great news: our favorite bands, whose records in part formed our identities and got us through our teenage years, whose music still evokes some of our most powerful feelings and beliefs, are back. And we've got the disposable income to support them.
But there are three things we must confront when our favorite Christian bands of the 1990s reunite.
1. The Christian music industry is not the same.
It's only been about 15 years since the beginning of one of the most prolific periods of Christian rock history, but almost everything about how we experience Christian rock has changed. Take Five Iron Frenzy as an example: In 1995, they signed to a small, Christian indie label (Five Minute Walk Records), were featured in magazines like 7 Ball, CCM, and True Tunes News, had albums for sale in Christian bookstores, and toured relentlessly—they were a fan favorite at the Cornerstone Festival. In 2012, Five Minute Walk and those publications no longer exist, and July's Cornerstone was the last. And the few surviving Christian bookstores in my area that still sell music have such small CD inventories that they don't have room to spare for edgier bands.
On the other hand, without a label, Five Iron raised over $200,000 from fans on Kickstarter, got a lot of online media coverage (Christian and non) for it, gave away their new single to thousands through NoiseTrade, and now have enough financial stability and goodwill banked to pick and choose exactly what kind of shows they will or won't play this year.
This is just one example. Obviously, the Internet has changed independent music for almost every band, but it's been especially dramatic for the small, interconnected world of Christian rock: there are fewer indie labels in the Christian market, it seems, and fewer bands on the kind of church-affiliated touring circuit where we used to see bands like Five Iron Frenzy.
2. The bands are not the same.
Of course, anyone goes through a lot of changes in 20 years, but it's interesting and sometimes sobering to think about what's gone on in the lives and careers of the bands we loved. As Joel Hanson of PFR, in a video announcing the tour, mentioned: "Over 20 years, you have some phenomenal things happen, and you also go through some things that you never thought would be a part of your life, and maybe they're even tragic … but you come up hopeful, and you come up grateful, and it makes you want to stay in it."
La complejidad hispana: Todo cambió en el 2012
The Latest in Movie News, May 20, 2013
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Anthony C
I'm a freelance writer...I was telling my friend at HM magazine how I gravitate to the bands whose members are Christian but don't want their band to be marketed thus, because if you claim to do anything in the name of God, you are placing great responsibility on yourself....many amazing bands, some of the best in my opinion are having to guard against the Christian band label....it's truly unfortunate that society always tries to label Christians and put them in an isolated box where they are hidden from the masses...although there's nothing wrong with bands that embrace the Christian Band tag... great bands like Third Day and Audio A come to mind.....CCM radio is horrible though but still better than top 40 ...I wrote an article titled Top 10 (Almost) ‘Christian rock’ bands which I think many would enjoy cause there are many great bands making Christian-oriented music that don't want to limit themselves creatively or limit their audience by signing with & being marketed by CCM label
frederick king
As many of you know, I was a part of the generation of CCMers way back in the 1980's A full musical generation before what is talked about in the article. For me Being in the Christian Music Scene was a gift from God. A gift that I missed in the later years. My last radio show was in 1993 and after a full decade of service in the CCM corps, I was able to see that we as a movement, or should I say as a group of young Christians were getting tired. the zest for the Word began to give way to compromise and apathy. When I started making my own music and CD's in the early 2000's I had the stamina and fire to sing and play my heart out for the Lord's work, in the hopes that someones life would be touched by a lyric that God inspired me to write. But now, it seems that life has gotten in the way. the fire that I once had has now faded, and though I still play with my guitar and keyboards every once in a while, I find that I don't have anything left to say anymore. So I do smooth jazz. as for CCM in my life, I stopped listening to it in the late 1990's. I found it to be more or less the same thing over and over again. Nothing that really blessed me. Oh sure there was praise and worship, which was great, but it wasn't the kind of music one could use for witness. I really miss that. There also were no characters anymore in the scene. By that I mean people who were individuals like Randy Stonehill, or Brian Duncan- both of whom were known for their quirky personalities. We also began to loose the intensity for the Gospel. Mylon LeFever and Glen Kaiser both come to mind. I was MCing a concert with Mylon one time and before the show, we were all praying in the back and I will kid you not, he nearly blew me away by the shear intensity of his prayer! I cant explain it better. I have only been witness to that kind of power one other time, and that was with Rev. Billy Graham. I believe he let it go the way that it has because we as The CCM fans and musicians let compromise creep into it. In the early 1990's and even before, the big worldly record companies bought up all of the CCM labels and placated us with promises of making BIG money. Little by little, we were assimilated just like the Borg does on Star Trek.So how did this article make me feel? Old. And a little sad. Sad because my kids and the others of this their generation may never know the experiences that I have had. But I will leave off with this, I think that God can and will revive CCM. All we need to do is pray.
kelly williAMS
Well good luck to all the older artist and groups trying to make a comeback. When an old band in the secular market say they are making a comeback they get support from their music industry....Van Halen, Rolling Stones...etc. But some of the older Christian artist and bands have struggled to get support it seems. A couple of years ago some of the Classic Petra guys got together and recorded some of their songs from the past and I've called several Christian radio stations requesting to hear their music and they won't do it. And these guys still sound good and their once again praising god with great music with a message. But where is the support from the Big Christian Music industry? Good luck to the comebacks.