Casting Crowns elevates Christian rock to new level

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATE CORRESPONDENT

Over the past few years, contemporary Christian music (CCM) act Casting Crowns has been referred to by seemingly every name except its own.

“We’ve been called Counting Crows, Cap and Gown, Casting Crows and something else Clowns,” laughed singer Mark Hall, calling from Georgia.

Despite such hurdles, you better believe no one is getting the band’s name wrong after this past summer’s release of Casting Crown’s third studio effort “The Altar and the Door,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Album Chart. Ladies and gentleman, that’s the secular Billboard Album Chart — against Jay-Z, T-Pain, Akon, et al. — not the Billboard Christian Album Chart.

Though it’s a monumental moment for contemporary Christian music, which never debuted an album at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Album Chart, Hall takes it all in stride.

“It was pretty cool,” Hall said. “I think more than anything it was just the mainstream market gets to see the Christian market is out there. We don’t have any mainstream marketing, we don’t have any songs that crossed over. It’s just church folks buying music.

“I think it’s important for a lot of businesses and people out there to see that believers buy groceries and they should be recognized as a market as well.”

Invariably, the CCM market has been growing over the last decade with Casting Crowns leading the charge. Not only is “The Altar and the Door” already gold, but the band’s previous two releases — 2003’s self-titled debut album and 2005’s “Lifesong” — have crossed the platinum threshold.

This is quite a feat for a youth pastor who a few years ago started Casting Crowns as another outlet for his faith. In fact, Hall and his band mates are still heavily involved in their Atlanta church. The act tours Wednesday through Saturday and always returns home to lead Sunday services. You can see Casting Crowns Saturday at the Wolstein Center at CSU.

Speaking of the band’s live show, the line between a rock concert and a church service is further blurred with Hall hoping fans leave feeling energized by the group and the Spirit.

“To me, it’s still a concert,” Hall said. “I don’t apologize for providing entertainment for people. That’s what concerts are, but we just choose in our concerts to focus on a friendship with God. At our concert you’ll have the lights and drum solos and neat dueling moments between some of the guitars, but in the midst of all that is what a relationship with Jesus looks like. So there is definitely a point to everything we do.”

The members of Casting Crowns, arguably one of the biggest CCM bands recording and touring today, are doing something special that has transcended the genre. 

“I don’t think we’re saying anything that other Christian bands aren’t saying,” Hall said. “And I don’t think we’re musical geniuses, it’s just we’re writing songs about how hard it is sometimes just trying to live through the week and honor God with your life.

“So we write very transparently about what we’re dealing with, and we’re not shooting from above or being judgmental. We’re just singing to people like we sing to our church here. I don’t have a reason for why it’s going like it is. We’re just thankful for it.”