I enjoyed listening to this testimony from former Kansas lead singer John Elefante, whose voice crystallized songs like “Carry on Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind” in rock and roll history. Like bandmate Kerry Livgren, he too underwent the conviction of the Holy Spirit and converted to Christianity. Afterwards, he went on to work extensively in Christian rock and scored solo hits like “That’s Why God Made the Moon” (which epitomizes everything that makes a great power ballad, in my opinion).... Read more
I thank Bill Gaither for suggesting this song to the Isaacs and the Isaacs for recording it, because heaven forbid there should be any great 80s songs I haven’t yet discovered! For those who know it already, you might have thought it strange to see the ISAACS of all groups covering a secular Brit-pop track. But that just shows you Gaither’s genius, and the production talents of the Isaacs in making it their own. I went and found Mike and... Read more
Wilburn and Wilburn made some waves when they came on the gospel music scene a couple years ago. Son Jordan’s youthful drive and talent combined with Jonathan’s boundless energy and soul created an exciting sound. Their official debut Family Ties was filled with stellar cuts like “A Cross Became My Saving Grace,” “Devil Be Gone” and “You’ll Still Be There,” garnering critical acclaim all ’round (including 5 stars from yours truly). Now they have an album of new material to share... Read more
I love Rich Mullins. I really do. But he said some dumb things (perhaps at least partly under the influence of Brennan Manning, whom I’ve written about at some length in a surprisingly popular post here). Going through post drafts last night, I winced again as I dug up this particular quote of his: Faith is not in ourselves. If our faith was in ourselves, we could never afford to fail. Who wants to go through life where you never... Read more
Some of you might know Brian Fuson from his southern gospel blog Fuson’s Findings, but you may not know that some time ago he joined a Michigan-based quartet called New Destiny. Not only is he now singing and traveling with the group, he also works as a southern gospel concert promoter in the Detroit area. Brian is one of this genre’s most dedicated fans and promoters, and it’s my privilege to review his own contribution to southern gospel music. Although... Read more
Now if only I could do this to my professors… [Note: There is an OMG at the end of this video.] [gigya src=”http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf” flashvars=”vurl=cJ-Id1VQ-BA&start=268.95&end=366.8&cid=786497″ allowfullscreen=”true” width=”500″ height=”315″ ] Read more
While perusing Youtube last night, I hit upon a little goldmine of old Gaither Vocal Band music. Special thanks to user Diego James Christian for uploading quite a bit of stuff that’s out of print, much of it in near-mp3 quality (though some is obviously taken from a cassette). I have no idea how he got the high quality ones sounding this good, but it’s fantastic. I put together two playlists for their debut and sophomore efforts. Click here for The... Read more
[This is an argument against preparing blog posts in the wee hours of the morning. A kind commentator has noted that we are currently in the year 2013, not 2014. Apologies for this error, which has now been corrected!] This year I plan to offer the same running commentary format on the NQC webcast that I’ve offered in years past. I won’t catch every showcase or even every evening set, but I will watch and comment on as much as... Read more
Female readers, raise your hands if you ever thought the movie of Anne of Avonlea was totally ripping off Little Women in these scenes. A Youtuber has put the two proposals gone awry side by side for comparison purposes, with snarky comments included. (Hey wait a minute, is that Batman proposing to Jo?? Never mind, carry on…) Read more
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