I'm going to take a minute here for a little rant. I know I haven't blogged in a while now, but this snapped me out of my unblogging fog. Ready for a rant? Here goes...
Some friends borrowed my FM transmitter for my iPod this weekend so I have been reduced to listening to the radio. I tuned in to KLove, which for those of you who aren't Christian, or just don't know, KLove is a contemporary Christian music station. As I was driving back to the office after lunch I heard a familiar guitar riff from a great song called, "Overcome", written by Jon Egan and featured on a worship album called "Counting on God" from New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Only this wasn't that version. It was, according to the radio announcer, the latest song from Jeremy Camp. Disappointed I was. (Yes, I just threw in some Yoda-nese for y'all) Instead of playing the original version, written and performed by the original artist, they pawned off yet another song onto another one of contemporary Christian music's poster boys. Jeremy Camp didn't even bother to try to make it his own, except for adding his gravelly, nu-metal voice to it.
That scenario brings me to the real crux of this blog, the lack of creativity from the "artists" that seemed to be pushed so hard by the contemporary Christian music scene and contemporary Christian radio. KLove is filled with songs being performed by people doing less creative versions of songs than those that originally wrote and recorded the songs. Third Day, Phillips Craig and Dean, and now Jeremy Camp, are some of the worst offenders.
Come on Christian artists, producers, record execs, radio managers...quit spending so much time ripping off other people's songs and write your own, record something new, take a chance on the original writers and performers and push them as hard as you push all your poster children.
I'm done with my tirade for now. :) If you like the song "Overcome", I encourage you to check out the original version and go to youtube.com to check out the back story on the song and why it was written. Oh, and familiarize yourself with the writer, Jon Egan, and his body of work with New Life and the Desperation Band.
Agree with you I do. :)
ReplyDeleteNo one understands when I get angry that no one know that the gang from Waterdeep and not Third Day wrote You Are So Good To Me. It irritates me to no end. I definitely smell what you're steppin in!
Like that you are blogging again.
ReplyDeleteSo for a guy like me who listens to K-Love how do I get in contact with the original artists and music? I am probably not going to go through the hard work of finding the original singers and writers, although I like the idea of hearing the person who wrote it perform it, especially being a minister and valuing preaching my own sermons.
Are there resources or can you blog about it occasionally?
Sara..."You Are So Good to Me" was one on my mind as I wrote this.
ReplyDeleteTim...I don't have any good resources for pointing people to original artists and recordings outside of just calling it out when I see it happening. I will try to do that. :)