a toe in CCM - results

a couple months ago I posted a request for some suggesions for worship music that I might like. thanks to those who offered suggestions, as I put some on my Christmas list. I ended up getting CDs of Robin Mark, Derek Webb and City on a Hill, and I got Michelle a CD of Ginny Owens.

so far, I really like all 3 of the albums I got. The Robin Mark CD called Revival in Belfast has a cool celtic flair (he's Irish) and they do good arrangements of worship songs. I epecially like his song "Jesus, All For Jesus," so our little band sang it today in church. I think our rendition went well, especially thanks to the abilities of the other guys. Tom's driving guitar, Jim's solid bass, Joe's sweet harmonies...very nice. my main contribution (besides suggesting the song) was adding a mandolin shout-out to "All For Jesus," which is the official hymn Covenant College (so I imagine about 90% of the hearers got the idea). I was actually hoping to have us sing one of the lines of the hymn in the middle of the new song, but we couldnt make it work to our satisfaction. anyway, if you're interested in Celtic-style worship music that rocks out a bit, do check out Robin Mark.

Derek Webb apparently used to sing in the band Caedman's Call (I was never into CCM, so I dont know much about it). these days he's on his own, and quite involved with Indelible Grace, which is my favorite band lately (they do new versions of old hymns, in case you havent heard of them). a couple folks suggested one of his albums, and I'm glad I got "She Must and Shall Go Free." I definitely like the musical style (I'd call it edgy acoustic), and the lyrics are often challenging. his stuff reminds me of Bill Mallonee and VoL, although he's not afraid to be more direct about his faith. most of it is not quite worship music (as in stuff I'd sing in our band for church), but generally good stuff.

City on a Hill is a series of albums that brings together various CCM artists to do various worship songs. I dont like bands like Third Day and whatnot (I've hardly heard most of them, although I recognize some names), but whoever brought these folks together did a pretty good job of producing these songs. I got the album called Sing Alleluia, and there are a couple tracks that stand out (the title track and "Our Great God") and a bunch of the rest are growing on me. we'll see if our little band can do them justice.

so if you're into such things, check these out, and bring on any other suggestions. a friend just gave us a stack of Fernando Ortega CDs to borrow, and I'm sure there will be a lot of good stuff there. I've also been able to check out the Jars of Clay worship album, which sounds really good overall.

I know taste in music is very subjective, so I wont assume everyone will like what I do. but I will say that ever since I've been filling my head with songs like these, I've felt more worshipful throughout the day. there's always a song in my head, so it might as well be something good (both tune and content). on the flip side, I had the unfortunate experience of catching the latest Madonna song (entirely vapid) and the latest from Black Eyed Peas (unabashedly sexual). yikes. I shudder to think that my kids might like something like this someday. I must be getting old.