'While spirituality is undeniably a shared inspiration for Scott, Battle and Rumsey, their music engages with the world through humanitarian concerns, interests and insights that are broad and open. Whether singing songs of celebration or critique, they offer us insightful and moving perspectives as troubadours accompanying us along the twists and turns of the rich but challenging journey we all make in life. Their other lives – at times, pastor, funeral celebrant, bishop – inform their ability to fashion songs that accompany us in our life experience, as opposed to simply documenting or describing.'
I worked with Steve Scott, through commission4mission, to organize some of the different `Run with the Fire’ art exhibitions and events held in and around London, during the Olympic summer of 2012. You can learn more about `Run With The Fire’ by clicking here, here, and here. My own dialogues with Steve can be read here, here, here, here, and here.
Steve's recording career began through working with Larry Norman. Although known as the ‘Father of Christian Rock’, Larry Norman was originally lead singer of People! (whose ‘I Love You’ was a hit single in 1968) and a writer of Sixties musicals, who recorded three classic albums for Capital and then MGM (Upon This Rock, Only Visiting This Planet and So Long Ago the Garden). Frustrated with mainstream labels, he formed his own label and demonstrated his acute understanding of creativity by recruiting to Solid Rock Records a series of innovative singer-songwriters and bands including Randy Stonehill, Mark Heard, Tom Howard, Daniel Amos and Steve Scott. A fundamental lack of business acumen combined with other factors then led to delays in the label issuing key recordings, including Moving Pictures by Steve Scott, and the eventual demise of the label itself. Moving Pictures and Closeups are revealed as classic CCM albums which possess the potent combination found on the key Norman albums of accurate social commentary, poetic spiritual insight and powerful evangelical appeals.
Also see my Seen and Unseen article on 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion', as well as pieces on Natalie Bergman, Mumford and Sons, Annie Caldwell, David Ackles, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, Rev Simpkins and Corinne Bailey Rae. For International Times, I have also written on: 'Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere'; 'Down River: In Search of David Ackles' by Mark Brend; The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex and Controversy in the 1980s; In Another World: The Four Seasons of Talk Talk; 'Headwater' by Rev Simpkins; albums by U2, Mumford and Sons' and Moby; 'Lux' by Rosalía; Deacon Blue, Mumford and Sons, and Andrew Rumsey, also by Joy Oladokun and Michael Kiwanaku; plus Joseph Arthur in concert; Mavis Staples in concert at Union Chapel; T Bone Burnett's 'The Other Side' and Peter Case live in Leytonstone. I have also written on Mavis Staples for Church Times. See also my profile of singer-songwriter Bill Fay.
Rock ‘n’ Roll merged blues (with its spiritual strand) and Country music (tapping its white gospel) while Soul music adapted much of its sound and content from Black Gospel. For both, their gestures and movements were adopted from Pentecostalism. Some, such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Sam Cooke, felt guilt at secularising Gospel while others, like Johnny Cash, arrived at a hard earned integration of faith and music. All experienced opposition from a Church angry at its songs and influence being appropriated for secular ends. This opposition fed a narrative that, on both sides, equated rock and pop with hedonism and rebellion. The born again Cliff Richard was often perceived (both positively and negatively) as the only alternative. Within this context the Biblical language and imagery of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison was largely overlooked, although Dylan spoke eloquently about the influence of scripture within the tradition of American music on which he drew.
With the majority of Soul stars having begun singing in Church, many of the most effective integrations of faith and music were found there with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and the Gospel-folk of the Staple Singers being among the best and most socially committed examples. Gospel featured directly with Billy Preston, Edwin Hawkins Singers and Aretha Franklin’s gospel albums. Mainstream use of Christian themes or imagery in rock were initially either unsustained (e.g. Blind Faith’s ‘Presence of the Lord’ and Norman Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit in the Sky’) or obscure (e.g. C.O.B.’s Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart and Bill Fay’s Time of the Last Persecution).
