I wandered into the Family (Christian) Bookstore last night in search of pre-teen appropriate "cool" music. She wanted Hillary Duff for her eleventh birthday and I said Hillary was so "over". We don't much keep up with pop culture around here, so I sort of got away with that. We certainly don't know who's the latest who. Which makes me think I can get away with buying some Contemporary Christian Music for the child and she'll be happy.
I spent my teen years in Nashville, surrounded by people in the CCM music scene. I was rather under-impressed. Same three producers. Same sound. Lather, rinse, repeat. Those were the eighties. These are the 00's. Kathy Triccoli, Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith are still at it, but other than that: Oh, how things have changed!
So, I walk into the store and explain what I'm looking for. No problem! Soon I was ensconced at a demo-listening station perusing the likes of "Superchick" and Zoegirls. Superchick was too "punk" (OK, even that term dates me, I'm sure...is punk still a word?) for an elven year old, so I decided on the Zoegirls greatest hits CD, and another that I bought unheard by a group called Barlowgirls. They aren't getting any points for an original band name but their sound was pretty good and the lyrics were just what I would want my eleven year old daughter to be listening to. Christian bubblegum. I gave it a whirl in my van Cd player while running around to the other stores for the rest of the birthday stuff.
The lyrics on both CD's are fine. The music, on the other hand, makes me feel distinctly OLD. I didn't care for it very much. Not "easy listening" enough. Of course, my definition of "easy listening" is 70's rock and 80's pop and yes, I admit it, country.
I had to laugh at the rite of passage that this represented. Don't parents always hate their kid's music? I'm determined to be cool about the music, as long as the lyrics are uplifting and faith-building.
I spent my teen years in Nashville, surrounded by people in the CCM music scene. I was rather under-impressed. Same three producers. Same sound. Lather, rinse, repeat. Those were the eighties. These are the 00's. Kathy Triccoli, Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith are still at it, but other than that: Oh, how things have changed!
So, I walk into the store and explain what I'm looking for. No problem! Soon I was ensconced at a demo-listening station perusing the likes of "Superchick" and Zoegirls. Superchick was too "punk" (OK, even that term dates me, I'm sure...is punk still a word?) for an elven year old, so I decided on the Zoegirls greatest hits CD, and another that I bought unheard by a group called Barlowgirls. They aren't getting any points for an original band name but their sound was pretty good and the lyrics were just what I would want my eleven year old daughter to be listening to. Christian bubblegum. I gave it a whirl in my van Cd player while running around to the other stores for the rest of the birthday stuff.
The lyrics on both CD's are fine. The music, on the other hand, makes me feel distinctly OLD. I didn't care for it very much. Not "easy listening" enough. Of course, my definition of "easy listening" is 70's rock and 80's pop and yes, I admit it, country.
I had to laugh at the rite of passage that this represented. Don't parents always hate their kid's music? I'm determined to be cool about the music, as long as the lyrics are uplifting and faith-building.
Comments
I personally very much enjoy Fr. Justin Matthews' music. Peter Jon Gillquist's music is good too, buy IMO his lyrics are weaker.
The Cross Culture Project is a good way to get a smattering of selections from various Orthodox artists.