I don't need to say that I am quite a fan of Andrew Osenga, (he was the lead singer of The Normals; now he has joined Caedmon’s Call, and he has recorded a number of solo CDs). On his site, at the beginning of the year, were two quite fascinating posts about 'Christian musicians', 'musicians who are Christians' and more broadly 'Christian Music'. I was intrigued because here was a Christian (musician), talking about the tension and relationship between the two.
The links the two posts are below, and I've elaborated on these a little below.
:: No Man’s Land :: No Man’s land II ::
[Bonus, Here's Harper's review The Morning. And while I hear Christian themes resonate through it, they are not overpowering, and its a treasure to listen to.]
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I found the posts (and comments) interesting, and I identified with a lot of the sentiments; because we often hear comments like “insert latest band name here” are a Christian band, or “x” have 'sold out' because they are trying to break into the secular market; or why does band "z" focus on playing for Christians; 'they're only preaching to the choir, don’t they remember we are called to be salt and light to the world'.
I wonder precisely what we expect 'Christian-musicians' to do with their gift – do we expect each song to be an 'sermon' or an exegesis of a passages; is there really a danger in singing parables - will people miss the point? (Is this the point of art - to communicate with those who hear?)
Personally I quite like the songs (stories) which are open to interpretation, and it’s the lyrics rather than the music which reach me. But that’s not to say I don’t like lyrics which are taken directly from the bible (eg. Third Day's Your Love oh Lord, taken from Ps. 36, I think).
Though, I am intrigued by the number of Christians who think so-called ‘Christian Music’ is, for want of a better word, daggy. Can someone quantify what makes it 'daggy'?
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