However, this changed in three ways. First, the Church began to appropriate rock and pop to speak explicitly about Christian faith. This led to the emergence of a new genre, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), with interaction between CCM and the mainstream. Mainstream artists such as Philip Bailey, David Grant, Al Green, Larry Norman and Candi Staton developed CCM careers while artists originally within CCM such as Delirious?, Martyn Joseph, Julie Miller, Leslie (Sam) Phillips, Sixpence None The Richer and Switchfoot achieved varying levels of mainstream exposure and success.
Second, the biblical language and imagery of stars like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen began to be understood and appreciated (helped to varying degrees by explicitly ‘Christian’ periods in the work of Dylan and Van the Man).
Third, musicians such as After The Fire, The Alarm, T. Bone Burnett, The Call, Peter Case, Bruce Cockburn, Extreme, Galactic Cowboys, Innocence Mission, Kings X, Maria McKee, Buddy & Julie Miller, Moby, Over The Rhine, Ricky Ross, 16 Horsepower, U2, The Violent Femmes, Gillian Welch, Jim White, and Victoria Williams rather than singing about the light (of Christ) instead sang about the world which they saw through the light (of Christ). As rock and pop fragmented into a myriad of genres, this approach to the expression of faith continues in the work of Eric Bibb, Blessid Union of Souls, Creed, Brandon Flowers, Good Charlotte, Ben Harper, Michael Kiwanuka, Ed Kowalczyk, Lifehouse, Live, Low, Neal Morse, Mumford and Sons, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Scott Stapp, Social Distortion, and Woven Hand.
I've created a playlist on Spotify called 'Closer to the light'. 'Closer To The Light' is a song by Bruce Cockburn that he said "was written addressed to the late Mark Heard ... He was a fantastic songwriter. His death sent a shockwave through our whole community, and what that did in me was that song." As a result, 'Closer to the Light' is a song that straddles both CCM and mainstream artists suggesting that both can bring us closer to the light. Similarly, this playlist, which includes blues, choral, classical, country, folk, gospel, jazz, pop, rap, rock, and soul music, aims to straddle music from both CCM and the mainstream which also brings us closer to the light.
Recently I also posted a series of guest posts by and an interview with Rupert Loydell which has added to the material about Jesus Rock, CCM and spirituality in rock music published here previously. The first post in this series was a listing of previous posts on these themes - click here. The second post was an interview with musician Nick Battle, click here. The third post was the interview with Rupert Loydell - click here. The fourth post was a new interview by Rupert with Nick Battle - click here. While the final post in the series was an interview by Rupert with Steve Scott - click here. Finally, my review of Andrew Rumsey's earlier album 'Collodian' can be read here.
Rupert's original interview with Nick Battle was undertaken as part of his research on christian rock. This research resulted in several interviews, reviews and articles that were published in Punk & Post-Punk journal, an acdemic publication, as well as feeding into a piece for Ship of Fools. Nick has had a long and varied career in the music business, including spells in significant Post-Punk christian rock bands such as After The Fire (ATF) and Writz. Rupert's interview with Nick explores the moment when Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and mainstream rock diverged, and bands like ATF and Writz headed into the latter, perhaps paving the way for U2 and others writing about faith and doubt. Rupert's work has also included writing about Larry Norman, Steve Scott and Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus.
This short series added to the material about Jesus Rock, CCM and spirituality in rock music which has been published here previously. This material includes a recent article for Seen and Unseen is 'U2’s music shows surrender can still sound like joy' which explores the spirituality of U2: 'Each element of U2’s spirituality also derives from Christianity: movement, from the Fall and pilgrimage; improvisation, from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; allusiveness, from the fragments of story that have been meshed together to form the canon of scripture; and reconciliation, from the theme of surrender that is central to the Crucifixion.' I also reviewed U2's 'Days of Ash' for International Times (see here), while my original essay on the spirituality of U2 'Tryin' to throw your arms around the world' can be read here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
For more of my writing on music, see my article for Seen and Unseen entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion' and my co-authored book with Peter Banks, ‘The Secret Chord’, which has been described as an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. The book can be purchased from Lulu - https://www.lulu.com/shop/jonathan-evens-and-peter-banks/the-secret-chord/paperback/product-1pey2g67.html?q=peter+banks&page=1&pageSize=4. Covering a range of musical styles and influences, from gospel music to X Factor, The Secret Chord conveys enthusiasm for music and its transformative powers. The book asks is there really a 'Secret Chord' that would both please the Lord and nearly everybody else as described in Leonard Cohen's popular song 'Hallelujah'? Posts related to the themes of 'The Secret Chord' can be found here.
