By Kent d Curry and Courtney Ballestero
May 15, 2006

In fairness, while music appears to be her life (we’ve never met), it’s not the center of mine. Yes I’m currently working in a position that exposes me to a wide variety of most, if not all, available Apostolic music, yet by nature I’m a reader, not a listener. Therefore my observations may seem scarily inane; my hope instead is that I’m poking into this subject as an informed outsider.

Likewise, at no time did Courtney claim to be the spokesperson for all Apostolic musicians. She’s just the one who spoke up at this opportunity.

Asking Tough Questions
Courtney agreed that it might be worth publishing our correspondence to jumpstart a public discussion about what we Apostolics expect, or fail to expect, from our own talent. Ours was not a formal discussion, but more of a freewheeling email inquiry, written at all times, day and night, into the place of Apostolic artists today. Very little has been edited from the original posts.

So what exactly does that mean in 2006? We take a few stabs at answering those questions.

Finally, this article’s title is not a reference to the talent, dedication, and skill of Apostolic musical artists, but the state of everything that encompasses Apostolic music. It’s about the support of the congregation and the consumers, the encouragement of national and pastoral leadership, the necessity of vision among our musical artists, and the tensions all must feel between facilitating a ministry and making enough money to create a CD that matters.

Hi Courtney,

A few weeks ago 90&9 asked our audience (largely Apostolic 20somethings) if they bought Apostolic music. For the most part, they said none or very little. I can’t say this shocked me, but I do believe there’s an irony here.

So why the dichotomy? Is this the old “Prophet without honor” truism? Does familiarity breed contempt? Are there just too few “names” in Apostolic music to sell enough CDs? Or might this be a clear indication of inferior products on the part of Apostolics? What position does this put you, the Apostolic musician with the God-given talent, to write and produce music, for future products?

I’d like us to explore these issues and more over the coming days. Thanks for taking the journey with me.

Sincerely,
k

Kent,

I’ve been thinking this over a lot since it was brought to the attention of your readers. I agree with you; I am not that shocked that no one is buying Apostolic artist’s materials and after looking over my own collection I was surprised at how few even I owned.

This summer after hearing a five-second clip of a “shall remain nameless” Apostolic artist at our Ladies Conference I ran right out and bought the CD thinking, “Hmmm, this is a different sound.” I had great hopes that it would incorporate a hip hop feel, with gospel flavor (all that from a 5 second clip? Am I idealistic or what?!) and maybe might-be taking a genre that is mostly Southern Gospel tinged to a whole new level. The disappointment was staggering. The CD did in fact have a hip hop feel . . . on one song . . . and that person sang it country . . . and I could predict the next line of EVERY PHRASE!

Clearly Apostolics do have the best singers and our musicians are historically copied for their soulful ability to translate music into a spiritual experience. Yet, when placing one of our projects side-by-side to Casting Crowns or Michael W Smith the quality is marginal at best.

At this point I have to acknowledge that there are those out there with years under their belt who do produce quality products. The up and comer, however, has remortgaged their home, sold their worldly possessions, ran up their credit card, and sold peanut brittle to produce an album that comes from their guts. That is the biggest difference between the slicker presentation of the labeled artist and the Apostolic artist. They have put their lives on the line for their project. And also they may have “milk-toasted” their album a

tidge to appeal to the audience they think will buy their albums (they must already know that 20somethings won’t buy it). Who knows? Maybe by the time they had the money to produce an album they are too far removed from the hip culture to know what is “cool.”

Generally, (and I do mean generally, so record executives don’t attack me with emails) an artist spends around $1,000 for a two or three song demo that is picked up by a label and the rest is taken care of by the label—the packaging, the recording costs, tour costs, and so on. In this fabulous plan you also lose a lot of message as your lyrics are given the big eraser so as to have more mass market appeal (read: Jesus is replaced by Love and any

lyric sounding remotely akin to doctrine is now an instrumental interlude). Do you see why we have so few labeled Pentecostal artists? We would rather go in debt before we would have a record producer take away Jesus or our doctrine. And let’s face it: our “look” will never have mass market appeal.

My dream would be for an Apostolic label. What we need is bulk. Artists would have the power behind them with marketing potential, a host of talented musicians to work with, and a voice in the industry so we wouldn’t have to peddle our wares door to door. Oh, and it would also have to be “cool.” There are some producers out there who are trying to do this and I completely respect them—but I can’t stand the mediocre albums they

produce. Ding! Ding! That would be my pet peeve button that has just been hit. I’m talking about “relevance.”

I’m a youth pastor and have been for seven years and counting. Occasionally, I’ll grab one of their portable players and listen to it. What is the style they are wrapped around right now? Whose message is filling their ears? Our kids in our youth group are mostly first generation kids so they are enthralled by gospel music right now but they have just begun to tap into all the genre’s the local Christian bookstore has to offer. I also notice most of their Christian tastes mirror their non-Christian tastes. Since these first-timers are my audience I try to create what is relevant to them. My lyrics will respond to their struggles as well as their tastes (and if this project ever gets done, hopefully the tastes of the youth culture of other Apostolics).

I feel that the Apostolic artists have to become more relevant and have a venue to distribute their vision. More artists need to team up to provide variety and have a farther reach. And ultimately, as God provides, the quality that your 90&9-ers crave will be available to them with THE message that needs to be universal.

Blessings!
C

Courtney,

Wow—but that was a lot to chew on!

