averyfineline

What’s on your mind? Some things to get us started.

Jonathan Sawrie, among the most level-headed and cogent folks in sg, has a decent take on the old ministry/monestry thing. It won’t settle anything, but it’s a fun, pointed read (h/t, MM). Money quote:

Now concerning this “gospel group as ministry” idea:
“And he called unto him the […]

Via Burke (the go-to place lately), I see the Martins have a single out from their latest album … a reunion project, it appears. Am I the only one with ambivalent feelings about this?
I mean, I’m sure there’s still a lot of interest in and enthusiasm for the Martins (including me!), but insofar as this […]

You may not have noticed, but something pretty extraordinary just happened over at Gospeleer: a southern gospel record label executive made a strong case for, in his own words, getting beyond the taboo of homosexuality. Cuing off my article about gay men and gospel music, Mickey Gamble thinks through the question of sexuality and scripture. […]

By 37% more to be exact, in this most recent analysis.

Anybody out there have or know of a copy of Clarice “Ma” Baxter’s 1960 book, Biographies of Gospel Songwriters, that’s for sale? If so, drop me a note. I’m finding it exceedingly difficult to locate.

Via regular reader NG, and apropos the ongoing conversations we’ve been having about the shifting role of personality/persona in gospel music, a review of a new book about American pop and rock, provocatively titled, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock-n-Roll. It’s not at all about sg, but it may be of interest to anyone curious about […]

Whenever I publish an academic essay, I always make a point to send copies to whomever I thank in the footnotes, and since the readers of this site are (genuinely) cited as a source of inspiration and provocation for the most recent academic article I’ve published, it seems only right and fair to pass along […]

I’ve stayed away from the whole Michael Jackson situation because it seems like precisely the sort of collision of Christian and secular worlds that is ripe for unproductive pyrotechnics (indeed, I’ve received a few notes about a big MJ brouhaha that broke out on Kenny Bishop’s Facebook page and I’d rather that conversation not repeat […]

For the long weekend ahead, an open thread for you holiday revelers looking for your gospel fix. Some things to get us started.

Janet Paschal has the new No. 1 song. The Talleys had a No. 1 with “Life Goes On” in last month’s issue. Good to see good music at the top of the chart.

Have […]

Today’s round up is all about hellos.

Randy Crawford is back with BFA (mostly random aside: I’m pretty sure I saw Crawford at Jacksons in Nashville a month or so ago, and if you’re ever at Jacksons, make sure you visit that delightful used and rare bookstore across the street while you wait for your late […]