Check out the following too, to explore further:
Rupert's original interview with Nick Battle was undertaken as part of his research on christian rock. This research resulted in several interviews, reviews and articles that were published in Punk & Post-Punk journal, an acdemic publication, as well as feeding into a piece for Ship of Fools. Nick has had a long and varied career in the music business, including spells in significant Post-Punk christian rock bands such as After The Fire (ATF) and Writz. Rupert's interview with Nick explores the moment when Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and mainstream rock diverged, and bands like ATF and Writz headed into the latter, perhaps paving the way for U2 and others writing about faith and doubt. Rupert's work has also included writing about Larry Norman, Steve Scott and Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus.
This short series added to the material about Jesus Rock, CCM and spirituality in rock music which has been published here previously. This material includes a recent article for Seen and Unseen is 'U2’s music shows surrender can still sound like joy' which explores the spirituality of U2: 'Each element of U2’s spirituality also derives from Christianity: movement, from the Fall and pilgrimage; improvisation, from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; allusiveness, from the fragments of story that have been meshed together to form the canon of scripture; and reconciliation, from the theme of surrender that is central to the Crucifixion.' I also reviewed U2's 'Days of Ash' for International Times (see here), while my original essay on the spirituality of U2 'Tryin' to throw your arms around the world' can be read here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
For more of my writing on music, see my article for Seen and Unseen entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion' and my co-authored book with Peter Banks, ‘The Secret Chord’, which has been described as an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. The book can be purchased from Lulu - https://www.lulu.com/shop/jonathan-evens-and-peter-banks/the-secret-chord/paperback/product-1pey2g67.html?q=peter+banks&page=1&pageSize=4. Covering a range of musical styles and influences, from gospel music to X Factor, The Secret Chord conveys enthusiasm for music and its transformative powers. The book asks is there really a 'Secret Chord' that would both please the Lord and nearly everybody else as described in Leonard Cohen's popular song 'Hallelujah'? Posts related to the themes of 'The Secret Chord' can be found here.
Check out the following too, to explore further:
- God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You
- Jesus Music - 1 & 2
- The Jesus Rock Revolution and the Jesus Movement
- When Jesus Met Hippies
- Five entries in Prog 50
- Methuselah, Amazing Blondel, Tom Yates
- A Rough Guide to Christian Art
- 11:59 & Yesterday Today Forever
- Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Steve Turner
- Electric Eden and the New Folk Revival
- Looking down the wrong end of a telescope
- Pop's holy rollers
- Apocalypse in ART: The Creative Unveiling - Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
- Bob, God 'n' blood
- Bob Dylan: Trouble No More
- Perhaps the most underrated band ever
- Rock gets Religion
- Ed Kowalczyk and Scott Stapp: Angels on a razor
- Hidden Gems - Bill Fay & Michael Morley
- Salt and Sweetners
- Babel - the sound of transcendent music
- Fear, fallibility and faith in Mumford and Sons
- The mystery at the heart of music - 1 and 2
- Inspiration from the Psalms
- Damien Jurado and David Bazan
- Body Piercing Saved My Life
- The Ocean Blue, Denison Whitmer, Innocence Mission and Sufjan Stevens
- ROCK OF AGES: JESUS IN POPULAR SONGS
- International Times: Dark Intense MusicDavid Ackles and After the Fire
- David Ackles, Chris Bell, Bryan Maclean
- 'Bob Dylan' and 'The Philosophy of Modern Song'
- Bob Dylan, biblical imagery & cultural comment
Also see my Seen and Unseen article on 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion', as well as pieces on Natalie Bergman, Mumford and Sons, Annie Caldwell, David Ackles, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, Rev Simpkins and Corinne Bailey Rae. For International Times, I have also written on: 'Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere'; 'Down River: In Search of David Ackles' by Mark Brend; The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex and Controversy in the 1980s; In Another World: The Four Seasons of Talk Talk; 'Headwater' by Rev Simpkins; albums by U2, Mumford and Sons' and Moby; 'Lux' by Rosalía; Deacon Blue, Mumford and Sons, and Andrew Rumsey, also by Joy Oladokun and Michael Kiwanaku; plus Joseph Arthur in concert; Mavis Staples in concert at Union Chapel; T Bone Burnett's 'The Other Side' and Peter Case live in Leytonstone. I have also written on Mavis Staples for Church Times. See also my profile of singer-songwriter Bill Fay.
