Back in 2005, Christian Retailing was celebrating 50 years of publication with longer articles about different aspects of the Christian retail business. As the music editor, I was asked to put together this retrospective of what happened in those fifty years. It is by no means authoritative, but I had fun speaking with some of the people who I felt shaped the musical landscape, including Andrae Crouch, Bill Gaither, Amy Grant and Billy Ray Hearn.  Now one of the most... Read more

My favorite singer! It was a reunion of sorts last night in Nashville as the annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards returned to town after a two-year stint in Atlanta. In fact, the move back was the talk of the show, replacing the journalists’ regular token questions such as “Where are you going to put all of those awards?” and “Are they bringing more cookies to the pressroom?” The backstage area, enlarged and full of eager press, was where I... Read more

I grew up watching Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman series, so I’ve always been curious to see how a movie would work. This answers the question to me. It’s a short film by Rainfall Films showing what it might look like on a larger scale. It’s a little dark, following the Dark Knight/Man of Steel model, but I still think it’s pretty cool. Your thoughts? Read more

I had no intention of writing about Miley Cyrus today, even though there are a lot of posts, comments, news reports and blogs going around about her lewd performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. I didn’t watch so I figured I’d sit back and let everyone who did watch say it better. I agree with those who believe it was in line with the awards show and we shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s all shock value anyway. To me,... Read more

Jonny Lang’s Turn Around was one of my favorite albums of the 2000s. I went to the tour stop to support it at Knoxville’s Tennessee Theater and it blew me away. It didn’t include theatrics or even much stage banter, but just plenty of good guitar rock/blues talent. The publicist told me Jonny put on one of the best shows he’d ever seen. And he was right. It also didn’t hurt that we were given third row seats. Here’s a... Read more

On Monday, we visited Disney’s Magic Kingdom with our three little princesses. Natalie, who’s three, had been once before, before she’d turned one. Back then, she recognized and loved Mickey and Minnie Mouse but has since gotten into more characters. So we knew her return trip would be special. Hailey and Hannah, who are turning one next week, were pretty much along for the ride. We thought they’d be “done” early and inconsolable because of the heat and interrupted schedule,... Read more

I didn’t expect to cry tonight and yet there I was, an absolute mess. When I arrived from work, I realized I had forgotten my laptop. No, I didn’t cry about that. I did worry for a moment that it had been stolen out of my bag while at the store, so I decided to go back to the office to find it. Natalie joined me for some company. As I drove, I moved the rear view mirror so I... Read more

Sometimes I really miss the days of being a mostly full-time music journalist, traveling to private shows, eating dinner with the artists and hearing all the new music early. As my all-time favorite Amy Grant is readying her latest project, I have checked early songs released online and wished for one of those pre-release media packages of days gone by. There are projects I do receive early copies of and I have been doing a pretty regular gig of reviews... Read more

Editor’s note: This blog was written in 2013. Obviously some things have progressed and changed since then… In the past few days, those of us who are rooting for a “Justice League” film have become disheartened. First, came commentary from popular comics writer Mark Miller that it just can’t be done and then reports that the most recent script, featuring Darkseid as the villain, had been scrapped. Both seem to feed into the popular consensus that this movie will just... Read more

Like the times when my great grandfather used to whisper as he tied down his horse, “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” I’ve found myself arriving at another one of life’s head-scratching choices. Every day presents its own ups and downs, lows and highs, upside downs and rightside ups or whatever additional clichés might be applicable. It’s my turn in the hot seat, Regis staring at me, pointing his finger and laughing, well maybe not laughing but at least smirking, poking in... Read more