For a long time I was very disillusioned with the contemporary Christian music scene. When I was younger, there were certain artists who I was big fans of and collected their CDs, but in the last ten years, I’ve been very unimpressed. It seems that so many of the songs sound the same, and in general, the lyrics are rather weak and trite. Granted, there definitely are exceptions to this, but even among the exceptions, I couldn’t find any artists that I just loved. That is, until several summers ago…
Enter Sons of Korah. This music group is from Australia and therefore not very well-known in the States, but thankfully I have close friends in New Zealand…so the word was passed along. What makes this band unique on the Christian music scene? Well, they sing psalms. Other than several instrumental pieces and two original songs, all of what they sing is taken pretty much verbatim from the text of the Bible. And these aren’t your typical four-part harmony to organ music psalms (which definitely have their place)…they’re the words of David and others set to very eclectic music. Sometimes calm and contemplative piano laces the background, sometimes strong beats and rock music accompany the more intense psalms, sometimes strains of different types of ethnic and international music take the stage. Yet no matter the music style, the Word of God comes through loud and clear.
After I heard the first couple Sons of Korah songs, I was hooked. Over the course of the next several months, I ended up buying all their CDs, and for a long time, they were all I listened to. Often I would set my computer (my music player) to shuffle all their songs and just let it play in the background of whatever I was doing. Even the upbeat songs made this very calming as the words of Scripture flowed through the air. And an unexpected benefit? Now the songs that got stuck in my head (a quite common occurrence) were the words of David and other psalmists as they cried out to the Lord in both hard and happy situations.
Since discovering Sons of Korah, I’ve also come across several other artists whose music I like and respect (Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Andrew Peterson, David Crowder Band), and thankfully my musical library has expanded some. But Sons of Korah still tops the list. And despite the fact that they haven’t come out with a new album in several years, and I’ve heard their songs so many times, I’ve not grown tired of them at all. Though the words are so familiar, in a way they seem new as they continue to encourage me and renew my mind.
My church sings the metrical Psalms exclusively in worship which I love. After over 20 years of singing the Psalms I have most of the memorized (without trying to!). It’s been such a blessing to have so much of God’s word in my heart and often through that just the right verse will come to mind for my circumstances.
Stefanie
Thanks for sharing this. I don’t listen to contemporary Christian music because of your reasons. I will have to check these out….appreciate it!
Have you checked out Glory Revealed? Its a compilation of several Christian artists. Every song is scripture. If you enjoy bluegrassy stuff like Nickel Creek, you’ll love them.
I attend and am a member of a church that sings Psalms exclusively a cappella. I too like Sons of Korah for the same reason you give. Have you looked at Eden’s Bridge Celtic Psalms CD? I really enjoy listening to it. Though, not all of Eden’s Bridge music is Psalms. I also like listening to Fernando Ortega, Derek Webb, Sovereign Grace music, etc.
I love music and Scripture together! Sadly, there seems to be a lack of well done compositions.
Thanks for “introducing” me to The Sons of Korah! I’ve been listening to their music since I read this article–I really like them!
Another artist you might like is Steve Bell. He writes some songs based on Scripture and has a semi-unique style.
Check out Sovreign Grace Music. It’s great, lyrics and music, both.
If you ever get the chance to hear Sons of Korah live – they’re amazing!!!! The CDs are great, but their live performance has a whole other layer of awesomeness
Debbie, I’m a big Sovereign Grace Music fan too – and they have some awesome sermons to download & listen to for free.
Thanks for sharing – you’re right, it’s so hard to find good Christian music. My family and I enjoy Scripture songs by Patti Vaillant –
http://www.scripturesongs.com/Scripture_Songs/SCRIPTURE_SONGS_-_KJV_BIBLE.html
Shalom! I recently wrote an article about singing psalms for the Feelin’ Feminine magazine: http://feelinfeminine.com/?p=8251 and the second part is on my own blog. http://becomingbatmitzvah.blogspot.com/2011/05/psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs.html
I would like to share with you about Scripture Songs. My mother was convicted to write songs from Scripture, NKJV, about 2 years ago. They can be found here: http://m-csn.com/esthermui.htm. I pray you will be blessed by them! Shalom from Beka.
My wife and I listen to http://www.wordoftruthradio.com “Praise Cafe”. They play a ton of artists you’ve never heard of and a lot of them are outstanding. The downloadable player will play whether you’re connected to the site or not. The website shows the current song & artist that is playing. “… this station centers around the passionate sound of the acoustic guitar combined with a lyrical depth, which results in music that is relaxing as well as meaningful.”