ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL // MY FIRST 50 YEARS IN CHRISTIAN MUSIC
Yes , 50 years ! 2021 marked my 50 th anniversary in Christian Music . It ’ s much different now than it was back during the Jesus Movement of those days . Back then our cause as young Christian musicians was evangelism and social commentary . There were no royalty payments , radio charts , CCLI earnings , and the like . We typically piled into VW vans and just went for it . We were coming out of a very painful time in the U . S . and world history . The cold war , horrific racial injustices , three assassinations of well-loved men , the war in Southeast Asia , and riots , were followed by Vice Presidential and Presidential scandals . So , the daily backdrop was in many ways akin to what ’ s going on now . We were also coming out of the counter culture movement of the 1960 ’ s .
There really wasn ’ t a Christian Music industry back then . There were a few religious music labels , but it was largely unorganized with poor retail distribution , mostly identified as Christian bookstores . Contemporary Christian music was mainly dispensed by selling those few albums at outreaches and out of the trunks of cars . Many Christian bookstores refused to carry the albums as they were considered radical . There was very little , if any , Christian music radio as well . Concerts were mostly held in coffee houses and parks , and sometimes on public school campuses under the notion of anti-drug . It was largely an underground movement . The term megachurch would not be in common use for at least a decade , nor was the promotional use of gourmet coffee and happy family billboard advertising used to attract folks to church .
I didn ’ t start out to have a calling in Christian music . However , prior to my conversion experience , music was my entire life and really the only thing that I cared about . So , after almost two years of laying low , I joined up with a Southern California band called Rebirth . That was my start . We never recorded as a group but played in parks , schools , and at those aforementioned coffeehouses , and we were told by other musicians that we were pretty good .
I was hugely fortunate over the years following , recording on , and creating / producing many hundreds of albums , joining bands such as Selah , The Way , The Richie Furay Band , Daniel Amos , the Larry Norman Band , and The Randy Stonehill Band , and touring with Andrae Crouch and Bob Bennett . As the eighties commenced , I began working with various Christian music labels in many capacities , including A & R , music publishing , graphic arts , marketing , and sales . I began as a ‘ go-for ’ and ended up in various executive roles . I learned the biz and was given the opportunity to curate praise and worship