[ Catalyst Music Project | Aaron Keyes from Catalyst on Vimeo ].

So here’s the deal.  The music industry is changing.  No, it already has changed.  Not everyone knows it yet.

The Web is empowering the artists and the listeners.  People who would have never made it into the mainstream 20 years ago can make a living.  And people can find just that right band even if their taste is a little off the beaten path.

Pandora gave me a band I would have never found otherwise.  (It’s Tokyo Rose, if you’re wondering)  I bought a few songs from iTunes once I found them.  It was awesome!

We need to take heed, my friends!  The change is upon us!  Okay, all poetic verbage aside, there are awesome ideas just waiting to be used.

What will the future be?  How has the web changed music for you?

I recently watched this video a few days ago and it got me thinking.

We as a church body have gotten behind when it comes to art.

When was the last time you heard of an awesome piece of music that moved the genre in a brand new direction?  When did you last see a painting that pushed the way people painted?

As a body of artists, it feels as if we have become followers.  In music, we have Christian versions of almost every kind of music.  Rock, Rap, R&B, Pop, Urban, Country; you name it, we probably have it.  This is good, and we should express the Gospel message and Christian ideals in these forms.  Yet, when I hear a band or artist with a new sound I’ve never heard before, it’s not a Christian artist.  Why is that?

Now, granted, I have a few Christian groups on my playlist that I can’t compare to anyone else.  Anberlin, for example, I love, and I just can’t seem to put them with anyone else.  The Classic Crime, while they don’t call themselves a Christian band, have decidedly Christian overtones, and are on Tooth and Nail, which carries mostly Christian artists.  These guys have brilliant writing, in my opinion.  The exception that make the rule, I guess.

Here’s the point: We as Christians carry with us the greatest news of all time, we know the God of the universe and can speak with him every day, yet we generally only follow others in their artistic methods?

This just feels odd to me.  If we truly know God, shouldn’t we be able to find new awesome ways to glorify Him?  Should we not be leading as well as following?

I am a Christian artist myself, as I have said a few times on this blog.  I don’t have the answers.  But as a Christian and an artist, I want to be moving in a new direction.  My influences are all evident in my art, so in some ways I will always be following them.  My goal is to create something new that no one has quite heard before.  I may never get there, but I’m sure going to try.

I want to see all Christian artists doing something a little different.  I want to see the church become a center of another arts movement.  I want God’s glory shown in different ways than just what’s already been done before.

Does any one else feel this way?  Got any cool Christian art to share?  Leave a comment, let me know.

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music