Jesus Boy Diaries, Episode I

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my youth.

Maybe it's because almost half-way through 30 and realizing that with each passing year, my potential for cool steps farther and farther away.

Maybe it's because I have a son who is almost 7-years old and that scares the living daylights out of me.

Maybe youth culture is finally getting to me...making me wonder what the world is coming to.

Regardless, I've been thinking about my teenage years quite a bit.

And I hate how this is going to sound...but it's the truth, and it's the recurring theme of all my jogs down memory lane as of late.
I WAS A REALLY DEVOUT KID.

Seriously...from a very young age, I took my faith in Christ and the call to follow Him very seriously. I'm not sure why. I didn't have any more training/encouragement/prayer support than other Christian teenager. In fact, the only characteristic that might have help me in this regard might be the fact that I was a legalist. But that's not really the point...

As I've thought about my faith, I've been fondly remembering the role that music played in my walk with God. And that means...

I love Christian music.

So, I thought it might be fun to occasionally post pictures, thoughts, links about bands and/or CDs that I think made a huge impact on my faith. (I've been listening back to some of these records lately...many of them are horrible records, but they did something for me way back when.)

So, I'm calling this the Jesus Boy Diaries. Yipee!

THE PRAYER CHAIN

I found the Prayer Chain when I worked at KSWP 91.1 FM in Lufkin. Their "Whirlpool EP" was the coolest thing I had ever heard. I played their stuff on the Saturday night Christian rock show (PowerSupply!) and bought every record I could get my hands on.

I even got the chance to see them live. First at "AtlantaFest" on a youth group trip and then twice in one year when I was a senior in high school. (They played Woodlands FUMC twice in the same year!)

I could recount a bunch of background info, but the wiki page for this band is really pretty great.

There were a few things about the Prayer Chain that made them so important in my life.

They said important things.
Although each record developed and grew into new areas of songwriting, this band always said things about faith and God and being broken and healing that were true. Granted, some of their lyrics stretched in my view of God, but looking back, I'm so grateful for that.

They said them in a new way.
Up until the Prayer Chain, I had never really considered Christian music to be very artistic. I liked it...but words like "poetry" and "subtlety" never factored into my CCM experience. I liked that this band said their important things in a beautiful way - forcing me at times to dig deep into the lyrics, to think hard about what they were saying and, even as a kid, seeing if what they said measured up to scripture.

They stood on their own.
This was also one of the first Christian bands that I could pass to my "secular" friends without being ashamed. Their music was fanastic...in my opinion, more creative than almost any band at that time (Christian or otherwise...)

I miss the Prayer Chain. I miss knowing that they are out there - struggling with big questions and putting those questions (and answers) to music. But I'll always remain grateful for what those four guys taught me about faith and music.
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Some interesting convergences:

1. Tim Taber went on to do some pretty cool things in worship, which eventually filtered down to me. His work with Rita Springer and a great record called "Dry Bones Dance" ended up being some of my favorite worship projects. Tim is still involved in music as a promoter and artist rep for a few bands, including The Myriad.

2. Andrew Prickett, who remains my all time 2nd favorite electric guitar player in the world, is a well-respected producer/guitarist. An dig this...a long time ago, I started following Daley Hake, guitar player/photgrapher/friend of Carlos. About six months ago, I find out that Daley is pals with Andrew and they work together quite a bit.

3. Eric Campuzano and Wayne Everett went on to form a band called CUSH. Daley Hake's little brother sometimes sits in on drums for them.

4. And lastly...Jason Isham, acoustic guitar player here at Bethel, is from California. His brother was in a band years ago that opened for the Prayer Chain occasionally. Jason went to church with folks who were connected to Taber's worship projects.

SMALL WORLD!
So, anybody else ever dig The Prayer Chain? Please let me know!

On Christian Radio...(this post is fourteen pages long)

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT CHRISTIAN RADIO.

I say that because it would be really easy to read these observations and get the wrong idea.

No, this post is about marketing.

My saving grace here is that I like Christian Radio. I listen to it regularly and have a deep appreciation for those who make it happen.

