MusicScribe BLOG

Over at Doug Harrison’s blog, Brittni asks: “…does it hurt or help the sub-genres by blanketing them with the name Southern Gospel?”

She’s speaking of Country Gospel, traditional Quartet and progressive SG all being lumped under the umbrella of “Southern Gospel.” I should note that Brittni’s comment was a reply to Madison Easter, who had commented earlier: “Southern Gospel (the title) acts as an umbrella (ella ella… sorry) to, in my opinion, two main styles of music. The quartet style and then you have more of a country vibe, in which the groups apathetic listed fall under. It’s almost absurd to an extent that the two completely different styles of music are just kind of thrown together. Anyone want to elaborate on this topic?”

First of all, I would say the umbrella/blanket is a positive thing in terms of marketing and overall success. What Madison calls “completely different” is true from the perspective of how songs are written and approached in the studio. From the overall perspective of the world of Christian music, though, it’s pretty clear that Jeff & Sheri Easter have a LOT more in common with the Kingdom Heirs than they do with Third Day. You can toss in traditional Bluegrass Gospel, what some call “Mountain Gospel,” and as Brittni mentioned, Progressive Southern Gospel as well. There’s still a fairly clear distinction between what those artists do when contrasted with John Reuben. The same goes for Inspo. No one is going to confuse Cece Winans with Chris Freeman and Kim Hopper.

Secondly, I would point out that the same thing Madison is concerned about…being lumped with a stereotypical mental image before you’re given a chance to set yourself apart…is something Southern Gospel fans engage in as well. How many people who listen to Southern Gospel religiously have a stereotypical idea spring to mind when choral music is mentioned. Did you think of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir just now? Did you think of opera? Did you think of John Rutter…or Tom Fettke? Have you ever heard of Shawnee Press?

I worked in Christian retail for several years and I observed consumers during that time. I came to realize that whether they actually say it out loud or not, fans WANT generalized categories within which to shop.

There are dozens of possible ways to organize CDs on a retail shelf. You can have the entire music department alphabetized by artist names, and it’s going to be a hassle for most customers to find their music. You can go the other direction by breaking the store up into all the various little niche genres, and it will be equally frustrating. A method I found that worked well was to divide the music into three major sections: Traditional, Contemporary and Radical. Under Traditional, I had Southern, Country, Bluegrass and Instrumental. Under Contemporary was Pop, Inspo, Urban, and Praise & Worship. Under Radical was Christian Rap, Metal, heavier Rock styles, and whatever the industry was pushing to the youth market as the “next big thing.” (Ska for about fifteen minutes in the late 1990s, for example…I tended to put the boy band type groups like Plus One under Contemporary, though, because I couldn’t call them “radical” and keep a straight face.)

I saw many groups fight classification in media interviews. “We don’t want to be labeled” is one of those refrains that new-on-the-scene artists sing quite often, particularly in CCM where the idea of crossover success has been a goal ever since Top 40 radio played an Amy Grant song in the 1980s. Fans want to know what they’re buying, though. This info can be conveyed to fans most easily via comparisons to existing artists, which in turn leads to these umbrella classifications that Brittni was asking about. There are thousands of Christian artists out there who THINK they’re blazing new musical territory, but very few actually are…and that’s before you filter out those who are blazing new musical territory that anyone would ever consider buying.

So…it’s futile for an artist to fight classification. But also, it’s beneficial to a certain degree to be identified with some artists who don’t sound entirely like you. Why? Because despite the way radio is programmed, fans actually do appreciate diversity (to a certain degree). If you’re a huge fan of Jeff & Sheri Easter, you’ll probably like Karen Peck & New River as well, because those groups are similar in style. There will come a point when you may want to check out the Gaither Vocal Band as well, or you might consider giving Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver a shot if your taste swings more toward the bluegrass elements that sometimes creep into the Jeff & Sheri universe.

The point is that you can logically get to either of those groups when you come to be a Southern Gospel fan via your initial enjoyment of Jeff & Sheri Easter.

If there was no SG umbrella/blanket…if every little sub-genre had to stand or die on its own…a fan might never venture over to see what was on those other shelves.