Fans worship Christian rock
Tim Gross
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Features
"I perceive a certain religiosity or spiritualism now in music that we might not have seen a decade ago," he said. "I don't know what it is that's driving that, but I see it."
Huddle said bands have been finding success after crossing over from the Christian genre to the mainstream. He said almost all mainstream country music stars started as Christian or Gospel singers.
Meanwhile, bands like The Welcome Wagon take old hymnal books and play the songs inside. Huddle said Christian and gospel music's influence continues to surprise people.
"People were struck by how gospel music percolated into the main stream," he said.
Sabina said Christian music's influence on contemporary music has been going on for centuries.
"I think it's very popular and very common throughout history," he said, citing the 18th-century composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, as a perfect example. Sabina said Bach took what he considered old church music and incorporated samples into contemporary pieces.
Peterson said the reverse has also happened throughout history as well, as Christian churches borrowed and applied contemporary music into hymns.
"It started very early in the rise of Catholic Mass," she said. "When they began to harmonize chants and write new music for the Church, some of what they took was from popular music."
The Church would use contemporary pieces in sequences because people knew the melodies already, Peterson said.
Peterson said Huddle's perceived spark in contemporary music's increasing spirituality could stem from the fear after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
"After 9/11, a lot of people turned to religion … it gave them comfort," she said.
Maybe U2 extended the religiosity in contemporary music with "White as Snow," but Sabina said good melodies transcend their historical and cultural context.
"I think if somebody grabs a good melody, it really doesn't matter what era it's from or what the intent of the melody was, whether it was sacred or secular to begin with," he said. "A
good melody is a good melody, and it will be re-used."
e-mail:grossts@sbu.edu
Huddle said bands have been finding success after crossing over from the Christian genre to the mainstream. He said almost all mainstream country music stars started as Christian or Gospel singers.
Meanwhile, bands like The Welcome Wagon take old hymnal books and play the songs inside. Huddle said Christian and gospel music's influence continues to surprise people.
"People were struck by how gospel music percolated into the main stream," he said.
Sabina said Christian music's influence on contemporary music has been going on for centuries.
"I think it's very popular and very common throughout history," he said, citing the 18th-century composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, as a perfect example. Sabina said Bach took what he considered old church music and incorporated samples into contemporary pieces.
Peterson said the reverse has also happened throughout history as well, as Christian churches borrowed and applied contemporary music into hymns.
"It started very early in the rise of Catholic Mass," she said. "When they began to harmonize chants and write new music for the Church, some of what they took was from popular music."
The Church would use contemporary pieces in sequences because people knew the melodies already, Peterson said.
Peterson said Huddle's perceived spark in contemporary music's increasing spirituality could stem from the fear after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
"After 9/11, a lot of people turned to religion … it gave them comfort," she said.
Maybe U2 extended the religiosity in contemporary music with "White as Snow," but Sabina said good melodies transcend their historical and cultural context.
"I think if somebody grabs a good melody, it really doesn't matter what era it's from or what the intent of the melody was, whether it was sacred or secular to begin with," he said. "A
good melody is a good melody, and it will be re-used."
e-mail:grossts@sbu.edu
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