Upon This Rock

Photo from Freestocks.org on unsplash I thought it was about time I wrote another post for this illustrious blog. It's been a while since my last post, and I don't want anyone to think I have neglected this space. As you know if you've read it previously, this blog is dedicated to Contemporary Christian Music or CCM, in all it's vast, complex and ever growing set of genres that celebrate Christian faith. If there is a new genre of music, you can guarantee that somewhere out there, there is a Christian analogue. And before you start to argue that all CCM does is echo the music of the mainstream, secular world, let me remind you that the roots of rock music and so many other genres of popular music today can be traced back to the old-time gospel music of the Christian church, especially the inspirational music emerging from among the first black communities in the United States. Yep, blues (especially jump blues), rhythm and blues, jazz and some would argue, even...

The first Contemporary Christian Music album I ever bought was by a group called 2nd Chapter of Acts. They were a sister/brother vocal trio - Annie, Matthew and Nellie - who had just begun to appear on the scene. Their first album - which I played and played until I nearly wore it out - was simply titled *With Footnotes, and yes, the asterisk was important. About three quarters of the back cover of the album is filled with the entire second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and the *footnotes section is directly underneath, where the tracks and credits are listed. A neat touch. The front of the album, which is predominantly green and yellow in its themes, show the three siblings grinning into the camera, and yes, they are unmistakably brother and sisters. *With Footnotes was released on the Myrrh label in 1974 and contained 11 tracks, all but one of which were written by Annie Herring . The producer of the album was Annie's husband Buck, and their master stroke was to enlist...