Rock ‘n’ Roll merged blues (with its spiritual strand) and Country music (tapping its white gospel) while Soul music adapted much of its sound and content from Black Gospel. For both, their gestures and movements were adopted from Pentecostalism. Some, such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Sam Cooke, felt guilt at secularising Gospel while others, like Johnny Cash, arrived at a hard earned integration of faith and music. All experienced opposition from a Church angry at its songs and influence being appropriated for secular ends. This opposition fed a narrative that, on both sides, equated rock and pop with hedonism and rebellion. The born again Cliff Richard was often perceived (both positively and negatively) as the only alternative. Within this context the Biblical language and imagery of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison was largely overlooked, although Dylan spoke eloquently about the influence of scripture within the tradition of American music on which he drew.
With the majority of Soul stars having begun singing in Church, many of the most effective integrations of faith and music were found there with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and the Gospel-folk of the Staple Singers being among the best and most socially committed examples. Gospel featured directly with Billy Preston, Edwin Hawkins Singers and Aretha Franklin’s gospel albums. Mainstream use of Christian themes or imagery in rock were initially either unsustained (e.g. Blind Faith’s ‘Presence of the Lord’ and Norman Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit in the Sky’) or obscure (e.g. C.O.B.’s Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart and Bill Fay’s Time of the Last Persecution).
However, this changed in three ways. First, the Church began to appropriate rock and pop to speak explicitly about Christian faith. This led to the emergence of a new genre, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), with interaction between CCM and the mainstream. Mainstream artists such as Philip Bailey, David Grant, Al Green, Larry Norman and Candi Staton developed CCM careers while artists originally within CCM such as Delirious?, Martyn Joseph, Julie Miller, Leslie (Sam) Phillips, Sixpence None The Richer and Switchfoot achieved varying levels of mainstream exposure and success.
Second, the biblical language and imagery of stars like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen began to be understood and appreciated (helped to varying degrees by explicitly ‘Christian’ periods in the work of Dylan and Van the Man).
Third, musicians such as After The Fire, The Alarm, T. Bone Burnett, The Call, Peter Case, Bruce Cockburn, Extreme, Galactic Cowboys, Innocence Mission, Kings X, Maria McKee, Buddy & Julie Miller, Moby, Over The Rhine, Ricky Ross, 16 Horsepower, U2, The Violent Femmes, Gillian Welch, Jim White, and Victoria Williams rather than singing about the light (of Christ) instead sang about the world which they saw through the light (of Christ). As rock and pop fragmented into a myriad of genres, this approach to the expression of faith continues in the work of Eric Bibb, Blessid Union of Souls, Creed, Brandon Flowers, Good Charlotte, Ben Harper, Michael Kiwanuka, Ed Kowalczyk, Lifehouse, Live, Low, Neal Morse, Mumford and Sons, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Scott Stapp, Social Distortion, and Woven Hand.
I've created a playlist on Spotify called 'Closer to the light'. 'Closer To The Light' is a song by Bruce Cockburn that he said "was written addressed to the late Mark Heard ... He was a fantastic songwriter. His death sent a shockwave through our whole community, and what that did in me was that song." As a result, 'Closer to the Light' is a song that straddles both CCM and mainstream artists suggesting that both can bring us closer to the light. Similarly, this playlist, which includes blues, choral, classical, country, folk, gospel, jazz, pop, rap, rock, and soul music, aims to straddle music from both CCM and the mainstream which also brings us closer to the light.
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Andrew Rumsey - Fall In Eugene.
