Upon This Rock

Photo by Flavio Gasparini on unsplash It's all happening folks. I just got back from the studio after a conversation with the Station Manager at CrossRhythms, and it's all systems go for a pilot programme for a new daytime show called Upon This Rock. Upon This Rock will be a one hour programme that exclusively features a CCM artist or band, including interviews, biography, history, insights, and of course several tracks from the said artist. I'm looking forward to producing and recording these shows, because I love talking to fellow musicians about what inspires them, how and why they write their songs, what 'performance' is all about, and life in general. There is quite a lot of research, writing, recording and editing to be done, but I'm going to be learning as I go and I know it will be great fun. I have some interesting and hopefully exciting and inspirational shows planned that will feature some of the brightest and best CCM artists of the current...

Image from the Flight Brigade Website One of my favourite tracks right now is being played out quite a lot on CrossRhythms radio. It's called 39 Steps and it's by Flight Brigade . The song has really got inside my head, and you would be well advised to check it out on YouTube. I think you'll like it. There are several versions, including a few live performances. Flight Brigade are going from strength to strength. They are masters of the memorable riff, and every track I've heard from this 7 piece outfit weaves melodic rock with intriguing lyrics. The track below, titled U Kill Me, illustrates this perfectly, and showcases the diverse talents of the entire band. The band's website opens their biography page with the following statement: "Think of Flight Brigade as a family as much as a seven-strong band and you start to understand the chemistry between them. Think of their songs as epic stories to which each member is essential and you begin to gra...

Earlier today I was listening to a track I'd not heard before on Dave Simpson's CrossRhythms radio show. My daughter was with me in the car as we listened and we both agreed that the voice was extraordinary. Then there was a section of rapping, and my daughter said - 'that sounds just like Nicky Minaj.' I promised I would look up the artists and find out who they were. It turned out to be a song called I'm Getting Ready, performed by Tasha Cobbs Leonard , a gospel soul singer from Atlanta, Georgia. And yes, my daughter was correct - the rap artist featuring on the track is none other than Nicky Minaj . I'm Getting Ready deserves a lot of mainstream airplay if it hasn't already begun to break through. It's an incredible soul song. It was recorded live with plenty of atmosphere from the audience, and it's taken from Tasha's new album Heart, Passion, Pursuit. Check out this amazing track on the YouTube channel below: Photo credit: Wik...

I've spent a lot of time in the studio over the last week or so, recording programmes for my new show which will air this Autumn on CrossRhythms radio  (see dates below!) The show is called Just Vinyl, and it features classic Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) tracks, drawn largely from the 1970s and 1980s. I'm playing exclusively vinyl because it has a particular quality and although there are a few clicks and pops every now and then, I think this just adds to the beauty of the medium. Many of the artists I'm featuring are giants of the genre, pioneers of CCM when it was in its infancy, when very few of the musicians were full-time. Today, Christian music is big business - there are radio stations, record labels and management/touring companies dedicated fully to promoting it. Back in the day, very little of this existed, and those who were involved in pioneering CCM had to forge their own pathways. It was not easy to finance ventures into Christian music - most musi...

Welcome to a new blog about Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). The title of the blog - Upon This Rock - was borrowed from a 1969 album by the 'grandfather of Christian rock music' - Larry Norman . I'm a musician and songwriter, and I've performed my songs in a variety of bands and as a solo artist for quite a few years. Many of the songs I write reflect my own personal faith but I'm also keen to share my insight and knowledge of the CCM world with anyone who wants to read these pages. I'm also keen to see any views and reviews from others (the comments box is always open). I'm a presenter on CrossRhythms Radio  Plymouth (96.3 FM), where I host a programme called Just Vinyl . It does exactly what it says on the can - my programme features music from CCM artists across the vinyl years - and if it ain't on vinyl, I don't play it. My album collection spans the 1970's to the early 1990's, and includes back catalogues from pioneering CCM ar...