Rock That Doesn't Roll: The Story of Christian Music

Overview

Episodes

Details

Rock That Doesn’t Roll looks at how Christian music shaped the world we're living in now by telling individual stories from the peak era of the contemporary Christian music industry. In the 80s, 90s and early 2000s CCM grew into a billion dollar business that affected millions of evangelical young people. Through interviews with artists, industry players and average fans we trace the long-lasting personal, cultural and political impact of sometimes cringe-worthy music. Expect hilarious moments and heartfelt yearning, purity culture and conservative politics- all in equal measure. Whether you’ve deconstructed, come out or renegotiated your faith, we hope you feel seen. If you’ve never given Christian music any thought beyond a punchline, we hope you’ll gain a deeper understanding of a subculture that’s shaping the world around us now.

Recent Episodes

NOV 1, 2024

The Art House (ft. Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth)

Charlie Peacock is a renowned figure in the music industry for his solo albums, production work, songwriting and his record label RE:Think, which launched Switchfoot and Sarah Mason. Outside of the music industry spotlight he and his wife Andi Ashworth were creating a very unique space in Nashville called The Art House. Their experiences with The Art House inspired their recent book, "Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt." Leah actually worked at The Art House more than 20 years ago, so we were eager to talk with Charlie and Andi about this book. To hear the full hour-long interview, visit our Patreon. In the Patreon-only version of this episode, Charlie also shares which collaborator he considers one of the best songwriters in the world. Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Leave us a message at (629) 777-6336. If you want more seasons of Rock That Doesn’t Roll, you can support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing [email protected] Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments. Buy RTDR merch here.

30 MIN

OCT 16, 2024

Youth Group Demon Hunting (ft. Jordan Morris)

Jordan Morris is a long time podcaster, comedy writer and creator and co-writer of the two-time Eisner-nominated graphic novel Bubble (based on the hit podcast). His new graphic novel, co-written with artist Bowen McCurdy is Youth Group. It draws on Jordan's real life experiences in a Orange County California youth groups in the 1990s, but adds literal demon hunting to the list of church-approved activities. In the Patreon-only version of this episode, he also shares a story about Christian summer camp and we share ideas for casting a film adaptation of Youth Group. Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Leave us a message at (629) 777-6336. If you want more seasons of Rock That Doesn’t Roll, you can support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing [email protected] Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments. Buy RTDR merch here.

49 MIN

OCT 2, 2024

Introducing: Second Sunday

Second Sunday is one of our sibling podcasts with PRX's Big Questions Project. Second Sunday is about Black Queer folks finding, keeping and sometimes losing faith. Mark Miller is a graduate of Juilliard and Yale University with an expertise in choral conducting, sacred music, and voice. His hymns and anthems are sung by communities of faith throughout the world, and his album, Imagine the People of God, is available on iTunes. He believes that music, social justice, and the beloved community are inextricably tied. His story is about finding God and himself through music. The Second Sunday podcast is hosted by Esther and Darren Calhoun. Follow Esther @estheralready,https://www.instagram.com/estheralreadyFollow Darren @heydarren, https://www.instagram.com/heydarrenFollow Second Sunday @secondsundaypod, https://instagram.com/secondsundaypodSubscribe to the podcast, https://secondsundaypod.com

32 MIN

SEP 11, 2024

Bookstore Guy to Exvangelical (ft. Blake Chastain)

In this bonus episode Leah and Andrew talk with Blake Chastain, the first person to use "exvangelical" as a hashtag (and host of the Exvangelical podcast) about his book, "Exvangelical and Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement That's Fighting Back." He shares about his time as a "bookstore guy" and how the academic concepts of "counter public" and "hyperobject" are helpful in understanding what's happening in American evangelicalism. In the Patreon-only version of this episode, he also shares a story about a song that left him temporarily paralyzed at work once. Plus we discuss not one, but two different songs by Ray Boltz. Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Leave us a message at (629) 777-6336. If you want more seasons of Rock That Doesn’t Roll, you can support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing [email protected] Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments. Buy RTDR merch here.

41 MIN

AUG 28, 2024

Mother Is A Big Question

Today we're sharing an episode from another Big Questions Project podcast: Mother Is A Question. "This episode is called "Mother Is A Song," and we’re traveling to a place and time when mama was the muse–back when musicians in the U.S. were constantly singing about “the one who’s always true,” as one of these songs goes. One hundred years ago in the U.S., in the early days of recorded music, a lot of the songs people were listening to were about one particular person: mother. Thanks to Sarah Bryan, the Association for Cultural Equity, and to Dust to Digital for inspiring this episode. Mother is a Question is created by Natasha Haverty and Julia Metzger-Traber Our editor is Rob Rosenthal Original Music by Raky Sastri and Julia Read"

45 MIN