Comments on: Music and Megaministries

By: Irishlad

Irishlad — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:12:39 +0000

Having just read Deon Unthank’s article”Gospel musics dirty word”-which incidentally backs my previous post up to the hilt-,i will now change that music/ministry ratio to 95:5(the 5 being Bro Hobie going off on one).

By: Irishlad

Irishlad — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:57:26 +0000

Just sitting thinking about Blackwood/Statesmen pre Sg terminology heyday.Everyone loved them, no contempory crowd then,no sg crowd,no praise and worship adherents,they were all things to all men. Plain and simple… Gospel singers. Obvisiously white gospel hadn’t sub-divided but you still had your right wing/liberals, church folk/non church goers who enjoyed them. I think they were so popular because they were so ’secular’,meaning,their music/ministry ratio was probably 80:20. Brings big crowds in that does.

By: Leebob

Leebob — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:57:17 +0000

Once while listening to Jericho in the mid 90’s I heard Dwayne Burke refer to what they were doing as “Southern Inspirational”. Alot of what I heard that night was not alot different from what I hear now days from Lordsong and Booth Brothers.

Imagine that…we would now be talking about “SI” had that term taken hold.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:45:05 +0000

One thing we have to realize and accept — whether we like it or not — is that musical styles change over time. For instance, Fanny Crosby’s hymns were rejected by the church when she wrote them, because they were too “worldly” — yet over time they became standards. Now, with the decline of the hymn book and the rise of worship powerpoints, they are slowly heading in the direction of obsolete in more and more churches (that’s not to say there are plenty of people who still enjoy and use them). And if you trace music back over several hundred years, you find complete changes of style. We don’t sing today the way they did in the 1500s.

Some feel that the “heyday” of SG music was in the 1940s and 1950s. If so, we are looking at 60-70 years ago. Music is different now, and it will continue to change, both in the “Christian” and secular venues. While there will always be those who like the “old stuff,” it no longer appeals to the majority of people.

Those SG writers and artists who change with the times — and are often criticised for being too progressive or just too “different” — may well be the ones to survive, because they are willing to change with the times. I know some who read this still like the old 4-men-and-a-piano style, but in the American culture of 2008, that is becoming more and more obsolete. In a day of amplified music, orchestrations, high volumes, etc. with a growing lack of appreciation for 4-part harmony, it simply doesn’t appeal to many. That’s why you see the older crowd at SG concerts, and the young people are at “Christian rock” concerts. (I know there are exceptions, but this is generally the way things are headed.)

By: cdguy

cdguy — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:42:31 +0000

I think you’re right. Referring to your last statement, “southern gospel” is really not a good term to describe the industry today. SGM is so diverse, as you’ve described, that, when someone not familiar with the term were to asks “what IS southern gospel?”, it takes a lengthy explanation, as you’ve described, from the Inspirations, to the Perrys, to Lordsong, etc., and everything inbetween.

But I thank God for that diversity. Most people have a wider range of taste than they realize. And many of us are (as Bill Gaither describes) “musical schizophrenics”. I gladly wear that moniker.