FINDING God
photo illustration by Luby Montano-Laurel
by Jennifer Simmons
AMONG THE GUITARS
Christian music is no longer the Brady Bunch meets Jesus. If your picture of Christian music is a choir swaying to a gospel spiritual, think again. Christian music with electric guitars and a rock-and-roll attitude has replaced choirs and moved into the mainstream.
"The alternative movement has helped people realize it's normal people who believe in Christ," said Don Chaffer of Waterdeep, a Kansas City-based Christian group. Chaffer first began playing his music with a band called Hey Ruth when he was a student at the University in 1992. Hey Ruth performed in bars such as Benchwarmers, formerly located at 1603 W. 23rd St., and at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. He said that people who really listened could probably figure out that it was Christian, but to everyone else, it was just music.
Chaffer said that he'd prefer that people didn't know that his music was Christian-based until it was in their ears. "I don't want people to write us off just because we're Christian," Chaffer said.
Groups like Audio Adrenaline, Jars of Clay and DC Talk have helped introduce an alternative sound to Christian music. Audio Adrenaline, for example, is similar to the guitar-driven sounds of Pearl Jam.
The latest blend of alternative music with Christian lyrics may confuse people who tune in to Lawrence's radio station KLZR The Lazer. The Lazer, 3035 Iowa St., plays Christian music during its "Vertical Reality" show, 8 to 10 a.m. on Sundays. The idea for the show was disc jockey Zach Shear's, who grew up listening to Christian music and felt it was missing from the Kansas City radio market. He asked several other stations to do the show, but he ended up at the Lazer. "Vertical Reality" airs music by alternative-sounding bands such as Six Pence None the Richer, Prayer Chain and MxPx. "Different sounds are being promoted and backed now," said Matt Kelly, Springfield, Mo., senior. "The industry is really diversified. It's meeting people's musical tastes."
The Cable News Network, which aptly predicted an explosion in the country music venue five years ago, recently called Christian music the next boom to hit the music industry. Recent Christian releases support this including DC Talk's debut at No.16 on Bill-
port this including DC Talk's debut at No.16 on bilboard Charts.The album, titled "Jesus Freak," sold 86,000 LPs during its first week of release,making it the most successful Christian music debut ever.
Chaffer said that the growth in Christian music may be caused by changing Christian lyrics that now reflect real life. A lot of his own music deals with desperation versus hope, and is an expression of what is most important to him. It isn't a compulsion to simply use Christian terms in a song. "Jesus pulled me out of a depression during high school that was nearly suicidal," Chaffer
said. "The fact that no one knew what I was thinking, and how I felt at a time when no one else did, is what drew me to him." He said his real-world lyrics stem from his relationship with Christ.
"In the past, Christian music was just copying someone else and trying make money from it," said Jim Moore, music supervisor at Christian Book and Gift of Olathe. "Now groups are on the cutting edge of musical style."
This popular new wave of Christian music has hit the Kansas City area, Chaffer said. Chaffer refers to Kansas City as a Christian Seattle, meaning that so many new Christian groups have sprung from the area that the city can be compared to Seattle's sudden crop of alternative bands a few years ago.
can be compared to Seattle's sudden crop of alternative music bands a few years ago.
Local bands include Big Jesus and Hot Pink Turtle. Solo artists include Melinda Lee, wife of Kansas City Chief's player Jay Taylor, and Linda Randle, sister of DC Talk member Michael Tate.
In addition to a Christian radio station, LIFE FM of Overland Park, the Kansas City area has several Christian coffeehouses. Chaffer, who has recorded five Christian albums in the last three years, says that these coffeehouses provide a creatively fertile environment for local artists.
The New Earth coffeehouse, 3953 Walnut, Kansas
City, Mo., is housed in the basement of the Church House of Westport. Started in 1992 by Sheldon Kallevig, New Earth has brought in such bands as Prayer Chain, Six Pence None the Richer, Resurrection Band, Dakota Motor Co., Guardian, and Deliverance. Kallevig said that approximately two-thirds of the patrons are college students and that patrons have come from as far away as Michigan, Iowa, South Dakota and Arkansas.
Kallevig credits part of the coffeehouse's success to the fact that radical bands can come to a cool atmosphere. Although it is an all-age establishment, it has a bar atmosphere.
Two other coffeehouses in the Kansas City area are Desert Wisdom located at 3101 Troost Ave., Kansas City, Mo., and Yaweh Cappuccino at 9500 Wornall Rd. Kansas City, Mo. In the Lawrence area, the Heartland Community Church, 1031 New Hampshire, sponsors "Heart to Heart", which is a coffeehouse-type night with Christian music groups. The coffeehouse is held on the weekends.
"They're awesome things," said Kelly. "They give artists a forum and allow us, as Christians, a place to hang out, hear new bands and listen to the message the bands are trying to get across."
The increased exposure of Christian music means more fans.
"I used to stigmatize Christian music," said Dave Hintz, Overland Park senior. "I always thought of cheesy people with velvet guitar covers. Once I got over my initial prejudice, I could enjoy it for the art it is. It definitely grew on me."
Mercantile Bank... the SOURCE of funds for
STUDENT LOANS WHEN EVER YOU WANT!
you want!
At Mercantile, we have EVERYTHING a student needs including the most important ingredient: FAST FRIENDLY SERVICE.
Let us put our EXPERIENCE to work for you.
So when you need ANSWERS to your financial aid questions,call Carol
865-0278 or 1-800-377-5626 (Loan)
MERCANTILE BANK
Member FDIC Equal Opportunity Lender
7
7 Entertainment
(2) $y = \sqrt{3}x - 1$
February, 1996 The Hill