Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009

David Crowder Band, coming to Modesto, takes different approach with latest music

Whether you call his songs "Christian rock" or "alternative worship music," David Crowder is certainly unique. All you have to do is look at his latest band photograph to know that.

Crowder, 37, and his wife, Toni, 35, live in a Waco, Texas, home built in 1886 by Wade Morrison, who invented

Dr Pepper. The Victorian home was in bad shape when the Crowders purchased it a few years ago. During their renovation, they bought a large painting of a woman from the 1880s, dubbed her "Elizabeth" and hung her in the guest bedroom, where the group photo was taken.

"We've been in this old house remodeling slowly," Crowder said in his down-home accent in an interview from his home. "At one point, we were staying in that guest room and that painting turned up. I said, 'I don't think I can stay here, sleeping with that.' My wife said, 'Sure you can.' Then little (antique) perfume bottles started turning up on the mantel. I asked my wife what those were about. She said, 'Elizabeth needs her things.' That was it; I was out of there."

Crowder joked that the painting has at least one redeeming quality: Elizabeth's stern countenance keeps guests from overstaying their welcome.

The David Crowder Band will be in Modesto next month for a concert at Calvary Temple Worship Center. The group will perform several selections from its newest CD, "Church Music," which was released Tuesday, as well as earlier hits, such as "Here is My King," "Something Glorious" and "O Praise Him."

"Church Music," like Crowder and his home, also is unique. There are no breaks between the 17 songs; one selection simply blends into another for 73 minutes. Making sure that the ending and beginning chords went together was "a lot of work, harder than I thought it would be," Crowder said. Some songs are harder rocking than the band's usual fare, heavier than most songs you'll hear in church, but they are also thought-provoking, such as "Eastern Hymn," which incorporates the translation of an ancient Chinese prayer book. It's an intentional mix and focus, Crowder said.

"The title makes me grin from ear to ear," he said. "We wanted to throw our arms around what's happening in culture as diligently as we could, so we definitely

approached this record differently than in the past."

He said he hopes the album will remind people that church music is continually evolving.

"The story of God can be inserted in a lot of places," he said. "We're trying to have it as compelling and grand as it is. We're constantly trying to retell and repackage the story in new ways, not only for us, but for people attached to our music."

An ear for music

Crowder started plinking on the family piano "when I was tall enough to reach those piano keys. I was making noise, and then my mom recognized some melodies and signed me up for lessons."

He didn't hear classical music, though, until he went to college.

"My dad had a constant rotation of Willie Nelson, Elvis, Olivia Newton John and Bill Gaither," Crowder said. "That probably explains a lot, psychologically and musically. We were East Texans. The plan was for me to graduate from college and move back home and take over for Daddy. He had an insurance agency in town.

"I don't know if you could imagine me on your front porch, asking if your child needed insurance. I would have to have had a haircut, that's for sure."

Instead of those plans, Crowder and another Baylor University student began talking about the need for a church that would attract and be relevant to college students. A study by the university at the time showed that most students on that Christian college campus never attended church.