(And yes, I know that sometimes a Janice Sjostrand will write an amazing song that a CeCe Winans will pluck up, but then again sometimes there’s a U2 that refuses to compromise their vision, even as unknowns, and a record company will accede to their creative demands just to get them on the label. I’m not interested in discussing exceptions here.)

Since there is no Apostolic label at the moment, is lyric and image dilution really the only reason we’re not conquering Nashville?

Enjoying the conversation,

k

So . . . anywhoo . . .

There have been Apostolics who made it to a certain point in the industry. Nancy Grandquist was supposed to sign a label and stopped when they proposed she look seductive on the cover. They signed a little unknown named Amy Grant instead and we all know about her mass appeal. I think in a way Apostolics may go at it backward. If you are talented than you are plugged into a ministry and then you accidentally (or incidentally?) fall into an opportunity and then you become a Tim Spell or McGruder or Vonnie Lopez, whatever, and get opportunities to travel and produce music with a broader spectrum while still maintaining your integrity.

I actually have very talented friends who have done the Nashville route and have been successful musically but fell into “the trap.” So, there you go . . . maybe we’ve seen enough folks swallowed whole that we have investigated other ways to share our gift.

Hope this was a good start for you.

Blessings
Courtney

From: Kent d Curry
To: Courtney Ballestero
Part V

Hey Courtney,

Loved your “I can never answer a question without telling a story” line, so I think I’ll steal it.

My story: I work with a youth pastor whose current music knowledge is amazing. I mean, he knows everything—Christian and non, discerns the quality from the drivel, can separate lyrics from music in his evaluations, and has an uncanny ability at picking out what I’m listening to within the barest of played moments—and he works across the room.

So we were discussing the current dullness in the oversaturated acoustic praise/worship thingee that the regular Christian market is drowning us all in. He said often the lyrics are strong, but you can’t tell it because the music makes every song sound alike. He commented on one CD in particular, that “I mean, we’ll probably use a couple songs in youth service, but I wouldn’t buy the CD.”

I could be completely wrong here, but I’m not sure if an Apostolic released an amazing contemporary CD that they’d be invited to many camps and youth conferences, thus cutting off the only way they could get well-known and sell CDs.

To me, this conundrum explains the disconnect between every Apostolic being proud of our musical depth, but rarely buying Apostolic CDs themselves. To sell (at camps, etc), the CD must be spiritual in the traditional sense, but for younger listeners, the CDs must be spiritual with variety and fresh musical energy and those points seem to be in direct opposition.

Won’t you please enlighten me where I’m wrong on this?

Twisting in the wind,
k

Yo Kent,

I can appreciate having a friend with a great opinion for music. I’m sometimes the opinion for others as well. Especially my husband. He’s usually looking at me saying, “Does that sound good?” “Is He singing that right?” Sometimes I’m way off. For example way back in the 90’s my sister was dating the brother of the lead singer from a little unknown band called “Jars of Clay.” She brought home their first photo-copy covered demo album and I was like, “This stuff is horrible!” Yeah, so I had an off day.

I’ll admit, like your friend, that because of the acoustic praise overload I sometimes grit my teeth and turn to the Christian station out of obligation when I know I’m just going to turn it off. I know I’m going to be bored, but I listen because my soul needs to ingest Godly music. My mind, however, needs a little more zip. There is some good stuff out there. Thank God for my CD collection.

Actually all these things that we are addressing were things that I was discussing with my producer on Sunday afternoon lunch at Mama Fu’s Noodle House. It comes down to this—if God did indeed give the singer the song then He will provide the audience.

Frenetically Paced,
Courtney

One last time for the Gipper!

Having said all this, I’m not pessimistic about our musical future. Certain national and regional leaders seem to recognize the seismic shift within the 20somethings and are working to correct that in the musical venues they organize/control. It will always go slower than we hope, but at least it’s shifting in recognizable ways.

Perhaps we suffer most by being unwilling to tackle the traditional routes of greater influence—for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that keepeth Apostolics in the security of the local church and our Apostolic organizations instead of the narrow way that leadeth unto career life—if you can make it in very tough cities like Nashville, New York, or Hollywood. But we’ve already touched on that.

Where the real future lies may be in unbridling our creativity for the web. People can get noticed on the web. Is there a corner on MySpace for Apostolic music? (After all, MySpace.com was created for musical acts reaching fans directly.) Maybe there’s a larger audience for talented Apostolics than just Apostolic-dom. Is anyone pursuing that?

Or maybe it’s just being clever and persistent enough to get noticed on the web by someone anxious to represent undiscovered talent. Are our musical artists’ web sites newsworthy enough to get noticed?

Or maybe it’s some site like 90&9 picking up the torch and offering free downloads from exciting, interesting and talented Apostolic artists. (How would that work without all of us getting sued and/or staying penniless?)

Or maybe these are all one-in-a-million shots that aren’t nearly so effective as talented Apostolics sharing their skills in the local church and camp meetings to bring more souls into the kingdom.

I don’t know. You tell me.

k

© 2006, Kent d Curry and Courtney Ballestero

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Kent d Curry is an executive editor for ninetyandnine.com. Courtney Ballestero has pastored youth for eight years at The Pentecostals of Clearwater, in Clearwater, Florida. She has been a contributing songwriter for the Praise Pak worship music series, Praise Pak for Kidz, co-creator of the Royal Kids of the Kindgom series, and the Roadtrip to Salvation Bible Study for youth. Currently she is at work on a solo project.