Country music, Christian lyrics

Photo courtesy of Mercy Street Records The Christian Country Music Association’s vocal group of the year, The Fox Brothers (From Left to Right): Roy Fox, Lynn Fox, Randy Fox, John Abernathy, Brent Fox, Todd Mortl. (Below) Georgia’s Scott Brown, a Christian country artist who also performs in rodeos.

By Randy Klodz
Staff Writer

Rap-rock, alt-country, pop-punk, alt-rock—but Christian country? With the ever-present crossbreeding of music genres, one that may not be easily recognized is Christian country. Though a majority of the general public is unfamiliar with Christian country, the genre came in to existence nearly 10 years ago and has had a surge in popularity, within the last two years.

So what is Christian country? Those within the Christian country community generally describe the brand as the combination of a basic country beat and morally positive Christian lyrics.

What separates a contemporary country artist from a Christian country artist? In a musical sense, both artists can be completely alike in rhythm but can be completely different in delivery of the message of their song. "A Christian country artist has no problem singing a straight country song and adding it into their show, as long as it’s a positive song," said Lynn Fox, singer and keyboardist of the Christian Country Music Association vocal group of the year, The Fox Brothers. "As long as it’s not about bars or cheating."

Fox is joined by his brothers Randy (lead vocals and bass) and Roy (tenor vocals and harmonica), as well as John Abernathy (bass singer and lead guitarist), Brent Fox (son of Randy, and trumpet player) and Todd Mortl (percussion).

Fox said that his band’s influences are similar to that of other Christian country acts: country and gospel music, a church background and the Grand Ole Opry. The Fox Brothers have won many awards on the CCMA’s annual award show— which usually takes place in November. These include CCMA Entertainers of the Year from 1999-2001 and Vocal Group of the Year in 1996, 2000-2002.

However, Fox feels that he and his band have a different performance approach than many current Christian country artists, primarily in that they preach to their audience.

"Our group is more of an entertaining-type group that’s got variations of some positive country, Christian country and comedy woven throughout the act," Fox said.

Although Fox is not familiar with contemporary artists like Creed or P.O.D.— artists with a reputation for having positive Christian-leaning lyrics— he said, "As long as their message is positive they can be reaching people that country music would not, they would be reaching people for the Lord."

Photo courtesy of the Cool Springs Executive Center

Though comedy is present in the act, it’s unlike that of George Carlin or Richard Pryor. "Obviously it’s clean, yet entertaining," Fox said of the comedic banter between songs. In fact, Roy was the CCMA Comedian of the Year 2002 and the Country Gospel Music Guild Comedian of the year in 1999. Fox said that the jokes are usually food related. "Roy loves to eat; he’s overweight—he’s like the overweight brother and proud of it," said Fox. "He eats [a] lot of fattening foods, so it’s kind of centered around that."

In a business sense, contemporary country acts and Christian-country acts greatly differ, according to Sherrye Ehrenberg, director of radio promotions for Nashville-based Higgins Music Group.

"Compared to normal country artists, Christian artists have their ministry, the faith that they practice—each artist has their particular thing that they do, while the mainstream country acts have their record labels, and that’s what they go by," Ehrenberg said.

Ehrenberg said that sometimes some country stations will play an artist that other stations won’t based on the artist’s lyrical content or beliefs. This is similar to how several R&B radio stations refused to play the music of R. Kelly after accusations of pedophilia became a national topic of controversy.

And, similar to how rock and R&B songs get charted in Billboard—which bases its positions on radio play—CCMA has Power Source magazine, which has its own five national charts. "We have reporting stations who report to us either on a weekly or monthly basis and that’s how artists move up and down and stay on the charts," Ehrenberg said.

The popularity of the charts has led to the advent of an emerging radio show called "Power Source Top 20," which features the top 20 songs of the week and is hosted by Rich Miller.

Power Source magazine is a monthly magazine that showcases Christian country artists, contemporary country artists, bluegrass artists, as well as many more, according to Vickie Gardner, who’s worked in the advertising department for the magazine for four years.

Scott Brown, a Christian country artist based out of Ringgold, Ga., performs his music in a more typical form of expression for artists of the genre. Brown belongs to his Brand of the Cross Ministry and he spreads his music throughout the country, while performing at churches and other "suitable" venues—like rodeos, where he also peforms.

"Sometimes it’s a burden," Brown said of his rodeo experiences. "Sometimes we are going so many different ways so hard that we get a little strung out. I’ve torn up a knee and dislocated fingers, but I’ve never been injured to the point where I’ve had to stay out of rodeo for a long period of time."

Performing at rodeos has given Brown inspiration for new material. "I wrote stuff that would minister to guys on the circuit, especially on this last album," Brown said. "I wanted to encourage these guys to have good family life. Their Christianity had a level about it that would minister to people in a positive way."

Brown said that he plays between 150—180 concerts a year, traveling up to 60,000 miles a year in a truck that pulls a horse trailer. And although he plays in the South, Brown said his biggest following seems to be in the western states. "It’s kind of a philosophy that a prophet is not recognized in his own country," Brown said.

"I guess the folks that really welcome the ministry and really get into it are out west, states like Colorado [and] Wyoming. We do a whole tour around Colorado for about a month and a half during the summer."

Brown, 45, sprouted his Christian roots at a young age while witnessing the services of his father, Bobby, the pastor at the First Baptist Church in southwest suburban Alsip, Ill. One summer when Brown was 15, he went up to help at a youth camp in Canada and he learned the correct way to turn a rope, and according to Brown, "He showed me how to turn a rope and things were never the same from then on. All I wanted to do was learn how to throw a lariat."

Brown began writing songs at 18 by singing songs to his family members. He has also had two No. 1 radio hits throughout his career, "Angel By the Wings" and "Call 911 (The Church is on Fire)," and three others in the top five on the Christian country charts, "Wild Horse," "Brand of the Cross" and "I’ll Give it All," a duet he did with his wife Pam. The hit song "Call 911 (The Church is on Fire)," has the slow, bouncy twang of a country song with the southern lick of Brown’s strong voice singing, "Now their singin’, shoutin’, praisin’ the Lord / makin’ a racket / shakin’ up the neighborhood / thrown’ up the windows so you can hear the choir / call 911 the church is on fire."

For more information on the CCMA or Power Source magazine view www.ccma.cc. More information on The Fox Brothers can be found at www.foxbrothers.com and information on Scott Brown and his Brand of the Cross Ministries an be found at www.brandofthecross.org.