The Hardest Places To Play the BluesPart Four: Playing Gospel/Christian Blues in a Non-Christian Venue

I want everyone to know that I am a minister. I haven’t ever tried to hide it, I’m not ashamed of it and I don’t flaunt it, and I also don’t think that it creates some kind of special privilege for me either. Most people around the world know me as “The Electric Rev,” and I like that! My music has opened the door for us to play in a lot of places where a typical minister would not be welcome. When we first started I have to say it was a little scary, for sure. It turned out that the only thing that was scary wasn’t the people at the venue, it was the religious culture that didn’t really want anything to do with anything outside of their controlled religious culture. I was that way for years. I had adopted this “us & them” mentality until I discovered that Jesus didn’t have that mindset and in fact, He came for us all and not just the religious. You know the “whosoever will let him come” thing!

I will admit that it was a journey for me, and you can read about it in detail in my book Don’t Take Your Dreams To The Grave. My discovery was, can I do what I do, (sing songs of faith) outside of the church in a way that will inspire people to connect to Jesus and not alienate them in the process? I admit I have done both and like one more than the other. I will also admit it’s a bit of a dance. Yes, I want to give my listeners the best music possible and inspire them to believe. I also know that I will not have their ears if I am not kind, gracious, loving, respectful, etc. All that fruit of the Spirit stuff.

I love the music that I play. Be it blues, gospel blues, Christian blues, southern rock, or country. I choose my songs carefully. I am always looking to find a message in the song that I can connect to, even the ones that I don’t write. Like my cover of “Honky Tonk Blues” by Hank Williams. Yes, it is a song about living the party lifestyle, yet it also has a story of redemption that is really close to the story of the lost boy in Luke 15, the prodigal son story. The boy blows all of his daddy's money and finally figures out that it wasn’t as bad at home as he thought. That will preach right there.

People will ask me, “How much persecution do you get in non-church-venues.” My answer to them is shocking when I say, “None.” And here is why: When you respect people when you are kind to people when you genuinely care and love people, everyone wants someone like that in their life, right? Don’t you? Whenever I step into a venue, I am looking to create a lasting mutually beneficial relationship with everyone. It is not a one-time shot for me. I want to create value for the venue owners, the folks working at the venue, and the people who come to hear the music. I want them to walk away shocked that I sang about the things of faith and at the end of the night they leave thinking what a great time they had. Yes, some will be uncomfortable, but that is not coming from me, that is coming from the conflict in their own hearts. I hope at the end of the concert most will leave with this one thought: “That guy sang about Jesus and I liked it.”

Because we live in a post-Christian culture we have to start communicating with people as if they have no previous knowledge of the things of God or church culture. If at the end of my concert, they walk away knowing one thing, then I’ve done a good job. What is the one thing? That God is good, always.

Peace,

Jimmie

P.S. Leave a comment below and share with me your toughest place to do what you do!

The Hardest Places I’ve Played the Blues Part Two: On Death Row

It was the most chaotic place I have ever been. It was cold and dark; the dark gray block walls echoed every whisper and scream, and you could feel evil in the air. As the chaplain opened the door, we walked in and he said, “This is death row.” These men are all condemned to die.

It was the first time this prison had allowed someone from the outside, like me, to visit death row. With my old 1946 Martin D-18 guitar in hand, we walked into the cellblock and I started singing Christmas songs. Christmas Songs, really? Yes, it was Christmas in prison. Whether you know it or not, Christmastime in prison is the hardest time of the year. All of the emotions of being locked up in that place, separated from friends and family come crashing in at this time of the year. Rather than being “merry and bright” it is “sorrow and darkness.”

As I came to the first death row cell I searched for the right song to sing. I passed on several of my gospel blues and Christian blues songs, struggling to find just the right one to play for this condemned man.

What I was looking for was a song that “I” was deeply connected to, a song that I was passionate about, at this moment in time. Then these words started coming out of my mouth about another man condemned to death: “One man hung, two men died, third man rose to righteous life, cursed is the man on a tree, death for him, life for me, death for him life for me.” The song I was singing was my song “Exchange.” It’s about the tremendous exchange that took place on The Cross, when the sinless son of God, Jesus, was condemned to die for us all.

It’s a moment I will never forget. Connection to your passion is so important in communicating from your heart to the hearts of others. Yes, I sang a gospel blues or Christian blues song. Yet, I was invested not only in the message of The Cross, but I was also personally invested in the song because of my own personal experience. I know what it is like to be condemned and I know what it is like to be free, and for that, I will be forever grateful to the One who saved me from myself.

Peace,

Jimmie

PS, send me an email and share your stories!

The Hardest Places I’ve Played the Blues Part One: In Church

“You can’t play the blues in church, that’s devil’s music.” That’s what they told me. Yet, for the past 23 years, that’s one of the places where I have played the blues. Here’s a little back story.

When I first came to faith, one of the first things that happened was that our pastor at the time took me aside and told me, “You’ve got to quit playing that devil music,” and I did. For the next 20 years, I didn't play any blues or any rock and roll because that was devil music. No “gospel blues” or “Christian blues” were allowed either because those genres were also considered to be devil music. For those 20 years of my life, I played only southern gospel and choruses that I called “7-Eleven,” you know seven words, repeated 11 times or more.

Until one day I came to know the truth that there are only two types of music, and it is not the devil's music and the church's music, it’s good music and bad music. Suddenly, the chains of my “Bad Religion” were broken and I was free to play the music that I knew was in my heart. So I started playing and what I found was amazing.

A pastor here in Kansas City called me and said, “I want you to come to our church and do a blues concert on Sunday morning,” my response was, “You’re crazy.” I came up with all kinds of excuses and he shot all of them down. Finally, he said, “Trust me,” and I said, “Okay.” I put together a band with a full horn section, we rehearsed and were ready to play some red-hot blues on Sunday morning in church. Now some people would have dialed it back to make it more acceptable with the church crowd, but I don’t roll that way. An old preacher friend of mine told me this: “If it doesn’t burn in you, it won’t burn in them.” So like it or not there it was, red-hot and loud.

There were 1,000+ people there that morning and I was nervous as all get out. What happened next was so incredible. As we proceeded to rock the church house with some smokin’ blues, the church folks shouted, danced, clapped, and bought every CD we had. It was amazing. Many of them said, “I don’t like the blues, but I like the blues that you play.”

You can call it what you want, the blues, blues rock, gospel blues, Christian blues, or whatever, and if it’s good music from the heart, people will connect to it. Most of all, be true to who you are, and don’t allow people, the market, the music industry, and yes, even the church to stop the creativity that God put in you.

For me, I discovered a way to express my creativity (love of music) and faith (love for Jesus) through my music and preaching. And yes, I hope that the music I create is good music and gives honor to the one who “saved me from myself.”

Peace,

Jimmie

P.S. Send me an email and let me know your toughest place to play.