So before we get to the observations, let me give you a little back-story.

Tyler has a lot of Christian radio stations. At least it seems like a lot to a guy from Lufkin. But without a doubt, the most popular station is KVNE, 89.5.

It's a great station...the DJs know their jobs, they play great music, there's a lot of scripture (which I dig,) and the production level is excellent. Not to mention the fact that their Sunday morning worship show is really great!

A few weeks ago, KVNE and their sister station did one of their two yearly fundraisers. And I have to say I was amazed at what I heard.

The KVNE fundraiser sounded exactly like fundraisers back home in Lufkin. I knew the the Lufkin station had patterned it's fundraising after a station in Houston, but I thought that was just a fluke thing. Then I get to Tyler and the fundraiser sounds the same.

If you'll allow me, let me share with you some observations I had listening to the radio fundraiser. Be warned that I'm going to put down the observations in the most honest way I can, to let you know how it went in my head. I'll try to make sense of all these later in the post.

OBSERVATION #1 - They don't sound like themselves.
Why do Christian radio stations suddenly break every rule they've ever had when it's time to raise money? Seriously, it's like the manager is out of town and they're doing everything they can to destroy the station.

Your station would normally never dream of filling the lobby with 15 people, opening all the doors and running a microphone back there so we can hear the volunteers laughing, talking, answering phones non-stop.

DJs hate dead-air. They normally move smoothly from one thing to the other. But not in a fundraiser! Forgot a paper back in the back...no fear! Just leave the microphone. We'll wait for you!

This first observation really struck me as odd - if you're trying to get people to support what you do, why in the world would you spend 4 days doing everything opposite of what you "normally do"?

OBSERVATION #2 - They want me to come by the station.
Why is "stopping by" such a big deal in these money raising campaigns? The DJs are constantly saying stuff like "Come, see us; WE ARE HAVING A BLAST OVER HERE!"

I got stuff to do, man. Why in the world would I drive to your radio station just to stand around and eat donuts? Is it really fun over there? 'Cause I've got errands to do.

Again...how often does your Christian station normally want you to drive over and have coffee with them?

Probably not very often.

OBSERVATION #3 - SOUND EFFECTS
I believe there is a giant sound effects "machine" in the radio booth. In my mind, it's kept under a lock-and-key all year long until a fundraising campaign comes around. Then, a station manager comes by wearing a long, silver key around his neck. He slowly opens the door to the sound effect machine and steps back quickly as the DJ hungrily descends.

That's how I imagine it, because DJs go crazy with the sound effects in these deals. How come I never hear bleeps and bloops and Homer Simpson zingers and fake applause and the Flintstones all year long? If they're funny now, aren't they funny always?

Lock and key. That's all I'm saying.

OBSERVATION #4 - The Magic Phone
This has to be my favorite consistent thing among stations. The Magic Phone.

The Magic Phone is, essentially, the "last" phone. The station has a set number of lines and the Magic Phone will only ring if all the other lines are busy. It's a way of motivating folks to get on the line and make a donation.

Hearing the magic phone becomes a big deal, as it is such a rare occurence. But when that baby rings, the volunteers in the lobby and the visitors in the studio and the sound effects machine all go nuts.
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This entire concept - the complete reversal of normal operating procedure baffles me. To my mind, I would think if you want people to support what you do, then you show them how you do it.

I recently took all these thoughts to work and happened upon a guy named Dan Bolin. Dan is a member at Bethel Bible church. He's also the former station manager of KVNE, 89.5.

So, I took my suspicions to him. I asked him why everybody sounds the same during fundraising; I asked him if it was really a proven marketing move. I ask him if stations are told, taught and given stats to prove that this opposite-mode of promotion works to raise money.

And Dan said, "absolutely."

And that's the part I can't figure out. It is foreign to me. I guess I can partially understand that turning your station upside down gives listeners a peek into the personalities of the DJs - that it would seem more relational.

But beyond that, I still don't see how this wild-and-crazy mode of money-raising works better than just being yourself. Maybe "different' is always good, huh?

How many of you listen to Christian radio? Have you heard any of these things I'm talking about?