Bookstore Guys

Rock That Doesn't Roll: The Story of Christian Music

Who could a 1990s Christian rock aficionado turn to in order to find the latest and greatest releases? For mainstream music fans, tastemakers included record store clerks of 1990s indie music stores, or retail juggernauts like Tower Records and Wherehouse - the kind of superfans depicted by Jack Black in High Fidelity. But for many evangelical teens of the 1990s, record stores were not the place to find kid-tested, parent-approved music. For that, Christian teens usually had to go to Christian bookstores. There, among the Bibles and Precious Moments dolls and Christian-themed t-shirts, they found the records that defined their adolescence. Their guides on the journey? Bookstore Guys. This week on Rock that Doesn’t Roll: with insight from ethnomusicologist Andrew Mall (author, God Rock, Inc.), hosts Andrew Gill (producer, Sound Opinions) and Leah Payne (author, God Gave Rock & Roll to You) follow the story of John J. Thompson (True Tunes podcast), a Christian bookstore guy who dreamed of transcending the Christian bookstore and creating a music store - along with a thriving artistic community - for fans of critically-acclaimed Christian rock.

Do you have a story to share about your Christian rockstar dreams? Leave us a message at [phone].

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