Goodbye, American Idol. Your top 12 is such a horrific decision that it has sent me back to the world of professional musicians, for one blog at least. There is too much good music coming out to waste time on your show. So here’s some of what’s playing at my house. Except for the new Shooter Jennings which is amazing, but has enough bad language that it cannot be officially recommended on the website. Oh, and except for Legend by Bob Marley, which has been our family’s soundtrack for the last week or so, but I’m sure has been mentioned in another changer. So here’s a lot of the new Christian music we’re listening to right now.

Gungor Beautiful Things

Don’t let anyone tell you that all worship leaders are below average musicians, although that does happen quite often. Michael Gungor and his band are some of the best musicians we have played with. Their level of artistry is only matched by their level of creativity. Which is why it’s been sad that he has been best known for co-writing “Friend of God”. But I think this record will change that. It is challenging, creative, and yet still corporate. There is great power here, like the lyrics found in the first song Dry Bones: “Jesus, You’re the One who saves us, constantly creates us into something new.” This is a great record. I love it. You should at least give it a listen. Great music. Great worship.

Pocket Full of Rocks More Than Noise

Our friends from this spring tour have a great new record out. Now, before you overreact to missing the spring tour, you need to understand that it ended up being four shows. Not all plans come to fruition. But they were four great shows. Thinking about doing it again. For four more shows. Or maybe more. Anyway, these guys are the real deal, oh and the girl is too. “Alive” is already on the radio, and “Come As You Are” should be taking over the airways soon. Great song. Opening line is “He’s not mad at you.” Such a need for people to hear that. “Let Our God Be Praised” will be played in worship services all around the world. Their classic song “Let It Rain” is here too. My favorite is probably “Your Love For Me”. But you can listen and decide for yourself.

Meredith Andrews As Long As It Takes

You listen to this record and it’s easy to forget you’re not listening to the radio. Meredith should conquer the radio world with this record, and there aren’t many other artists I feel more confident in to handle that well. She loves Jesus, and she just gets it. It was an honor to have her join us and Pocket this spring. It was beautiful to hear her heart and participate in her ministry each night. Enjoy the record. Just make sure you don’t miss “What It Means To Love”. In concert, she shares this beautiful story about a boy in Haiti. Just check it out. It’s powerful.

NewWorldSon NewWorldSon

As you guys know, I loved the first NewWorldSon record and have been looking forward to this one for quite some time. It was worth it. It’s just so fun, creative, and true to who God has made them to be. You won’t hear a better first 3 seconds of any record. Now, I know that sounds dumb to you. But I’m like that with books to. If the first line doesn’t make me want to read it then that’s it. “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” One of the greatest by one of my faves, Stephen King. And the first little intro, before you even get to the song is like that. You just want to hear more. And there is more. And again, I love the creativity. The second song, Listen To The Lord, starts with a Deep Purple intro, then shifts gears into a reggae verse. That shouldn’t work, but it does. Okay, it’s not exactly Deep Purple, just the organ sound. But still this record is a blast.

Matt Maher – Alive Again

I think I’ve probably talked about this one already, and it’s been out for a little while, but it’s still a great record. Matt is an amazing worship leader. I was in Dallas visiting my in-laws one weekend and saw on the internet that Matt was going to be nearby. So I went and paid my $10 and worshipped with he and his band. It was quite powerful and we used some of their songs the next summer at camp. So now I am looking forward to trying out some tunes from the new record this year. The title track is a great song. Really worshipful, but really modern as well, which is not always worship music’s strength. Love Matt. Looking forward to spending more focused time with this record. Hope you will too.

So there’s some new music for you to check out. Enjoy.

Todd