Andy Whitman on CCM ... 16 years ago.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Andy Whitman's music blog is one of my favorites, and today's entry is especially interesting. (Opus, I see, has noticed it as well.) It's a commentary on\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andy Whitman on CCM ... 16 years ago.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Andy Whitman's music blog is one of my favorites, and today's entry is especially interesting. (Opus, I see, has noticed it as well.) It's a commentary on\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-02-16T16:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-11-13T07:56:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/\",\"name\":\"Andy Whitman on CCM ... 16 years ago.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-02-16T16:42:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-11-13T07:56:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"Andy Whitman's music blog is one of my favorites, and today's entry is especially interesting. (Opus, I see, has noticed it as well.) It's a commentary on\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Andy Whitman on CCM … 16 years ago.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Andy Whitman on CCM ... 16 years ago.","description":"Andy Whitman's music blog is one of my favorites, and today's entry is especially interesting. (Opus, I see, has noticed it as well.) It's a commentary on","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Andy Whitman on CCM ... 16 years ago.","og_description":"Andy Whitman's music blog is one of my favorites, and today's entry is especially interesting. (Opus, I see, has noticed it as well.) It's a commentary on","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/","og_site_name":"Looking Closer","article_published_time":"2006-02-16T16:42:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-11-13T07:56:58+00:00","author":"Jeffrey Overstreet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Overstreet","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/","name":"Andy Whitman on CCM ... 16 years ago.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-02-16T16:42:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-11-13T07:56:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e"},"description":"Andy Whitman's music blog is one of my favorites, and today's entry is especially interesting. (Opus, I see, has noticed it as well.) It's a commentary on","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Andy Whitman on CCM … 16 years ago."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/","name":"Looking Closer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e","name":"Jeffrey Overstreet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Jeffrey Overstreet"},"description":"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":14802,"date":"2006-02-16T16:42:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-16T16:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.wordpress.com\/2006\/02\/16\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/"},"modified":"2012-11-13T00:56:58","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T07:56:58","slug":"andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/02\/andy-whitman-on-ccm-16-years-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Whitman on CCM … 16 years ago."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Andy Whitman\u2019s music blog is one of my favorites, and today\u2019s entry is especially interesting<\/a>. (Opus<\/a>, I see, has noticed it as well.) It\u2019s a commentary on Contemporary Christian Music written 16 years ago. And it\u2019s still oh so relevant (if you\u2019ll permit me the use of that much-abused word.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that 16 years ago, Leslie Phillips had recently changed her name to Sam Phillips<\/a>, jumped off the CCM ship, and reinvented herself as Sam Phillips, with the album The Indescribable Wow<\/em> introducing her to the open waters of \u201csecular music.\u201d It was her courageous transition, along with the exemplary work done by U2 in that period, that convinced me once and for all that art was about freedom and revelation, not packaging messages and airbrushing personalities. I wish I\u2019d known Andy back then. We could have ranted together.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019ve come a long way, baby. Along with Phillips and U2, we have Over the Rhine, The Innocence Mission, Sufjan Stevens, and so many more demonstrating honesty, innovation, and excellence that must make those bands bound by the expectations of the CCM industry feel rather jealous. Not to say that there aren\u2019t artists of integrity within the CCM corral, and no, I\u2019m not making a blanket condemnation of all Christians recording on Christian labels (we\u2019ve had that argument here enough). But it\u2019s interesting to see how so many of these problems persist, in spite of the fact that artists like those I listed above are having such a significant impact being \u201cin, but not of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"