Jesus Sound Explosion

I just finished reading Mark Anderson's book Jesus Sound Explosion.  It's a memoir about growing up as a preacher's son in an evangelical Baptist church during the late sixties and the seventies.  Mark writes about being a part of that world while at the same time yearning to also be a part of the world outside -- the world of "jazzy music," his mother's name for rock.

The narrative alternates between experiences at Bible camp, balancing life in the church with life in a secular public school, finding the "groove" in music when the Sure Foundation -- the choir at Central Baptist Church in St. Paul -- introduced a drummer to their mix, exploring the world without in the music of Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, and jazz, and producing the soundtrack with his college band, Rockamole, to the Dance Revolt at Bethel College.

Whereas most works about evangelical Christianity seem to either wholly embrace and glorify  or completely reject  and demonize that world, Mark's book, as a former insider, does neither.  He really provides an interesting look into the world of evangelicals by honestly writing about his own life and his experiences.  Oh, and the book can be quite funny too.  If you can find a copy, I highly recommend it.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Mark is a friend of mine and haddayr's but don't let that count against him -- it's not really his fault.)