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

By: Andrew Gill and Leah Payne
  • Summary

  • 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.

    Content © Leah Payne and Andrew Gill. All pre-released media is used under fair use provisions.
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Episodes
  • Bookstore Guy to Exvangelical (ft. Blake Chastain)
    Sep 11 2024

    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 RTDRpod@gmail.com

    Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments.

    Buy RTDR merch here.

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    42 mins
  • Mother Is A Big Question
    Aug 28 2024

    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"


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    45 mins
  • Christian Ska's Upbeats and Beatdowns (ft. Leanor Ortega Till of Five Iron Frenzy)
    Aug 14 2024

    If there's one music genre lampooned more than Christian rock, it might just be ska. And Christian ska? Expect next level ridicule. But a lovable band of misfits from Denver, Colorado managed to do something that might seem unthinkable: combine two maligned genres and become a cultural phenomenon with an enduring cult following. On the season two finale of Rock that Doesn't Roll, music journalist Andrew Gill (Sound Opinions), and historian Leah Payne (God Gave Rock and Roll to You: a History of Contemporary Christian Music) follow the unlikely rise of Five Iron Frenzy, with insight from Leanor Ortega Till, aka "Jeff the Girl," aka the saxophonist from one of the best-loved bands in the Christian rock universe.

    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 RTDRpod@gmail.com

    Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments.

    Buy RTDR merch here.


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    38 mins

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